By JULIE CARR SMYTH

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A top ICE official resigned her job on Thursday in hopes of ousting the longest-serving woman in Congress, Democrat Marcy Kaptur, this fall.

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In a video launching her campaign for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, former ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said she had stopped more illegal immigration in her less than a year on the job than Kaptur had in her 43 years in Washington.

“In Washington, hypocrisy, excuses and failure can earn you a lifetime job,” she said. “But on my family farm, that would have put us out of business.”

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump is determined to maintain Republicans’ threadbare House majority this fall, so he can avoid a repeat of his first presidency, when Democrats won control of the chamber in midterm elections and went on to impeach him twice. His actions have included candidate recruitment and efforts to pressure states to redraw their congressional lines.

Sheahan, 28, a native of tiny Curtice, Ohio, near the shores of Lake Erie, labeled herself “a Trump conservative.” Before Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem tapped her for the ICE position in March, Sheahan served as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and as Noem’s aide when she was governor of South Dakota.

In a resignation letter posted on the social media platform X, Sheahan thanked Noem and Trump for their “steadfast commitment” to the immigration agency and expressed pride in what ICE has accomplished.

In a statement Thursday, the Kaptur campaign said, “Voters are tired of the self-dealing corruption and culture of lawlessness they’ve seen over the last year. They want a leader focused on affordability and real results, and Marcy Kaptur consistently works across the aisle to deliver both.”

The 79-year-old incumbent is accustomed to steep challenges in a Lake Erie-hugging district centered on Toledo, which has been drawn and redrawn to increasingly favor the state’s ruling Republicans. A bipartisan map approved last year resulted in boundaries that give Republicans a nearly 11-point advantage over Democrats for her seat, up from a roughly 9.5-point advantage in 2024.

FILE – U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, is interviewed Dec. 9, 2022, in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

In that year, Kaptur defeated Republican state Rep. Derek Merrin by such a close margin that The Associated Press did not call the race until official results were entered, more than two weeks after the election. The final result was 48.3% to 47.6%.

The Kaptur campaign’s statement hinted at the possibility of another “messy primary” — like the one in 2024 — shaping up among Republicans seeking the chance to take her on in November.

Sheahan is the seventh Republican to announce a bid for the GOP nomination, a field that also includes Merrin. Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, considered a potentially top contender to defeat Kaptur, was removed as a contender last week when he was named Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s running mate.

David Gedert, a Toledo-area entrepreneur who The Blade of Toledo has reported is better known on stage as drag queen Sugar Vermonte, is running as a Libertarian.

A 44-year-old man who admitted to groping a teenager at a community pool in a Hugo housing development last summer has been put on probation for four years.

Jeremy John Miller (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

Jeremy John Miller, of Hugo, was sentenced Wednesday in Washington County District Court after pleading guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct of a minor in connection with the July 28 incident in the Water’s Edge housing development.

A second count against Miller involving another teenager was dismissed at sentencing as part of a plea deal he reached with prosecutors. His sentence includes a stay of imposition, which means the felony conviction will be considered a misdemeanor if he successfully completes probation.

According to the criminal complaint, a 14-year-old girl told deputies July 28 that a man approached her at the pool in the 15000 block of Farnham Avenue North and made comments about wanting a girlfriend. Shortly afterward he swam underwater toward her and groped her. When she kicked to get away from him, he followed her and grabbed her foot.

The girl said she got out of the pool and told him to stop doing what he was doing. She said he responded that he was trying to get his daughter, who was also in the pool.

Video footage at the pool showed Miller then approached the girl and, as she tried to back away and told him to stop, he grabbed her and threw her into the water.

A 13-year-old boy at the pool that day said the man also came up to him from behind and “bear hugged” him, running his hands down the boy’s body and grabbing his crotch, the complaint read.

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By MATTHEW LEE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has identified a host of athletic competitions it classifies as “major sporting events” — aside from soccer’s 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games — that athletes and coaches will be allowed to travel to the U.S. to take part in despite a broad visa ban on nearly 40 countries.

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In a cable sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates Wednesday, the State Department said athletes, coaches and support staff for the World Cup, the Olympics and events endorsed or run by a long list of collegiate and professional sporting leagues and associations would not be subject to the full and partial travel bans that apply to citizens of 39 countries and the Palestinian Authority.

However, the cable made clear that foreign spectators, media and corporate sponsors planning to attend the same events would still be banned unless they qualify for another exemption.

“Only a small subset of travelers for the World Cup, Olympics and Paralympics, and other major sporting events will qualify for the exception,” it said.

President Donald Trump’s administration has issued a series of immigration and travel bans as well as other visa restrictions as part of ongoing efforts to tighten U.S. entry standards for foreigners. At the same time, the administration has been looking to ensure that athletes, coaches and fans are able to attend major sporting events in the U.S.

Trump’s Dec. 16 proclamation banning the issuance of visas to the 39 countries and the Palestinian Authority had carved out an exception for athletes and staff competing in the World Cup, the Olympics and other major sporting events. It delegated a decision on which other sporting events would be covered to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Wednesday’s cable lists the events that are covered, including “all competitions and qualifying events” for the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Pan-American Games, and Para Pan-American Games; events hosted, sanctioned or recognized by a U.S. National Governing Body; all competitions and qualifying events for the Special Olympics; and official events and competitions hosted or endorsed by FIFA, soccer’s governing body, or its confederations.

The exemption also will cover official events and competitions hosted by the International Military Sports Council, the International University Sports Federation and the National Collegiate Athletic Association as well as those hosted or endorsed by U.S. professional sports leagues such as the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and Little League, National Hockey League, Professional Women’s Hockey League, NASCAR, Formula 1, the Professional Golf Association, Ladies Professional Golf Association, LIV Golf, Major League Rugby, Major League Soccer, World Wrestling Entertainment, Ultimate Fighting Championship and All Elite Wrestling.

The cable said other events and leagues could be added to the list.

Of the 39 countries, a full travel ban applies to Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and people with Palestinian Authority-issued passports.

A partial ban is in place for citizens of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Togo, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Attorney General Ellison launched a form on a website where Minnesotans can report on impacts of the federal actions in the state.

Residents can report on incidents that have impacted them or those close to them or things they have witnessed, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

“These incident reports may be critical in supporting Attorney General’s Office actions defending and enforcing Minnesota’s laws and defending the State of Minnesota against actions that violate the State’s rights under the Constitution and applicable federal law,” according to a statement from the office.

The form can be accessed at ag.state.mn.us/Federal-Action.

President Donald Trump’s administration has significantly boosted immigration enforcement in Minnesota in recent weeks. Last week, Secretary of Homeland Security Krist Noem announced her agency would be sending 2,000 federal agents to the Twin Cities for enforcement actions.

According to the Attorney General’s Office incidents that can be reported include “violations of constitutional rights (racial profiling, excessive force, retaliation against protestors, observers, and media), business closures, reduced healthcare access, reduced education access, other issues impacting public safety and civil liberties, federal funding cuts, federal grant terminations, terms and conditions tied to federal program participation, other administrative actions by federal agencies.”

Ellison said the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other federal law enforcement groups “has done tremendous harm to the people of Minnesota.”

“I urge those who have personally experienced or directly witnessed that harm to share their stories with my office,” Ellison said in a statement. “What’s most useful to my office right now are experiences that are specific and as detailed and direct as possible. In order to highlight certain impacts in Court, we may need to speak with eyewitnesses or those directly involved, rather than just collecting stories you have heard secondhand. My team and I will use these stories and experiences to assist in our ongoing fight to end the federal surge in Minnesota and the chaos, pain, and violence it has caused.”

Submissions may be used in the state’s ongoing lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeking to end Operation Metro Surge.

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The office is asking that those submitting reports “not share rumors, media reports, secondhand information they cannot verify, or social media posts documenting experiences they did not witness or personally experience.”

Furthermore, the Attorney General’s Office noted in its statement that it can’t provide legal representation for those in immigration-related matters or provide references for private attorneys who do so, so the office also asks individuals not submit such requests.