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Tag: Minnesota

  • Man Is Shot And Killed During Minneapolis Immigration Crackdown, National Guard Activated – KXL

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    FILE – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to the media, Nov. 9, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

    MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal immigration officers have shot and killed a man in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters 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 Saturday but declined to identify him.

    He added that information about what led up to the shooting was limited.

    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 and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them.

    O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”

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  • Another person was shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Here’s what to know.

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    A man is dead after a shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday involving federal immigration agents from Customs and Border Protection, officials said.

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news briefing that the man was 37-year-old American citizen who lived in Minneapolis.

    Two Department of Homeland Security officials told CBS News that the man had a firearm and two magazines. 

    O’Hara said police believe he was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. He did not identify the man but said his only previous interaction with law enforcement was traffic violations.  

    DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that officers were conducting a “targeted operation against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault” when “an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.” McLaughlin said the officers attempted to disarm the subject but the person “violently resisted.” McLaughlin said an agent fired “defensive shots” because he feared “for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers.” 

    First aid was rendered, but the man died, officials said. McLaughlin said he was pronounced dead at the scene, while O’Hara said he was pronounced dead at a hospital. 

    McLaughlin said the person had no identification and said it looked “like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

    Video footage verified by CBS News shows an altercation between several officers and a person on the ground before shots are heard. 

    O’Hara said that Minneapolis police have not been provided with “any public safety statement around the incident, what happened,” by federal agents. 

    “We do not know what happened prior to the recording,” O’Hara said. The police chief said the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state’s criminal investigative bureau, were on the scene.

    The Minneapolis Police Department said the shooting took place near Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street. Police urged people to avoid the area. Video footage from CBS Minnesota station WCCO showed standoffs between protesters and federal officers. Airborne chemical irritants were being discharged, and whistling and shouting were audible on the video. Protesters were also seen setting up barricades of trash cans. One person told the station they wanted to keep ICE out of their community.

    Law enforcement declared an unlawful assembly. McLaughlin referred to protesters as “rioters.” 

    During his remarks, O’Hara called for calm. 

    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who also spoke at the news conference with O’Hara, called for an end to the federal operation in Minnesota. 

    “I just saw a video of more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death,” said Frey. “How many more residents, how many more Americans, need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end? How many more lives need to be lost before this administration realizes that a political and partisan narrative is not as important as American values? How many times must local and national leaders must plead with you, Donald Trump, to end this operation and recognize that this is not creating safety in our city?”

    Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino was expected to hold a separate news conference shortly. 

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said earlier that he had spoken to the White House about the shooting. 

    “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation,” Walz said on social media. “Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota.”  

    This is the second time a person has been shot and killed by immigration officials in the city this month. Renee Good was shot and killed behind the wheel of her SUV earlier in January by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross. 

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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.

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    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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  • Minnesota AG Keith Ellison accuses White House of

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    St. Paul, Minnesota — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison accused the Trump administration of turning immigration enforcement into “politics and retribution,” describing what he called a “surge” of federal agents in the Twin Cities as a constitutional crisis, and said he has seen “no evidence” of a federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer earlier this month.  

    “In fact, I have evidence to the contrary that the federal government is investigating the death of Renee Good at all,” Ellison told CBS News in an interview Friday. 

    He added, “Todd Blanche, who is the No. 2 at DOJ, said they’re not investigating.”

    At the same time, Minnesota authorities, Ellison said, are seeking a “full, fair and joint investigation.”

    “In Minnesota, if you are killed — particularly if you’re killed…in connection with an action by an official federal or state, we will investigate your death,” Ellison said. 

    The state agency tasked with investigating Good’s killing, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, withdrew from a joint investigation with the FBI a day after the shooting. It said in a statement at the time the agency said it had been informed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that “the investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation.”

    When asked in a Jan. 18 interview with “Face the Nation” whether the ICE officer who shot Good was under investigation, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the department was “following the exact same investigative and review process that we always have under ICE, and under the Department of Homeland Security, and within the administration.”

    Ellison on the apprehension of 5-year-old Liam Ramos by ICE

    Ellison strongly disputed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s assertions about 5-year-old Liam Ramos, who was taken into ICE custody outside his home. Ramos’ image has been widely circulated across the news and social media in a photo that shows him wearing a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack. DHS said the boy had been “abandoned.” 

    “I don’t buy that at all. In fact, there are very credible people who know Liam who refute that. I believe them over ICE,” Ellison said, calling DHS’ claim and subsequent treatment of Ramos “another example of atrocity” tied to the deportation effort DHS has dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.” 

    Witnesses told CBS News that ICE used the boy as bait to lure family members out.

    “That is morally repugnant and nothing the federal government should ever be associated with,” Ellison said.

    Suing to stop DHS’ warrantless arrests in Minnesota 

    Ellison’s office and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop what they allege are unlawful tactics, framing the surge as a planned deployment targeting Minnesota, not a routine enforcement action. He argued the operation has been fueled by President Trump’s anger over losing the 2020 presidential election.

    “Mr. Trump said ‘retribution.’ He said he won Minnesota three times and that leaders here wrongfully denied him. So he’s mad at us,” Ellison said. Asked whether the ICE operation is about politics, rather than law enforcement, he replied, “It’s 100% about politics and retribution.”

    DHS alleges leaders in Minnesota “created disorder” by failing to cooperate with federal law enforcement. Ellison called this “a false statement” and said planning for the surge of federal law enforcement had long been underway. He said he believes U.S. officials are shifting their rationale now because public opinion is turning against the operation.

    At the center of the lawsuit, Ellison said, are accusations of warrantless arrests without individualized assessment — including alleged civil immigration arrests without probable cause — along with racial profiling and what he described as excessive detention.

    DHS has claimed that there are a few arrest videos that were taken out of context.

    “Yeah, well, they’re going to have to defend their position in court, because that’s not true,” Ellison replied.

    If he’s successful in obtaining an injunction blocking the DHS operation in Minnesota, it’s not clear whether the state could enforce it — or that it would survive appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ellison acknowledged that uncertainty but said inaction was not an option.

    “The only alternative is to do nothing and hope for the best,” he said. “We have to do all that is in our power to insist that the federal government obey the law.”

    Ellison said the DHS surge is imposing significant costs on state and local governments, with “hundreds of thousands of dollars” spent daily on crowd control, overtime and emergency response.

    He also described a stream of injury complaints tied to pepper spray, tear gas and “less lethal munitions,” adding that “literally dozens every day” are making reports, while also emphasizing the harms of what he called unlawful detention and imprisonment.

    And pressed on whether the state would subpoena federal agents in its civil case to access evidence in the Good case, Ellison said legal and ethical constraints govern the boundary between civil litigation and criminal investigations, but he did not rule it out.

    “We’re going to do what is legal and ethical,” he said.

    ICE’s new authority to carry out warrantless searches

    ICE agents have seen their authority expanded — a May memo that was recently disclosed by whistleblowers said agents are authorized to use force to enter homes without a judicial warrant. Ellison called the policy “unconstitutional” and said he’s heard reports it’s being used in Minnesota. He signaled the state would challenge such actions. 

    Cooperation with ICE

    DHS has said that Minnesota is not cooperating with ICE detainers — requests to hold detainees for an additional 48 hours so they can be turned over to ICE custody — or other requests for assistance. Ellison counters that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility — not the state’s — and while Minnesota is not a sanctuary state, state laws and court orders sometimes prevent the state from assisting ICE because it cannot hold criminals beyond their sentence.

    For instance, he said that if an individual sought by the federal government is arrested for driving under the influence, “our courts don’t have the legal authority to hold them once the court has said they need — they are to be released.”

    He indicated that the state is following its laws as they’re written: “They’re asking us to join them in breaking the law, and we can’t do that. We believe in upholding the law.”

    But cooperation with ICE detainers is uneven in Minnesota. In Hennepin County, where Minneapolis is located, the sheriff told CBS News that authorities do not notify ICE when detainees are released back into the community. The Department of Corrections, however, does notify ICE.

    DHS says that if every county in the state coordinated with ICE, federal agents could go home and ICE would not continue to conduct raids in Minnesota.

    “They’re saying, ‘Oh, well, if you only would tell us, do our job for us, then we could go home.’ No, you didn’t,” Ellison said. He added, “ICE needs to do its job that it is paid to do, and it has a massive budget to do.”

    “Minnesota is not a sanctuary state,” he told CBS News. “We don’t do the federal government’s job, but we don’t in any way obstruct them from doing their job.”

    He suggested his state is at the center of a collision between politics and constitutional rights and warned that “the only way to get along” with the administration is to “abandon constitutional rights.”

    “We must insist upon our First Amendment right to vote for whoever we please and not be persecuted,” he said. “We must insist on the Fourth Amendment protection to be free of unreasonable search and seizure.”

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    Hunter Woodall

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  • Legal scholars raise concerns about internal ICE policy authorizing entry into homes without judicial warrants

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    An internal U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement memo from a whistleblower and obtained by the Associated Press that authorizes officers to enter homes without judicial warrants is raising concerns among legal scholars who say the policy is a clear violation of the Constitution. 

    The directive from last May states that while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had not historically relied on administrative warrants to arrest immigrants subject to final orders of removal at their homes, “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.”

    Administrative warrants are signed by immigration officials, not judges.

    The previously undisclosed memo comes as Operation Metro Surge continues in Minnesota. Authorities call it the largest immigration operation ever in Minnesota with more than 3,000 federal immigration agents assigned to the state. The operation has sparked clashes between ICE and protestors, leading to several violent encounters including the shooting death of Renee Good by an ICE officer on Jan. 7.

    Agents on Jan. 11 forcibly entered the home of a Liberian citizen living in Minneapolis to arrest him without a judicial warrant, a federal judge said. Garrison Gibson, the man detained, was in the country legally under terms that he met regularly with immigration authorities, according to the judge’s order. 

    U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan said Gibson’s arrest violated the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizures.

    “To arrest him, respondents forcibly entered [his] home without his consent and without a judicial warrant,” Bryan wrote. 

    That law enforcement would need such a warrant approved by a judge in order to enter a home is well-established legal precedent reiterated by the courts time and again, constitutional experts told WCCO news. 

    Emmanuel Mauleón, associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota who specializes in the Fourth Amendment, said that administrative warrants authorize arrests, but that does not mean those arrests can happen inside a person’s residence without their consent to enter.

    “This has been long-standing Fourth Amendment interpretation. There has been no U.S. Supreme Court case ever that has found that an administrative warrant meets this bar,” Mauleón said. “What I’ll say is the Fourth Amendment probable cause requirement is not a high bar, so that the idea that they can’t even meet that is deeply troubling. Or the idea that they’re not going to go about the process of seeking a warrant is deeply troubling.”

    Jimmy Percival, general counsel for DHS, in an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal, defended the policy and said it was both reasonable and lawful. 

    “While administrative warrants may satisfy the Fourth Amendment for any arrest of an illegal alien, ICE currently uses these warrants to enter an illegal alien’s residence only when the alien has received a final order of removal from an immigration judge,” Percival wrote. “That means the alien has already seen a judge, presented his case, received due process, and been ordered removed from the country.”

    Mauleón disputed that characterization, again emphasizing that administrative warrants authorizing arrests are not the same as “entry into a constitutionally protected space.”

    “The best parallel that I could suggest is you could imagine that a police officer is conducting an investigation or wants to arrest somebody, and instead of going to a judge and saying, ‘Hey, this is the evidence that I have, do I have probable cause to search their home?’ They just go to their typewriter and type up a sheet of paper that says, ‘I have a warrant to search their home.’ That’s essentially what DHS is doing,” Mauleón said. 

    Vice President JD Vance during a visit to Minneapolis on Thursday was asked if he thought the ICE policy violates the Fourth Amendment. He did not directly say if he thought so, but conceded courts could disagree with that policy and vowed to follow an order if they did. 

    “Our understanding is that you can enforce the immigration laws of the country under an administrative order if you have an administrative warrant. That’s what we think. That’s our understanding of the law. That’s our best faith attempt to understand the law,” Vance told reporters. “Again, this is something courts will weigh in on. I won’t speak to that, but yes, most immigration law in our country is not done through the criminal system with the judge. It’s done through the administrative law system.”

    David Schultz, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas and political science professor at Hamline University who focuses on the Constitution, called requiring judicial warrants before entering a home an “incredibly well-established principle of American law” that dates back to the country’s founding. 

    “There really is no debate on this one among legal scholars that an administrative warrant gives you no authority to enter houses at all,” Schultz said. 

    The memo on administrative warrants was not shared widely within the agency but has been used to train ICE officers, according to the whistleblower complaint.

    Camilo Montoya-Galvez

    contributed to this report.

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  • Thousands march through downtown Minnapolis protesting against ICE as state workers hold general strike

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    5-year-old taken into ICE custody has immigration case, preventing deportation

    The 5-year-old immigrant boy taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement alongside his father in the Minneapolis area earlier this week has an active and pending case in immigration court and cannot be legally deported yet, according to government records reviewed by CBS News.

    The ICE operation that led Liam Adrian Conejo Ramos and his father to be taken into government custody, captured on videos and photos that have gone viral, has garnered national attention and raised questions about who exactly the Trump administration is targeting in its mass deportation campaign.

    Justice Department records reviewed by CBS News indicate Liam and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos, have immigration court cases listed as “pending.” The records by the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review do not list any deportation orders in either case, indicating that an immigration judge still must consider Liam and his father’s claims before any deportation attempt. The information says the family’s immigration court case was docketed on Dec. 17, 2024.

    [Read more]  

     

    Hennepin County attorney says ICE agents aren’t immune to Minnesota law

    Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said that there is “no absolute immunity” for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who violate Minnesota law.

    Moriarty shared the message in a short video posted on YouTube Friday afternoon.

    “The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution does not erase state criminal law,” she said. “State and local law enforcement still have jurisdiction to conduct investigations into potential criminal offenses by any federal agent, just as they would any other person who breaks Minnesota criminal law.”

    Moriarty added that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the ICE shooting that happened in north Minneapolis on Jan. 14. Three U.S. officials told CBS News that an agent shot a man after allegedly being attacked by men with shovels during an arrest operation. 

    “When that investigation is submitted to our office, we will review it for potential charging,” Moriarty said. 

    The BCA is also continuing to collect evidence in the fatal shooting of Renee Good.

     

    DHS confirms the detention of 2-year-old in south Minneapolis

    A 2-year-old named Chloe was detained with her father as they drove home from a grocery store in South Minneapolis on Thursday, according to a benefit page created by Minneapolis city council member Jason Chavez.

    Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Border Patrol arrested Elvis Tipan Echeverria of Ecuador and that the toddler’s mother refused to take her so she was reunited with her father at a federal detention facility.

    According to an emergency petition filed in federal court, a district judge granted an emergency injunction ordering Chloe’s release into the custody of her lawyer. The child, a citizen of Ecuador who was brought to Minneapolis as a newborn, has a pending asylum application and is not subject to a final order of removal.

     

    Photos show scope of protests in downtown Minneapolis

    Crowds continue to grow in number in downtown Minneapolis Friday afternoon as protesters take to the streets to demand ICE forces withdraw from the Twin Cities metro area and Greater Minnesota.

    Demonstrators participate in a rally and march during an “ICE Out” day of protest. Community leaders, faith leaders and labor unions have urged Minnesotans to participate in what they are calling a “day of action” as hundreds of local businesses are expected to close during a statewide general strike held in protest against immigration enforcement operations in the region.

    Stephen Maturen / Getty Images


    Federal Agents Descend On Minneapolis For Immigration Enforcement Operations

    Demonstrators participate in a rally and march during an “ICE Out” day of protest on January 23.

    Stephen Maturen / Getty Images


     

    2 activists arrested in protest at St. Paul church released

    Two activists arrested in connection to a protest at a church where the leader of a local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office serves as a pastor were released from custody on Friday afternoon.

    The protest happened Sunday, as a group joined the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, before chanting “ICE out” and “justice for Renee Good.” 

    Former Twin Cities NAACP president Nekima Levy Armstrong, St. Paul School Board member Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly were arrested Thursday, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

    CBS News learned that Levy Armstrong and Allen were released from law enforcement custody at the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minnesota, on Friday.  

    It’s unknown whether officials have ordered Kelly’s release.

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    Anti-ICE protest marches through downtown Minneapolis

    Demonstrators are now marching through downtown Minneapolis, protesting the surge of federal immigration agents in Minnesota. 

    The march is heading from The Commons near U.S. Bank Stadium and will conclude at Target Center, where a rally will be held inside. 

    WCCO’s Frankie McLister is following the march and will have more on the rally later. 

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    WCCO


     

    Clergy members arrested at MSP while protesting ICE in Minneapolis

    Dozens of faith leaders were arrested while protesting at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Friday, organizers say, as part of an effort to call for an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in the area.

    The protesters were calling on airlines, particularly Delta and Signature Aviation, to “stand with Minnesotans in calling for ICE to immediately end its surge in the state.” 

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    Multi-faith service draws hundreds, showing support for immigrant communities

    Hundreds of people gathered at Temple Israel on Friday morning in Minneapolis for a multi-faith prayer service.

    Faith leaders held the service to promote unity and dignity during a time of fear and uncertainty.

    People from neighboring states even joined, saying it was a chance to come together and show support for immigrant communities in Minnesota. 

    [Read more]

     

    Dispersal order issued at Whipple building for “unlawful protest,” sheriff’s office says

    The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office says it issued dispersal orders at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on Friday afternoon for what it called an “unlawful protest” in the area. 

    Deputies for the “last few hours” were asking protesters to unblock an access road, though the group “was clear” they would not move, according to the sheriff’s office. 

    Ice chunks have been thrown at “multiple vehicles,” leading to broken windows, the sheriff’s office said. 

    Deputies at the federal building have since given three dispersal orders.

    “Individuals who do not comply with orders and those who continue unlawful behavior have been and will continue to be arrested,” the sheriff’s office said. “Please avoid the area.”

    The Minnesota State Patrol said it’s responding to the facility and said “arrests will be made as necessary to address unlawful behavior and maintain public safety.”

    The Whipple building holds the region’s federal immigration court.   

     

    Man ICE was targeting when detaining man in his underwear was already in custody, DOC says

    A man being targeted by federal immigration enforcement agents earlier this week, when they instead detained a U.S. citizen in his underwear amid frigid Minnesota conditions, was already in prison, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

    ChongLy Scott Thao says ICE burst into his home on Sunday without a warrant. Videos of the arrest quickly spread on social media.

    The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency says they were looking for two men accused of sex crimes, one of which was Lue Moua. The DHS earlier told the public Moua was at large, but MN DOC says that Moua has been in prison since 2024 on a kidnapping charge. Officials with the state’s corrections department say that ICE should have known that Moua was being held.

    According to DOC records, Moua is currently scheduled for release in January 2027, and has an active ICE detainer. DHS officials sought to blame the apparent confusion on the actions of Minnesota officials.

     

    Minnesota secretary of state calls video of ICE detaining child “horrifying and shameful”

    Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon shared a video on social media showing an ICE agent chasing and detaining a child, calling it “a cruel disgrace.”

    The Associated Press independently verified the video, taken by Minneapolis resident Skylar Fehlen, who told the AP the teenager was in a car that hit a tree before the foot chase.

    Fehlen said the teen was yelling for help before the ICE agent tackled and arrested him.

    “ICE agents in Minneapolis chase, tackle, and handcuff a child in the freezing cold and snow while he yells ‘I’m legal! I’m legal!’” Simon wrote on X. “How does this make us safer? How does this target ‘the worst of the worst?’ Horrifying and shameful.”

     

    Renee Good’s independent autopsy says she was shot 3 times

    An independent autopsy showed that Renee Good was shot three times by an ICE officer earlier this month — in the forearm, breast and head. 

    Good’s family requested the independent autopsy, according to their attorneys. 

    The preliminary conclusions indicated that two of the gunshots — the forearm and breast wounds — were not immediately life-threatening. The forearm wound caused soft tissue hemorrhage while the one on her right breast didn’t penetrate any major organs. 

    A third gunshot wound entered the left side of her head and exited the right side, the autopsy concluded. There was also a fourth wound, which was a graze “consistent with a firearm injury” but did not penetrate her body.

    “We believe the evidence we are gathering and will continue to gather in our investigation will suffice to prove our case. The video evidence depicting the events of January 7, 2026, is clear, particularly when viewed through the standards of reasonable policing and totality of circumstances. Additionally, our legal team will continue its unwavering and proactive advocacy for Renee’s life and her family,” said Antonio Romanucci, the lead attorney on the case.

    The Hennepin County Medical Examiner determined that Good’s manner of death was a homicide, caused by multiple gunshot wounds.

     

    Mayor Frey responds to federal insinuations that local law enforcement isn’t cooperating with ICE

    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey spoke out on insinuations shared Thursday by Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino that local law enforcement representatives are deliberately not cooperating with federal forces.

    “If this was about safety, then there would be a whole lot of opportunity to partner and do it. But this is not about safety. It’s not even about immigration. What we are seeing right now is that this is political retribution. It’s about causing chaos on our streets,” Frey told CNN’s Sara Sidner. “(We) are getting targeted for doing one of the most basic things that we are required to perform as public servants. And for me, that’s speaking on behalf of my constituents. That is a responsibility that I have, an obligation that I have that is written into our city charter.”

    Frey also responded to reporting about an obtained internal ICE memo, which suggests immigration agents have been entering people’s homes without a warrant and empowers them to do so. While Frey said he didn’t have enough information on that reporting to address it specifically, asked if he would agree that an administrative warrant is enough to warrant entering private residences, Frey said, “I’d say that it isn’t.”

    “The guidance that we have given to people in the city of Minneapolis in the Know Your Rights campaign that we are running. And what we are telling people is that if they are going to enter a home — a private residence, what they need is a judicial warrant, which is a warrant that is signed by a judge — and the administrative warrant is not enough,” Frey said.

     

    Northeast Minneapolis coffee shop offering warm space for general strike participants on Friday

    Many businesses will close their doors in protest Friday, but one business is doing much more than just shutting down to protest ICE.  

    Sitting in the heart of northeast Minneapolis’s business district, Pillar Forum Cafe and Commodities has become a hub for people opposing ICE.  

    On Friday, Pillar Forum will join hundreds of others taking part in a “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom,” with its own take.

    [Read more]  

     

    Vance acknowledges Minnesota Department of Corrections cooperating with ICE

    In his visit to Minnesota, Vance appeared to acknowledge that the Minnesota Department of Corrections, overseen by Gov. Tim Walz, was cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  

    “Look, if I was going to list the five agencies locally and statewide I’m most worried about, I wouldn’t put the Department of Corrections on that list,” Vance said in a news conference when asked by CBS News if the state was cooperating. “I think that while there are certain things we’d like to see more from them, they’ve hardly been the worst offenders.”

    [Read more]  

     

    Minneapolis pastor asks for groceries for congregation, and thousands come to help

    Pastor Sergio Amezcua, who serves the congregation of Dios Habla Hoy, put out a call on social media for help for his community after ICE agents surged into Minnesota.

    Thousands of people responded asking for help — and thousands more stepped up to provide it.

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  • Judge says Trump administration must keep funding child care subsidies in 5 states for now

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    A federal judge ruled Friday that President Trump’s administration must keep federal funds flowing to child care subsidies and other social service programs in five Democratic states — at least for now.

    The ruling Friday from U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick extends by two weeks a temporary one issued earlier this month that blocked the federal government from holding back the money from California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York. That expires Friday.

    The judge said he’d decide later whether the money is to remain in place while a challenge to cutting it off works its way through the courts.

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said earlier this month that it was pausing the funding because it had “reason to believe” the states were granting benefits to people in the country illegally, though it did not provide evidence or explain why it was targeting those states and not others.

    The states say the move was instead intended to damage Mr. Trump’s political adversaries.

    A judge previously gave the states a reprieve to the administration’s plan to halt funding for the states unless they provide information on the beneficiaries of some programs, including names and Social Security numbers. The temporary restraining order was set to expire Friday.

    Around the same time as the actions aimed at the five states, the administration put up hurdles to Minnesota for even more federal dollars. It also began requesting all states to explain how they’re using money in the child care program.

    The programs are the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes child care for 1.3 million children from low-income families nationwide; the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance and job training; and the Social Services Block Grant, a smaller fund that provides money for a variety of programs. The states say that they receive a total of more more than $10 billion a year from those programs — and that the programs are essential for low-income and vulnerable families.

    HHS sent letters to the states on Jan. 5 and 6 telling them they would be placed on “restricted drawdown” of program money until the states provided more information.

    For TANF and the Social Service Block Grant, the request required the states to submit the data, including personal information of recipients beginning in 2022, with a deadline of Jan. 20.

    In court papers last week, the states said what they describe as a funding freeze does not follow the law.

    They said Congress created laws about how the administration can identify noncompliance or fraud by recipients of the money — and that the federal government hasn’t used that process.

    They also said it’s improper to freeze funding broadly because of potential fraud and that producing the data the government called for is an “impossible demand on an impossible timeline.”

    In a court filing this week, the administration objected to the states describing the action as a “funding freeze,” even though the headline on the HHS announcement was: “HHS Freezes Child Care and Family Assistance Grants in Five States for Fraud Concerns.”

    Federal government lawyers said the states could get the money going forward if they provide the requested information and the federal government finds them to be in compliance with anti-fraud measures.

    The administration also notes that it has continued to provide funding to the states, not pointing out that a court ordered it to do so.

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  • General strike, rally planned in Minnesota Friday to protest ICE

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    Renee Good’s independent autopsy says she was shot 3 times

    An independent autopsy showed that Renee Good was shot three times by an ICE officer earlier this month — in the forearm, breast and head. 

    Good’s family requested the independent autopsy, according to their attorneys. 

    The preliminary conclusions indicated that two of the gunshots — the forearm and breast wounds — were not immediately life-threatening. The forearm wound caused soft tissue hemorrhage while the one on her right breast didn’t penetrate any major organs. 

    A third gunshot wound entered the left side of her head and exited the right side, the autopsy concluded. There was also a fourth wound, which was a graze “consistent with a firearm injury” but did not penetrate her body.

    “We believe the evidence we are gathering and will continue to gather in our investigation will suffice to prove our case. The video evidence depicting the events of January 7, 2026, is clear, particularly when viewed through the standards of reasonable policing and totality of circumstances. Additionally, our legal team will continue its unwavering and proactive advocacy for Renee’s life and her family,” said Antonio Romanucci, the lead attorney on the case.

    The Hennepin County Medical Examiner determined that Good’s manner of death was a homicide, caused by multiple gunshot wounds.

     

    Mayor Frey responds to federal insinuations that local law enforcement isn’t cooperating with ICE

    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey spoke out on insinuations shared Thursday by Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino that local law enforcement representatives are deliberately not cooperating with federal forces.

    “If this was about safety, then there would be a whole lot of opportunity to partner and do it. But this is not about safety. It’s not even about immigration. What we are seeing right now is that this is political retribution. It’s about causing chaos on our streets,” Frey told CNN’s Sara Sidner. “(We) are getting targeted for doing one of the most basic things that we are required to perform as public servants. And for me, that’s speaking on behalf of my constituents. That is a responsibility that I have, an obligation that I have that is written into our city charter.”

    Frey also responded to reporting about an obtained internal ICE memo, which suggests immigration agents have been entering people’s homes without a warrant and empowers them to do so. While Frey said he didn’t have enough information on that reporting to address it specifically, asked if he would agree that an administrative warrant is enough to warrant entering private residences, Frey said, “I’d say that it isn’t.”

    “The guidance that we have given to people in the city of Minneapolis in the Know Your Rights campaign that we are running. And what we are telling people is that if they are going to enter a home — a private residence, what they need is a judicial warrant, which is a warrant that is signed by a judge — and the administrative warrant is not enough,” Frey said.

     

    Northeast Minneapolis coffee shop offering warm space for general strike participants on Friday

    Many businesses will close their doors in protest Friday, but one business is doing much more than just shutting down to protest ICE.  

    Sitting in the heart of northeast Minneapolis’s business district, Pillar Forum Cafe and Commodities has become a hub for people opposing ICE.  

    On Friday, Pillar Forum will join hundreds of others taking part in a “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom,” with its own take.

    [Read more]  

     

    Vance acknowledges Minnesota Department of Corrections cooperating with ICE

    In his visit to Minnesota, Vance appeared to acknowledge that the Minnesota Department of Corrections, overseen by Gov. Tim Walz, was cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  

    “Look, if I was going to list the five agencies locally and statewide I’m most worried about, I wouldn’t put the Department of Corrections on that list,” Vance said in a news conference when asked by CBS News if the state was cooperating. “I think that while there are certain things we’d like to see more from them, they’ve hardly been the worst offenders.”

    [Read more]  

     

    Minneapolis pastor asks for groceries for congregation, and thousands come to help

    Pastor Sergio Amezcua, who serves the congregation of Dios Habla Hoy, put out a call on social media for help for his community after ICE agents surged into Minnesota.

    Thousands of people responded asking for help — and thousands more stepped up to provide it.

    [Read more]

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  • In Minneapolis, Vice President JD Vance says

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    Vice President JD Vance on Thursday during a visit to Minneapolis blamed a “failure of cooperation” by local and state authorities for rising tensions and chaotic moments during the ongoing federal immigration crackdown in the state. 

    “I guarantee we’re going to do the best to be professional, to respect people’s rights, to not do anything that we don’t have to do in order to enforce immigration laws,” Vance said. “But it would make our lives a lot easier, it would make our officers a lot safer, and it would make Minneapolis much less chaotic if we had a little bit of cooperation from the state and local officials with that.”

    His visit comes amid “Operation Metro Surge,” which began late last month. An influx of 3,000 federal agents from ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have been in the state over the last few weeks in what authorities have called the largest immigration operation ever.

    Vance said Thursday that many of those officers are not even doing targeted immigration enforcement, but instead are stepping in to protect ICE officers from clashes with protestors. He claimed that local authorities, including police officers, are being told to “stand down” when these agents phone 911 for help.

    “They’re doing force protection, so that if a rioter tries to ruin the life or assault an ICE officer, they’re actually protected,” he said. “Now, why doesn’t it make more sense for the local cops to get involved in that situation? Why not just have the mayor or the local officials tell the police officers, ‘You know what? If an ICE officer is being assaulted by a far-left agitator, you are invited. You should actually help him.’”

    The Minneapolis Police Department told WCCO it “receives and processes numerous 911 reports of ICE activity throughout the city each day.”

    “The presence of protestors alone is not sufficient reason for MPD to respond where ICE activity is occurring,” a spokesperson for the department said.

    A spokesperson for St. Paul Police said they respond to 911 calls for help whether it’s a resident or a federal agent, but noted the city’s separation ordinance does not allow officers to enforce immigration law themselves.  

    Tensions are high between the agents and residents as the crackdown continues. Protests grew after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in south Minneapolis on Jan. 7. 

    An altercation after an ICE officer shot a Venezuelan migrant in the leg last week turned violent. Multiple U.S. citizens have said they have been detained and released without charges, including a 23-year-old woman who was held for two days.  

    Vance acknowledged that there have been “mistakes” during the operation, but did not go into specifics.

    “Whenever you have a law enforcement operation, even if 99.99% of the guys do everything perfectly, you’re going to have people that make mistakes,” Vance said

    Before making remarks to reporters and taking questions, the vice president said he met with local business leaders, ICE agents and local law enforcement to “tone down the temperature” and “reduce the chaos.”

    Walz in a post on social media said he welcomed that effort but that “actions speak louder than words.”

    “Take the show of force off the streets and partner with the state on targeted enforcement of violent offenders instead of random, aggressive confrontation,” he said. 

    Responding to a reporter’s question, Vance said he did not think the Insurrection Act — which President Trump last week threatened to invoke to quell protests — is necessary at this time.

    “The president could change his mind. Of course, things could get worse, but right now, we think that federal law enforcement officers can do the job of federal law enforcement,” he said.

    Earlier this week, local police chiefs during a news conference shared their concerns about some tactics used by immigration agents and called for more oversight after receiving complaints from residents about “civil rights violations in our streets.”

    Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said some officers of color in his department had been targeted by ICE while off duty. He shared one story of one female officer who had been stopped while driving and that agents “boxed her in” with guns drawn and “demanded her paperwork” despite being a U.S. citizen.  

    Only when she said she was a police officer did they back down without an apology, Bruley said. 

    Vance said accusations of racial profiling are concerning, but said there needs to be more fact-finding if the incident actually occurred. He said he wouldn’t “prejudge” people based on a social media story.

    “Is it a concern? Absolutely. The first thing we have to figure out is whether it happened or not, and then if it happened, whether there is a good explanation or a bad explanation,” the vice president explained. “Of course, if somebody violated the law, if somebody racially profiled, if somebody violated the rights of one of our fellow citizens — that is something we will take very seriously. What I also would say is that many of the most viral stories of the past couple of weeks have turned out to be, at best, partially true.”

    The Columbia Heights School District on Wednesday said a 5-year-old student detained alongside his father was used as “bait” to lure other family members out of the home, sparking outrage. 

    DHS said the child was “abandoned” by his father, whom they described as an illegal immigrant from Ecuador. Both are now detained in Texas. An attorney for the family said they have an active case seeking asylum.

    Vance addressed the incident, which is gaining widespread attention, and said he saw the headlines on the way to Minneapolis. His initial reaction was that it was “terrible,” and he questioned, “How did we arrest a five-year-old?” But then claimed the story lacked context.

    “When they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran. So the story is that ice detained a five-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?” he said.

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  • Minnesota magistrate judge rejects charges against Don Lemon over anti-ICE church protest, blocks some charges for 2 protesters

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    A Minnesota federal magistrate judge refused to sign a complaint charging independent journalist Don Lemon in connection with a protest inside a church in St. Paul on Sunday, multiple sources familiar with the proceedings told CBS News.

    “The attorney general is enraged at the magistrate’s decision,” said a source familiar with the matter. Attorney General Pam Bondi has been in Minnesota for two days, as the Justice Department has sought to surge prosecutorial and law enforcement resources there.

    A different source stressed that the process is not over, and the Justice Department could find other avenues to charge Lemon. 

    The magistrate judge who declined to approve charges for Lemon was Douglas Micko, sources told CBS News. Micko previously worked as a federal public defender.

    Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement Thursday that the magistrate’s actions “confirm the nature of Don’s First Amendment protected work this weekend in Minnesota as a reporter.”

    “Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court,” Lowell said.

    The government had hoped to charge Lemon along with a raft of other people who participated in the protest at the church.

    On Thursday morning, Bondi announced two arrests connected to the church protests — Chauntyll Louisa Allen, who serves on the St. Paul School Board, and Nekima Levy Armstrong. Bondi alleged that Armstrong was involved in organizing the protest. Bondi later said a third person, William Kelly, was arrested.

    Allen and Armstrong both appeared in federal court in St. Paul on Thursday, where they were each charged with violating a civil rights law that prohibits two or more people from conspiring to interfere with constitutionally protected rights, like the free practice of religion.

    Micko, who presided over Thursday’s hearing, declined to approve a second criminal charge against the two local activists that accused them of violating a provision in the FACE Act which makes it a crime to use force, threats, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with a person who is exercising their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of worship.

    In a copy of an arrest warrant against Allen obtained by CBS News, the second charge was physically crossed off, with “NO PROBABLE CAUSE” written in the margin. An attorney for Armstrong said that the magistrate judge also crossed off a charge on her arrest warrant.

    Tension was evident during Thursday’s hearing to review the arrests. Just minutes after Micko began the hearing, federal prosecutors conceded they had yet to provide copies of the arrest warrants to the two women arrested and their attorneys. 

    “We can get them,” Robert Keenan, an attorney in the Civil Rights Division, told the judge.

    Micko then ordered a recess and vowed not to proceed until that happened, prompting audible gasps and some cheers from those in attendance watching in overflow rooms.

    When proceedings restarted, the Justice Department’s request for Armstrong and Allen to be detained was swiftly denied, as were their requests for detention hearings.

    Keenan argued that the allegations involved “crimes of violence,” but Micko shot back that he didn’t see “any threat or use of force.”

    Ultimately, both Armstrong and Allen were ordered to be released on condition they remain in Minnesota, stay off the church’s property and avoid contact with any witness or victim.

    But later Thursday, defense attorneys told CBS News that both Armstrong and Allen would not be released pending the Justice Department’s plan to appeal and seek their detention.

    “This is the due process for the prosecution that doesn’t seem to happen to folks we try to get out of Whipple [Federal Building] or any other f***ing jail in this city,” lamented attorney James Cook, who represents Allen.

    A judge is expected to make a ruling on the Justice Department’s appeal on Friday.

    Prosecutors also asked that the criminal complaints remain sealed despite the very public nature of the case — a motion that was approved for 24 hours.

    The two federal prosecutors who appeared in the courtroom are not from Minnesota. 

    Before joining the Civil Rights Division, Keenan previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, where he argued that a local deputy sheriff convicted of civil rights violations should have his conviction on the felony counts struck and should not serve prison time. The efforts to strike the felony conviction led several prosecutors on the case to resign in protest.

    Most recently, he was dispatched to Louisville to handle the sentencing for a former Louisville police officer who was convicted of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights, where he asked the judge to impose a sentence of just one day. 

    Orlando Sonza, a former congressional candidate from Ohio, was tapped by Mr. Trump to work in the Civil Rights Division last summer.

    Protesters against ICE enter St. Paul church service

    Protesters said they entered St. Paul’s Cities Church on Sunday, after discovering that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official appeared to be one of the pastors at the church. 

    Protests and clashes between some residents and federal immigration officers in the Twin Cities have been occurring daily since the Trump administration deployed thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents to the area. Among other demands, protesters have called for accountability in the death of Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and Minneapolis resident who was fatally shot by an ICE officer on Jan. 7.

    Lemon, a former CNN anchor, attended the protest, which interrupted the Sunday service, prompting congregants and their families to leave.

    In an interview with the pastor, Lemon said, “There’s a Constitution and a First Amendment, and freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest.” 

    Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, has publicly hinted that Lemon could potentially face charges for his role in disrupting the service.

    Being a journalist “is not a badge or a shield that protects you from criminal consequences,” she said during an appearance on the “Benny Show,” hosted by far-right podcaster Benny Johnson.

    Dhillon declined to comment when reached by CBS News.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., faced similar hurdles last year, after President Trump flooded the streets with federal agents as part of an initiative to crack down on violent crime.

    Prosecutors in U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office were ordered to pursue every case as a federal offense when possible – a plan that backfired as the Justice Department began to see grand juries reject charges and magistrate judges push back on cases they viewed as flimsy or that contained constitutional defects.

    In an Oct. 8, 2025, opinion, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia revealed that over the course of eight weeks since the crime surge began in August, the government moved to dismiss 21% of all cases that were charged by criminal complaint.

    That statistic is “shocking,” he wrote, compared with the 0.5% of cases charged by criminal complaint that the government dismissed in the district over the past decade.

    Scott MacFarlane

    contributed to this report.

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  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar files to run for Minnesota governor

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    Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar has officially filed to run for governor after incumbent Tim Walz announced he would not seek reelection. Political strategists Rina Shah and Hyma Moore join with analysis.

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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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  • Vice President JD Vance set to visit Minneapolis amid Minnesota’s ongoing strife with federal government

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    Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to travel to Minneapolis on Thursday for a roundtable with local leaders and community members.

    According to the White House, after the roundtable, Vance will “deliver remarks focused on restoring law and order in Minnesota.” It’s not yet known when he will deliver remarks.

    Vance is the federal government’s latest envoy to the state amid multiple Department of Justice investigations and the ongoing presence of overwhelming numbers of immigration agents.

    The visit will come days after the DOJ served subpoenas to the offices of several Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Attorney General Keith Ellison. The subpoenas, sources told CBS News, are connected to a Justice Department investigation into an alleged conspiracy to impede federal officers from discharging their duties. Walz and Frey, in separate statements, decried the move as political theater and a weaponization of the Justice Department.

    Meanwhile, thousands of agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol continue to make their presence felt in the Twin Cities and across the state. Though President Trump and other federal officials have said the agents are focused on arresting “the worst of the worst,” there have been extensive documented instances of U.S. citizens being detained, racial profiling and other misconduct.

    The federal agents have been met with escalating resistance from community members, especially in the wake of ICE agent Jonathan Ross’ killing of Renee Good in south Minneapolis on Jan. 7. 

    Vance last visited Minnesota in September to honor the victims of the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church. During that visit, affected families, school officials and local politicians pleaded for change from the federal government to prevent future shootings.

    Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Border Patrol head Greg Bovino and other federal officials have also visited Minnesota since Good’s killing.

    Vance has vigorously defended the shooting of Good, calling Ross “an innocent law enforcement officer” and labeling Good a “deranged leftist who tried to run [Ross] over.”

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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.

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  • Minnesota schools announce closures, delays amid snow, incoming cold

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    Minnesota schools are beginning to announce early closures on Wednesday as snow impacts parts of the state and dangerous cold approaches. 

    Many of the announced closures are in western and southern Minnesota, where increasing winds are expected to lead to blowing snow Wednesday afternoon. The full list of closures is below.

    A round of organized snow will move through the state through the evening commute, dropping around an inch of accumulation in most places, including the Twin Cities.

    After that, arctic air will blast the state. Minnesotans will wake up to single-digit temperatures and wind chills below zero on Thursday, but the perilous cold arrives Friday morning. Lows will be in the double digits below zero and highs won’t cross into the positives, while wind chills will hover between 30 and 50 below zero. The warm-up won’t come until next week.

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  • Jordan Addison Case Dismissed, as State Declines Prosecution

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    Posted on: January 21, 2026, 10:06h. 

    Last updated on: January 21, 2026, 10:16h.

    • A trespassing charge against Jordan Addison in Florida has been dismissed
    • The incident occurred at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa

    Florida State Attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit Susan Lopez is declining to move forward with charges against NFL wide receiver Jordan Addison, who was arrested last week at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa.

    Jordan Addison arrest Seminole Hard Rock Tampa
    Minnesota Vikings WR Jordan Addison is tackled by Los Angeles Chargers CB Cam Hart during a game in Inglewood, Calif., on Oct. 23, 2025. Addison’s trespassing charge at a Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Florida has been dismissed. (Image: Shutterstock)

    On Tuesday, Lopez notified Addison and his attorneys that the first-degree misdemeanor trespassing charge against him was being withdrawn.

    Having reviewed the charge contained in the Criminal Report Affidavit and/or Notice to Appear, the State Attorney’s Office informs you that the charge contained therein is dismissed and prosecution is terminated as of this date and that the defendant need not appear for any further proceedings in this matter,” Lopez wrote.

    The state prosecutor also ordered that the $500 bond Addison paid be returned.

    As Casino.org reported, Addison, who plays for the Minnesota Vikings, was arrested at the Tampa tribal casino at 3:46 am on Monday, January 12, after he repeatedly refused to comply with orders to vacate the premises. Addison was released hours later after posting the $500 bond.

    Addison Issues Statement 

    Addison’s run-in with law enforcement in Florida wasn’t his first time in handcuffs.

    In July 2023, the now-23-year-old was arrested for reckless driving after being clocked driving at 140 miles per hour. A year later, the former Pitt and USC standout was arrested for DUI.

    Seminole Indian Police and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office reported in an affidavit that Addison failed to comply with orders to leave the casino’s Jubao Palace Noodle Bar, which stays open until 4 am. Upon being escorted out, police reported that Addison “repeatedly had to be redirected towards the front exit.”

    “The defendant was redirected … multiple times. The defendant was then taken into custody for trespass after warning,” wrote Officer Fluellen in the criminal report affidavit.

    State prosecutors, however, opted not to carry on with the trespassing charge. That was, of course, welcome news to Addison and his attorneys.

    On behalf of his agent and all of his people, we are very happy that we were able to get this thing brought to light quickly and that his name was not dragged through the mud anymore,” said Brian Pakett of West Palm Beach criminal defense group Pakett Law. “Jordan is a great kid, and he did nothing wrong throughout this entire incident. Any suggestions otherwise are frivolous.”

    Addison’s 2024 drunk driving arrest resulted in him serving a three-game suspension to start the 2025 NFL season. He finished the season with 42 catches for 610 yards and three touchdowns. Addison’s numbers were down significantly from 2024, when he caught 70 passes for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns.

    The Vikings finished 9-8 to miss the NFL Playoffs.

    State Prosecutor

    Lopez, a Republican, has served as the state’s attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit since August 2022. She’s the first female to hold the position.

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Lopez to the role after suspending State Attorney Andrew Warren. Lopez won reelection last November with almost 53% of the Hillsborough County vote.  

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  • After Minneapolis, Dems confront political vulnerabilities to battle Trump on immigration, furor over ICE

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    Democrats had planned to campaign in the midterm elections on affordability and health care, two issues where Americans are particularly unhappy with President Donald Trump. But the aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota, including the killing of Renee Good during a confrontation with federal agents, has scrambled the party’s playbook.

    Now Democrats are trying to translate visceral outrage into political strategy, even though there’s little consensus on how to press forward on issues where the party has recently struggled to earn voters’ trust.

    Some Democrats want to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a proposal that echoes “defund the police” rhetoric from Trump’s first term, and impeach administration officials such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

    Others have taken a different approach, introducing legislation intended to curb alleged abuses by federal agents. But those ideas have been criticized by activists as insufficient, and there is mounting pressure to obstruct funding for deportations.

    “We’re Democrats. I’m sure we’re going to have 50 different ideas and 50 different ways to say it,” said Chuck Rocha, a party strategist who is advising several House and Senate candidates on immigration this year.

    If Democrats fail to strike the right balance, they could imperil their efforts to retake control of Congress and statehouses around the country. They could also hamper a chance to rebuild credibility with voters whose dissatisfaction with border enforcement under Democratic President Joe Biden helped return Trump, a Republican, to the White House.

    Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and Biden’s former domestic policy adviser, believes the party can thread the needle.

    “It’s not too much to ask that we have a government that can produce a secure border, that can deport people who are not legally here, and that can also respect people’s civil and human rights,” she told The Associated Press. “This country has done that before, and it can do it again.”

    Immigration crackdowns have spread from city to city since Trump took office, but the latest operation in Minnesota has generated some of the most intense controversy.

    Good, 37, was fatally shot by a federal agent earlier this month, prompting protests and angry responses from local Democratic leaders. Administration officials accused Good of trying to hit an agent with her car, an explanation that has been widely disputed based on videos circulating online.

    “I think the party is very unified in our disdain and concern of the actions certainly of DHS and ICE,” said Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “We should campaign on fairness and due process for all people,” Garcia added, “which is being violated every single day by ICE and DHS. We should be aggressive in that posture.”

    But pushing back on the administration requires Democrats to step onto difficult political terrain.

    About 4 in 10 U.S. adults trusted Republicans more to handle immigration, according to a Washington Post/Ipsos poll from September, higher than about 3 in 10 who said the same about Democrats. On the issue of crime, Republicans also held the advantage. About 44% thought Republicans were better, compared with 22% for the Democrats.

    Republicans feel confident that their intertwined messages on crime and immigration will resonate with voters in the midterms. They frequently highlight violent criminals detained or deported, downplaying examples of nonviolent migrants who have been swept up.

    “If Democrats want to make 2026 a referendum on which party stands for strong immigration policies and protecting public safety, we will take that fight any day of the week,” said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Delanie Bomar.

    Some Democrats are more interested in using the issue as a way to pivot back to core messages about health care and the cost of living.

    “I want everybody to understand, the cuts to your health care are what’s paying for ICE to be doing this,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said last week. “The cuts to your health care are what’s paying for this.”

    Democratic strategists have circulated the clip as an example of a potentially effective pitch, particularly after Trump slashed funding for some safety net programs during his first year in office.

    The president’s approval may be slipping on the issue of immigration.

    His approval rating on the issue has fallen since the start of his term, according to Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polling, from 49% in March to 38% in January.

    Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Hispanic civil rights group in the U.S., said crackdowns have hurt Trump politically.

    “Republican members of Congress are really uncomfortable with these agencies and their existing tactics, because they know it’s going to hurt them back at home come election cycle,” he said.

    Proaño said he had been disappointed with how Democrats had accommodated the Trump administration on immigration in the last year, but he praised changes in the party’s strategy since Good’s death was captured on video.

    “I think everyone just gasped at that, and I think there has been a marked shift since then,” he said.

    Some people who have vocally supported Trump in the past, like podcast host Joe Rogan, have expressed reservations.

    “Are we really going to be the Gestapo?” he asked recently.

    But Trump has not shown any sign of backing down. The administration has ramped up the number of federal agents deployed to Minnesota and the Justice Department issued subpoenas to the state’s Democrats, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, as part of an investigation into whether they obstructed or impeded enforcement operations.

    Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, who used to lead the party in his home state of Minnesota, said “there’s a lot of pain and anguish.”

    “It’s heartbreaking,” he said in a recent interview. “It’s chilling to think that this is the United States of America, what is supposed to be a beacon for democracy and freedom.”

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  • Ohio State beats Minnesota 82-74 in OT with help from John Mobley Jr. and Bruce Thornton

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    John Mobley Jr. scored 26 points and made five 3-pointers, Bruce Thornton had 23 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Ohio State beat Minnesota 82-74 in overtime on Tuesday night.

    Devin Royal scored five of his 16 points in overtime and Christoph Tilly finished with 11 for Ohio State (13-5, 5-3 Big Ten), which improved to 15-2 all-time against Minnesota in the Schottenstein Center. Mobley, coming off a career-high 28 points and six 3-pointers against UCLA, was 9 of 19 from the field.

    Jaylen Crocker-Johnson scored a career-high 26 points — his third straight game with 20-plus — for Minnesota (10-9, 3-5), which has lost four straight games. Cade Tyson, ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring at 20.8 points per game, finished with 15 points.

    Crocker-Johnson was fouled while making a basket with 40.2 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 67-all, but missed the ensuing free throw. Mobley missed a long 3-pointer at the other end and Minnesota guard Langston Reynolds raced the other way for a layup that rolled off the rim. The Golden Gophers had another shot at a winner but Tyson’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer did not hit the rim.

    Colin White’s steal and fast-break layup gave Ohio State a 76-71 lead in overtime. Thornton scored six points in the extra frame.

    Last season, the Buckeyes edged Minnesota 89-88 in double overtime.

    Up next

    Minnesota: Returns home to play No. 7 Nebraska on Saturday.

    Ohio State: Goes on the road to play No. 3 Michigan on Friday.

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  • 1/20: CBS Evening News

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    Massive winter storm threatens half the U.S.; DOJ investigating Minnesota state and local leaders

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