“A federal judge took Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to task Monday for their incendiary, out-of-court statements about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran native who was illegally deported from the U.S. to his home country before being brought back to face immigrant-smuggling charges,” Politico reports.

“U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled the Trump Cabinet members violated a local court rule limiting comments by government officials relating to an ongoing criminal case.”

A new memo from centrist think tank Third Way finds an “electorate caught between two unsatisfying extremes: the cruelty of Trump’s policies and the perception that Democrats can’t maintain order at the border,” Politico reports.

“Support for Republicans’ handling of immigration slightly dropped from the last polling in March to September, down to 56% from 62%. But trust for Republicans’ handling of border security held steady at 66%.”

Democrats, meanwhile, “made modest but significant gains: their 30-point deficit on trust in immigration shrank to 20 points. Yet, the 40-point deficit on border security persisted. That’s a crucial distinction — because while voters are softening in their views toward Trump and his party on immigration overall, they still don’t trust Democrats to manage the border responsibly.”