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Trump’s goal of mass deportations fell short. But he has new plans for a second term

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Donald Trump has long pledged to deport millions of people, but he’s bringing more specifics to his current bid for the White House: invoking wartime powers, relying on like-minded governors and using the military.

Trump’s record as president shows a vast gulf between his ambitions and the legal, fiscal and political realities of mass deportations of people in the United States illegally — 11 million in January 2022, by the Homeland Security Department’s latest estimate. Former President Barack Obama carried out 432,000 deportations in 2013, the highest annual total since records were kept.

Deportations under Trump never topped 350,000. But he and his chief immigration policy architect, Stephen Miller, have offered clues in interviews and rallies of taking a different approach if they are returned to power in November. They could benefit from lessons learned during their of four years in office and, potentially, from more Trump-appointed judges.

“What Trump seems to be contemplating is potentially lawful,” said Joseph Nunn, counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law. “There might not be a lot of legal barriers. It is going to be logistically extraordinarily complicated and difficult. The military is not going to like doing it and they are going to drag their feet as much as they can, but it is possible, so it should be taken seriously.”

The Trump campaign, asked how his pledge would be carried out, said Trump would begin the largest deportation program in U.S. history, without elaborating in detail. Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman, said Trump “would marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers.”

How would Trump overcome inevitable legal challenges?

Trump has said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that allows the president to deport any noncitizen from a country that the U.S. is at war with.

Texas Gov, Greg Abbott has advanced a theory that illegal immigration amounts to an invasion to justify state enforcement measures, so far without success, but legal scholars say judges may be reluctant to second-guess what a president considers a foreign aggression.

The sweeping Alien Enemies Act authority may sidestep a law that bans the military from civilian law enforcement.

Trump has said he would focus on deploying the National Guard, whose troops can be activated on orders of a governor. Miller says troops under sympathetic Republican governors would send troops to nearby states that refuse to participate.

“The Alabama National Guard is going to arrest illegal aliens in Alabama and the Virginia National Guard in Virginia. And if you’re going to go into an unfriendly state like Maryland, well, there would just be Virginia doing the arrest in Maryland, right, very close, very nearby,” Miller said last year on “The Charlie Kirk Show.”

The military has been peripherally involved at the border since President George W. Bush’s administration with activities that are not deemed to be law enforcement, such as surveillance, vehicle maintenance and installing concertina wire.

Nunn, of New York University’s Brennan Center, said Trump may look to 2020, when he ordered the National Guard to disperse peaceful Black Lives Matter protests near the White House, despite the mayor’s opposition. Trump did so without invoking the 18th-century war powers law, but the District of Columbia’s federal status gives the president outsized authority to act.

Trump may also contend with rights afforded under immigration law and court rulings that took shape after 1798, including a right to seek asylum that became law in 1980. Under a 2001 Supreme Court ruling, people in the country illegally can’t be detained indefinitely if there is no reasonable chance their countries will take them back. Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and others are either slow to accept their citizens or refuse.

How would Trump pay for this?

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is funded by Congress for 41,500 detention beds this year, raising questions about where Trump would house people before they board deportation flights and how long they could hold them if countries refuse to take them back. Miller floated the idea of “large-scale staging grounds near the border, most likely in Texas.”

ICE officers are painstakingly deliberate, researching backgrounds of their targets and prioritizing people with criminal convictions. They try to capture suspects outside their homes because they generally work without court warrants and people don’t have to let them inside.

A single arrest may require hours of surveillance and research, a job that one ICE official likened to watching paint dry.

“On practical level, it will be nearly impossible for (Trump) to do the things he’s talking about, even if could bring in the military,” said John Sandweg, a senior Homeland Security Department official in the Obama administration.

Obama’s deportation numbers were made possible by local police who turned people over to ICE, but many state and local governments have since introduced limits on cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Obama’s presidency also predated a surge of asylum-seekers at the border, which drained limited resources of the Trump and Biden administrations.

How would a mass deportation drive fare politically?

While many support Trump’s plans, mass deportation could tear apart families, exacerbate labor shortages and uproot people with deep ties to their communities. Pew Research Center estimates 70% of households with at least one person in the United States illegally also have someone in the country legally.

Military leaders are likely to resist because it would undercut other priorities and damage morale, Nunn said.

“The military is going see this and say this is not the kind of duty that soldiers signed up for,” he said. “This is getting the military involved in domestic politics in a way the military doesn’t like to do.”

Adam Goodman, associate professor of history and Latin American studies at the University of Illinois, Chicago, who has written about deportations, said a threat of a mass expulsion can have a serious impact even if it isn’t carried out. He thinks it is highly unlikely that Trump can do what he promises but it can strike fear in immigrant communities.

In June 2019, Trump announced ICE would “begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens” the following week. A month later, the agency said it targeted about 2,100 people, resulting in 35 arrests, indicating the president’s plans fell far short but only after they generated widespread concern in immigrant communities.

Trump himself acknowledged the political perils during an interview Sunday with journalist Sharyl Attkisson. “You put one wrong person onto a bus or onto an airplane and your radical left lunatics will try and make it sound like it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened,” Trump said, before repeating his pledge: “But we’re getting the criminals out. And we’re going to do that fast.”

Rep. Mike Kelly on Trump assassination attempts: ‘We cannot accept this as Americans’

(WASHINGTON) -- Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., the chair of the bipartisan panel investigating the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July and the apparent one last week in Florida, called for more resources and reforms at the Secret Service during a tense time before Election Day.

Speaking to "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos along with Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., the ranking member of the committee, Kelly cited an array of explanations for breakdowns in Secret Service protection in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first attempt on Trump, including lack of resources and overworked agents, and that it is crucial to remedy them.

"We can redeploy money, and we need to do that. Secret Service works under Homeland Security, but getting more people on the ground, people who are trained, people who are competent, and people who have a nose for all this," Kelly said. "These guys are exhausted. They have been played out to the very end. Why don't we look at where we're spending money, redeploy it, try to get more people on board."

"This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. This is an American issue. We have to protect those who we have up for election and those that are already serving," Kelly added. "It's a very dangerous time for us to be looking at this and thinking this is just the way the world is. It's not and we cannot accept this as Americans."

The remarks come as Congress and the Secret Service both scramble to plug any operational holes that allowed a gunman in Butler in July to get off shots at Trump. The urgency of protecting him and other top candidates this election cycle was put into stark relief again just a week ago when the Secret Service thwarted another apparent assassination attempt by a man armed with a rifle outside Trump's golf course in Florida.

In a report on Butler released Friday, the Secret Service said it failed to secure the line of sight to the former president by not securing the roof on which the shooter had taken up a firing position. It also said law enforcement did not adequately communicate that there was a threat to Trump and cited a "lack of due diligence" in establishing a secure perimeter.

"It's important that we hold ourselves accountable for the failures of July 13, and that we use the lessons learned to make sure that we do not have another failure like this," acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said Friday.

In a joint interview with Stephanopoulos, both Kelly and Crow agreed the solution involved both resource redistribution and personnel adjustments.

"You can redeploy funds to where it is that you need them the most. I will say this. Our Secret Service now is trying to guard more people than they've ever had to guard in the past," Kelly said.

"It takes years to create a Secret Service agent. So we have to rely on Department of Defense agents, other federal agencies to cover down and provide some relief to these folks, because one of the issues that we saw in Butler, Pennsylvania, was the over-reliance on local law enforcement. These are fantastic folks. They do really well, but they are not trained and equipped to provide presidential level security," Crow added.

Both lawmakers also called on Americans to tone down rhetoric around politics amid concerns that the tense atmosphere around November's election is playing a role in the heightened threat environment.

"Mike is a very conservative Republican. I'm a very proud Democrat,” Crow said. “And what we're trying to show folks is we can go through an election cycle, we can have fierce and tough debates, and we can show people that we will settle our political differences and debate, but we're going to come together on an issue that Americans expect us to come together on," Crow said.

"There is no place in our American society, whether you're Republican and Democrat for anybody ever to take actions into their own hands and resort to violence," he said.

John Kirby says U.S. working to prevent ‘all-out war’ in Middle East amid rising tensions

(WASHINGTON) -- Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said Sunday that the Biden administration is doing “everything we can to try to prevent this from becoming an all-out war there with Hezbollah across that Lebanese border.”

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah traded fire earlier Sunday morning, with an Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson saying that Hezbollah launched 150 rockets toward Israel, reaching deeper into the country than many previous strikes. In response, the IDF said it was striking “Hezbollah terrorist targets” in Lebanon. The IDF struck 400 targets on Saturday and said that the attacks will only intensify.

The fresh strikes come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to "take whatever action is necessary to restore security and to bring our people safe back to their homes" near the Lebanese border in the north of the country.

Asked by ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos if escalation in the region is inevitable, Kirby said the White House believes a "diplomatic solution" is still possible.

"We believe that there are better ways to try to get those Israeli citizens back in their homes up in the north, and to keep those that are there, there safely, than a war, than an escalation, then opening up a second front there at that border with Lebanon against Hezbollah," Kirby said.

But Stephanopoulos pushed back, noting it seems like Netanyahu is not listening to the United States's consistent pleas for de-escalation.

"Look, the prime minister can speak for himself and what -- and what -- what policy he’s trying to pursue, what operations he’s trying to conduct. We’ll, of course, recognize that the tensions are much higher now than they were even just a few days ago. ... But all that does, George, is underscore for us how important it is to try to find a diplomatic solution," he said.

Hezbollah called the Sunday assault an “initial response” to attacks from Israel earlier this week. In Lebanon and Syria, thousands of people were injured Tuesday by exploding pagers used by Hezbollah members as part of an Israeli operation. Another round of attacks targeting two-way radios used by the group followed on Wednesday. The two attacks killed at least 39 people and injured more than 3,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Kirby reiterated that the U.S. was “not involved” in these attacks, but refused to say much more than that, saying he would not "get into the details."

"I will just say, though, George, that we are watching all of these escalating tensions that have been occurring over the last week or so with great concern, and we want to make sure that we can continue to do everything we can to try to prevent this from becoming an all-out war there with Hezbollah across that Lebanese border," he said.

A panel of United Nations specialists in international law and human rights has condemned Israel’s use of the exploding devices as illegal “booby traps” with the potential of harming civilians.

Israel had a hand in the manufacturing of the devices with this type of "supply chain interdiction" operation having been planned for at least 15 years, a U.S. intelligence source confirmed to ABC News.

In response to a question about the security of U.S. supply chains, Kirby said that President Joe Biden “has made it clear that he wants the American supply chain to be as resilient and as vibrant as possible.”

The attacks, including Israel's Friday strike on a Beirut suburb that took out a top Hezbollah commander, signal a new stage of escalation in the Middle East and raise fears of that they will increase the likelihood of an expanded conflict in the region.

How these recent attacks impact the efforts to achieve a cease-fire between Israeli and terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza remains an open question.

Kirby conceded to Stephanopoulos that, “We are not achieving any progress here in the last week to two weeks,” and said that Hamas’ leader, Yahya Sinwar, doesn’t appear to be negotiating in good faith.

“But it doesn’t mean that we’re not trying,” he added.

Kirby’s response follows a report from The Wall Street Journal that U.S. officials believe an Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal is unlikely before the end of Biden’s term. When asked Friday about the likelihood of a deal, Biden replied, “A lot of things don’t look realistic until we get them done.”

Stephanopoulos also asked Kirby about alleged election meddling efforts by Iran that U.S. security agencies warned about last week. Kirby said there is “a very robust interagency effort all across the government to deter and to defeat foreign malign actors.

“The American people ought to know that the federal government is working hand in glove with their local and state officials to ensure the safety and security of their ballots and their election day activities,” Kirby said.

Woman reported missing found dead near Canton

VAN ZANDT COUNTY — A 62-year-old woman reported missing September 19 has been found dead. According to our news partner KETK, the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office said that Lisa Adams was found dead during a search performed by law enforcement on Saturday. According to the sheriff’s office, the Adams’ body was found in a field west of Canton near Highway 243. Justice of the Peace, Don Ashlock, has ordered an autopsy to determine how Adams died.

Officials said she was reported missing on Thursday, Sept. 19 but was last seen in the area of Canton on Sept. 12. Continue reading Woman reported missing found dead near Canton

In Focus: Upcoming Schedule

09-28-24 – Mark Shaw with Camp V promoting the Rose City Air Fest.
10-5-24 – Michele Mills with the BBB. Talking about the importance of the BBB throughout East Texas.

In Focus: 09/22/24 – Art Hill and Roy Bell – Trinity Lutheran Church disaster response team.

09/22/24

Guests: Art Hill and Roy Bell – Trinity Lutheran Church

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Adult passenger of child driver arrested after alcohol, drugs found

RUSK COUNTY — A woman was arrested on Saturday after deputies found her to be the passenger of a 12-year-old behind the wheel during a traffic stop, the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office said. According to the sheriff’s office and our news partner KETK, around 11 p.m. deputies stopped a vehicle on County Road 201 for reckless driving.

“During the traffic investigation a 12-year-old juvenile was found to be operating the motor vehicle with an adult later identified as Holly Riehl, 39 of Henderson, seated in the front passenger seat,” officials said.

The child was found on top of a cushion and jacket to better see over the vehicle’s steering wheel, the sheriff’s office said. The sheriff’s office said Riehl was found in possession of an open alcohol container and deputies observed as she attempted to discard a plastic bag of cocaine. Rusk County Child Protective Services was called and the child was released at the scene to a family member, the sheriff’s office said. Continue reading Adult passenger of child driver arrested after alcohol, drugs found

Former police captain awarded millions in verdict against city

QUTIMAN – Former Quitman Police Department captain Terry Bevill won a $21.35 million verdict in his wrongful termination lawsuit against the City of Quitman on Thursday. According to our news partner KETK, a press release from Bevill’s representatives shows Bevill filed the suit against four elected officials, David Dobbs, who served as Mayor of Quitman in 2017, Tom Castloo, the former Wood County Sheriff, Jim Wheeler, former district attorney and Jeff Fletcher, a former state district court judge for Wood County.

Bevill’s lawsuit alleged he was wrongfully fired in 2017 for submitting an affidavit stating that he believed Wood County couldn’t be a fair place to have the trial of David McGee, a Wood County jail administrator who was allegedly arrested for trying to get an inmate, who he was reportedly sexually involved with, released by tampering with government records. Continue reading Former police captain awarded millions in verdict against city

Kathryn Crosby, actor and widow of famed singer and Oscar-winning actor Bing Crosby, dies at 90

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kathryn Crosby, who appeared in such movies as “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad”, “Anatomy of a Murder,” and “Operation Mad Ball” before marrying famed singer and Oscar-winning actor Bing Crosby, has died. She was 90.

She died of natural causes Friday night at her home in the Northern California city of Hillsborough, a family spokesperson said Saturday.

Appearing under her stage name of Kathryn Grant, she appeared opposite Tony Curtis in “Mister Cory” in 1957 and Victor Mature in “The Big Circus” in 1959. She made five movies with film noir director Phil Karlson, including “Tight Spot” and “The Phenix City Story,” both in 1955.

Her other leading men included Jack Lemmon in “Operation Mad Ball,” James Darren in “The Brothers Rico,” and James Stewart in “Anatomy of a Murder,” directed by Otto Preminger.

Born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff on Nov. 25, 1933, in West Columbia, Texas, she graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in fine arts. She came to Hollywood and began her movie career in 1953.

She met Bing Crosby while doing interviews for a column she wrote about Hollywood for her hometown newspaper. They were married in 1957, when she was 23 and he was 54.

She curtailed her acting career after the wedding, although she appeared often with Crosby and their three children on his Christmas television specials and in Minute Maid orange juice commercials. She became a registered nurse in 1963.

In the 1970s, she hosted a morning talk show on KPIX-TV in Northern California.

After Crosby’s death at age 74 in 1977, from a heart attack after golfing in Spain, she appeared in stage productions of “Same Time, Next Year” and “Charley’s Aunt.” She co-starred with John Davidson and Andrea McArdle in the 1996 Broadway revival of “State Fair.”

For 16 years ending in 2001, she hosted the Crosby National golf tournament in Bermuda Run, North Carolina.

She is survived by children Harry, Mary, an actor best known for the TV show “Dallas,” and Nathaniel, a successful amateur golfer. She was married to Maurice Sullivan for 10 years before he was killed in a 2010 car accident that seriously injured Crosby.

Cards Against Humanity sues Elon Musk’s SpaceX

AUSTIN (AP) – The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is accusing Elon Musk’s SpaceX of trespassing on and damaging a plot of vacant land the company owns in Texas.

In a lawsuit filed this week at a Texas court, Cards Against Humanity alleges SpaceX has essentially treated the game company’s property — located in Cameron County — as its own for at least the past six months.

The lawsuit said SpaceX, which had previously acquired other plots of land near the property, has placed construction materials, such as gravel, and other debris on the land without asking for permission to do so.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cards Against Humanity, which is headquartered in Chicago, had purchased the plot of land in 2017 as part of what it said was a stunt to oppose former president Donald Trump’s efforts to build a border wall.

The company said 150,000 people had each contributed $15 towards the effort.

Over the years, Cards Against Humanity says the land has been maintained in its natural state. It also says it contained a “no trespassing” sign to warn people they were about to step on private property.

The company is asking for $15 million in damages, which it says includes a loss of vegetation on the land.

Harris accepts CNN offer for second presidential debate on Oct. 23

(NEW YORK) -- Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday she has accepted an offer from CNN for a second presidential debate against former President Donald Trump on Oct. 23.

Harris said in a statement on X that she accepted the offer for the debate and called on her opponent to accept as well.

"I hope @realDonaldTrump will join me," she said in her post.

The Harris campaign challenged Trump to another debate less than an hour after the Sept. 10 ABC News presidential debate ended. However, Trump said in a statement that he would not participate in another debate against Harris. He has not publicly responded to the CNN offer.

The October CNN debate would have the same rules as the debate in June that the network held between Trump and President Joe Biden, according to Harris campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon. That includes no audience and the microphones would be muted when one candidate isn't speaking, sources with knowledge of the rules told ABC News.

The debate would take place long after early voting begins in several states across the country. A debate between vice presidential candidates Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance is scheduled for Oct. 1 on CBS.

"It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate," O'Malley Dillon said in a statement. adding that "debates offer a unique chance for voters to see the candidates side by side and take stock of their competing visions for America."

ABC News' Rick Klein and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.

Texas man believed to be witness now arrested for murder in apparent road rage shooting

(ABC) Selma — A man initially interviewed as a witness at the scene of a murder has now been arrested over a year later in the apparent road rage slaying, authorities in Texas announced.

Jacob Daniel Serna, 29, was arrested on Thursday for the murder of Joseph Banales, according to police in Selma, located about 20 miles outside of San Antonio.

The case began on April 15, 2023, when Selma police said they responded to a single-car crash and found Banales shot in the head and slumped over his steering wheel.

Banales, a nursing student and Army ROTC member at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, was declared dead at the scene, police said.

Witnesses said Banales tried to merge into another lane and almost hit a dark blue or black sports car with a loud exhaust system, according to the probable cause affidavit. The sports car slowed down, then spend up along the driver’s side of Banales’ car, witnesses said. Then Banales’ car swerved into another lane and crashed into the center median, and the sports car fled, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Banales was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time; she told police she heard what sounded like a loud exhaust system driving by quickly, then a crash, the document said.

Serna and his wife were at the scene when officers arrived, police said. Officer dashboard camera captured Serna standing over Banales’ body, the probable cause affidavit said.

Serna — who drove a blue Ford Mustang sports car — and his wife were interviewed several times, and their stories changed over time, according to police.

Initially, Serna’s wife told police she saw a blue sports car — similar to the color of their car — in the lane next to Banales, the probable cause affidavit said. Serna told police he didn’t see anything and his wife saw the crash, according to the probable cause affidavit.

This July, police interviewed Serna’s wife again. The Sernas are now separated, according to the probable cause affidavit, and she said her husband had sped up to get a better look at the potential suspect’s car, but the suspect’s car was driving too fast, and that’s when the crash happened, the document said.

On Thursday, police interviewed Serna’s wife again. She admitted her husband shot the victim after her husband “became angry that Banales had nearly changed lanes into his blue Mustang,” police said in a statement on Friday.

She said her husband pulled his pistol out of the glove box, loaded the weapon and fired, according to the probable cause affidavit.

She said she made her husband turn around and drive back to the scene, according to the probable cause affidavit.

During the investigation, police zeroed-in on cellphone records to help determine “who could have been driving a blue sports car at the crime scene,” police said in a statement.

The probe, which included searching license plate reader databases, “revealed only one vehicle matching the description of a blue sports car with loud exhaust” — Serna’s car, police said.

“Google Geo-Fence records show Serna’s Google activity pinging in the area at the same time investigators believe the shooting happened,” police added.

Serna has been booked into the Bexar County Jail, police said.

Harris’ fundraising triples Trump’s in August, growing Democrat’s warchest, FEC filings show

(NEW YORK) -- Vice President Kamala Harris raised more than triple the amount of funds that former President Donald Trump did in August, giving her team a massive financial advantage as the presidential race enters its final weeks, according to the latest disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee entered the final two full months of the 2024 election cycle with $286 million in the bank, compared to the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee's $214 million, according to the filings.

This comes after the Harris campaign and the DNC raised $257 million in the month of August, while the Trump campaign and the RNC raised $85 million the same month, filings show.

Earlier this month, both campaigns voluntarily released their total August fundraising figures that included the total figures from their joint fundraising operation with state party committees, revealing a major money edge Harris had maintained for the Democratic Party.

The Harris campaign and the DNC spent $258 million in August, almost exactly the amount they raised, and the Trump campaign and the RNC spent $121 million despite raising $85 million, the latest filings show.

Last month, billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk made his largest federal political contribution to date, giving a total of $289,100 to the NRCC, the committee dedicated to supporting House GOP candidates. He did not make any contribution to the RNC or the NRSC, which focuses on Senate campaigns.

Musk had in the past given $50,000 to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's joint fundraising committee for House GOP, and $36,000 to Obama's 2012 campaign.

Some top Republican donors who had supported former Gov. Nikki Haley during the Republican primary season are apparently finally coming around in support of Trump, writing big checks to the main super PAC supporting Trump.

Hedge fund manager Paul E. Singer gave $5 million to Make America Great Again Inc., after serving as a vocal supporter of Haley earlier this year, according to filings. Investment banker Warren Stephens, who had given $1 million to a pro-Haley super PAC last year, gave the same amount to the pro-Trump super PAC, according to filings.

Trump's Save America PAC's new filing also shows that it spent nearly $2 million on legal bills in August, with one of Trump's lawyers, Todd Blanche, receiving more than $1 million of that sum. Other top firms paid by Save America include James Otis Law Group LLC, Habba Madaio & Associates LLP, Rober & Robert PLLC and Richard C. Klugh PA.

Notably, the Trump campaign reported a handful of small security services expenditures paid to Apocalypse Arms and Military Surplus in late July, after an assassination attempt against the former president, the latest report shows. The total amounts to $555.

New York state reports 1st human case of EEE in nearly a decade

(NEW YORK) -- New York state reported its first case of eastern equine encephalitis in nearly a decade on Friday.

The rare mosquito-borne virus was detected in Ulster County, the New York State Department of Health said. The individual is hospitalized, it said.

The Ulster County Department of Health is currently investigating the case, which marks the first case of EEE confirmed in New York state since 2015, health officials said.

"Eastern equine encephalitis is a serious and fatal mosquito-borne disease with no vaccine," New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement. "Even though temperatures are getting cooler, mosquito-borne illnesses are still a risk and New Yorkers must be cautious."

The human case comes after a case of EEE was confirmed in a horse in Ulster County in August, the state health department said. Earlier this month, two emus in New York's Rensselaer County also tested positive for the virus, which does not spread directly from birds to humans, the department said.

The latest human EEE case in New York brings the national tally to at least 11 so far this year, according to an ABC News tally. The national yearly average is 11, with most cases occurring in eastern or Gulf Coast states.

Beyond New York, cases have been reported in at least six other states so far this year: Massachusetts, with four; New Hampshire, with two; and, with one each, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Between 2003 and 2023, there have been at least 196 EEE cases reported in the U.S., including 176 hospitalizations and 79 deaths.

The best way to prevent infection from the disease is to protect yourself from mosquito bites, including by using insect repellant, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, treating clothing and gear and taking steps to control mosquitoes indoors and outdoors.

"With the first confirmed human case of eastern equine encephalitis in Ulster County, I urge residents to take the recommended precautions to prevent mosquito bites and the risk of infection," Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger said in a statement.

Most people infected with EEE do not develop symptoms. For those who do, symptoms can include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, behavioral changes and drowsiness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Approximately a third of all people who develop severe cases die, according to the CDC.

Trump doesn’t mention embattled GOP candidate Mark Robinson at North Carolina rally

In this April 9, 2022, file photo, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson joins the stage with former President Donald Trump during a rally in Selma, North Carolina. -- Allison Joyce/Getty Images, FILE

(WILMINGTON, N.C.) -- Former President Donald Trump returned to the key battleground state of North Carolina for a rally Saturday, but declined to mention Mark Robinson -- his party's nominee for governor in the state.

The rally went on amid the allegations surrounding the Republican lieutenant governor, who the former president had previously supported and called "Martin Luther King on steroids."

Robinson, who did not appear at the rally, was accused of posting inflammatory comments on the message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago, according to a report published Thursday from CNN.

The embattled gubernatorial candidate had not been expected to attend Saturday's rally. Trump has not given any indication that he intends to pull his endorsement of Robinson.

In a statement Sunday, Robinson's campaign said four key staffers had "stepped down" from the campaign: general consultant and senior advisor Conrad Pogorzelski, III; campaign manager Chris Rodriguez; finance director Heather Whillier; and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk.

"I appreciate the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign, and I wish them well in their future endeavors. I look forward to announcing new staff roles in the coming days," Robinson said in a statement.

Trump has campaigned for Robinson multiple times during this election cycle, including inviting him to speak at his rallies in North Carolina this year and hosting him at his Mar-a-Lago estate for a fundraiser last year.

People close to the former president told ABC News that they were bracing for the Robinson story on Thursday. The campaign was planning to put more distance between Trump and Robinson, but initially did not have plans to push him to drop out, sources said.

Robinson's beleaguered campaign, however, did come up at a rally headlined by vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Walz insinuated that Trump was no "different" from Robinson.

"We got folks running as Republicans for governor that are proud to refer to themselves as Nazis. Let's not pretend that there's a gradual difference between the folks that are running here– that they're running together," Walz said.

ABC News' Isabella Murray and Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.