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Tag: Immigration

  • Warriors, Timberwolves game in Minneapolis postponed after federal agents fatally shoot man

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    The NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors was postponed on Saturday afternoon following another fatal shooting by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis.

    The league announced the decision was made to “prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community” after a 37-year-old American citizen was killed by officers on a street in a commercial district less than two miles from Target Center, the downtown arena where the Timberwolves play.

    The man who was killed was identified by family as Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration, The Associated Press is reporting.

    Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said agents shot and killed him after they tried to disarm him but were “violently resisted.”

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said police believe he was a lawful gun owner.

    The Warriors vs. Timberwolves game will now be played on Sunday. The two teams are also scheduled to play on Monday night.

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    AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

    Jose Fabian

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  • Man shot and killed during Minneapolis immigration crackdown

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    A man fatally shot by a federal officer in Minnesota worked as an ICU nurse, his parents say

    By The Associated Press undefined

    A federal officer fatally shot a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, according to a hospital record obtained by The Associated Press. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said in a social media post that he had been in contact with the White House after the shooting. He called on President Donald Trump to end the crackdown in his state. The Minnesota National Guard, which had been activated earlier by Walz, was assisting local police amid growing protests.

     

    A federal immigration officer fatally shot a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigidly cold streets in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a 37-year-old man was killed but declined to identify him. He added that information about what led up to the shooting was limited. The man was identified by his parents as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse. The officer who shot Pretti is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.

    The Minnesota National Guard has been activated by Gov. Tim Walz and is assisting local police amid growing protests. Guard troops are going to both to the shooting site and to a federal building where officials have squared off with protesters daily.

    There have been daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fired into her vehicle. Pretti was killed just over a mile away from where Good was shot.

    The Latest:

    Family: ‘heartbroken but also very angry’

    Pretti’s family released a statement Saturday evening saying they are “heartbroken but also very angry” and calling him a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world through his work as a nurse.

    “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” the statement said.

    “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”

    Gun rights group ‘deeply concerned’ about shooting

    While noting that “many critical facts remain unknown,” the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement that “there has been no evidence produced indicating an intent to harm the officers” and called for an investigation by both state and federal authorities.

    “Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms — including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights,” the group said. “These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed.”

    Federal officials have said Pretti was armed and officers fired defensively after he approached them during an operation and resisted attempts to disarm him. However bystander videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a weapon.

    The Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.

    Another evening rally at a park near the scene of Saturday’s shooting

    People chanted “say his name” in memory of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot earlier in the day by a federal agent.

    One speaker called for sit-ins at congressional offices to urge a halt to funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Another participant said he believes the tide of public opinion is turning in the protesters’ favor.

    Some carried lit candles, and all were bundled up against the frigid nighttime cold.

    After about an hour they went to the scene of the shooting. There were chants of “Resisting ICE is not a crime” and “Observing ICE is not a crime.”

    There were also chants honoring Renee Good, another person who was fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis this month.

    Republican chair of House Homeland Security Committee requests ICE, CBP, USCIS appear before Congress

    Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican who chairs the committee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security, sent a letter to the department requesting three top officials appear for questioning before the committee.

    “As chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, my top priority remains keeping Americans safe and ensuring the Department of Homeland Security can accomplish its core mission,” Garbarino said in a statement. “Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect.”

    Garbarino requested that Immigration and Customs Enforcement senior official Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow appear.

    The public hearing would take place sometime in the next two months. Garbarino previously requested that senior DHS officials appear before the committee in a Jan. 15 letter.

    Schumer: Democrats will block spending bill if it includes Homeland Security funding

    Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Democrats will not vote for a spending package that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security.

    Schumer’s statement increases the possibility that the government could partially shut down Jan. 30 when funding runs out. Several Democrats said Saturday that they will not vote for the bipartisan package of bills, which will need some Democratic votes to pass.

    Democrats say the legislation, which includes money for a broad swath of government agencies, does not include enough restrictions on ICE.

    Schumer said what is happening in Minnesota is “appalling.”

    “Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE,” Schumer said. “I will vote no.”

    Justice Department official says Minnesota leaders ‘created this escalation’

    Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called the shooting an “avoidable tragedy” that is the “result of the total failure of Minnesota’s city and state officials who have resisted federal law enforcement and created this escalation.”

    Blanche said in a statement that the Justice Department will “continue to hold those breaking federal law accountable, including those who harass and violently attack law enforcement in the name of protest.”

    The Department of Homeland Security is leading the investigation into the shooting with assistance from the FBI. The DOJ has not yet indicated whether it would open a civil rights investigation but declined to do so after the earlier shooting, of Renee Good.

    That was a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.

    Dozens of people pay their respects to protester killed by federal agent

    They lit candles, placed flowers and stood in silence at the vigil Saturday evening. As dark fell, hundreds of people gathered somberly and quietly by the growing memorial at the shooting scene.

    Caleb Spike came from a nearby suburb to show his support and his frustration. “It feels like every day something crazier happens,” he said. “What’s happening in our community is wrong, it’s sickening, it’s disgusting.”

    A nearby doughnut shop and clothing store stayed open to offer a place for people to warm up, as well as water, coffee and snacks.

    Democratic senators come out against funding DHS, raising risk of another shutdown

    Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said Saturday that she too would not vote for legislation in the Senate that would fund the Department of Homeland Security.

    In doing so, Cortez Masto joined fellow Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen. The two moderates broke with their party last year on a vote over the last government shutdown.

    Others like Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii have said in the wake of the shooting that they would oppose a DHS funding bill that is part of a spending package in the Senate that aims to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

    Minnesota-born Defense Secretary Hegseth says ICE is greater than Minnesota

    Pete Hegseth posted on the social platform X to thank God for the “patriots” who work for ICE and said, “we have your back 100%.”

    The Pentagon chief added: “Shame on the leadership of Minnesota — and the lunatics in the street. ICE MN.”

    Hegseth was born and raised in Minnesota.

    Nevada Sen. Rosen says she will vote against any government funding package that funds ICE

    Sen. Jacky Rosen, a moderate Democrat from a political swing state, made the announcement Saturday after the fatal shooting in Minneapolis. Rosen was one of eight Democratic senators last year to break ranks with her party and vote with Republicans to move to reopen the government.

    “The abuses of power we are seeing from ICE in Minneapolis and across the country are un-American and cannot be normalized,” Rosen said via the social platform X.

    “Enough is enough. We need to rein in ICE’s out of control conduct,” Rosen said.

    A bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security is part of a package of spending bills that is moving through the Senate to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

    Top Democrat on House Homeland Security Committee calls for Noem impeachment

    Congressman Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached and denounced statements from the administration about the man DHS agents killed.

    “Apparently, the Trump administration and its secret police only support the First and Second Amendments when it’s convenient to them,” Thompson said in a statement.

    Thompson called on Democrats in the U.S. Senate to vote against a funding bill for DHS that passed the lower chamber last week. “This is un-American and has to stop,” Thompson said. “The House must immediately take steps to impeach Kristi Noem.”

    Walz excoriates immigration operations in Minnesota

    Walz issued a statement Saturday calling immigration enforcement “organized brutality.”

    “The federal occupation of Minnesota long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. It is a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state. And today, that campaign claimed yet another life,” Walz said.

    He said the state, and not the federal government, will lead the investigation into the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti.

    Pretti was shot and killed by federal officers amid an immigration operation.

    “Minnesotans and our local law enforcement have done everything we can to deescalate. The federal government must deescalate. I once again call on the President to remove the 3,000 agents from Minnesota who are sowing chaos and violence.”

    Congressional Democrats sharply criticize DHS chief Kristi Noem

    Congressional Democrats responded with immediate outrage to the killing of another person by federal agents in Minneapolis.

    Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, called for ICE to be “abolished” and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached.

    “Trump has created a militarized police force accountable only to him and ready to murder people in our streets. These agents need to leave our cities NOW,” the California Democrat wrote on social media.

    Congressman Brad Schneider, chair of the moderate New Democratic Coalition in the U.S. House, called for an investigation into the shooting and for federal agents to leave Minnesota.

    “Every agent involved in this shooting must be suspended pending a full and independent investigation and ultimately held to account for their actions today,” Schneider said in a statement. “And, Kristi Noem has got to go. She needs to resign or be fired. If not, Congress must act,” the Illinois Democrat continued.

    Man identified who was shot and killed amid Minneapolis immigration operation

    The man who was shot and killed by a federal officer during an immigration operation has been identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti. His parents told The Associated Press that Pretti was an intensive care unit nurse.

    Vance criticizes local authorities for refusing to cooperate with ICE agents

    Vice President JD Vance responded to the shooting in a post on X and said that when he visited Minneapolis this week, “what the ICE agents wanted more than anything was to work with local law enforcement so that situations on the ground didn’t get out of hand.”

    He accused local officials in Minnesota of ignoring requests from ICE agents to work with them.

    Notably, federal officials refused to cooperate with local officials on an investigation into the shooting death of Renee Good on Jan. 7.

    Store owner opens to help protesters amid freezing temperatures

    Allison Bross opened her fashion store, b. Resale, next to the shooting scene for the protesters to grab food, water, use the restroom, receive medical attention and get a warm break from the frigid temperatures outside.

    “We’re a community-based business, we don’t exist without the community,” she said. “So if we hear someone in our neighborhood is getting hurt, I’m going to be here immediately.”

    Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial at a bus stop next to the site of the shooting was taking shape. People left flowers and lit candles.

    Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office asks for National Guard help

    Sheriff Dawanna Witt has requested assistance from the Minnesota National Guard to support deputies at the Whipple Federal Building so that deputies can be assigned to other areas.

    The Minnesota National Guard’s role is to work in support of local law enforcement and emergency responders, providing additional resources, the sheriff’s office said.

    Their presence is meant to help create a secure environment where all Minnesotans can exercise their rights safely, including the right to peacefully protest.

    “We know this moment is challenging for our community. Remember that our local teams are also part of this community. We respect and protect everyone’s rights to voice concerns and stand up for what they believe in, but we urge all actions to remain peaceful and lawful. Our collective priority remains protecting our neighborhoods and keeping people safe,” a statement said.

    Trump weighs in on the shooting in Minneapolis

    Trump posted to his Truth Social account after a man was killed by federal officers during an immigration enforcement action in Minneapolis. Trump’s statement said:

    “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go — What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do! Why does Ilhan Omar have $34 Million Dollars in her account? And where are the Tens of Billions of Dollars that have been stolen from the once Great State of Minnesota? We are there because of massive Monetary Fraud, with Billions of Dollars missing, and Illegal Criminals that were allowed to infiltrate the State through the Democrats’ Open Border Policy. We want the money back, and we want it back, NOW. Those Fraudsters who stole the money are going to jail, where they belong! This is no different than a really big Bank Robbery. Much of what you’re witnessing is a COVER UP for this Theft and Fraud.

    “The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric! Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that has been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States of America. LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB! 12,000 Illegal Alien Criminals, many of them violent, have been arrested and taken out of Minnesota. If they were still there, you would see something far worse than you are witnessing today!”

    DHS says officers fired ‘defensive shots’

    Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

    She said officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”

    Police chief says man shot and killed was a ‘lawful gun owner’

    O’Hara said the man’s only previous interaction with law enforcement as far as he knew was for traffic tickets.

    “And we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,” he said.

    Police chief asks public, law enforcement to remain calm

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara appealed for calm, both from the public and from federal law enforcement, following the shooting of a man.

    “Our demand today is for those federal agencies that are operating in our city to do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that effective law enforcement in this country demands,” the chief said.

    “We urge everyone to remain peaceful. We recognize that there is a lot of anger and a lot of questions around what has happened, but we need people to remain peaceful in the area.”

    Police also clarified that the age of the man shot is 37.

    Angry crowd gathers after shooting of man in Minneapolis

    An angry crowd gathered after the shooting and screamed profanities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home.

    One officer responded mockingly as he walked away, telling them: “Boo hoo.” Agents elsewhere shoved a yelling protester into a car.

    The intersection where the shooting has been blocked off, and Border Patrol agents are on the scene wielding batons.

    The shooting happened a day after thousands of demonstrators protesting the crackdown on immigrants crowded the city’s streets in frigid weather, calling for federal law enforcement to leave.

    Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar expresses outrage at shooting

    Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has expressed outrage at the shooting of a man during an immigration operation.

    “Donald Trump and all your lieutenants who ordered this ICE surge: watch the horrific video of the killing today. The world is watching. Thousands of citizens stopped and harassed. Local police no longer able to do their work. Kids hiding. Schools closed. Get ICE out of Minnesota,” Klobuchar said in a message posted on X.

    Minnesota Democrats react to the shooting

    Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith issued a statement after the shooting of a man during an ICE operation. She said, “We are gathering more information, but ICE must leave now so MPD can secure the scene and do their jobs.”

    Rep. Angie Craig said in a statement that she has seen “my own eyes the video of another horrific killing by ICE agents this morning in Minneapolis. This is sickening.

    “The agency is beyond out of control. How much more evidence do my Republican colleagues in Minnesota need to speak out?”

    Minneapolis police chief calls for calm

    Police Chief Brian O’Hara called for protesters who amassed at the scene of a shooting to stay calm and leave the area. “Please do not destroy our own city,” he said at a news conference.

    Rep. Omar releases statement after Minnesota shooting

    Rep. Ilhan Omar issued a statement after the shooting of a man by federal officers in Minnesota.

    “I am absolutely heartbroken, horrified, and appalled that federal agents murdered another member of our community. It is beyond shameful these federal agents are targeting our residents instead of protecting them,” she said in a statement.

    “This isn’t isolated or accidental. The Trump administration is trying to beat us into submission rather than protect us. … This administration cannot continue violating constitutional rights under the guise of immigration enforcement.”

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  • Tampa protesters decry ICE shooting of Minneapolis man

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    TAMPA, Fla. — The shooting of a protester by a federal immigration officer in Minnesota has sparked protests across the country, including one in Tampa.

    What You Need To Know

    • Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis

    • Demonstrators in Tampa gathered to show solidarity

    • Organizers demand accountability from ICE


    Dozens met outside Tampa City Hall on Saturday evening in response to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

    Demonstrator Mauricio Vasquez said ICE needs to take responsibility.

    “This country has always been based on the respect of human rights, so that’s what we want. Respect for us,” Vasquez said.

    Saturday’s protest was not something that had been planned weeks ahead of time.

    Organizer Joe Nohava said this is a direct response to Saturday morning’s shooting.

    “We’re going to continue to fight no matter what,” Nohava said. “We’re not, you know, gonna leave Minneapolis to fight this fight alone.”

    Nohava said he was at home making breakfast when he found out what happened.

    He said the emotions of another person shot by ICE is what led to the protest, and they want to stand in solidarity with demonstrators in Minneapolis.

    Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him.

    In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.

    DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference later Saturday that Pretti had shown up to “impede a law enforcement operation.” She questioned why he was armed but did not offer detail about whether Pretti drew the weapon or brandished it at officers.

    The officer who shot the man is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Family: Man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis was ICU nurse

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    MINNEAPOLIS — Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

    What You Need To Know

    • Family members say the man who was killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis was an intensive care nurse at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city

    • Thirty-seven-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti was an avid outdoorsman who loved getting in adventures with his dog

    • He had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this month

    • Court records showed he had no criminal record

    Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and had participated in protests following the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs officer .

    “He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”

    Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Good, court records showed he had no criminal record and his family said he had never had any interactions with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets.

    In a recent conversation with their son, his parents, who live in Colorado, told him to be careful when protesting.

    “We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically,” Michael Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew that.”

    The Department of Homeland Security said that the man was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Officials did not specify if Pretti brandished the gun. In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.

    Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota. They said they had never known him to carry it.

    Alex Pretti’s family struggles for information about what happened

    The family first learned of the shooting when they were called by an Associated Press reporter. They watched the video and said the man killed appeared to be their son. They then tried reaching out to officials in Minnesota.

    “I can’t get any information from anybody,” Michael Pretti said Saturday. “The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol’s closed, the hospitals won’t answer any questions.”

    Eventually, the family called the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who they said confirmed had a body matching the name and description of their son.

    As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son’s death.

    Alex Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played football, baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was a Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.

    After graduation, he went to the University of Minnesota, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment, according to the family. He worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.

    Alex Pretti had protested before

    Pretti’s ex-wife, Rachel N. Canoun, said she was not surprised he would have been involved in protesting Trump’s immigration crackdown. She said she had not spoken to him since they divorced more than two years ago and she moved to another state.

    She said he was a Democratic voter and that he had participated in the wave of street protests following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, not far from the couple’s neighborhood. She described him a someone who might shout at law enforcement officers at a protest, but she had never known him to be physically confrontational.

    “These kinds of things, you know, he felt the injustice to it,” Canoun said. “So it doesn’t surprise me that he would be involved.”

    Canoun said Pretti got a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago and that he owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated.

    “He didn’t carry it around me, because it made me uncomfortable,” she said.

    Pretti had ‘a great heart,’ neighbor says

    Pretti lived in a four-unit condominium building about 2 miles from where he was shot. Neighbors described him as quiet and warmhearted.

    “He’s a wonderful person,” said Sue Gitar, who lived downstairs from Pretti and said he moved into the building about three years ago. “He has a great heart.”

    If there was something suspicious going on in the neighborhood, or when they worried the building might have a gas leak, he would jump in to help.

    Pretti lived alone and worked long hours as a nurse, but he was not a loner, his neighbors said, and would sometimes have friends over.

    His neighbors knew he had guns — he’d occasionally take a rifle to shoot at a gun range — but were surprised at the idea that he might carry a pistol on the streets.

    “I never thought of him as a person who carried a gun,” said Gitar.

    Pretti was also passionate about the outdoors

    A competitive bicycle racer who lavished care on his new Audi, Pretti had also been deeply attached to his dog, who died about a year ago.

    His parents said their last conversation with their son was a couple days before his death. They talked about repairs he had done to the garage door of his home. The worker was a Latino man, and they said with all that was happening in Minneapolis he gave the man a $100 tip.

    Pretti’s mother said her son cared immensely about the direction the county was headed, especially the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations.

    “He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land,” Susan Pretti said. “He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.”

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  • Immigration expert urges families seeking asylum to prepare after 5-year-old boy taken into custody by ICE

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    There’s growing concern over how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents handled a situation involving a preschool student in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.

    It’s an image that’s struck a chord across the country. The picture of 5-year-old Liam Ramos flanked by ICE agents shortly after they arrested his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo-Arrias. The federal agency said he abandoned his son in the car outside their home. Conejo-Arrias had just picked up his son from preschool.

    The pair is now being held in Texas at what ICE calls its least restrictive holding facility for families.

    “My officers did everything they could to reunite him with his family. Tragically, when we approached the door of his residence, people inside refused to take him in and open the door,” said Marcus Charles, acting executive director of ICE.

    School officials have a different view of what happened, claiming Ramos was being used as bait so agents could enter the home to find more family members.

    ICE officials were asked Friday if Conejo-Arrias had a criminal history.

    “He was in the United States illegally and I believe he had been ordered removed,” Charles said, before adding that the entire family entered the country illegally as a unit.

    Mark Prokosch, the lawyer representing Conejo-Arrias’ family, said the father has no criminal record and that the family is in the process of seeking asylum. They came from Ecuador in 2024 and entered the U.S. through a port of entry using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection app. 

    “Every step of their immigration process has been doing what they’ve been asked to do,” said Prokosch.

    Immigration experts tell WCCO that asylum seekers are legally allowed to be in the U.S., only facing deportation if they commit a crime or there’s an order to remove them.

    “Typically, [ICE] have not detained asylum seekers who haven’t posed a threat to public safety,” said Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum.

    CBS News has reviewed Department of Justice documents related to the Conejo-Arrias’ family that show they have an active and pending case in immigration court. The documents do not list any deportation orders.

    CBS News was able to review the government information after obtaining the “alien” numbers issued to Ramos and his father. Those “A numbers” are issued by the U.S. government to immigrants, illegal and legal alike, to internally track their deportation cases or immigration applications.

    Given what happened to Conejo-Arrias, Murray wants other families seeking asylum in the U.S. to prepare themselves. She suggests they come up with a plan if a family member is detained by ICE, including memorizing phone numbers for immigration lawyers. 

    “So that even if your phone is removed from you or your wallet, you’re able to still contact your lawyer,” said Murray.

    Camilo Montoya-Galvez

    contributed to this report.

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    Jeff Wagner

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  • Minnesota businesses close in solidarity with anti-ICE protestors, but keep working to feed them

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    A marching protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis Friday afternoon happened as a widespread work stoppage across Minnesota, as organizers called for a day of no work, no school and no shopping.

    An estimated 300 businesses closed for the day to send a message calling for ICE to leave the state. Some, however, chose to keep their doors open — not for business, but for community.

    At The Lotus Restaurant, the sign outside Friday read “closed,” but inside the lights were on and free food was being served.

    “We figured, you know, we open the doors and serve free food to the community today. Closing is one thing, but we wanted to make an impact, and we figured what better way to do that than to give people a warm bowl of soup,” Yoom Nguyen, who runs the restaurant, said. 

    Nguyen said subzero temperatures brought many people inside for warmth, with most stopping in before heading to rallies supporting immigrants and protesting ICE.

    “It’s something that we have to do to be here to protect each other, protect immigrants and to protect this community,” said Rabbi David Cooper, who traveled from Oakland, California, to join hundreds of faith leaders participating in the protests.

    For Nguyen, the decision to open the restaurant was not political.

    “It just feels right,” Nguyen said. “It’s not about politics for us, it’s just feels right. This is what we are supposed to do. This is like our calling, I feel like, (to) help the community.”

    Nguyen said offering food and warmth felt more meaningful than staying home with the restaurant closed.

    “This is not about money for us,” Nguyen said. “We’ve been here since 1984. This community embraced our family when we were going through tough times, and (we) feel it’s our turn to return that favor, bring some hope and some joy and some warmth to people.”

    The Lotus was not alone. The coffee shop Pilllar Forum also closed its sales for the day but kept its doors open to provide free coffee and a warm place to gather. Both businesses said the goal was to bring people together.

    “We are nothing without this community,” Nguyen said. “We wouldn’t be The Lotus without them.”

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    Reg Chapman

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  • MN Isn’t That Far Off From 19th-Century SC | RealClearPolitics

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    Trump has a momentous choice ahead of him: stand firm against chaos or allow the situation to spiral out of control.

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  • Progressive Dem Jasmine Crockett targets Trump deportation flights with new ‘TRACK ICE’ bill

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    Progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is moving to restrain President Donald Trump‘s crackdown on illegal immigration via a bill to create new transparency mandates on federal flights.

    Crockett’s legislation is called the “Transparency Requirements for Aircraft Carriers to Know Immigration Conduct and Enforcement Act,” or the TRACK ICE Act.

    She introduced it this week alongside Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., another Democrat who has made headlines for clashing with Trump.

    The bill would make it easier to track detention and deportation flights commissioned by the federal government, as well as mandate new transparency disclosures for who is detained.

    ICE FUNDING BILL DRAWS FIRE FROM LEFT AND RIGHT AS SHUTDOWN DEADLINE NEARS

    Rep. Jasmine Crockett introduced a new bill aimed at tracking President Donald Trump’s deportation flights. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival; John McDonnell/Getty Images)

    “For far too long, the federal government has operated immigration flights without full transparency. These ghost flights are tearing families apart, leaving loved ones in the dark, and giving immigration agencies free rein to act without oversight, transparency, and justice. It is Congress’s job to ensure they aren’t operating above the law,” Crockett said in a statement on the legislation.

    It comes as Democrats push to impose new guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the wake of fierce demonstrations in Minneapolis. Tensions erupted there after an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in her car. 

    Good was accused by Trump administration figures of impeding ICE operations at the time of her death, while Democrats have said the ICE agent who shot Good acted recklessly and even merits a criminal investigation.

    Federal agents walk on a city street in Minneapolis.

    ICE agents stand at the scene where a woman was fatally shot earlier in the day during an enforcement operation on Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Christopher Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    TRUMP ADMIN WARNS OF ‘WIDESCALE DOXXING’ OF ICE IF HOUSE DEM’S NEW BILL PASSES

    Crockett’s bill would mandate public disclosure of immigration flights commissioned by ICE or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) within 72 hours of them taking place. 

    Details like aircraft identification code, departure and arrival times, and ICE Air mission designations would all need to be made public.

    It would also require disclosure of detainees’ information including nationality, age group, sex and family status.

    Critics of Democrats’ transparency efforts have said forcing ICE to disclose too much information could endanger agents and targets of federal operations.

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

    But people on the left are contending that the agency operates with too much impunity.

    Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a response to the bill.

    Deportation flights have sharply increased under Trump, rising 44% between 2024 and 2025 according to Human Rights First.

    Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

    Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

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  • What percent of ICE detainees have criminal histories?

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    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the majority of immigrants in federal immigration detention have a criminal history.

    She made the statement during a lengthy and somewhat confusing back-and-forth with CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan Jan. 18 on “Face the Nation“:

    Brennan: “What’s the breakdown of the percentage of those you have in custody who have actually committed a criminal offense versus just the civil infraction?”

    Noem: “Every single individual has committed a crime, but 70% of them have committed or have charges against them on violent crimes, and crimes that they are charged with or have been convicted of, that have come from other countries that are here illegally, first of all. And then they have committed a criminal act while they’ve been here or in their home countries as well.”

    Brennan: “It’s not 70%.”

    Noem: “Yes, it is. It absolutely is, Margaret. You guys keep changing your percentage, you pick and choose what numbers you think work, but that is the facts, is that 70% of the people that we have detained have charges against them or have been convicted of charges.”

    Brennan: “OK, well, our reporting is that 47% — based on your agency’s own numbers — 47% have criminal convictions against them.”

    Noem’s comments could be taken a number of ways. At first, Noem’s wording made it sound like she was referencing people with violent criminal convictions or charges. But she also talked about pending charges. And Brennan asked Noem about people currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, but Noem’s wording made it sound like she was describing detention more broadly under Trump’s entire first year in office.

    Analysis of government data shows most people the government has detained have not committed violent crimes. And people who are facing criminal charges aren’t necessarily accused of a violent crime, and they could be acquitted.

    While campaigning in 2024, President Donald Trump promised to prioritize deporting violent criminals, and he has since tried to assure Americans that’s what his administration is doing.

    “We’re looking to get the criminals out right now, the criminals,” Trump said at a Jan. 20 press conference marking the one-year anniversary of his second term in office. “We’re focused on the murderers, the drug dealers.”

    Entering the U.S. illegally is generally a misdemeanor and being in the U.S. illegally is generally a civil offense.

    The percentage of immigrants who have criminal convictions or pending charges varies depending on the data’s time frame: Are we talking about Trump’s first year in office? Or are we taking snapshots of who’s in detention at any given time. Either way, Noem’s figure is higher than what the data reflects. Currently, about half of immigrants in ICE detention have criminal convictions or pending charges. But when we look at all immigrants who have been federally detained since Trump took office for his second term, the number goes up to approximately 64%.

    The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to our request for comment. Here’s a breakdown of the numbers.

    Have 70% of detained immigrants committed violent crimes?

    Independent data analyses have found the percentage of detained immigrants convicted of violent offenses to be far below 70%.

    But the figure is hard to quantify. DHS’ public data shows how many immigrants have been convicted or charged with a crime, but not what type of crime. So the group could include people who have been convicted of rape or murder as well as those convicted of property theft or traffic violations.

    An October analysis by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, found that 5% of detainees from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15 had been convicted of violent crime. Most detainees with a criminal conviction were found guilty of traffic violations.

    The New York Times reached a similar conclusion, finding that from Jan. 20 to Oct. 15, 7% of immigrants arrested by ICE had violent convictions.

    Do 70% of immigrants currently in detention have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges?

    No, the percentage is about half. ICE periodically updates public-facing statistics about people who are in immigration detention. According to the latest data — from Jan. 7 — 68,990 people were in detention.

    Of those, 17,729 were listed as having criminal convictions and 17,881 were facing pending criminal charges. That means about 26% of detained immigrants had a criminal conviction and another 26% had pending criminal charges. So about 52% of detained immigrants had either a criminal conviction or pending criminal charge.

    Looking at a more recent time frame, CBS News reported Jan. 16 that internal DHS data showed a record-high of about 73,000 immigrants in ICE detention. About 47% of those detainees had criminal convictions or pending charges, CBS reported. Brennan cited this figure on air.

    The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research group that uses Freedom of Information Act requests to analyze government data, charts detention data snapshots taken twice a month. The percentage of immigrants with criminal convictions or pending charges during Trump’s first year in office ranged from 41% to 57%.

    Do 70% of all the immigrants detained during Trump’s second term have criminal convictions or pending charges? 

    The best figures suggest it’s in that ballpark. University of California Los Angeles researchers at the Deportation Data Project collect and publish immigration data received via FOIA requests. A PolitiFact analysis of its data from Jan. 20, 2025, to Oct. 15 found 64% of immigrants who have been detained under Trump’s second term had either a criminal conviction or pending criminal charge.

    About 66% of immigrants ICE arrested from Jan. 20, 2025, to Oct. 15 had criminal convictions or pending charges. Not everyone ICE arrests ends up in detention because there’s limited space.

    The share of detained immigrants who have criminal charges or convictions has “fallen rapidly,” David Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, said. So it’s “bad faith to ignore the more recent share” of immigrants who have been booked into detention.

    It’s important to note that people with pending charges may never be convicted of a crime; the charges could be dismissed, or they could be found innocent. Many people will miss their day in a U.S. court because they were deported.

    About 30% of immigrants detained during Trump’s first year had criminal convictions, the Deportation Data Project found.

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  • ICE takes 5-year-old boy and his father after using boy as

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    School district officials in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, say their sense of security is shaken and their hearts shattered after four students from the district were recently taken by officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    The Columbia Heights Public School District says two children were taken on Tuesday, including a 17-year-old boy on his way to school. He was removed from his car and taken away.

    Then in the afternoon, 5-year-old Liam Ramos was taken with his father while in their driveway after just arriving home from his preschool classroom. School officials say the child was used as bait to knock on the door and ask to be let in, letting officers see if anyone else was home.

    “Why detain a 5-year-old? You can’t tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” said Superintendent Zena Stenvik.

    The Department of Homeland Security later said that the child was not targeted by ICE, but was “abandoned” by his father. It said his father fled federal agents as they approached his vehicle, leaving the child. DHS said the father, whom they described as an illegal alien from Ecuador, was later taken into custody as other ICE officers stayed with the child. 

    School officials say there was an adult there who offered to take the child, but ICE did not allow that. 

    Federal officials said on Thursday that the boy and his father are together at an immigration processing center in Dilley, Texas.

    An attorney for the Ramos family, Marc Prokosch, and the school district deny that Liam was abandoned by his father.

    Prokosch said Liam and his father entered the U.S. legally from Ecuador and Liam’s father doesn’t appear to have a criminal record.

    The Ecuadorian government said its consulate in Minneapolis contacted ICE as soon as it got word that Liam was being held, adding that it is “monitoring the situation of the child in order to safeguard their safety and well-being.”

    Two weeks ago, a 10-year-old student in fourth grade was taken by ICE agents on her way to elementary school with her mother. During the arrest, the child called her father on the phone to tell her that ICE agents were bringing her to school. The father then came to the school to find out that both his daughter and wife had been taken.

    School officials say both children and their parents are being held in a detention center in Texas. They say Liam Ramos’ family is following U.S. legal parameters and has an active asylum case with no order of deportation.

    The school officials also said they don’t know what happened. They want the public to get involved as this is happening to students all across the state of Minnesota. 

    “We are asking to please reach out to your congressional representative to ask for an immediate and peaceful resolution to this occupation,” Stenvik said. “Please help us and other schools to again be a safe place where all belong and all succeed.”

    The district also has an immigration lawyer to help figure out how to get the students back to Minnesota.

    Meanwhile, district officials say ICE continues to hang out around their schools — keeping kids, parents and staff on edge.

    In:

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    Reg Chapman

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  • ICE deports Maryland father despite ‘do not remove’ orders

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    Federal immigration authorities removed a Maryland father to El Salvador on Tuesday despite two court orders saying not to.During an emergency hearing Thursday at federal court in Baltimore, a federal judge examined what happened to Jose Serrano-Maldonado.Federal authorities admitted they made a mistake, conceding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated court orders filed in the system, even with a banner in Serrano-Maldonado’s file that said, “Do not remove.”But the feds couldn’t say why they did it anyway.The judge called this a very bad situation and demanded to know, in writing, exactly who took what steps, when and why.Serrano-Maldonado’s immigration attorney, Anna Alyssa Tijerina, is fighting for his immediate return to the United States, telling the judge that her client’s life is in danger.”He told me he is going to try and remain in his house as much as possible until this is resolved. He told me he wants to come back to the United States, even if it’s back to the detention center,” Tijerina told sister station WBAL-TV.Assistant U.S. Attorney Beatrice Thomas offered no comment outside the court when asked questions by WBAL. In court, Thomas told the judge that the government is working to fly Serrano-Maldonado back on “ICE Air” but that there’s a lot of red tape and it could take many days.The judge ordered status updates to be filed daily until Serrano-Maldonado is returned to the U.S. It’s unlikely that those daily status updates will be accessible publicly because the government said it plans to file the updates under preliminary seal.”I can’t imagine being in (the family’s) position of knowing, not knowing. At least, ‘There’s no new update today,’ is an update, right? They know something, they know that nothing was done today, but something will be done tomorrow,” Tijerina told WBAL. “For the sake of my client, for the sake of my client’s life in El Salvador, and for the sake of his family, I hope that this gets resolved quickly.”Thursday’s hearing was the first of three immigration hearings for this sole judge in the single courtroom on just one day.

    Federal immigration authorities removed a Maryland father to El Salvador on Tuesday despite two court orders saying not to.

    During an emergency hearing Thursday at federal court in Baltimore, a federal judge examined what happened to Jose Serrano-Maldonado.

    Federal authorities admitted they made a mistake, conceding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated court orders filed in the system, even with a banner in Serrano-Maldonado’s file that said, “Do not remove.”

    But the feds couldn’t say why they did it anyway.

    The judge called this a very bad situation and demanded to know, in writing, exactly who took what steps, when and why.

    Serrano-Maldonado’s immigration attorney, Anna Alyssa Tijerina, is fighting for his immediate return to the United States, telling the judge that her client’s life is in danger.

    “He told me he is going to try and remain in his house as much as possible until this is resolved. He told me he wants to come back to the United States, even if it’s back to the detention center,” Tijerina told sister station WBAL-TV.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Beatrice Thomas offered no comment outside the court when asked questions by WBAL. In court, Thomas told the judge that the government is working to fly Serrano-Maldonado back on “ICE Air” but that there’s a lot of red tape and it could take many days.

    The judge ordered status updates to be filed daily until Serrano-Maldonado is returned to the U.S. It’s unlikely that those daily status updates will be accessible publicly because the government said it plans to file the updates under preliminary seal.

    “I can’t imagine being in (the family’s) position of knowing, not knowing. At least, ‘There’s no new update today,’ is an update, right? They know something, they know that nothing was done today, but something will be done tomorrow,” Tijerina told WBAL. “For the sake of my client, for the sake of my client’s life in El Salvador, and for the sake of his family, I hope that this gets resolved quickly.”

    Thursday’s hearing was the first of three immigration hearings for this sole judge in the single courtroom on just one day.

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  • What legal rights do you have in encounters with ICE?

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    Videos of confrontations between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Minneapolis residents have flooded social media, showing some of the 3,000 officers who are deployed in the city stopping, questioning and detaining residents.

    In one case, immigration agents escorted a U.S. citizen who is a grandfather of Hmong ancestry out of his house in his underwear in freezing weather. In another case, a father of a 5-year-old girl was briefly detained and zip-tied after he said a federal agent falsely accused him of not being a U.S. citizen because of his accent. The agency is also under scrutiny for reportedly dispatching a 5-year-old boy to knock on the front door of his home to lure relatives outside before agents then took the child into custody.

    The events have sparked protests and prompted confusion over what ICE is legally allowed to do in public and private locations. Are there limits on when and how ICE can approach or detain you? Does the law differentiate between encounters in public versus a private space, such as a home? And is the Supreme Court becoming more tolerant of aggressive ICE actions?

    Legal experts weighed in on the public’s constitutional protections from immigration stops and detentions.

    What rights do people have when approached by ICE?

    Federal law gives immigration agents the authority to arrest and detain people believed to have violated immigration law. But everyone — including immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally — is protected against unreasonable searches and seizures under the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.

    “All law enforcement officers, including ICE, are bound by the Constitution,” said Alexandra Lopez, managing partner of a Chicago-based law firm specializing in  immigration cases.

    The Fourth Amendment doesn’t stop ICE from trying to deport people who have broken immigration law, but it has traditionally constrained the agency. The more extensive an enforcement action is, the higher the bar for immigration officers to justify their actions.

    For example, officers can question someone in a public place, but more extensive interactions — such as a brief detention that’s not a formal arrest — require a “reasonable suspicion” that someone has committed a crime or is in the U.S. illegally, the Supreme Court has ruled.

    Reasonable suspicion “has to be more than a guess or a presumption,” said Michele Goodwin, a Georgetown University law professor. To meet this standard, a reasonable person would need to suspect that a crime was being committed, had been committed or would be committed.

    Agents must meet an even higher bar to arrest someone. They need “probable cause,” which generally requires enough evidence or information to suggest a person has committed a crime.

    What is a “Kavanaugh stop”?

    Historically, the Supreme Court has ruled that racial or ethnic profiling is unconstitutional. But a recent opinion by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh gave ICE increased discretion to use race as a factor for stopping and questioning people. 

    In the 2025 case Noem v. Perdomo, Kavanaugh was one of six justices who voted to stay a lower court ruling in favor of plaintiffs challenging federal immigration enforcement tactics in Los Angeles. Kavanaugh wrote that “apparent ethnicity” could be used as a “relevant factor” in determining reasonable suspicion, as long as it was combined with other factors and not used on its own.

    Before Kavanaugh wrote this, courts had “often ruled that agents could not stop someone just because they ‘looked like an immigrant’ or were in a high-crime area,” Lopez said. But if immigration officers follow Kavanaugh’s guidance, “it gives ICE a lot more discretion and justification to profile.”

    Critics of Kavanaugh’s opinion “argue that the ‘relevant factor’ language invites abuse, opening the door to ethnic profiling,” said Rodney Smolla, a Vermont Law and Graduate School professor.

    But Kavanaugh’s opinion was not co-signed by other justices, and it came from a procedural ruling rather than a substantive one, so its legal impact might be limited. The Supreme Court “has not made a definitive ruling on ‘Kavanaugh stops’ and their permissibility,” said Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor. 

    Somin and other legal analysts have said Kavanaugh appeared to dial back his support for race or ethnicity as a factor when he wrote a different opinion several months later, in Trump v. Illinois, which stopped the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard in Illinois.

    Chongly (Scott) Thao, a U.S. citizen, at his home on Jan. 19, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn., the day after federal agents broke open his door and detained him without a warrant. (AP)

    Do people’s rights differ inside their homes versus in a public space?

    The Supreme Court has generally ruled that, unless a resident grants consent, law enforcement cannot enter a private home without a warrant signed by a judge, which requires the government to provide evidence showing probable cause.

    “This means a person inside the house generally need not open the door, need not converse with the agent, and may require the agent to slip the warrant under the door or hold it to a window,” Smolla said. There are some exceptions, such as if an officer encounters a violent crime in progress, or someone needing medical care.

    Securing a judicial warrant is time consuming and is typically reserved for high-priority cases in which people are suspected of crimes beyond immigration violations, Lopez said. “It’s much easier for ICE to arrest individuals in public,” she said.

    In the past, federal immigration officers typically would not forcibly enter homes if they only had an administrative warrant issued by ICE itself, without a judge’s approval. Some lower courts have ruled in the past that entering homes without a judicial warrant violates the Fourth Amendment.

    Specific ICE officials have authority to issue administrative warrants. The warrants require “probable cause to believe” that the person named in the warrant is subject to removal. But they are not reviewed by anyone in the judicial branch.

    A leaked ICE memo approved entering homes without consent using an administrative warrant alone, as long as a final order of removal has been issued, The Associated Press reported Jan. 22. 

    The AP, citing a whistleblower disclosure, said the memo has been used to train new ICE officers, and “those still in training are being told to follow the memo’s guidance instead of written training materials that actually contradict the memo.”

    The May 12, 2025, memo, signed by ICE acting director Todd Lyons, said the Department of Homeland Security “has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence” but added that “the DHS Office of the General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose.”

    If this policy were to be challenged in court, it’s unclear whether it would be ruled constitutional.

    What can people do if they think ICE has infringed on their Fourth Amendment rights?

    If you believe that your rights were violated, perhaps causing an injury or property loss, your options for suing for compensation are limited. 

    Unlike many state laws, federal law generally prohibits civil lawsuits against federal officials for violating people’s rights. A 1971 Supreme Court decision briefly loosened these prohibitions, before tightening them again.

    Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California-Berkeley’s law school, and Burt Neuborne, a New York University emeritus law professor, wrote, “In one case, the Supreme Court held that people who had been illegally thrown off the Social Security disability rolls and were left without income could not sue, even though they had been given no due process. In another, the court declared that a man dying of cancer after the prison repeatedly denied him any medical care could not sue.”

    David Rudovsky, a University of Pennsylvania law professor, said there might be an opportunity to sue under a different law, the Federal Tort Claims Act. 

    Still, he said, plaintiffs would face a steep challenge: “It’s not an easy path, and most people can’t afford to retain a lawyer.” 

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  • Maine’s governor demands data on immigration arrests as fear spreads amid enforcement surge

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    PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s Democratic governor challenged federal immigration officials Thursday to provide arrest warrants, real-time arrest numbers and basic information about who is being detained in a sweeping enforcement operation in her state, saying residents have been left largely in the dark as fear spreads through immigrant communities.

    “If they have warrants, show the warrants. In America, we don’t believe in secret arrests or secret police,” Gov. Janet Mills said at a news conference, adding state officials do not know where detainees are being held.

    Mills said that President Donald Trump’s office has not returned her phone calls regarding the operation launched this week. Federal officials have said about 50 arrests were made the first day and that roughly 1,400 people are targets of the crackdown in the mostly rural state of 1.4 million residents, 4 percent of whom are foreign-born and fewer here illegally.

    The operation in Maine comes as confrontations continue between demonstrators in Minnesota with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents. ICE is under scrutiny in that state following an agent’s fatal shooting of Renee Good.

    The enforcement activity has sparked anxiety in Maine’s largest cities, including Portland and Lewiston, which are home to sizable immigrant and refugee populations, particularly from African nations. Community leaders say some families are staying indoors, avoiding work and keeping children home from school out of fear of arrest.

    Mills said the lack of information has made it difficult for state officials to assess the scope or justification for the operation.

    “I’d be curious to know more about their so-called target,” she said. “Why Maine? Why now? What were the orders that came from above? Who’s giving the orders? We’ve reached out, we’ve asked questions. We have no answers.”

    Mills said she would be “shocked” if federal agents could substantiate claims that such a large number of people in Maine have criminal charges against them.

    “Mostly we’re hearing reports of people who have not been engaged in criminal activity,” she said. “If someone has evidence of criminal activity, we want to hear about it.”

    Mills said school districts have gone “on alert,” particularly in Portland and Lewiston, and that some students have not been attending classes. She also said businesses that rely heavily on immigrant labor have reported disruptions.

    “People are being torn from their families and from young children, people who are part of the workforce here in Maine — the workforce we desperately need and desperately value,” Mills said.

    The enforcement surge has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats in Maine, who say the operation is unnecessarily disruptive in a state with a relatively small undocumented population.

    Portland Public Schools said earlier this week that two schools briefly went into a “lockout” to prevent anyone from entering during the school day amid concerns about nearby enforcement activity, though officials said no threat was ultimately found and the lockouts were lifted within minutes.

    Mills emphasized that people are legally allowed to record law enforcement activity in public, as long as they do not interfere with officers.

    The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for updated arrest numbers, warrant information or details about where detainees are being held.

    DHS previously said the operation targets what it described as “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” citing arrests involving convictions for aggravated assault, false imprisonment and child endangerment.

    Maine’s top federal prosecutor has urged any demonstrations to remain peaceful and warned that people who interfere with federal agents could face prosecution. Mills said the state respects the law but questions the need for what she described as a heavy-handed approach.

    A small group of demonstrators gathered Thursday afternoon outside an ICE field office in Scarborough. College student Ava Gleason of Scarborough said she joined the protest to signal opposition to what she described as fear spreading through the community.

    “Maine is one of those places where you look out for your neighbors,” Gleason said. “We’re a community, and to see people come in and rip that apart is terrifying.”

    In downtown Portland, resident Dave Cowie held a cardboard sign reading “Due Process” in red and blue. He said he was concerned about the scope of immigration enforcement and raised questions about whether new recruits were getting enough training.

    “People are being snatched off the street, taken to undisclosed locations,” Cowie said. “We’re being told we have to prove our citizenship — not everyone walks around with a passport in their pocket.”

    Cowie cited a recently disclosed internal ICE memo o btained by The Associated Press that authorizes agents, under certain circumstances, to forcibly enter homes without a judge’s warrant, relying instead on administrative warrants.

    “These agents are not well trained for crowd control, and they believe they have rights they do not,” Cowie said. “It flies in the face of the Constitution.”

    __

    Willingham reported from Boston.

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  • Virginia’s New AG Jones Fights DOJ on In-State Tuition for Immigrant Students

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    Days after taking office, Attorney General Jay Jones (D) is reversing his predecessor’s position on the Trump administration’s fight against in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.

    Yesterday (Wednesday), Jones filed a motion to withdraw from an agreement that former Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) made with the U.S. Department of Justice in a bid to invalidate the Virginia Dream Act of 2020.

    The Justice Department challenged the Virginia law, which allows undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Dec. 29. A day later, Miyares joined the DOJ in seeking to have the court declare the law invalid and prevent it from being enforced.

    “On day one, I promised Virginians I would fight back against the Trump Administration’s attacks on our Commonwealth, our institutions of higher education, and most importantly – our students,” Jones said in a statement. “Virginians deserve leaders who will put them the first, and that’s exactly what my office will continue to do.”

    The DOJ declined to comment to ARLnow on Jones’ action, citing the pending litigation.

    The Virginia Dream Act of 2020 provides in-state tuition rates to higher education students meeting Virginia high school attendance requirements, regardless of their immigration status. The DOJ alleges that this discriminates against out-of-state U.S. citizens who cannot receive the same in-state tuition rates as undocumented immigrants living in Virginia.

    “This is a simple matter of federal law: in Virginia and nationwide, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a news release announcing the litigation. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”

    Several groups, including the Legal Aid Justice Center, ACLU of Virginia and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, filed motions to intervene in the lawsuit after the consent judgment.

    “These are Virginia students who grew up in the Commonwealth, graduated from our high schools, contribute to our communities, and made life-altering decisions for their futures relying on a state law that has existed for years,” said Rohmah Javed, the director of the Immigrant Justice Program at the Legal Aid Justice Center. “They are Virginians in every way that matters, and they deserve someone to stand up and fight for them.”

    The DOJ has pursued similar in-state tuition lawsuits in Texas, Kentucky, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and California.

    This story was originally published by ARLnow and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

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  • VP JD Vance to discuss “restoring law and order in Minnesota” in Thursday’s visit

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    Vice President JD Vance will be in Minneapolis on Thursday for a roundtable with local leaders and community members amid the federal government’s immigration crackdown in the state. Follow live updates on the ICE surge here.

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  • Immigration officials allow suspect in $100M jewelry heist to self deport, avoiding trial

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    LOS ANGELES — Federal immigration authorities allowed a suspect in a $100 million jewelry heist believed to be the largest in U.S. history to deport himself to South America in December, a move that stunned and upset prosecutors who were planning to try the case and send him to prison.

    Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores was one of seven people charged last year with stalking an armored truck to a rural freeway rest stop north of Los Angeles and stealing millions worth of diamonds, emeralds, gold, rubies and designer watches in 2022.

    Flores faced up to 15 years in federal prison if convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Flores in late December after he requested voluntary departure, prosecutors said in court filings.

    ICE did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

    Flores’ attorney, John D. Robertson, motioned to dismiss the indictment against his client, asking for the charges to be permanently dropped and the case closed.

    Federal prosecutors oppose the motion and say they still hope to bring Flores to trial, asking for charges to be dropped “without prejudice” to keep the door open for criminal prosecution in the future.

    Despite Flores being a lawful permanent resident and released on bail, he was taken into ICE custody in September, according to court filings from his defense attorneys. Federal prosecutors say they were unaware Flores had an immigration detainer.

    This was a violation of his criminal prosecution rights and warrants his case getting dismissed, Robertson said in his motion.

    Flores opted for deportation to Chile during a Dec. 16 immigration hearing, according to court documents. The judge denied his voluntary departure application but issued a final order of removal, and he was sent to Ecuador.

    “Prosecutors are supposed to allow the civil immigration process to play out independently while criminal charges are pending,” federal prosecutors wrote in their motion opposing the case dismissal. “That is exactly what they did in this case — unwittingly to defendant’s benefit in that he will now avoid trial, and any potential conviction and sentence, unless and until he returns to the United States.”

    What happened to Flores is extremely unusual, especially in a case of this significance, former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson said.

    Ordinarily, if a criminal defendant had immigration proceedings against them — which is common — immigration officials would inform prosecutors what was happening. In minor cases, a defendant can sometimes choose to self-deport in lieu of prosecution.

    “It’s just beyond me how they would deport him without the prosecutors … being in on the conversation,” Levenson said. “This really was the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing.”

    The jewelers who were stolen from are also demanding answers.

    “When a defendant in a major federal theft case leaves the country before trial, victims are left without answers, without a verdict, and without closure,” Jerry Kroll, an attorney for some of the jewelry companies, told the Los Angeles Times.

    The infamous jewelry heist unfolded in July 2022 after the suspects scouted the Brink’s tractor-trailer leaving an international jewelry show near San Francisco with dozens of bags of jewels, according to the indictment. While the victims reported more than $100 million in losses, Brink’s said the stolen items were worth less than $10 million.

    A lawsuit filed by the Brink’s security company said one of the drivers was asleep inside the big rig and the other was getting food inside the rest stop when the thieves broke in.

    ___

    Schoenbaum reported from Park City, Utah.

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  • Internal memo authorizes ICE to enter homes without judicial warrants in some cases

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    A newly disclosed whistleblower complaint indicates that Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorized its officers to enter homes without judicial warrants in the cases of people with deportation orders, a sweeping reversal of longstanding rules.

    Historically, ICE has told its officers that they could not rely on administrative immigration warrants — signed by officials at the agency, not judges — to enter people’s homes, due to constitutional protections against warrantless searches.

    But a May 2025 memo disclosed Wednesday by two U.S. government whistleblowers gave ICE officers permission to use those administrative immigration warrants to enter residences by force to arrest unauthorized immigrants who had been ordered deported by an immigration judge or court.

    The directive, signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, says, “Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of the General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose.”

    Lyons’ memo empowered ICE officers to use the “necessary and reasonable amount of force to enter the alien’s residence” if the targets of operations do not allow them inside. 

    Before any forced entry, ICE officers should knock on the residence’s door and identify themselves. The memo also directed officers to conduct such operations targeting those with deportation orders after 6 a.m. and before 10 p.m.

    Asked about the previously undisclosed directive, which was reported by The Associated Press earlier Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said those affected by the memo had been given “full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge.”

    “The officers issuing these administrative warrants also have found probable cause,” McLaughlin argued in her statement. “For decades, the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized the propriety of administrative warrants in cases of immigration enforcement.”

    The directive is likely to trigger legal challenges, as the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has been long interpreted to largely prohibit searches and seizures without judicial warrants, including in the immigration context.

    According to the whistleblower complaint, which was shared with Congress, Lyons’ memo has not been shared widely within the agency but has been used to train ICE officers. 

    “The whistleblowers assert that this is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment,” said Whistleblower Aid, the non-profit representing the whistleblowers. “This disclosure is particularly timely and relevant given recent news reports of ICE officers breaking into homes, including those of U.S. citizens, without a judicial warrant and forcibly removing the residents.”

    In:

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    Camilo Montoya-Galvez

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  • Internal memo authorizes ICE to enter homes without judicial warrants in some cases

    [ad_1]

    A newly disclosed whistleblower complaint indicates that Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorized its officers to enter homes without judicial warrants in the cases of people with deportation orders, a sweeping reversal of longstanding rules.

    Historically, ICE has told its officers that they could not rely on administrative immigration warrants — signed by officials at the agency, not judges — to enter people’s homes, due to constitutional protections against warrantless searches.

    But a May 2025 memo disclosed Wednesday by two U.S. government whistleblowers gave ICE officers permission to use those administrative immigration warrants to enter residences by force to arrest unauthorized immigrants who had been ordered deported by an immigration judge or court.

    The directive, signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, says, “Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of the General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose.”

    Lyons’ memo empowered ICE officers to use the “necessary and reasonable amount of force to enter the alien’s residence” if the targets of operations do not allow them inside. 

    Before any forced entry, ICE officers should knock on the residence’s door and identify themselves. The memo also directed officers to conduct such operations targeting those with deportation orders after 6 a.m. and before 10 p.m.

    Asked about the previously undisclosed directive, which was reported by The Associated Press earlier Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said those affected by the memo had been given “full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge.”

    “The officers issuing these administrative warrants also have found probable cause,” McLaughlin argued in her statement. “For decades, the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized the propriety of administrative warrants in cases of immigration enforcement.”

    The directive is likely to trigger legal challenges, as the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has been long interpreted to largely prohibit searches and seizures without judicial warrants, including in the immigration context.

    According to the whistleblower complaint, which was shared with Congress, Lyons’ memo has not been shared widely within the agency but has been used to train ICE officers. 

    “The whistleblowers assert that this is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment,” said Whistleblower Aid, the non-profit representing the whistleblowers. “This disclosure is particularly timely and relevant given recent news reports of ICE officers breaking into homes, including those of U.S. citizens, without a judicial warrant and forcibly removing the residents.”

    In:

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  • Man detained after being shot in the leg by ICE in north Minneapolis is granted conditional release

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    Two men detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appeared in federal court hearings Wednesday, including the Venezuelan national who was shot in the leg by ICE agents last week in north Minneapolis.

    The shooting last Wednesday led to a tense standoff between protesters and federal agents at the scene, near North Sixth Street and North 24th Avenue. Less than an hour before the shooting, Walz gave a rare primetime address in which he called on Mr. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “end this occupation” of federal immigration enforcement agents.

    The Department of Homeland Security says multiple people were attacking the agents with shovels and brooms, and that’s why they shot. But in federal court in St. Paul, a different story about what happened that night came forth, one that began with an ICE officer scanning the plates on Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna’s car.

    He testified he was driving for DoorDash at the time.

    The ICE officer says the plates came back to another person who the officer believed was in the country illegally. That’s when a chase began. It’s also when Aljorna called Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who told him to come to his apartment in north Minneapolis.

    That’s where the officer says the chase stopped.

    Aljorna then ran from the car. That’s when he says the officer chased him and the two struggled on the ground. Sosa-Celis says he pulled Aljorna away from the officer and they ran to the house. As they tried to shut the door, they say the officer fired at them from about 10 feet away. Sosa-Celis was hit in the leg.

    The officer claimed that, during the struggle, he was being hit by shovels and brooms.

    In court Wednesday, the FBI agent who testified about that night says many people were interviewed and no one was able to corroborate the officer’s story that he was hit while on the ground.

    Both Aljorna and Sosa-Celis were granted conditional release, but the decision has been stayed until noon Thursday. They do have ICE detainers, so it’s likely they will end up in ICE custody again.

    In:

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    Adam Duxter

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  • Orange County Democrats claim ICE is taking things too far in Central Florida

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    ACCURATE SEVEN DAY FORECAST. NEW AT NOON DEMOCRATS IN ORANGE COUNTY ARE NOW CALLING ON PEOPLE HERE TO STAND UP TO ICE. IT ALL COMES AT A TIME WHEN THE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IS REPORTEDLY INCREASING ITS PRESENCE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. WESH TWO BOB HAZEN TELLS US LOCAL DEMOCRATS ARE HOPING MORE PEOPLE WILL ORGANIZE AND GET INVOLVED. THE ORANGE COUNTY JAIL SAYS THERE ARE MORE THAN 130 PEOPLE BEHIND BARS HERE RIGHT NOW WITH IMMIGRATION HOLDS, BUT NO LOCAL CHARGES AND DEMOCRATS HERE IN ORANGE COUNTY SAY ICE HAS GONE TOO FAR. I ASKED A UNITED STATES CITIZEN EVERY TIME I GO OUT, I’M LIKE, DO I HAVE MY PASSPORT CARD? SAMUEL VILCHEZ SANTIAGO CAME HERE FROM VENEZUELA. HE’S NOW A DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR STATE HOUSE IN ORANGE COUNTY. HE AND A GROUP OF OTHER CANDIDATES AND COUNTY PARTY LEADERS CAME TOGETHER TODAY TO CALL ON PEOPLE TO JOIN THEM AND TRY TO PUSH BACK ON ICE. MY CALL TO ACTION TO YOU IS SIMPLE JOIN THE MOVEMENT. WESH TWO REPORTED LAST WEEK THAT ICE IS NOW LOOKING AT OPENING A FACILITY NEAR THE BEACH LINE IN ORANGE COUNTY, AND THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF LARGE NUMBERS OF IMMIGRATION AGENTS RENTING HOTEL ROOMS. I GOT NUMBERS FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY JAIL SHOWING HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE BEING HELD ON ICE DETAINERS AS OF 5:00 THIS MORNING, THERE WERE 201 PEOPLE HERE WITH AN IMMIGRATION HOLD AND LOCAL CHARGES AND 138 PEOPLE WITH AN ICE HOLD AND NO LOCAL CHARGES. ACTIVISTS HERE SAY FAMILIES WHO HAD BEEN TRYING TO FOLLOW THE RULES NOW LIVE IN FEAR. THEY DIDN’T CALL ON PEOPLE TO CONFRONT ICE DIRECTLY, BUT THEY DO WANT PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED. THERE ARE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE WORKING ACROSS THE COMMUNITY TO GET ACTIVE WITH, WHETHER THAT BE PROTESTS OR KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS OR BEING ABLE TO TRACK THE SITUATION AT HAND. EVERYBODY HAS A VOICE AND I ENCOURAGE THOSE WITH THE PRIVILEGE TO BE ABLE TO STAND UP IN THIS MOMENT, TO COME TO THE FOREFRONT OF THE FIGHT. COVERING ORANGE COUNTY IN ORLANDO, BOB HAZEN WESH T

    Orange County Democrats claim ICE is taking things too far in Central Florida

    Updated: 1:49 PM EST Jan 21, 2026

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    Democrats in Orange County are urging residents to organize and oppose the increased presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Central Florida, as the agency reportedly plans to expand its operations in the area.Samuel Vilchez Santiago, a Democratic candidate for the state House in Orange County who immigrated from Venezuela, joined other candidates and county party leaders to encourage community involvement. Reports indicate that ICE is considering opening a facility near the Beachline in Orange County, and there have been accounts of large numbers of ICE agents renting hotel rooms.According to the Orange County Jail, as of 5 a.m. on Wednesday, there were 201 individuals held with immigration holds and local charges, and 138 people with ICE holds and no local charges. Activists express concern that families trying to comply with the law now live in fear. While the activists did not call for direct confrontation with ICE, they emphasized the importance of community involvement. “There are organizations that are working across the community to get active, whether that is protests, or knowing your rights or being able to track the situation in hand. Everyone has a voice and I encourage everyone with the privilege to come to the forefront of the fight,” Jarred Cornell said.

    ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —

    Democrats in Orange County are urging residents to organize and oppose the increased presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Central Florida, as the agency reportedly plans to expand its operations in the area.

    Samuel Vilchez Santiago, a Democratic candidate for the state House in Orange County who immigrated from Venezuela, joined other candidates and county party leaders to encourage community involvement.

    Reports indicate that ICE is considering opening a facility near the Beachline in Orange County, and there have been accounts of large numbers of ICE agents renting hotel rooms.

    According to the Orange County Jail, as of 5 a.m. on Wednesday, there were 201 individuals held with immigration holds and local charges, and 138 people with ICE holds and no local charges.

    Activists express concern that families trying to comply with the law now live in fear.

    While the activists did not call for direct confrontation with ICE, they emphasized the importance of community involvement.

    “There are organizations that are working across the community to get active, whether that is protests, or knowing your rights or being able to track the situation in hand. Everyone has a voice and I encourage everyone with the privilege to come to the forefront of the fight,” Jarred Cornell said.

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