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Biden admin spent hefty sum of US tax dollars to upgrade embassy swimming pools in Iraq, Russia
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The Biden administration’s State Department authorized more than $1 million in taxpayer funds for renovating swimming pools at U.S. embassies and mission residences in war-torn countries such as Haiti, Sudan and Iraq, a report from Sen. Joni Ernst’s office found.
«The Biden State Department threw a blowout summer pool party on your dime,» Ernst, R-Iowa, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
«Bureaucrats might think wasting millions is a drop in the bucket, but I am sick and tired of taxpayers getting tossed in the deep end by Washington,» Ernst added. «I will continue working with the Trump administration to put a stop to the splashy spending of the Biden years.»
Ernst’s office found that the State Department under the Biden administration authorized that two pools in Haiti, five in Iraq, three in Sudan, one in Russia, one in Zimbabwe and one in Ghana be renovated, totaling more than $1.2 million, according to the New York Post, which first reported on the pool renovations on Thursday.
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The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was awarded a whopping $444,000 to replace its indoor dehumidification system for its pool in a contract. (Reuters)
Taxpayers spent $41,259 to rehabilitate the pool at the U.S. embassy in Moscow in a contract inked three months after Russia invaded Ukraine in a war that has continued raging. The purchase order was dated June 3, 2022, through Aug. 15, 2022, after the war began in February that same year.
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Taxpayers spent $41,259 to rehabilitate the pool at the U.S. embassy in Moscow in a contract inked three months after Russia invaded Ukraine in a war that has continued raging. (Reuters )
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was awarded a whopping $444,000 to replace its indoor dehumidification system for its pool in a contract that began on Sept. 27, 2024. While the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, Iraq received over $10,000 to conduct mechanical repairs to its pool, according to the Ernst report reviewed by Fox News Digital.
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In Sudan, taxpayers spent $24,000 in 2021 for the installation of a pool deck. Sudan has notably been under a State Department do not travel advisory «due to armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping,» with the embassy in Khartoum suspending operations in 2023 over the ongoing violent conflicts in the nation.
President Biden’s State Department awarded more than $1 million in taxpayer funds to rehabilitate swimming pools at U.S. embassies, according to a new report from Sen. Ernst’s office. (Getty Images )
Some of the contracts detailed in the report have not been fully paid out, such as a $173,000 award to conduct work on a swimming pool in Indonesia at the embassy in Jakarta.
The federal government has previously been criticized for the amount of taxpayer funds spent on U.S. embassies overseas, including spending hefty sums on artwork under the Obama administration, Fox Digital reported at the time.
U.S. embassies are primarily funded through congressional appropriations to the U.S. Department of State.
Ernst’s report follows months of the Department of Government Efficiency reporting it has saved the federal government billions of dollars amid its ongoing investigations into various federal agencies in search of corruption, overspending and mismanagement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been at the forefront of gutting departments and programs under State’s purview, including shuttering USAID earlier in July for failing to ensure its programs actually supported America’s interests.
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Sen. Joni Ernst’s office published a report in July finding that the Biden administration’s State Department approved more than $1 million in contracts to renovate swimming pools at a handful of U.S. embassies in war-torn countries. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
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«This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end. Under the Trump administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests. As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance. Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies – and which advance American interests – will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency,» Rubio said in comment regarding shuttering USAID.
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«Mi madre gritó una última vez»: un nene palestino de 12 años cuenta cómo las fuerzas israelíes mataron a tiros a su familia dentro del auto en Cisjordania
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Mexican illegal alien allegedly used Roblox currency to solicit explicit content from kids under 10
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FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an arrest detainer request for a Mexican illegal migrant who was charged with soliciting sexual content from children under 10 years old.
Angel David Rubio Marin allegedly used «Robux» in the Roblox video game to entice children to send him sexually explicit videos and images of at least three young children under 10 years old. He was arrested in Prince William County, VA.
Rubio Marin was previously charged with two counts of public masturbation, but was released in Virginia prior to the current charges, according to DHS.
«This sicko preyed on innocent children by offering to pay them in a video game currency in exchange for child pornography,» Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital in a statement. »This illegal alien was RELEASED from jail after an arrest for public masturbation. This case is a perfect example of why we need state and local cooperation with ICE.»
The case highlights criticism of Virginia’s sanctuary-style policies under Governor Abigail Spanberger, who recently ended the 287(g) program and state cooperation with ICE, allowing the illegal migrant suspect to be released back into communities before federal intervention. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Courtesy of ICE)
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«We are calling on Virginia sanctuary politicians and Governor Spanberger to commit to not releasing this child predator back into Virginia neighborhoods,» Bis added. «No one wants this pedophile loose on American streets.»
Roblox is an online video game where users interact via chat. Robux is an in-game currency where players can purchase accessories and items for their character. The game is popular among young children.
Roblox made clear that the platform’s filters make it impossible for users to share images or videos through in-game chat.
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DHS and ICE issued an arrest detainer for Mexican national Angel David Rubio Marin, who allegedly used Robux in Roblox to solicit sexually explicit images and videos from at least three children under 10, after he was previously released from custody in Virginia following charges of public masturbation. (Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Rubio Martin entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown place and time, according to DHS.
The department was quick to bash Democratic Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, who ended cooperation with state agencies and federal immigration authorities through an executive directive in February shortly after her inauguration.
In a statement issued after signing the directive, she argued that requiring state and local officers to take on federal immigration duties diverts them from their primary responsibilities of enforcing Virginia law and investigating crimes.
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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivers an address in Richmond. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
According to Spanberger, shifting those duties can damage relationships between police and residents and create an atmosphere of fear and mistrust that ultimately makes it more difficult for officers to effectively do their jobs.
The directive also reverses the 287(g) program adopted under former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. That policy allowed certain local law enforcement officers to carry out limited immigration enforcement responsibilities under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including helping ensure criminal illegal migrants were not released back into communities and identifying illegal migrants already being held in local jails.
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s office but has not yet heard back.
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston
illegal immigrants,abigail spanberger,homeland security,migrant crime,kristi noem,sex crimes
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Polémica en Bolivia por la intención chilena de construir “barreras físicas” en la frontera
La decisión del Gobierno de Chile de militarizar la frontera con Bolivia y ordenar la construcción de “barreras físicas” genera polémica en el lado boliviano y algunos analistas advierten que viola el Tratado de 1904 que fijó los límites definitivos entre ambos países.
Tras asumir el gobierno el 11 de marzo, el presidente José Antonio Kast firmó un decreto con el que da cumplimiento a su promesa electoral de combatir la migración ilegal y reforzar el control de la frontera norte. “Le encomiendo que nos colabore con la construcción de barreras físicas para detener el ingreso de la migración ilegal”, indicó Kast al jefe del Ejército, Pedro Varela, durante el acto en el que firmó la norma.
La decisión no deja de ser controversial. Horas antes, Rodrigo Paz había asistido a la toma de posesión y manifestó en medios chilenos su voluntad para retomar las relaciones diplomáticas con Chile con mensajes como “siempre es mejor el futuro que el pasado”, “en el vecindario hay que tratarnos de buena manera” o “la lógica es que nos llevemos bien para crecer, nuestras naciones se merecen una mejor relación”.
11 de marzo de 2026
REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido
Para el periodista y analista político Raúl Peñaranda, la noticia del control fronterizo cayó como “un balde de agua fría” en medio de los anuncios sobre el posible restablecimiento de relaciones diplomáticas con Chile. “Paz y Kast se estaban tomando la mano, se estaban dando ‘piquitos’ y este es un balde de agua fría, una señal inamistosa de Chile y va a generar repercusión”, afirmó.
Fuera del nuevo contexto diplomático, también surgieron observaciones sobre la supuesta falta de coherencia entre el decreto y lo dispuesto en acuerdos bilaterales. El expresidente Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé (2005-2006) apuntó que contrasta con el Tratado de 1904 en el que Chile reconoce a Bolivia el más “amplio y libre” derecho de tránsito por su territorio hacia los puertos del Pacífico. Rodríguez agregó que la medida “no es la mejor señal de buena vecindad”.
Otros actores políticos como el excandidato presidencial Samuel Doria Medina también cuestionaron la determinación de Kast. “Le deseo una buena gestión, pero comienza cometiendo un error”, escribió en su cuenta de X.
Según datos oficiales de Chile, cerca de 180.266 bolivianos viven en ese país, lo que representa menos del 10% de los extranjeros residentes. Si bien no se encontraron cifras sobre las nacionalidades de migrantes indocumentados, el Instituto Nacional de Estadística estima que existen cerca de 337.000 extranjeros en situación irregular.
Bolivia y Chile no tienen relaciones diplomáticas plenas desde la década de 1970 por el reclamo boliviano de un acceso soberano al Pacífico. La disputa entre ambos países gira básicamente en torno al reclamo boliviano de acceso soberano al océano Pacífico, perdido en una guerra con Chile en 1884 que constituye el precedente sobre el cual se estableció el Tratado de 1904.
El distanciamiento entre La Paz y Santiago se profundizó en los últimos años a raíz de la demanda marítima interpuesta por Bolivia ante la Corte Internacional de Justicia en 2013 y el juicio que inició Chile ante el mismo organismo por las aguas del Silala en 2016.
La administración de Rodrigo Paz no se ha manifestado oficialmente sobre esta determinación. Sin embargo, en una entrevista radial con el programa Asuntos Centrales, el canciller Fernando Aramayo manifestó: “Lo respetamos; no vamos a ir por encima de la soberanía de los pueblos; necesitamos conversar estos temas y evitar que esto se lea desde una perspectiva negativa”.
En el Legislativo la decisión encuentra posiciones encontradas. Mientras diputados como el opositor José Sánchez expresaron su preocupación, otros como el oficialista Ricardo Rada respaldaron la determinación del Gobierno de Chile. “Cada presidente tiene el derecho de establecer su política de Estado en los límites de su territorio”, afirmó Rada, consultado por el canal RTP.
Mientras la construcción de un muro en medio de ambos países parece inminente, el presidente Paz y el canciller Aramayo apuestan por minimizar el asunto y destacar el avance de una agenda común que incluiría temas comerciales, energéticos y otros.
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