Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

Politico [2/6/2026 9:30 PM, Kyle Cheney, 13586K] reports a federal appeals court Friday night backed the Trump administration’s policy to lock up the vast majority of people it is seeking to deport without offering a chance for bond, even if they have no criminal records and have resided in the country for decades. A divided three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the administration’s view — a reversal of every administration’s position for the last 30 years — is the correct interpretation of the federal government’s power to detain people targeted for deportation. “That prior Administrations decided to use less than their full enforcement authority … does not mean they lacked the authority to do more,” Judge Edith Jones, a Reagan appointee, wrote for the 2-1 majority. The matter could soon be headed for Supreme Court consideration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement adopted a new view of the law in July, prompting an explosion of arrests and detentions — and a flood of lawsuits from detainees who argued that they were illegally locked up without due process. The vast majority of judges across the country have rejected the administration’s approach. A POLITICO review of thousands of ICE detention cases found that at least 360 judges rejected the expanded detention strategy — in more than 3,000 cases — while just 27 backed it in about 130 cases. Jones was joined in the decision by Judge Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee. Judge Dana Douglas, a Biden appointee, said in a dissent that the panel’s view would require the detention of as many as 2 million immigrants residing in the United States without bond — “some of them the spouses, mothers, fathers, and grandparents of American citizens.” “Straining at a gnat, the majority swallows a camel,” Douglas wrote. “The government’s proposed reading of the statute would mean that, for purposes of immigration detention, the border is now everywhere. That is not the law Congress passed, and if it had, it would have spoken much more clearly.” The circuit’s ruling is unlikely to be the last word. Challenges to the administration’s policy have been crowding court dockets across the country and are pending in nearly every appellate circuit. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals signaled it opposed the administration’s view of the policy in a ruling that was primarily focused on other issues. CBS News [2/6/2026 11:26 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 39474K] reports that previously, immigrants who had lived in the U.S. unlawfully for years were generally eligible for bond hearings, and the opportunity to persuade an immigration judge that they were not flight risks and should be allowed to fight their deportation outside of a detention center. Mandatory detention had been historically limited to recent border crossers and those convicted of certain crimes. But the Trump administration took the position that anyone who entered the U.S. illegally, irrespective of how long ago, is subject to mandatory detention during their deportation proceedings. The only mechanism for release under that policy was if ICE decided to parole them out of custody on humanitarian or public interest grounds. The seismic policy change has led ICE to indefinitely hold detainees who entered the U.S. illegally years or even decades ago and who previously would’ve been eligible for bond, including those without criminal records. The mass detention policy has been challenged in federal courts across the country, straining the resources of government lawyers. Most judges have found the policy to be illegal. But the 5th Circuit panel disagreed and upheld the Trump administration’s legal position, reversing two lower court orders. The majority opinion — penned by Reagan-nominated Judge Edith Jones and backed by Trump-nominated Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan — sided with the Trump administration’s view that federal law provides for mandatory detention of large numbers of unauthorized immigrants who were apprehended in the interior of the U.S. and deemed "applicants for admission." CNN [2/6/2026 11:55 PM, Devan Cole, 18595K] reports that in thousands of cases around the country, federal judges had consistently ruled that the policy Trump rolled out last year was unlawful, but Friday’s decision marks the first time an appeals court has backed it. The ruling only applies to immigrants in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Reuters [2/6/2026 10:41 PM, Nate Raymond, 38315K] reports U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the ruling on social media as dealing "a significant blow against activist judges who have been undermining our efforts to make America safe again at every turn." The ruling is expected to impact thousands of people as the court’s jurisdiction covers Texas and Louisiana, which are dotted with detention centers and house the most immigration detainees. Other appeals courts are slated in coming weeks to take up the issue, which the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately need to resolve.

The Hill [2/6/2026 12:32 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18170K] reports Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee launched a probe Friday into the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) arsenal of “less lethal” weapons, citing a string of serious injuries, including during protests over the death of Renee Good. “It is clear that something is rotten at DHS, and law enforcement are using force—including ‘less-lethal’ force—in ways that put everyone at risk,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the top Democrat on the panel, wrote in a letter to DHS also signed by Reps. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) and Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.). “DHS’s lawless and aggressive enforcement operations throughout the country are proving just how dangerous less-lethal weapons can be, particularly when used improperly against those engaging in First Amendment activities.” The letter demands the DHS provide a full inventory of all less-lethal weapons, manufacturer instructions for their use, and copies of all use-of-force reports where such weapons were used by DHS personnel. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gregory Bovino, who has since been demoted from his role as “commander at large” of the Border Patrol, said over the summer that DHS had purchased “tractor-trailer loads of that s‑‑‑” and told agents involved in a California-based operation that they had permission from “all the way to the top” to use them on anyone that touched an officer. “Just as many people that touch you as you want to. Those are the general orders all the way to the top. Everybody f‑‑‑ing gets it if they touch you. You hear what I’m saying. Less lethals. We’re gonna look at shipping tractor trailer loads of that s‑‑‑ in here. … It’s all about us now. It ain’t about them,” Bovino was recorded saying in a pep talk to officials. “You know what we’re talking about, legal, ethical, moral, you’re on camera. But other than that, it’s what we do,” he said later, then adding, “This is our f‑‑‑ing city.” Those less lethal weapons have been cited in a number of alarming injuries. Kaden Rummler, 21, said he expects to have permanently lost vision in his left eye after he was shot with a less lethal round at close range during a protest in California last month.

Politico [2/6/2026 11:44 AM, Alfred Ng, 13586K] reports the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general is investigating the use of facial recognition and the collection of citizens’ personal data following a flood of concerns about how ICE agents are interacting with protesters. DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari confirmed the internal investigation on Thursday in a letter responding to Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) concerns about facial recognition and license plate readers being used against protesters in immigration enforcement operations. “The objective of the audit is to determine how DHS and its components collect or obtain [personally identifiable information] and biometric data related to immigration enforcement efforts and the extent to which that data is managed, shared, and secured in accordance with law, regulation, and Departmental policy,” Cuffari wrote. The investigation is the latest launched by the agency’s watchdog. Those probes, some of which have been previously disclosed, span ICE’s hiring surge, expedited removal of individuals, use of force and compliance with detention standards. An additional review pertains to “DHS’ processes for determining U.S. citizenship for individuals detained or arrested during immigration enforcement operations.” Warner and Kaine said they had “little confidence” that ICE was using its surveillance tools responsibly when they called for an investigation last week. “This is an important first step in investigating if Americans’ data is being misused. We appreciate the Inspector General’s recognition of the serious risk that unrestrained or illegal DHS activities pose to individuals and communities,” the senators said in a statement on Friday. Democrats are increasingly concerned that ICE is using its surveillance capabilities to track and monitor protesters speaking out against the Trump administration. Lawmakers have proposed legislation calling for limits to ICE’s facial recognition capabilities, and also sent inquiries to DHS alleging the agency is violating constitutional rights. A DHS spokesperson told POLITICO the agency does not maintain a database of domestic terrorists, but does investigate threats to officers and obstruction of law enforcement.

NewsMax [2/6/2026 8:46 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 3760K] reports that the increasing use of facial recognition software by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other Department of Homeland Security personnel to quickly identify persons of interest during enforcement operations is viewed by federal officials as an important tool, as they reject claims that the technology violates privacy protections or the Constitution. Many photos are being taken on the streets through a DHS smartphone app, Mobile Fortify, which rapidly identifies individuals after their faces are scanned and then presents their information to agents, according to documentation released by the DHS. A department spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News that Mobile Fortify allows agents to "quickly identify persons of interest." However, the spokesperson said that "claims that Mobile Fortify violates the Fourth Amendment or compromises privacy are false." "Mobile Fortify has not been blocked, restricted, or curtailed by the courts or by legal guidance. It is lawfully used nationwide in accordance with all applicable legal authorities," the spokesperson said. Last month, White House border czar Tom Homan said the administration plans to compile information on people accused of interfering with immigration enforcement. "We’re going to create a database where those people that are arrested for interference, impeachment, assault; we’re going to make them famous," Homan said in an interview. His remarks are drawing fresh attention to the surveillance technology federal immigration agents are increasingly using on U.S. streets.

NBC News [2/6/2026 9:32 AM, Staff, 42967K] reports that Civil liberty advocates and some lawmakers are sounding the alarm on the privacy risks of federal agents using surveillance toolkits during immigration enforcement operations. Using facial recognition tools on their smartphones and camera gear, ICE agents have photographed the faces of people they encounter during their daily operations. NBC News A.I. fellow Jared Perlo reports on the technology federal agents are using and why privacy groups say it is a drastic escalation. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Federal News Network [2/6/2026 6:06 PM, Justin Doubleday, 1297K] reports the Department of Homeland Security inspector general is conducting several audits related to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement blitz, including evaluations on DHS’s hiring surge and the department’s use of biometric data. The DHS Office of the Inspector General provided an update on its oversight work this week. Lawmakers had been pressing the DHS IG to review multiple issues surrounding the ongoing immigration crackdown. Those calls have only ramped up in the wake of two Americans being shot to death by federal immigration agents in January. “We recognize the importance of these reviews to provide valuable insight to DHS leadership and Congress, as well as to the public,” the DHS IG wrote in the statement. “These reviews are being conducted as expeditiously as possible while ensuring we apply rigor and uphold our professional standards.” The IG’s ongoing work include an audit of hiring at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The goal is to evaluate the extent to which ICE “can surge its hiring and training efforts to meet operational needs,” the IG wrote. DHS says that ICE hired more than 10,000 new staff in 2025, nearly doubling its total workforce. The massive, accelerated hiring surge was fueled by funding from “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed last summer. Lawmakers have called into question how effectively ICE has vetted and trained new law enforcement officers given the rapid expansion. House Homeland Security Democrats have also requested that the Government Accountability Office review ICE’s hiring surge.

NBC News [2/6/2026 6:42 PM, Laura Strickler, 42967K] reports the Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel warned the agency’s independent watchdog that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asserts that she has the power to unilaterally kill their investigations, according to a new letter sent by Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth to Noem. The DHS inspector general’s office states that its mission is to "provide objective, independent oversight of DHS programs and operations and to promote excellence, integrity, and accountability within DHS." In a meeting with DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, Duckworth learned that DHS general counsel communicated multiple times with DHS OIG to "remind them" that Noem has the power to kill investigations by his department, according to the letter obtained by NBC News. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin pointed out that the federal law providing Noem with that power to end IG investigations has been in place for decades.

New York Times [2/6/2026 6:45 PM, Carol Rosenberg, 148038K] reports the saga of dozens of Cuban men who thought they were being deported from the United States last year and then spent weeks in a prison at the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, took a new turn this week as they were transferred to detention in Mississippi. All but one of the men were being held on Friday at the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Miss., according to family members who declined to be identified to protect the men from being singled out for reprisal by the United States or the Cuban government. The man who was separated from the group was sent to Houston for medical care. Department of Homeland Security officials did not respond to questions about the men and their unusual journey, the reason for their transfer and why they were chosen — from among the tens of thousands of people in the United States awaiting deportation — to be held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo. Some of them voluntarily agreed to abandon their cases in immigration court in exchange for what they thought would result in their return to Cuba before Christmas, according to family members. At least six of the men had work permits and had applied for asylum. Instead, starting with the first 22 in December, they wound up on Cuban soil, being held in a prison building at the base that previously housed people suspected of being Al Qaeda members. More flights brought more Cuban citizens designated for deportation, bringing the number of Cubans held at the base to 55 in early January. Then on Monday, they were all transferred back to the United States on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter, a 175-seat passenger plane operated by Global X, according to flight trackers.

AP [2/6/2026 7:47 PM, Elliot Spagat, 1257K] reports a judge says the federal government must return three families hurt by the first Trump administration’s policy of separating parents from the children at the border, saying their deportations in recent months relied on “lies, deception and coercion.” The order, issued Thursday, found the deported families should have been allowed to remain in the United States under terms of a legal settlement over the Trump administration’s separation of about 6,000 children from their parents at the border in 2018. Each mother had permission to remain in the U.S. until 2027 under humanitarian parole. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego said the administration also had to pay for their return travel costs. One woman and her three children, including a 6-year-old U.S. citizen, were deported to Honduras in July after being ordered to check in with ICE at least 11 times over two months, which, she said, caused her to lose her job. Sabraw rejected the government’s argument that the family left the U.S. voluntarily. The woman said ICE officers visited her home and asked her sign a document agreeing to leave but she refused. “This did not make any difference to these officers. They took me and my children to a motel and removed my ankle monitor. They detained us for three days and then removed us to Honduras,” the woman said in court documents. The other two families, identified only by their initials, bore similarities. “Each of the removals was unlawful, and absent the removals, these families would still be in the United States and have access to the benefits and resources they are entitled to,” wrote Sabraw, who was appointed by President George W. Bush. Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who represents the families, welcomed the decision. “The Trump administration has never acknowledged the illegality or gratuitous cruelty of the initial family separation policy and now has started re-deporting and re-separating these same families. The Court put its foot down and not only ordered the families return but did so at government expense,” he said.

CBS News [2/6/2026 3:30 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51110K] reports a federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. government to return three migrant families affected by the family separation policy during President Trump’s first administration and then deported under his second, declaring the deportations "unlawful." U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, ruled that the families’ deportations violated a court settlement designed to provide certain benefits to those affected by the first Trump administration’s policy of forcibly separating migrant children from their parents along the U.S.-Mexico border. In his ruling, Sabraw described three families he found had been wrongfully deported. All three cases involved mothers who had been directly or indirectly affected by the family separation policy. ABC News [2/6/2026 5:16 PM, Laura Romero, 34146K] reports a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return three immigrant families to the U.S. after finding that federal immigration agents used "lies, deception, and coercion" to remove them. The families, according to U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw, were originally separated at the southern border during the first Trump administration’s "Zero Tolerance" policy. They were supposed to be protected under a 2023 settlement that granted them temporary legal status and a path to reunification, but they were deported last summer. In the eight-page ruling, Judge Sabraw found that the government’s removal of the families rendered the protections of the settlement "illusory." In her order, Sabraw ruled that the government must "bear the cost of returning these family units to the United States."

ABC News [2/6/2026 6:02 PM, Laura Romero, 34146K] reports Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro said Friday that the Trump administration has filed for the expedited deportation of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his family, days after a federal judge ordered their release from immigration detention. The 5-year-old and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained by federal agents last week and sent to a Texas detention facility, before they returned to Minneapolis on Sunday after a judge ordered the government to release them. They had a pending asylum case but no order of deportation directing that they be removed from the United States, ABC News previously reported. An asylum hearing for the family that was originally scheduled for later this month was moved up to Friday. In a statement to ABC News, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin characterized the hearing as a regular removal proceeding. "They are not in expedited removal," McLaughlin said. "This is standard procedure and there is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation’s immigration laws." A school official told ABC News that the immigration judge overseeing Friday’s hearing granted Liam Conejo Ramos and his family a continuance -- i.e., a formal postponement of the case to a later date.

ABC News [2/6/2026 8:26 PM, Laura Romero, 34146K] reports a federal prosecutor in Massachusetts said Friday that the federal government will not return a 19-year-old college student who was deported over Thanksgiving despite a court order blocking her removal. Any Lucia Lopez Belloza was deported to Honduras in November shortly after she was detained, even though a federal judge had ordered the government not to remove her from the U.S. or transfer her out of Massachusetts. After the college student’s removal, U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns said he was giving the government an opportunity to "rectify the mistake" and recommended that she be issued a student visa. But on Friday, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley argued in a court filing that the Secretary of State lacks the legal authority to unilaterally issue visas. Foley said that if Lopez Belloza were returned to the U.S., she would remain subject to immediate detention and removal based on a final deportation order. "ICE has considered returning Petitioner to the United States to the status quo that existed immediately prior to her removal, but respectfully declines to pursue this course of action," Foley said. Lopez Belloza previously told ABC News that she believes her deportation is unfair because she has no criminal record and was "just focusing on her studies." "My parents... work so hard to be able to send me to college," she said. "And I got really good financial aid. I really got a good college that basically wanted me, and I wanted them. My dream was for me to be in college, fulfill not only mine but also my family dream... for me to be in college, be one of the first ones in my family to be there. It was like... wow... I’m doing this. It’s happening.”

FOX News [2/6/2026 1:54 PM, Emma Colton, 37576K] reports that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned that a potential lapse in DHS funding centered on Democrat demands for ICE overhauls would have sweeping ripple effects across the entire department — potentially disrupting everything from airport screening to FEMA disaster operations. "I think they (Democrats) are using families as political weapons," Noem told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. "And this is a little bit different, because when it’s the whole government that they shut down, they’re not necessarily just attacking security." "This feels like a direct attack on the security of our country, our homeland. And it’s almost as though they’ve gotten so extreme, they don’t care if we’re out there on the front lines keeping our country safe from terrorists, keeping our country safe from murderers and rapists," the DHS secretary continued. DHS funding is in flux after lawmakers carved the department out of a larger funding package enacted earlier this month, following Democratic demands for immigration enforcement reforms. For now, DHS is operating under a short-term extension that expires Feb. 13. Republicans have accused Democrats of holding DHS hostage as its funding deadline nears, while Democrats issued a series of 10 demands for reforms to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, insisting they be added to the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

The Hill [2/6/2026 10:36 AM, Emily Brooks, 18170K] reports House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said she would support funding agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that don’t deal with immigration enforcement while lawmakers negotiate reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). DeLauro said in a statement on Thursday that while she strongly supports the list of reforms to immigration enforcement that Democratic leaders are seeking, such as requiring immigration officers to get a warrant from a judge before entering a home. But she would also support funding agencies under the DHS that do not deal with immigration enforcement and that are also slated to lose funds after Feb. 13 if lawmakers don’t reach a deal. “I support funding the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Coast Guard, Secret Service, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) separately while negotiations continue on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in order to avoid any disruption to public services or missed paychecks for federal workers,” DeLauro said Thursday in a statement. “If Republicans are unwilling to reform ICE and CBP, then they will be responsible for any disruptions and deferred paychecks,” DeLauro said. Asked about the risk of agencies like FEMA and the TSA seeing a funding lapse after Feb. 13, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the onus is on Republicans to agree to reforms to fund those agencies. “We support FEMA, of course. We support TSA, hardworking agents who help keep us safe as we transit from one place to another via airplane. And we, of, course, support the Coast Guard,” Jeffries said on MS NOW on Thursday. “Now, if we confront a situation where there’s a DHS shutdown, it’s because Republicans will basically have decided that they don’t mind shutting down FEMA or Coast Guard or TSA because they don’t want ICE to be held accountable and they don’t want ICE be forced to conduct themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country.”

Breitbart [2/6/2026 8:50 PM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports on Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) stated that if Republicans don’t support immigration enforcement reforms pushed by Democrats, there will be a shutdown of “other aspects of DHS, like Coast Guard, like FEMA, and like TSA, which would be very unfortunate.” Jeffries said, “Democrats have certainly articulated a position on behalf of the American people that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for everyday Americans, not brutalize or kill them. We believe that immigration enforcement should be fair, it should be just, and it should be humane. That is not what is taking place right now. ICE is completely and totally out of control, and it needs to be reined in, which is why we need dramatic reform at the Department of Homeland Security. And Republicans either are going to support those reforms, or they’ll make the decision that they want to shut down other aspects of DHS, like Coast Guard, like FEMA, and like TSA, which would be very unfortunate.” Co-host Steve Inskeep then said, “Useful point, just to note, that DHS seems to have its funding in place — or, rather, the immigration authorities have funding in place. Other parts of DHS would be affected here.” [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

FOX News [2/6/2026 10:15 AM, Alex Miller, 37576K] reports that Senate Democrats are standing firm by their demands to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but Senate Republicans believe they have an ulterior motive: completely defund immigration operations across the country. "I’m really concerned that all the Democrats want to do is defund ICE," Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital, "They want open borders. They don’t want to get rid of criminals." Republicans argue the canary in the coal mine came last week when the Senate was advancing a Trump-backed funding deal. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attempted to pass an amendment that would have stripped the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE of $75 billion, which was summarily defeated on the floor. "Every single Senate Democrat voted yes," Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said. "That’s how radical Democrats have become. The Senate rightly rejected this amendment. The Sanders Amendment exposes Democrats’ open borders goals.” That money came from President Donald Trump’s marquee "big, beautiful bill," which shoveled billions to DHS for immigration operations, ensuring the agency is flush with cash for the next three to four fiscal years, regardless of congressional Democrats’ desires to defund it. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital that the money from the "big, beautiful bill," wasn’t going anywhere. Britt is leading talks for Senate Republicans over the issue.

New York Times [2/6/2026 5:50 PM, Annie Karni, 148038K] reports when Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat of Nevada, briefed fellow moderate senators in her party this week about new research on voters’ views ahead of the midterm elections, she had grim but familiar news. Democrats lagged badly behind the G.O.P. when it came to crime, policing and safety — issues on which many independent voters regard them as weak, she said, pointing to a new strategy memo commissioned by an outside group that supports moderate candidates. Democrats were down substantially on the basic issue of “keeping people safe from crime,” the new research showed, even with President Trump’s approval rating sagging. But she noted a silver lining in the survey, which like many others found a belief among a sizable majority, including many independents, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had gone too far in the deportation crackdown. That, according to the pollsters, gave Democrats an opening to press for changes if they did so with “nuance,” emphasizing their support for combating crime and support for local police but arguing that ICE had gone too far. And Ms. Cortez Masto pitched her party’s disadvantage on crime as a place where — with the right policies and messaging — Democrats had room, and a political imperative, to grow. The memo helps explain the tricky politics of the current fight in Congress over homeland security funding, and how the two parties are positioning themselves on the issues of crime and immigration. In demanding new restrictions on Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown, leading Democrats have emphasized that they simply want federal agents to follow basic standards of law enforcement. Republicans, by contrast, have been portraying Democratic-run states and cities as dangerous sanctuaries for crime, and accusing Democrats of coddling criminals — a charge the survey indicates is a widely held opinion among voters. Ms. Cortez Masto has been urging her colleagues to “lead with toughness” when it comes to talking about and dealing with violent criminals. The polling memo she passed around asserted that voters want Democrats to talk about “punishment,” and that such messages would resonate in particular with Black and Latino voters, as well as independent and swing voters, who could be crucial to their uphill battle to win control of the Senate. “They’re hearing the same thing in their communities,” Ms. Cortez Masto said in an interview on Friday. “It is about cracking down on crime and holding the violent criminals accountable.” When it comes to “cracking down on crime,” key groups of voters favored Republicans over Democrats by substantial margins, according to the polling analysis. Democrats, it said, were more associated in voters’ minds with being weak on sentencing, caring more about the criminal and being weak on immigration, the survey said.

Washington Examiner [2/6/2026 2:31 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1147K] reports Florida has locked in a 15-year shield against the revival of illegal immigration parole policies used under former President Joe Biden, securing a court-enforced settlement with the Trump administration that state officials say would block future Democratic administrations from loosening border release rules inside the Sunshine State. The consent decree, entered Feb. 4 in federal court in the Northern District of Florida, resolves a lawsuit Florida first filed in May 2023 that challenged the Department of Homeland Security’s "Parole with Conditions" policy under former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. That policy allowed large numbers of illegal immigrants encountered at the border to be released into the interior with conditions rather than being detained or promptly placed into removal proceedings. "This ensures that the next Democratic administration cannot abuse the parole system to allow another invasion of illegal aliens into our country," said Jae Williams, press secretary for Republican Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. "We thank the Trump administration for working with our office to obtain this result.” Under the agreement, DHS and the Justice Department are permanently barred from enforcing the Parole with Conditions policy, the earlier "Parole Plus Alternatives to Detention" policy, or any "materially indistinguishable" parole program that operates as a categorical release mechanism for undocumented immigrants in Florida. The decree explicitly prohibits using parole authority to relieve detention-capacity pressures or to delay removal proceedings by shifting enforcement into the interior. The settlement remains in force for 15 years and can be modified or terminated only with the consent of both Florida and the federal government, subject to court approval. A federal judge retains continuing jurisdiction to enforce the decree, preventing a future administration from undoing the restrictions through executive action alone. According to officials in the attorney general’s office, the settlement could help to set a precedent for other states seeking to prevent future left-wing administrations from imposing similar policies through executive fiat. If a future Democratic president were to impose similar policies to the Biden administration, Republican-led states would have the ability to point to Florida’s consent decree in court as grounds for defending against similar executive orders.

Washington Times [2/6/2026 1:38 PM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports California’s failure to honor ICE deportation “detainer” requests has led to 4,561 migrants with criminal records being released back into communities since President Trump took office, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday as it begged the state to cooperate in turning people over. DHS said in addition to those already released, California is holding more than 33,000 migrants for whom U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer request. Federal officials asked Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta to work with ICE on those cases. “It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. Detainers are requests from ICE to state or local authorities to notify and, in the best of cases, to hold a deportable migrant for pickup when they are being released from custody. Sanctuary jurisdictions limit or, in some cases, outright prohibit cooperation with detainers. DHS said the 33,000 migrants facing deportation detainer requests in California prisons and jails cover 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 8,380 “dangerous” drug offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses and 1,293 sexual predator cases. Among the 4,561 migrants released in defiance of detainers since Jan. 20, 2025, were 31 homicide cases, 661 assaults, 1,489 dangerous drug cases, 379 weapons offenses and 234 sexual predator cases. Mr. Newsom’s press office, on social media, said the numbers were an attempt to distract from a controversial social media post President Trump made, imposing the faces of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama on monkeys’ bodies. The office pointed to data that showed California has honored 10,588 detainer requests since Mr. Newsom took office in 2019. “California cooperates with ICE when it comes to REMOVING CRIMINALS — like sick rapists and murderers — in our state prisons,” the press office said. DHS on Friday also released a letter acting ICE Director Todd Lyons sent to Mr. Bonta earlier in the week defending his agency’s use of administrative deportation warrants as a legal means of taking custody of deportable migrants.

CBS News [2/6/2026 7:51 PM, Kris Van Cleave, 51110K] reports circling Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday at an altitude of 500 feet, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter was providing a bird’s eye view for the thousands of first responders securing Super Bowl LX. "Our main goal up here is just to make sure everybody’s safe," the pilot told CBS News, adding that the focus is on "any type of threats, any type of violent acts or suspicious activity going on.” By being up in the air, CBP has the ability to send live video back to their command centers below so responders on the ground know what they’re dealing with. Barricades are up, bomb-sniffing dogs are on patrol and everyone entering the stadium area is screened at a checkpoint. The Federal Aviation Administration has also issued a ban on all drone flights over the Super Bowl. More than 35 local, state and federal agencies have been working for the last 18 months to prepare for game day. Jeff Brannigan, supervisory special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, which like ICE and CBP is part of the Department of Homeland Security, told CBS News that "the federal law enforcement footprint for Super Bowl 60 is consistent with what it has been in years past.” When pressed on whether DHS will have a role as part of that footprint, Brannigan responded that "DHS law enforcement at large is participating in supporting the Super Bowl. The focus of DHS law enforcement at the Super Bowl is safety and security.”

Reported similarly:
San Diego Union Tribune [2/6/2026 1:38 PM, Robert Salonga and Caelyn Pender, 1257K]

ABC News [2/6/2026 6:30 AM, Luke Barr, 34146K] reports there will be a "substantial law enforcement presence" in the Bay Area for the week leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, the man who is leading it all told ABC News. "We have multiple command centers that we are operating as the federal government in concert with our local partners," Jeff Brannigan, the Department of Homeland Security federal coordinator, told ABC News in an interview. "It’s a broad footprint with a lot of personnel. Some are uniformed and, very clearly, government officials of some way.” Others are working behind the scenes, he said. The Super Bowl is a SEAR 1 event, meaning there is extensive federal security coordination. "The federal government has brought resources to bear to augment the security planning of the cities of Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Jose, and we have brought resources that those cities don’t necessarily have, and that really is a full-domain security posture to include air support, maritime support and support on the ground," he said. The federal government will have support from the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S Coast Guard; aerial assets from Customs and Border Protection; the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA); and even a helicopter that scans for nuclear technology. Brannigan said he couldn’t get into specifics, but that there are "hundreds of federal special agents from across the government," working with local police departments to provide security for the event.

FOX News [2/6/2026 12:35 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports that Max Gorden reports from Levi’s Stadium on the federal security blitz. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [2/7/2026 5:00 AM, David Nakamura, 24826K] reports Puerto Rican native Ray Sanchez generally supports President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. But at a Super Bowl party Sunday, the 60-year-old auto industry consultant will be rooting for the latest target of their culture war: Bad Bunny, the superstar headlining the halftime show. Sanchez called his fellow Puerto Rican’s chance to showcase Latin music on the NFL’s biggest stage an extraordinary triumph for a U.S. territory whose people have struggled to win the same rights as other American citizens. Never mind that some conservatives are boycotting the performance over his outspoken politics and criticism of Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda. “Being against Bad Bunny is absurd,” said Sanchez, who expects hundreds to attend the party in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital. “There is no one in music who has gone as far as he has in promoting our culture.” The halftime show in Santa Clara, California, before a global television audience expected to top 100 million, is an opportunity for the 31-year-old artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, to go even further. Across the country, Latino fans say they are anticipating a raucous performance that celebrates their immigrant heritage and provides a moment of joy and emotional release at a time when many in their communities are living in fear of the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation. While he is performing, Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, will hold an alternative “All-American Halftime Show” featuring Michigan-born Kid Rock, a longtime Trump supporter, to stream on social media. Even if Bad Bunny doesn’t use the stage to explicitly condemn Trump’s deportation campaign, the dueling shows will highlight the nation’s deep divide over immigration, and his performance is likely to be viewed through that lens. “Him just being there is a very political statement in this moment, given what we’re seeing everywhere else,” said Ana Sofía Peláez, a Cuban American nonprofit leader in Miami who is making a Puerto Rican coconut custard, known as tembleque, for her guests at a “Benito Bowl” party on Sunday.

New York Times [2/6/2026 8:56 AM, Ben Sisario, 148038K] reports the Super Bowl has never had a halftime performer — or a controversy — quite like Bad Bunny. The Latin superstar, who conquered global streaming with reggaeton earworms seasoned with nostalgic sounds from his native Puerto Rico, is set to make history on Sunday, giving the first all-Spanish performance in the game’s 60-year history. It will be the capstone achievement for a transformational figure in Latin pop, who has broken ticketing records around the world, racked up 15 Top 10 hits and on Sunday took album of the year at the Grammys in another milestone for Latin music. Yet before he has sung a note, Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl appearance has become a political flashpoint amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the fears it has stirred among Latino communities in the United States, immigrant or not. When the National Football League announced him as its halftime headliner in September, sports and media observers saw a shrewd move by a league seeking to expand its global footprint. But the White House and right-wing media convulsed in condemnation. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would “be all over” the game, to be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The conservative commentator Tomi Lahren dismissed Bad Bunny as “not an American artist.” (Puerto Rico is, of course, an American territory.) In a recent interview, President Trump said he would not attend the game, calling Bad Bunny’s selection “a terrible choice” and saying that “all it does is sow hatred.” Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by Charlie Kirk, said it would present its own counterprogramming, a “one-of-a-kind streaming event” called the All-American Halftime Show that will feature Kid Rock and the country singers Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett. “We’re taking the American Culture War to the MAIN STAGE,” the organization said on its website last month, adding: “No ‘woke’ garbage. Just TRUTH. Just FREEDOM. Just AMERICA.”

Breitbart [2/6/2026 11:25 AM, Dylan Gwinn, 2238K] reports that fans at the Winter Olympics in Italy were advised to "be respectful" to the American delegation of athletes and officials during the opening ceremony on Friday. "I hope that the opening ceremony is seen by everyone ⁠as an opportunity to be respectful of each other," said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry when questioned about the possibility of a hostile reception for the U.S. delegation. U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are leading Team USA. This year’s Olympic Winter Games are taking place after months of anger among America’s European allies over President Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland. On the domestic front, international angst has risen in recent weeks over the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigrants and the shooting deaths of two protesters who violently confronted Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis. News that ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents would be present in Milan to support security operations prompted local officials to lash out against the immigration enforcement operations. "It’s a militia that signs its own permits to enter people’s house, like we signed our own permission slips at school, except it’s much more serious," Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said of ICE. "They’re not welcome in Milan. Can’t we just say ‘no’ to Trump for once?". The U.S. is set to host the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Reuters [2/6/2026 5:35 AM, Staff, 16072K] reports hundreds of protesters chanted slogans, blew whistles and set off flares at a rally on Friday to oppose the presence in Italy of U.S. immigration agents and the closure of streets ahead of the Milano Cortina Winter Games’ opening ceremony. The reported presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to protect Americans around the Olympics has galvanised protests given their front-line role in U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation push at home. "ICE OUT" and "ICE should be in my drinks not ⁠my city" read some of the banners held by the student-led demonstrators. Blowing plastic whistles, which have become a symbol of anti-ICE rallies in the U.S., the demonstrators in Milan also urged visiting U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to go home. "I thought that this was a good opportunity to show that the rest of the world is not okay with what’s happening in Minnesota," said Katie Legare, a protester from Minnesota currently studying in Europe, in reference to ICE agents’ killing of two ⁠U.S. citizens in her home city. "It’s not okay to just acquiesce and go with the status quo. But to say there’s something wrong that’s happening and to speak out.” Italy’s government has said the controversy is unfounded, with ICE personnel not on the streets during the Olympics and only operatives from its Homeland Security Investigations in Italy working out of U.S. diplomatic missions. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has also said no agents from ICE were providing security for Team USA. With the opening ceremony due on Friday evening, Italian authorities ordered schools in central Milan to remain shut and blocked access to some areas to bolster security and ease traffic disruptions.

OutKick [2/6/2026 6:25 PM, Bobby Burack] reports British American Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy posted a photo that appeared to show "f--- ICE" written in urine during the opening ceremony on Friday. "Innocent people have been murdered, and enough is enough," Kenworthy wrote. "We can’t wait around while ICE continues to operate with unchecked power in our communities. Senators still have leverage right now, and Senator Name must use it to demand real guardrails and accountability, including getting ICE and CBP out of our communities, ending blank check funding for brutality, and establishing clear limits on warrantless arrests, profiling, and enforcement at sensitive locations like schools and hospitals." How original. Kenworthy was born in Great Britain and moved to Colorado as a child. He represented the United States at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi before opting to compete for Great Britain in 2019. The International Olympic Committee said Kenworthy will not face punishment for expressing his political views. "During the Olympic Games, all participants have the opportunity to express their views as per the athlete expression guidelines. The IOC does not regulate personal social media posts," the IOC told the Press Association. That is fine. We rarely believe punishing someone for speech is the right course of action, so long as others are free to respond with counter-statements. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [2/6/2026 1:24 PM, Rebecca Santana and Elliot Spagat, 35287K] reports that White House border czar Tom Homan’s announcement that enforcement in Minnesota was being unified under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement followed months of internal grumbling and infighting among agencies about how to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Since it was created in 2003, ICE has conducted street arrests through "targeted enforcement." Homan uses that phrase repeatedly to describe narrowly tailored operations with specific, individual targets, in contrast to the broad sweeps that had become more common under Border Patrol direction in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minnesota and elsewhere. It is unclear how the agency friction may have influenced the leadership shift. But the change shines a light on how the two main agencies behind Trump’s centerpiece deportation agenda have at times clashed over styles and tactics. The switch comes at a time when support for ICE is sliding, with a growing number of Americans saying the agency has become too aggressive. In Congress, the Department of Homeland Security is increasingly under attack by Democrats who want to rein in immigration enforcement. While declaring the Twin Cities operation a success, Homan on Wednesday acknowledged that it was imperfect and said consolidating operations under ICE’s enforcement and removal operations unit was an effort toward "making sure we follow the rules." Trump sent the former acting ICE director to Minnesota last week to de-escalate tensions after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal immigration officers — one with ICE and the other with Customs and Border Protection. "We made this operation more streamlined and we established a unified chain of command, so everybody knows what everybody’s doing," Homan said at a news conference in Minneapolis. "In targeted enforcement operations, we go out there. There needs to be a plan." Asked about the friction, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, "There is only page: The President’s page. Everyone’s on the same page."

AP [2/6/2026 6:57 PM, Steve Karnowski, 5209K] reports attorneys for the federal government have until next Thursday to reach an agreement with human rights lawyers who are seeking to ensure the right to counsel for people detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Minnesota, a judge said Friday. Advocates said people held at the facility on the edge of Minneapolis who face possible deportation are denied adequate access to lawyers, including in-person meetings. Attorney Jeffrey Dubner said detainees are allowed to make phone calls, but ICE personnel are typically nearby. U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel told Justice Department attorney Christina Parascandola that there seemed to be a “very wide factual disconnect” between what the human rights lawyers allege and the government’s claims of adequate access at what ICE depicts as only a temporary holding facility. Parascandola said people detained at the facility have access to counsel and unmonitored phone calls at any time and for as long as they need. She conceded she had never been there. Brasel called her argument “a tough sell,” noting there was far more evidence in the case record to back up the plaintiffs’ claims than the government’s assurances. “The gap here is so enormous I don’t know how you’re going to close it,” the judge said. Rather than ruling on the spot, Brasel told both sides to keep meeting with a retired judge who’s mediating and who has helped narrow some of the gaps already. She noted at the start of the hearing that both sides agreed that “some degree of reasonable access” to legal counsel is constitutionally necessary but that they differed on the details of what that should look like. If the sides don’t reach at least a partial agreement by 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, the judge said she’ll issue her order then. She didn’t specify which way she’d rule.

USA Today [2/6/2026 12:05 PM, Christopher Cann, 70643K] reports nearly a dozen people were arrested at a protest against the ongoing immigration enforcement push in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as tensions remained high after the Trump administration began withdrawing hundreds of federal agents from the city. Police arrested 11 people involved in a protest Thursday, Feb. 5, outside a Hilton hotel near the University of Minnesota, where demonstrators believe federal agents were staying, according to a statement from the university. Images show protesters banging on drums and blowing whistles outside the hotel, with some holding signs reading "ANTI-ICE" and "ICE OUT.” The protest comes as federal officials draw down the number of immigration agents operating in the city. On Feb. 4, White House border czar Tom Homan said 700 agents would leave the Twin Cities region as federal authorities expand their cooperation with Minnesota state and local officials. Homan said 2,000 would remain in the area and that a "complete drawdown" will depend on "continued cooperation of local and state law enforcement.” The announcement marked another turn in the government’s operation in Minneapolis amid scrutiny following the deaths of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, at the hands of federal agents in January.

New York Times [2/7/2026 5:01 AM, Ernesto Londoño, 148038K] reports hours after an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good inside her S.U.V. on a Minneapolis street last month, a senior federal prosecutor in Minnesota sought a warrant to search the vehicle for evidence in what he expected would be a standard civil rights investigation into the agent’s use of force. The prosecutor, Joseph H. Thompson, wrote in an email to colleagues that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, a state agency that specializes in investigating police shootings, would team up with the F.B.I. to determine whether the shooting had been justified and lawful or had violated Ms. Good’s civil rights. But later that week, as F.B.I. agents equipped with a signed warrant prepared to document blood spatter and bullet holes in Ms. Good’s S.U.V., they received orders to stop, according to several people with knowledge of the events who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The orders, they said, came from senior officials, including Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, several of whom worried that pursuing a civil rights investigation — by using a warrant obtained on that basis — would contradict President Trump’s claim that Ms. Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer” who fired at her as she drove her vehicle.

Washington Post [2/6/2026 5:12 PM, Arelis R. Hernández, 24826K] reports an attorney for a man convicted of assaulting the federal immigration officer who later killed Minneapolis resident Renée Good is planning to ask for a new trial, contending that the fatal shooting calls for a reexamination of the earlier case and whether proper training was followed. Roberto Carlos Muñoz-Guatemala, an undocumented immigrant convicted in 2023 of felony sexual assault of a minor, was found guilty in December in an incident in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross was injured after being dragged by the defendant’s vehicle during an immigration enforcement stop last summer. A month after the conviction, Ross shot Good three times after her SUV lurched forward as several officers surrounded the vehicle. The killing led to widespread protests of President Donald Trump’s ramped-up immigration enforcement efforts in Minneapolis and other cities. In a court filing Thursday, Muñoz-Guatemala’s attorney argued that the fatal shooting has put Ross’s “training (or lack thereof) into the spotlight.” The lawyer is asking a federal judge to order the government to disclose the officer’s full training and the investigative file into Good’s death. He contends that those records could provide new evidence in the case. The request is the first step toward seeking a new trial, the attorney said. Muñoz-Guatemala is in jail but has not been sentenced. The federal government has a week to respond to the discovery motion.

Blaze [2/6/2026 1:00 PM, Staff, 1556K] reports that BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler has done some investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and what she found has her asking whether or not Omar could face denaturalization — or even deportation — if her U.S. citizenship was obtained through fraud. And Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin may have some answers. "I wonder if the Department of Homeland Security is aware of this potential asylum fraud on the part of Ilhan Omar’s father that ended up begetting her ability to be a naturalized citizen," Wheeler tells McLaughlin. "We’re certainly aware of this, and it’s something that has been looked into. Under U.S. law, the grounds for denaturalization is if citizenship was procured on the basis of fraud. It’s very much a case-by-case basis," McLaughlin responds. "That’s something of course that the president has Truthed quite a bit about this, and that’s something that people are looking into," she adds. Wheeler points out that several weeks ago, Tom Homan also said that the DHS was looking into her case. "But there’s various aspects of her case. There’s the case of, you know, her marriage to her brother. There’s the case of some money issues. There’s the case of her father. And it seems to me if her father had committed fraud with his asylum case, and she was a minor at the time, then her naturalized citizenship would have been obtained invalidly," Wheeler says.

New York Times [2/6/2026 5:08 AM, Ernesto Londoño, 148038K] reports as elected officials in Minnesota have desperately sought to persuade the Trump administration to end an immigration crackdown, Dawanna Witt, the sheriff of Hennepin County, finds herself in a pivotal spot. The jail she runs in Minneapolis is the largest in the state and the only one that refuses, as a matter of policy, to assist in any way with federal immigration enforcement. The approach is broadly supported by her constituents, Sheriff Witt said in an interview. But the sheriff said she had been agonizing over whether allowing some measure of cooperation with the federal authorities in their push for deportations might serve a broader good. “I don’t think that Donald Trump or Tom Homan are going to leave without feeling like they have some sort of win,” Sheriff Witt said, referring to the White House border czar, who has been newly assigned to oversee the crackdown in Minnesota. “I don’t ever want to be put in a position that I had the power to make them leave and another one of our citizens gets killed.” Speaking in her office in downtown Minneapolis this week, Sheriff Witt looked weary. The showdown over immigration enforcement between the Trump administration and elected Democrats in Minnesota has left Sheriff Witt under tremendous pressure from all sides. Sheriff Witt is a defendant in a lawsuit the Department of Justice filed in September, which argues that policies that restrict sharing of information with immigration officials amount to unlawful obstruction of federal law enforcement functions. The Justice Department argued that her jail’s policy “unlawfully discriminates against the federal government” and violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. At the same time, Hennepin County residents have flooded the sheriff’s email inbox and her cellphone with a torrent of angry messages expressing outrage over the role her deputies have played in protecting a federal building at the center of the immigration operation. Some of the messages have been threatening.

New York Times [2/6/2026 12:47 PM, Charles Homans, 148038K] reports in the months leading up to the 2024 election, Jill Garvey, an organizer in Chicago for liberal advocacy groups, gathered with some like-minded colleagues and, she recalled, “did some scenario planning.” “Our sense,” she said, was that “authoritarian movements had coalesced, had singular goals, and were advancing them.” Since then, the organization that Ms. Garvey founded shortly before Election Day, States at the Core, has hosted regular Zoom trainings in how to track and document the actions of federal immigration agents. These seminars on “ICE-watching” — referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement — now draw thousands of attendees at a time. ICE-watching has been at the heart of the opposition to the Trump administration’s raids in Minneapolis, where activists’ unrelenting pursuit of often-bellicose federal agents has led to frequent street confrontations. In two such incidents, federal officers fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both Minneapolis residents, killings that were captured on camera from multiple angles by observers. The videos of these shootings and other instances of aggression by immigration officers have succeeded in doing what perhaps no other anti-Trump protest has done: draw concessions from the administration. On Wednesday, Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, announced the withdrawal of 700 federal agents from the city, a move that followed the reassignment of Gregory Bovino, the border patrol official who had served as the face of the Minneapolis operation. Thousands of federal agents remain in Minnesota, and raids have continued apace. The ongoing presence in Minneapolis was justified, Mr. Homan said this week, in part by the opposition that remains there. On Wednesday, federal agents, with guns drawn, were filmed stopping a group of observers in Minneapolis and arresting them. Ms. Garvey is quick to note the role that her organization’s trainings have played in Minneapolis — but also to acknowledge that the strategies long predate her group and others like it. “There’s a debt of gratitude to Black liberation movements that really pioneered this,” she said. “The Black Panther Party did it.” The resistance in Minneapolis over the past two months has not looked much like the organized opposition during Mr. Trump’s first term, when demonstrations like the Women’s March assembled crowds of historic size in Washington and state capitals to register dissent. In appearance and format, those protests took cues from the Civil Rights movement marches and the antiwar demonstrations of the 1960s.

New York Times [2/6/2026 10:54 AM, Jazmine Ulloa, 148038K] reports lawyers for the federal government have filed a motion to expedite the deportation of Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old boy in a bunny hat whose image rocketed around the world after he was detained by federal agents in Minnesota last month during an immigration enforcement operation. In an interview on Friday morning, Danielle Molliver, the immigration lawyer representing Liam and his father, confirmed the filing of the government motion, which she called “extraordinary” and possibly “retaliatory.” A hearing in the case is set for later on Friday, and Ms. Molliver said she planned to request more time to plead the asylum case for Liam, and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who are from Ecuador and entered the United States in December 2024. Ms. Molliver said the family had legally entered the country through a humanitarian program. The Department of Homeland Security had charged that Mr. Conejo Arias had entered the country illegally. A request to the department for comment was not immediately answered on Friday. Liam’s detention last month prompted outrage in Minneapolis and beyond, and drew expressions of support for immigrant families caught in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown across the Twin Cities. Dozens of immigrant detainees at the site in Dilley, Texas, where the boy and his father had quickly been transferred, were captured in drone footage as they walked out and shouted in protest over the conditions in which Liam and other children were being held.

ABC News [2/6/2026 2:03 PM, Oren Oppenheim, Jack Date, and Luke Barr, 34146K] reports that the FBI has invited elections officials around the country for a call later this month on the agency’s "preparations" for the high-stakes midterm elections, according to a letter sent to election officials and reviewed by ABC News. The letter, which went out earlier this week, states that the FBI call will also include election officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, United States Postal Inspection Service and Election Assistance Commission. "To prepare for the 2026 US midterm elections, your election partners at the FBI, DOJ, DHS, USPIS, and the EAC would like to invite you to a call where we can discuss our preparations for the cycle, as well as updates and resources we can provide to you and your staff… We look forward to speaking with you in support of the 2026 midterm elections," FBI staffer Kellie Hardiman, who signed the letter with the title "FBI Election Executive," wrote. The letter went to most election officials in the United States, according to a source familiar with the letter. The offices of Arizona’s secretary of state and Utah’s lieutenant governor -- the office that oversees elections in that state -- confirmed to ABC News that they are among the offices that received the invite for the briefing, set to be held on Feb. 25. The letter was first reported by Crooked Media. Although it’s not unusual for government officials to have an election-security dialogue, the invite comes amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing false claims of voter fraud and the recent FBI raid of an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia.

NewsNation [2/6/2026 4:01 PM, Ali Bradley, Jeff Arnold, 4464K] reports United States Border Patrol agents working along the U.S.-Mexico border are being warned to maintain a heightened sense of awareness after FBI intelligence discovered a directive by leaders of a notorious Mexican drug cartel to have members shoot at federal agents from across the border. Placing agents on high alert is part of a situational awareness memo to federal agents obtained through NewsNation sources. The memo, citing FBI reporting, states that Jalisco New Generation Cartel leadership has ordered members to shoot at Customs and Border Protection agents. The alert was sent specifically to agents working within the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector. However, a retired Border Patrol sector chief told NewsNation on Friday that federal immigration agents working anywhere along the 1,900 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border need to remain aware of their surroundings at all times due to the heightened threats. The internal memo obtained by NewsNation states that JNGC has instructed its members to carry out assaults in areas of Mexico not controlled by the cartel.

CBS News [2/6/2026 6:13 PM, Doug Myers, 51110K] reports a North Texas man has been charged with making online threats to kill President Donald Trump and unnamed ICE agents, according to federal prosecutors. A grand jury on Tuesday indicted Francisco Jesus Mena, 36, of North Richland Hills, on 10 counts alleging he posted a series of violent threats targeting federal officials. Prosecutors say Mena allegedly posted multiple online threats in May 2025 directed at the president and ICE personnel. Mena’s arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 11. He was previously arrested on a federal complaint and made his initial court appearance on Jan. 7, 2026, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Harold R. Ray Jr. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 96 years in federal prison.

New York Times [2/6/2026 7:45 PM, Megan Mineiro, 148038K] reports Representative Mark Amodei of Nevada said on Friday that he would retire at the end of his term next January, becoming the 31st House Republican to announce plans to leave Congress as the party faces possible midterm election losses that could cost it the majority. Mr. Amodei added his name to a long list of more mainstream Republicans who have found themselves isolated and outnumbered on Capitol Hill, where President Trump’s iron grip and demands of unquestioning loyalty have pulled the party to the right and made life difficult for those with even a hint of an independent streak. He is also among more than a dozen committee leaders who have announced plans to retire, underscoring how even those with powerful perches and years of experience would rather leave Capitol Hill than continue serving — particularly if they will be forced to do so in the minority. Mr. Amodei, who was elected in 2011 and is the sole Republican representing Nevada in Congress, leads the appropriations subcommittee overseeing the Department of Homeland Security, a coveted post that gives him control over a vital slice of federal spending. “I came to Congress to solve problems and to make sure our state and nation have strong voice in the federal policy and oversight processes,” Mr. Amodei said in a statement on Friday. “I look forward to finishing my term.” His retirement is unlikely to sway the race for control of the House; his district is solidly Republican and likely to remain in the party’s hands.

Washington Examiner [2/7/2026 6:00 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K] reports the Department of Homeland Security unloaded on “activist” judges it accused of playing politics with the legal system and said federal authorities will continue to arrest illegal immigrants across Minnesota despite a growing trend across the state of judges releasing those who have filed habeas cases. “It should come as no surprise that more habeas petitions are being filed by illegal aliens — especially after many activist judges have attempted to thwart President Trump from fulfilling the American people’s mandate for mass deportations,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin wrote in an email Friday. As of this week, federal law enforcement officers have arrested more than 4,000 illegal immigrants during Operation Metro Surge across Minnesota. However, those in detention are filing habeas cases outside of immigration court. Although immigration courts are intended to decide immigration cases, the habeas cases are being filed outside, where more sympathetic judges are ruling that the federal government cannot detain people indefinitely. As the Washington Examiner reported this week, immigration advocacy groups have so far been able to make the Trump administration appear as if it is losing the legal battle over its mandatory detention policies by following rinse-and-repeat patterns in district courts.

FOX News [2/6/2026 4:40 PM, Breanne Deppisch, 37576K] reports the Trump administration will not comply with a court order requiring due process for hundreds of Venezuelan migrants deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador last year, DOJ lawyers said. It sets up a heated clash in court next week in a case that is almost certainly headed back to the Supreme Court. The status and plight of 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to a Salvadoran prison last March under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act have emerged as one of the defining court fights of Trump’s second term, allowing the administration to test its mettle against the federal courts and the practical limits of judicial authority, on one of Trump’s biggest policy priorities. It’s a fight that has also put U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who is overseeing the Alien Enemies Act case, squarely in the Trump administration’s crosshairs as he attempts to determine what due process protections, if any, the administration is legally obligated to provide and how far the courts can go to enforce them. A new filing from the Justice Department made clear the administration believes it owes the migrants no additional due process at all. Should the court try to order otherwise, lawyers for the administration said they would promptly seek intervention from higher courts. Regardless of how Boasberg rules, the new filing made clear that the Trump administration views the fight as far from over.

FOX News [2/6/2026 8:15 AM, Rachel Wolf and Bill Melugin, 37576K] reports that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s team is disputing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) assertions about the immigration status of a semitruck driver involved in a crash that left four dead in Indiana. The driver was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after a detainer was placed on him. DHS said the driver, Bekzhan Beishekeev, a 30-year-old national of Kyrgyzstan, came into the U.S. "illegally" using the controversial CBP One app and was later issued a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in Pennsylvania. The department confirmed to Fox News that Beishekeev entered the country on Dec. 19, 2023, at the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry, using the CBP One app and was released into the U.S. via parole by the Biden administration. "Not only was Bekzhan Beishekeev released into our country by the Biden administration using the CBP One app, but he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania. These decisions have had deadly consequences and led to the death of four innocent people in Indiana on Tuesday," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. McLaughlin then called on "sanctuary" governors to stop issuing CDLs to illegal immigrants "before another American gets killed." Shapiro’s office argues that Beishekeev had legal status when he was issued the license in July 2025 and that he could still be eligible under a DHS database to receive one.

Daily Caller [2/6/2026 7:22 PM, Mariane Angela, 803K] reports Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said Friday that Democrats’ proposal to restrict Immigration and Customs Enforcement would grind deportations to a halt. Democrats have demanded weeks of negotiations on immigration enforcement. Their 10-point list of proposed reforms includes tightening warrant requirements, banning agents from wearing masks and requiring ICE officers to publicly display their last names. Speaking on “The Evening Edit, “Jarrett said the push to require judicial warrants amounts to a deliberate effort to dismantle immigration enforcement from within. “And now Democrats want to handcuff ICE under the threat of defunding Homeland Security, forcing agents to obtain judicial warrants instead of administrative warrants, which is the current law, [and it] would effectively end deportations because liberal federal judges would summarily refuse to issue them regardless of the facts. And that is exactly, Liz, what Democrats want,” Jarrett told host Elizabeth MacDonald. MacDonald pointed to a growing list of proposed restrictions on ICE, noting that the agency already received roughly $75 billion over four years under what Republicans tout as a major border security package. Senate Majority Leader John Thune rejected the additional conditions that Democrats want to attach. “Look, amid the constant verbal attacks by Democrats against ICE, all the ugly rhetoric. That’s only incentivized the now 1,300% increase in assaults against ICE agents. It’s harassment, intimidation, and incitement under the phony guise of free speech,” Jarrett added. Jarrett said Democrats are pushing to revive former President Joe Biden’s open borders approach. “They want a repetition of Biden’s open-borders policy, where alien criminals and illegal migrants get special exemptions to defy the law and stay here. [Democratic] Senator [Mark] Warner [of Virginia] said, ‘Yeah, it was a crummy Biden policy,’ but they loved that policy,” Jarrett added. “And by the way, I didn’t hear Democrats complain or see protesters out on the street obstructing ICE when Obama deported up to four million people during his eight years in office. Trump tries to do it, and all hell breaks loose.” The Congress approved a package combining five spending measures with a brief extension keeping the Department of Homeland Security funded at existing levels, a plan President Donald Trump enacted Tuesday. Democrats urged a short extension to buy time for talks with the administration over immigration enforcement. Most House Democrats and about half their Senate counterparts ultimately voted against the temporary fix.

FOX News [2/6/2026 11:26 AM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports that federal transportation officials nabbed hundreds of truckers found not to be proficient in English, as otherwise routine stops at weigh stations led to thousands of violations amid a three-day national crackdown. The latest iteration of Operation SafeDRIVE (Distracted, Reckless, Impaired, Visibility Enforcement) ran from Jan. 13–15 on trucking corridors in 26 states and the District of Columbia and removed nearly 2,000 unqualified truckers and other drivers from the road, USDOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) told Fox News Digital. The news comes just days after a Kyrgyz national caused a deadly wreck after he failed to brake for stopped traffic on a state road in Jay County, Indiana, crossed the median and slammed into oncoming traffic. Bekzhan Beishekeev illegally used the Mayorkas-era CBP-1 app to enter the U.S. in 2023 and was later issued a CDL by PennDOT, leading DHS officials to lambast Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who in turn blamed Secretary Kristi Noem’s federal database management. USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News Digital that Operation SafeDRIVE saw the FMCSA partner with state law enforcement in a high-visibility enforcement and education effort, addressing unsafe drivers of all types on the nation’s highways. Operation SafeDRIVE conducted more than 8,200 inspections that led to 704 drivers being taken off the road and out of service. About 500 of those truckers were penalized for failing English proficiency standards.

USA Today [2/7/2026 5:04 AM, Trevor Hughes, 70643K] reports while President Donald Trump says immigration agents could have used "a softer touch" in Minneapolis, local advocates and national experts predict not much will change in the White House’s pursuit of the largest mass deportation in history. The administration’s hardline immigration enforcement has upset millions of Americans who supported deporting immigrants with criminal records but who are uncomfortable with the aggressive tactics and detention of longtime community members and their children. A recent poll shows Trump is losing ground on the issue even among Republicans. But, while Trump may be dialing down his own rhetoric, his administration is primed to supercharge its enforcement campaign for the next three years with: Billions of dollars in new funding flowing into a growing detention-and-deportation system, with preparations underway to lock up tens of thousands more detainees in warehouse megacenters; Thousands of new Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents being hired, trained and deployed, many of them rushed through a newly shortened academy designed to get them onto the streets within weeks of signing on; Trump signaled that "softer touch" by removing Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino from his leadership of the deadly Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, replacing him with White House border czar Tom Homan. But while Bovino drew attention for his television appearances, social-media jousting with Democratic governors, and courtroom battles with federal judges, Homan has long pushed for similar policies, albeit with a lower profile. It was Homan, for instance, who last summer promised to flood Democratic cities with immigration enforcers – the campaign that unleashed Bovino and his "Mean Green" team to Chicago, Charlotte and New Orleans.

NPR [2/6/2026 5:19 AM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, 28764K] reports that newly revealed arrest records show that a high-profile immigration raid on a South Shore Chicago apartment building last year that became a symbol of President Trump’s harsh immigration tactics actually targeted squatters, not Venezuelan gang members. The court documents were first reported by ProPublica. Quickly after the Sept. 30, 2025, raid, the Department of Homeland Security published a dramatic video of the operation showing agents with their guns drawn, some rappelling out of a Black Hawk helicopter onto the roof, and leading people away with their hands zip-tied. On multiple occasions, the Trump administration has said the building was frequented by members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. But arrest records for two of the men show the government’s stated reason for the raid was to take out squatters, not gang members. The documents were included in a motion filed in an ongoing case challenging warrantless arrests in Chicago. In the documents, DHS stated "this operation was based on intelligence that there were illegal aliens unlawfully occupying apartments in the building." There is no mention of criminal gangs or Tren de Aragua. In an email, Tricia McLaughlin, the spokesperson for DHS, did not respond to questions about the court documents showing the government was going after squatters in the Chicago building. Instead, she told NPR that because two other individuals alleged to belong to a foreign terrorist organization were arrested in the raid "at a building they are known to frequent, we are limited on further information." It’s not clear what limitations McLaughlin is referring to.

New York Times [2/6/2026 12:45 PM, Jia Lynn Yang, 148038K] reports the American public is now finding out what Donald Trump and his team really meant when they promised mass deportations — the upending of communities in a ferocious effort to ferret out every last undocumented person in the country, terrifying people of legal status along the way. This audacious agenda is proving less popular by the day. When asked about Trump’s handling of immigration in a recent poll by The New York Times/Siena, he received a net negative approval rating on what used to be one of his strongest issues. Sixty-one percent said they thought the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency had “gone too far” with its tactics. This was before federal agents shot and killed a second U.S. citizen in the streets of Minneapolis. Chastened briefly, Trump promised to “de-escalate” in Minnesota. On Wednesday, his border czar, recently dispatched to take control of the operation in Minneapolis, announced that 700 agents would be pulled from the city, though some 2,000 will remain. But however ICE changes its operations, the Trump administration, led by the president’s most influential policy adviser, Stephen Miller, is in pursuit of a radical vision for America. They want the country’s immigration policy blasted back in time — and not just to before the Biden era. They are channeling an immigration regime instituted in 1924, when strict racial quotas — driven by fears of foreigners and a rise in eugenic thinking — led to a bottoming-out of foreign-born Americans that lasted for decades. The quotas signed into law in 1924 were not about securing the border as we understand it today, but about protecting a white, Christian character for the country. In the years after the 1924 immigration law was passed, however, a liberal backlash took hold and created a new identity for the United States, internalized by generations of Americans since: We are a nation of immigrants. Americans are, in fact, widely partial to immigrants — and these days even open to admitting more. Last year, as border crossings sharply fell, the share of people who wanted immigration reduced dropped to 30 percent from 55 percent in 2024, according to Gallup. A record-high 79 percent say immigration is a good thing for the country, including even Republicans, who have become more likely to take this view since Trump took office. Today many act as if America’s identity as a nation of immigrants was written into the Constitution itself. In reality, it was the product of a political effort less than a century ago — one that was so successful at creating a new national story that it birthed the sheer ethnic diversity in this country that the Trump administration is now determined to undo.

New York Post [2/6/2026 1:29 PM, Ryan King, 40934K] reports that the rise of a nihilistic terror cult known as 764 that blackmails minors into sex acts, self-harm, and animal torture has been unnerving federal law enforcement officials. Just last year, for example, the feds in DC charged sickos, Leonidas "War" Varagiannis, and Prasan "Trippy" Nepal, for allegedly coercing girls to cut themselves, perform gross sex acts, and engage in other horrifying behavior. "This sick group convinced young girls to perform heinous acts for the group’s perverse entertainment: self-mutilation, online sexual acts, self-immolation, harm to animals, and even suicide and murder," US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro told The Post. "This office, along with our law enforcement partners, is working to combat the threat of dangerous online child predators with undercover operations targeted at identifying and arresting those predators and bringing them to justice." The vile network of cyber predators prey on minors, usually between the ages of 10 and 17, oftentimes girls, who are dealing with mental health challenges. "Manipulation is their primary MO here; a lot of them are extremely good at manipulating children," Department of Homeland Security Cyber Crimes Center deputy assistant director Mike Prado told The Post. "These individuals are taking advantage of the fact that in today’s busy world, a lot of parents may not know what their children are doing online."

Wall Street Journal [2/6/2026 3:05 PM, James Freeman, 646K] reports irresponsible leftists inside and outside the press corps have been working overtime lately to advance the idea that violent law-breaking is justified when a duly elected president implements lawful immigration policies which they oppose. It is not. A related and equally outrageous sentiment—broadcast loudly on the Grammys last weekend—holds that enforcement of U.S. immigration law is per se illegitimate. The great news of the day is that even a sharp critic of White House immigration policy is willing to break from her political comrades and suggest local officials should be doing more to assist federal law enforcement in keeping violent criminals off American streets. In the 2025 photograph at the top of this page, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton appears at an immigration processing center. She was there to protest ICE activities in the Chicago area. Her differences with Donald Trump are too numerous to count. But thank goodness despite these differences she is unwilling to abandon all common sense for the sake of “resistance.” “Illinois should consider pragmatic tweaks to its sanctuary law,” is the encouraging headline on an editorial today in the Chicago Tribune, which reports: On Wednesday, we hosted Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton to discuss her run to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the first of the three major candidates for that office to meet with the editorial board. During the discussion, Stratton said something that frankly surprised us. We asked her about Illinois’ sanctuary law, the Trust Act signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017, and how it bars state officials from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to begin the process of deportation of undocumented individuals incarcerated in our prisons for violent crimes, as they’re being released back out onto the streets. (The existing exception in the law to that prohibition is if ICE has a judicial warrant for the prisoner’s arrest. But that’s a rarity, we’re told.) “I’ve always taken the position that if there’s somebody who’s a threat to public safety and convicted of a violent crime, that’s something that we would cooperate with,” she told us. “So if there needs to be some sort of amendment, I would not be opposed to that.”

Bloomberg [2/6/2026 7:30 AM, Adam Minter, 18082K] reports what will Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents be doing at Super Bowl LX? It’s a question that should barely register during a week meant to celebrate one of America’s few remaining shared rituals. Instead, it has filled residents and officials in Santa Clara, host to this year’s big game, with anxiety. The Trump administration could have eased fears with a simple act of clarity: spell out that the agents on hand would be from Homeland Security Investigations. That’s the ICE unit that has supported past Super Bowls and other sporting events (for example, in anti-counterfeiting operations). It is not ICE’s deportation arm, the one Americans have watched sweep into neighborhoods like mine in Minneapolis to haul people away. But Washington has opted to weaponize ambiguity. Confusion about the agency’s actual role began in October when Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that ICE agents would be “all over” the event. Uncertainty continued late last month when DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told outlets that “Those who are here legally and are not breaking other laws have nothing to fear." That kind of messaging is why the Super Bowl host committee’s insistence this week that no immigration operations are planned for the game offers little comfort. And in the process, President Donald Trump has wasted an opportunity. Every year roughly one-third of the nation tunes in to watch the Super Bowl, the superstar-headlined halftime show and the ads. For decades, presidents have viewed that audience as a political opportunity. Along the way, they’ve also used it to embody shared ideals, and remind Americans, if only briefly, of what they hold in common. A presidential pre-game interview, first embraced by George W. Bush in 2004, has been one way to express that commonality. For example, during his first one, Bush mentioned friends and family who would watch the game with him at the White House. Barack Obama held court in the White House kitchen and touted his home-brewed honey ale and love for sports. These exchanges also modeled more difficult virtues. Obama was interviewed twice by Bill O’Reilly in sit-downs that sometimes became quite pointed. Yet they also remained civil and — for Obama, at least — that was in part the point. He demonstrated the way in which two people with opposing viewpoints could converse with civility on the biggest of American stages. In doing so, Obama signaled something crucial: presidents (should) serve everyone, not just those who share their views. That has not been Trump’s approach. During his first presidential pre-Super Bowl interview in 2017 — also with O’Reilly — he defended Vladimir Putin and even seemed to draw moral equivalence between the Russian government and the US. “You think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too,” he quipped to widespread, bipartisan dismay. It was a startling and crude break from past presidential practice, and Trump didn’t walk it back. Since then, he’s doubled down on using the Super Bowl (and other sporting events) as a platform to advance political agendas.

Washington Post [2/6/2026 7:00 AM, George F. Will, 24826K] reports shrill but useful — useful because she is so shrill — Kristi Noem has elicited from a federal judge a valuable 83-page tutorial. The secretary of homeland security, her mind as closed as a clam, will not benefit from Judge Ana C. Reyes’s explanation of immigration law. Other Americans will. On Dec. 1, Noem shared on X this thought: “I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies” who “slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” This was three days after Noem officially “determined” that she would terminate, effective Feb. 3, temporary protected status for about 353,000 Haitians who have found refuge here. Last Monday, Reyes, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the nation’s second-most important court, blocked Noem’s order. Reyes said the process that produced it was so riddled with lawlessness that the plaintiffs would likely prevail in a trial. The five Haitian plaintiffs include a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, a national bank’s software engineer, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, a college economics major and a full-time registered nurse. No leeches joined the suit. The Trump administration of course argues (as it does regarding the president’s declaration of an “emergency” justifying tariffs) that Noem’s exercise of discretion is not subject to judicial review. Reyes, however, eviscerates what she calls Noem’s claim to “unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants.” Reyes says her court would indeed lack jurisdiction were the plaintiffs challenging Noem’s determination, but they are challenging how she made it. Reyes says Congress meticulously detailed a temporary protected status process “to replace executive whim with statutory predictability.” Noem’s chaotic rationalizations for her action scream that they are pretexts for a predetermined policy. (She has terminated all 12 TPS country designations that have reached her desk. Reyes calls this unprecedented in the 35 years since the TPS program was established.) Naturally, Noem says ending TPS will serve “national security” by somehow making it easier for “federal officials” to assess threats from “aliens attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.” Reyes dryly says: “But TPS holders are already in the country.” And, Reyes notes, Noem’s withdrawal of TPS would burden the immigration system by turning the 353,000 “lawful immigrants into unlawful ones overnight.” Noem ignored the statute’s stipulation that she review conditions in Haiti “after” consulting with appropriate government agencies. Instead, Noem made her decision, then conducted a contemptuously perfunctory consultation. The law requires consultations with other agencies — plural. Her consultation consisted of a Department of Homeland Security staffer sending a two-sentence email to a State Department staffer, whose one-sentence reply, 53 minutes later, said Noem’s policy is fine.

Bloomberg [2/6/2026 8:30 AM, Stephen L. Carter, 18082K] reports it’s not every day that a federal judge accuses a cabinet secretary of racism. But that’s a fair reading of this week’s scathing opinion by Judge Ana C. Reyes, which orders a stay of the Trump administration’s decision to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some 350,000 Haitian refugees currently living in the US. The villain of the 83-page opinion is Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. And Judge Reyes pulls no punches: “Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely.” I confess to a preference for more carefully modulated language. But there’s little to be said in Noem’s defense. Enacted in 1990, the TPS statute permits (but does not require) the federal government to allow foreign applicants who would otherwise be in the country illegally to stay in cases where their home nations are suffering natural disasters or conflicts that would threaten their safety. Haiti was designated a TPS-eligible country under the administration of President Barack Obama. The first Trump administration sought to remove that designation (after President Donald Trump himself commented that Haitians attempting to enter the US all “probably have AIDS”), prompting litigation. President Joe Biden’s administration put Haiti back on the list. Now the second Trump administration seeks to remove it again. Judge Reyes knocks down a series of specious justifications offered by DHS for its action. For example, the government points to activities of Haitians who are in the US illegally, but those who have TPS status are here legally. Similarly, individuals with certain criminal histories are disqualified from TPS status, but the court tells us that DHS cited exactly one person — out of the hundreds of thousands of Haitians present in the US under TPS — who is even accused of such a history. And so on and so on. It is somewhere between tragic and horrifying that even as DHS reduces or suspends access for hundreds of thousands of dark-skinned applicants for refugee status, the administration has set up a priority for South Africans — provided that the applicants are either “of Afrikaner ethnicity” or “a member of a racial minority in South Africa”; that is, the people deemed most worthy of protection from persecution turn out to be White South Africans. Let’s grant that some White South Africans are persecuted. That they’re worse off than other applicants — immigrants from South Sudan and Ethiopia, for example, two of the several troubled nations whose TPS status Noem has sought to revoke — is dubious. That’s why one might be pardoned for arriving at the more obvious explanation. It’s not as though Trump hasn’t led us down this rabbit hole before.

The Hill [2/6/2026 11:00 AM, Frank DiFulvio, 18170K] reports the last bipartisan attempt to pass comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. was in 2013, well over a decade ago. It failed. Four Democratic and four Republican senators co-authored the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. The senators became known as the “Gang of Eight,” which included former Florida senator and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio and current Democratic Senate Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Most Democrats on Capitol Hill believe that the recent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by immigration enforcement officials — along with the political fallout — have put an end to any chance of passing bipartisan immigration reform in this hyper-divisive political environment. But a small bipartisan minority of lawmakers still believe that the failed 2013 immigration bill can be used as a starting point to resurrect limited immigration reform legislation in the next Congress. With President Trump in the White House and the issue of immigration passionately dividing Americans along ideological lines, it is hard to imagine a realistic blueprint for reform. Republicans would certainly reject the pathway to citizenship provisions in the 2013 bill, and Democrats would oppose most of the border security and enforcement measures. The Democratic base is in no mood to cooperate with the Trump administration, congressional Republicans or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as deportations dramatically increase.

USA Today [2/7/2026 4:02 AM, Dace Potas, 70643K] reports Border czar Tom Homan, the new lead of President Donald Trump’s immigration operation in Minnesota, has announced a 700-person drawdown in federal law enforcement presence. This came after two fatal shootings involving federal agents and a great deal of turmoil in Minnesota that involved partisan rhetoric from Democrats and Republicans trying to get control of a devolving situation. Now the administration is talking about a "drawdown." "My goal is, with the support of President Trump, to achieve a complete drawdown. And end the surge as soon as we can," Homan said as he marked a sharp retreat on the matter from the rhetoric Americans heard in January. Trump’s policy goals in Minnesota might have been correct and needed, but he navigated the issue in a very Trumpian way: shortsighted, incompetent and brash. Actual progress on any mass deportation and on changing how we enforce immigration laws demands a completely different approach. It demands a level of precision and nuance this administration doesn’t have. Trump has blown his immigration policy opportunity with pure malpractice.

Houston Chronicle [2/6/2026 6:00 AM, Hector Sanchez Barba, 2493K] reports that for decades, Latino and immigrant communities have endured the abuses of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE agents have terrorized our neighborhoods, intimidated our families and stopped us based on racial profiling. The frequency and the severity of these attacks have only increased and are affecting everyone, as American citizens and immigrants alike are being harassed, shot, detained and denied the right to due process in retaliation for standing up to defend our neighbors, our cities and American democracy. It’s easy to feel hopeless. Don’t take the bait. The Trump administration wants us afraid, thinking we’re powerless. But as the people of Minnesota and other cities have shown, we are strongest when we unite, organize and act. Congress must cut all future funding for this rogue agency and launch a full investigation into the rampant abuses and violations of human rights at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This administration and its enablers in Congress will not rein in this rogue agency. Instead, the administration is encouraging the agency to act with reckless disregard for the rights and lives of American citizens and immigrants alike. We do not think the current demands by Senate Democrats in the DHS appropriations fight are enough. Donald Trump’s ICE must be shut down. It is clear that these ICE agents lack training and that DHS’s recruitment has been a welcoming space for white supremacy. At a bare minimum, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must be removed.

The Hill [2/6/2026 8:30 AM, Bernard Goldberg, 18170K] reports President Trump holds a dubious record — one, given his personality, he might actually be proud of. He is the only U.S. president ever to be impeached twice, even though he was never convicted in the Senate. If Democrats take the House in November, there’s a decent chance he’ll break his own record and get impeached for a third time. Knowing Trump, he just might be proud of that, too. But before they go after Trump, House Democrats have another target in mind: Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem. They’re already making threats. “The violence unleashed on the American people by the Department of Homeland Security must end forthwith. Kristi Noem should be fired immediately, or we will commence impeachment proceedings,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), joined by Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.). Then, borrowing language from Trump himself, they added: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Translation: Fire her, Mr. President, or we will. Once they’re done with Noem, progressives will want another trophy, and Trump knows it. “You got to win the midterms,” he warned Republicans, “because if we don’t, they’ll find a reason to impeach me.” Which raises a question: Is there anyone in Trump’s orbit brave enough to tell him the truth — that his party might actually lose the midterms if he doesn’t start appealing to more than just the MAGA die-hards? “During the first year of his second term, President Trump has governed as if he needs to please only one subset of those who voted for him in 2024 — his hard-core MAGA base. This is a mistake,” writes William Galston in the Wall Street Journal.

FOX News [2/6/2026 3:26 PM, Rachel Wolf, 37576K] reports a federal judge dealt the Trump administration a blow on Thursday by blocking the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from providing residential addresses to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani — who was nominated by former President Barack Obama — argued that the sharing of data could violate a section of the Tax Act of 1976, which includes privacy protections for taxpayers. The judge’s order blocks ICE and the IRS from sharing data while also prohibiting the use of data that had already been transferred pending a court review. In addition to concerns about taxpayers’ privacy, Talwani addressed the chilling effect this could have on tax filings by immigrants, as well as the possibility that people could be wrongfully arrested due to mistaken identity. Talwani is the second judge to block the IRS-ICE information sharing agreement. The first was U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who said it violated a taxpayer confidentiality law. NewsMax [2/6/2026 10:05 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 3760K] reports that the ruling targets a deal made last year between the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agencies of the IRS and ICE, respectively. Under that agreement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also serving as the IRS acting commissioner, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem signed off on a plan to provide ICE with address information on tens of thousands of taxpayers. Politico reported that on Aug. 7, 2025, the IRS disclosed address information for roughly 47,000 taxpayers to ICE. ICE has claimed it has not used the information for deportations. But Talwani said the risks go beyond immigration enforcement. The Daily Caller [2/6/2026 10:01 AM, Jason Hopkins, 803K] reports that the ruling marks the latest setback in the Trump administration’s quest to use IRS data for its mass deportation campaign. "In this instance, both the balance of the hardships and the public interest tilt heavily towards enjoining the implementation of the interagency data-sharing agreements," Talwani wrote. "The implementation of agreements contrary to law erodes that foundation and undermines the public interest in a functioning tax system.” "Second, there is significant hardship in the potential misidentification of noncitizens and citizens alike that could lead to wrongful arrests, detention and even removal," the Obama judge continued. "Because the information sought was not for any specific criminal investigation, the data-sharing will necessarily include both the data of noncitizens subject to criminal prosecution and those who are not subject to criminal prosecution because of their deferred action status.” IRS officials began negotiations on sharing data with the Department of Homeland Security in early 2025, according to court documents released at the time. The arrangement allowed ICE and other federal immigration authorities to ask the tax agency for personal details about illegal migrants, like their home addresses. While federal law strictly protects confidential taxpayer information, there are carve-outs, the court documents stipulated. The IRS can share pertinent details with federal law enforcement officials under an exception that allows the tax agency to help in criminal investigations. Talwani on Thursday cited the "chilling effect" the sharing agreement could have on tax filings by foreign nationals and the possibility of lawful migrants being victim to mistaken identity. The Obama judge blocked the government agencies from sharing this data until her court reviews the case more thoroughly, prohibiting deportation officers from mining information already handed over by the IRS. The ruling makes Talwani the second federal judge to temporarily block the information-sharing agreement, with U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, appointed to the bench in Washington by former President Bill Clinton, ruling in November that the agreement violated taxpayer confidentiality. The Trump administration is currently appealing the Kollar-Kotelly order.

Reported similarly:
FedScoop [2/6/2026 1:40 PM, Matt Bracken, 56K

Bloomberg [2/6/2026 4:42 PM, Alicia Tang, 18082K] reports more than 900 employees at Alphabet Inc.’s Google have signed a petition demanding that the company sever ties with the US Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. The petition cites Google contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, the two DHS agencies that have led the deportation effort. Fatal shootings of two US citizens in Minneapolis in recent weeks have accelerated opposition to the administration’s push to deport undocumented immigrants. More than 1,700 tech workers have already signed a separate petition started in early January, calling for tech companies to sever contracts with ICE and for Big Tech leaders to call the White House to demand that ICE leave cities. The Google workers who signed the petition span 16 product areas — with about 30% coming from Google Cloud — and allege that the company’s technology is being used to power “state violence and repression.” The petition highlights the use of Google Cloud in border surveillance and the role of generative AI in “operational efficiency” for agencies the workers claim are responsible for recent civilian deaths and humanitarian crises. The New York Times [2/6/2026 1:52 PM, Tripp Mickle, 148038K] reports that on Friday, more than 800 employees called on management in a petition to be transparent about how Google’s technology supports federal immigration agencies and urged the company to stop doing business with those organizations. The petition said they were “appalled by the violence” and “paramilitary-style raids” by immigration agents, which they accused Google of aiding. They also asked the company to take safety measures to protect employees after a reported attempt by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to enter the company’s campus in Cambridge, Mass. The petition signaled a revival of employee activism at Google and across Silicon Valley after years of relative calm. Tech workers, who have largely stayed quiet as executives cozied up to the Trump administration, are beginning to push some of the world’s biggest companies to pressure the White House to change its policies. While signed by a small fraction of the company’s roughly 190,000 workers, the new petition echoes turmoil at Google in 2018, after workers walked out over the company’s handling of sexual harassment and then protested its involvement in a Pentagon program that used artificial intelligence to improve drone strikes. In the years since, Google’s management limited employees’ access to internal documents, scaled back all-hands meetings and cracked down on dissent. It fired 28 workers two years ago for protesting its cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [2/6/2026 12:20 PM, Staff, 3760K]

Breitbart [2/6/2026 4:46 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2238K] reports the Department of Homeland Security has announced the arrests of several dangerous criminals in various localities across the country, including multiple murders, violent assailants, and drug traffickers. Migrants convicted of murder have been grabbed up by ICE in Texas, California, and New York, and violent assailants and drug dealers have been picked up in Missouri and New York, DHS reported on Friday. "While sanctuary politicians play Russian roulette with American lives by releasing criminals from their jails, without notifying ICE, back into our communities, our law enforcement officers are risking their lives to arrest these public safety threats," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "Just yesterday, DHS arrested multiple murderers, violent assailants, and drug traffickers. We will not let anything slow us down from getting criminals out of American neighborhoods."

Breitbart [2/6/2026 4:30 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2238K] reports what some truckers believed were going to be routine stops at weigh stations in January led instead to thousands of violations and failed English tests amid a three-day national crackdown by federal safety authorities. The latest version of Operation SafeDRIVE (Distracted, Reckless, Impaired, Visibility Enforcement) from January 13th through the 15th on trucking corridors in 26 states and the District of Columbia removed nearly 2,000 unqualified truckers and other drivers from the road, the U.S. Department of Transportation, (USDOT) told Fox News Digital. The operation conducted more than 8,200 inspections that led to 704 drivers being taken off the road and out of service, with some 500 of those truckers being penalized for failing English proficiency standards. Furthermore, a total of some 1200 vehicles were stripped of their roadworthiness and 56 people were arrested, including several for driving while intoxicated and being in the country illegally. The operation was conducted in partnership with state law enforcement. The effort follows on the heels of news reports of commercial licenses being issued to illegal aliens as well as those with limited English ability.

Daily Wire [2/6/2026 7:27 AM, Jennie Taer, 2314K] reports that federal immigration agents in several areas of the country have been instructed to stop conducting "roving patrols," where they approach individuals to inquire about their immigration status, multiple Department of Homeland Security sources told The Daily Wire. In recent days, some Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers making arrests across the country have been told to no longer conduct what are known as "consensual encounters," where feds initiate a voluntary conversation with an individual to determine if they’re in the country illegally. ICE began employing the tactic as the Trump administration ramped up its mass deportation campaign. Border Patrol has long used it along the border to catch contraband, illicit goods, or illegal immigrants smuggled into the country. Ending the tactic is a key demand of congressional Democrats amid ongoing negotiations over funding the Department of Homeland Security. It also comes as President Donald Trump admitted this week that his immigration enforcement efforts may need a "softer touch" following the recent fatal shootings of two anti-ICE activists in Minneapolis. A formal sweeping policy change on "roving patrols" has yet to come down. ICE sources gave mixed reviews after receiving the orders. "Consensual encounters work because we can talk to anyone, and a lot of people that we ‘encountered’ are illegal with criminal records," one ICE source told The Daily Wire. "Targeted arrests are the norm for ICE operations. The consensual encounter approach was hard for a lot of officers who don’t have the prior Border Patrol experience and [for] quickly determining alienage. I have no problem doing either," a second ICE source said.

DailySignal [2/6/2026 3:45 PM, Virginia Allen, 474K] reports after commentator and former White House adviser Steve Bannon claimed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will "surround the polls come November," the Trump administration has denied any such plans. "ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations," a Department of Homeland Security official told The Daily Signal. "ICE conducts intelligence-driven targeted enforcement, and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action," the official added. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday she has "never heard the president consider" sending immigration enforcement agents to polling locations. Pressed on the matter further, Leavitt said she "can’t guarantee" ICE agents won’t be in the vicinity of polling locations during elections, adding, "I haven’t heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations."

FOX News [2/6/2026 10:03 AM, Staff, 7946K] reports that Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Md., discusses the funding battle over DHS, touts a ‘huge week’ for American farmers and more on ‘Mornings with Maria.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [2/6/2026 8:50 PM, Ian Hanchett, 2238K] reports on Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) responded to a question on if he believes ICE agents are doxxed and targeted and how he would deal with that concern by saying that “We want to make sure that ICE agents are conducting themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country.” Co-host Steve Inskeep asked, “You want agents to take off their masks. As a citizen, I very much understand the case for this. The agent works for me. I’m their employer. I pay their salary. They’re doing my business. They should identify themselves. And when they ask for my ID, I should require them to give their ID. But Republicans respond with this fear of doxxing, that agents will be targeted. Do you believe that happens to agents, and can you offer any way to deal with their concern?” Jeffries answered, “We want to make sure that ICE agents are conducting themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country. And that is something that I think is consistent with who we are as Americans. Police officers don’t wear masks, county sheriffs don’t wear masks, and state troopers don’t wear masks. In fact, there’s no evidence that FBI agents wear masks. And so, this is a unique situation, in terms of how ICE is conducting themselves. And part of the challenge is that it leads to a view amongst many Americans — I think, correctly — that these agents are behaving themselves with violent and brutal impunity, as opposed to being held to standards that are consistent with not using excessive force, not brutalizing people, or, in some instances, not killing people in cold blood, as was the case with Renee Good and Alex Pretti.” [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

AP [2/7/2026 12:05 AM, Staff, 35287K] reports Alberto Castañeda Mondragón, a construction worker in Minnesota, talks about his arrest by ICE officers which resulted in eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [2/6/2026 10:46 AM, Lexi Lonas Cochran, 18170K] reports twelve protesters were arrested Thursday after staging a demonstration against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside of Columbia University in New York that blocked roadways. A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said protesters were told to disperse multiple times and were impeding traffic before a dozen people were taken into custody and issued criminal court summons. The New York Times reported that all 12 individuals were either Columbia professors or students. The around 150 protesters at the event, partly organized by a campus group, were wearing “Sanctuary Campus Now” shirts, according to the Times. Columbia said in a statement it supports peaceful protests but that information given at the event was inaccurate. “As we made clear repeatedly, no member of Columbia’s leadership or the board of trustees has ever requested the presence of ICE agents on or near campus. This is a false assertion,” the university wrote, adding ICE is not allowed in nonpublic areas of the institution without a judicial warrant.

Washington Examiner [2/6/2026 2:35 PM, Molly Parks, 1147K] reports New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a new executive order on Friday that he said will protect New Yorkers from "abusive immigration enforcement.” Mamdani is the latest Democratic leader to take action to curb Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts in his community in the wake of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. The new executive order will reaffirm the city’s status as a "sanctuary" for illegal immigrants, according to the mayor’s office. "This order is a sweeping reaffirmation of our commitment to our immigrant neighbors and to public safety as a whole. We will make it clear once again that ICE will not be able to enter New York City property without a judicial warrant," Mamdani said. Mamdani announced the order during his speech at the city’s Interfaith Breakfast on Friday morning. The order enforces the city’s existing immigration laws, directs city agencies to audit their policies related to interactions with immigration authorities, and establishes a committee to respond to any immigration-related "crises" in the city. "We will protect New Yorkers’ private data from being unlawfully accessed by the federal government, and stand firmly against any effort to intrude on our privacy. No New Yorker should be afraid to apply for city services like child care because they are an immigrant," Mamdani said. Govs. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) have each announced polices in the wake of the Good and Pretti killings by immigration enforcement officers. Hochul and Spanberger each backed policies to eliminate 287(g) agreements, which allow federal law enforcement officers to deputize local police and use local facilities for immigration enforcement purposes, in their respective states. Sherrill announced a policy move to create a statewide database for New Jersey residents to upload images of ICE officers. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security previously told the Washington Examiner that "7 of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE.” "Our partnerships with state and local law enforcement are key to removing criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from American communities. When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with us, that is when we have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities," the DHS spokesperson said in the statement.

CBS News [2/6/2026 7:02 PM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports Mamdani signed an executive order boosting restrictions for federal immigration agents on city property.

Politico [2/6/2026 5:17 PM, Chris Sommerfeldt, 13586K] reports President Donald Trump’s administration blasted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday for issuing an executive order reaffirming the city’s sanctuary laws, contending the directive will make the city “less safe.” Mamdani’s order instructs all municipal agencies to ensure compliance with existing sanctuary laws, which bar city employees from assisting federal authorities in most forms of immigration enforcement. The order also directed certain public-facing agencies, including the NYPD, to have their employees undergo new training on sanctuary restrictions. The executive action did not otherwise enact any new restrictions. Still, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, said Mamdani’s move raises public safety concerns. “Mamdani will make New Yorkers less safe as a direct result of this policy,” McLaughlin said in a statement. She also demanded the mayor “agree to release criminals in New York City’s custody to ICE before they are released back onto the Big Apple’s streets to victimize and prey on more Americans.” The DHS rebuke comes after Trump threatened last month to “significantly” slash federal funding for all sanctuary jurisdictions in the U.S. He gave cities a Feb. 1 deadline to roll back their sanctuary protections or face funding cuts. But that deadline came and went without any immediate cuts in New York City. Democrat-led cities across the country have taken increasingly aggressive steps to fight Trump’s immigration crackdowns since ICE and Border Patrol agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens who had been protesting enforcement sweeps in Minneapolis last month. Asked about McLaughlin’s broadside at a press conference Friday afternoon, Mamdani sought to flip the script. “These are policies that keep New Yorkers safe,” he said of his executive order. “These are policies that are motivated by delivering public safety, not in spite of public safety.”

FOX News [2/6/2026 6:01 PM, Kristine Parks, 37576K] reports at his first annual interfaith breakfast on Friday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani framed New York City’s sanctuary status as part of a religious calling to welcome "the stranger," invoking the Bible, the Quran, and the Bhagavad Gita to defend the city’s immigration policy. In his address to nearly 400 faith and community leaders at the New York Public Library, Mamdani accused federal immigration officials of reigning "terror upon our neighbors" and inflicting "cruelty that staggers the conscience." At the event, the mayor also signed Executive Order 13, which reaffirms and strengthens New York City’s commitment to its sanctuary laws, and bars federal agents from city property without a judicial warrant. He also announced a new "Know Your Rights" campaign that will distribute 32,000 flyers and booklets in 10 languages to faith leaders in the city to share with immigrants in their congregations. Mamdani also honored activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti who were killed in confrontations with ICE and Border Patrol in Minneapolis last month, calling them examples of those who "cared for the stranger" through ultimate sacrifice.

FOX News [2/6/2026 2:43 PM, Charles Creitz, 37576K] reports that Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore warned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday that her agency’s recent purchase of a warehouse-like facility in Williamsport will be scrutinized by the Old Line State’s legal arm. Moore, running for reelection this year, added his voice to the chorus of state Democrats expressing outrage over DHS’ reported plans to use the space to house illegal immigrants, as Maryland has been front-and-center in the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda with the saga of illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. Moore described DHS’ status at the property, sandwiched between the city of Hagerstown and the Potomac River on the West Virginia border, as a "federal occupation" of a space that was originally zoned as a commercial site. The governor said the agency’s use of the area presents a "significant loss of economic opportunity" for Washington County and the state at large. As the site stands near the confluence of Interstates 70 and 81, Moore said it uses up precious space in an area key to the 4,000-job "manufacturing, logistics and distribution" sector across the region. Moore said Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, a fellow Democrat, will be reviewing the purchase to "ensure full compliance with all applicable state and federal laws.” "I have grave concerns about any holding facility that denies basic human needs and dignity," he said. Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.

NewsMax [2/6/2026 7:08 PM, Mark Swanson, 3760K] reports Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Friday backed sweeping new measures in Howard County that ban private immigration detention centers and sharply limit cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Moore joined local officials as Howard County Executive Calvin Ball signed two emergency bills into law after they moved rapidly through the county council this week. The legislation was introduced Monday and approved within days, taking effect immediately. One bill prohibits privately owned buildings from being used as detention centers. The second restricts ICE access to county agencies, facilities, and contracts. County leaders said the legislation was prompted after a third-party company received a permit to convert a building in Elkridge into a detention center. Officials also cited concerns raised after ICE purchased a warehouse in neighboring Washington County for detention use.

CNN [2/6/2026 7:47 PM, Susana Erazo and Krecyte Villarreal, 19874K] reports Rigo Mendoza tearfully recalls the last conversation he had with his son Kevin before his death in early January. The 15-year-old boy, who had been diagnosed with cancer in November, could only think about his father’s safety. "I don’t want anything to happen to you," he kept repeating. His mother had just been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents the previous day, a fact that may have negatively impacted Kevin’s health, Mendoza recalls one of the doctors saying. "I told him, ‘I don’t want you to get upset. If you’re OK, your mom will be OK. We’re going to fight to get her home.’ But I think he got scared that she wasn’t coming back," Mendoza says. His wife, Arlith Martínez, who like him is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was on her way to work in Maryland on January 3 when she was arrested by ICE. She was held at a temporary facility in the state before being transferred to a detention center in New Jersey, where she was able to contact her husband hours later. "She told me she had been detained, but not to worry because since she has no criminal record, she was going to be released," Mendoza says. CNN confirmed that Martínez has a traffic violation on her record, but no serious crimes. Mendoza says that during her arrest, she was surrounded as if she were a criminal. Mendoza and Martínez have spent more than 20 years in the United States, where they’ve raised four children, all of whom are American citizens. Two days after Martínez’s arrest by ICE, Kevin died. Now, Mendoza tells CNN, the couple is no longer fighting to remain the United States. Instead, they plan to return to Mexico with their three children – two daughters and a son – and the remains of Kevin.

CBS Baltimore [2/6/2026 1:22 PM, Staff, 51110K] reports that Baltimore-area high school students hosted walk-outs Friday to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [2/6/2026 3:45 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports the Department of Homeland Security slammed Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) for issuing an executive order ending state and local law enforcement cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On Wednesday, Spanberger signed a directive requiring local authorities to terminate all existing 287(g) agreements with ICE, claiming that these arrangements "placed Virginia law enforcement officers under federal control and supervision to conduct civil immigration enforcement." Over 30 law enforcement agencies in Virginia have agreements with ICE, according to the agency’s website. DHS fired back at Spanberger in a statement to Blaze News, claiming that the governor’s policy would "make Virginia less safe." The department listed several illegal aliens that ICE had recently arrested in Virginia, stating, "These are the criminals Governor Spanberger is protecting in Virginia."

FOX News [2/6/2026 10:39 AM, Staff, 37576K] reports that West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey spoke to Fox News Digital about the contrast between cooperating with or allowing ICE to operate unfettered in his state, and the results of immigration enforcement in adversarial states like Minnesota. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [2/6/2026 6:06 PM, Brie Stimson, 37576K] reports a man being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer has been charged with three counts of statutory rape in North Carolina, according to court documents. Juan Ramon Juarez-Talamantes, 29, was charged with two counts of statutory rape in November with a child between 13 and 15 years old and a third count last month, according to a release from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina. He was held without bond and with an ICE detainer after his arrest, according to online arrest records. His arrest came after reports of child sexual assault in July 2024 to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and in September 2025 to the Asheville Police Department.

Telemundo51 [2/6/2026 7:46 PM, Arly Alfaro, 162K] reports the national controversy surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is not limited to adults. High school students are taking note of how ICE agents arrest people, and on Friday, students at Pembroke Pines Charter High School staged a demonstration to voice their opinion. Hundreds of students gathered on the soccer field, chanted slogans against ICE, and then returned to class satisfied to have raised awareness of what they consider excessive tactics used by ICE and Customs Enforcement and Border Protection agents. “You see videos of ICE agents terrorizing and separating families, and when you see that, you can’t do anything but say something because it really affects me. In addition, my classmates tell me in class how their uncles or family members are being detained by ICE," said Aiden Oscar, the student organizer of the rally. Recent events in Minnesota, where federal agents shot and killed two American citizens, motivated Pembroke Pines students. "Families are being separated, people are dying, this is unheard of. We have the right to express ourselves, freedom of speech, to speak up for our people. This is wrong," said Lysander Vera, a school student. "To see that happen to people makes me think it could have happened to my mom if I had never had her documents. It’s a very bad thing. My family lives in fear and it is very painful to see," said his partner Yvaine Freeman, a Cuban immigrant.

Blaze [2/6/2026 12:26 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports a Kyrgyzstani semi-truck driver is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody following a collision that caused the death of multiple individuals. Around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Bekzhan Beishekeev, 30, was driving east on State Road 67 in Indiana when his truck collided head-on with a van, killing four of the vehicle’s occupants. Beishekeev was accused of failing to slow down for another semi-truck in front of him and swerving into oncoming traffic. The collision killed Henry Eicher, 50; his two sons, Menno Eicher, 25, and Paul Eicher, 19; and a family friend, Simon Girod, 23, FreightWaves reported. The men belonged to Bryant, Indiana’s Amish community. The van’s driver, Donald Stipp, 55, reportedly underwent surgery and is in stable condition. The Department of Homeland Security, which referred to Beishekeev as an "illegal alien," stated that the truck driver crashed into a van "carrying up to 15 passengers.” Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated on Thursday that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was conducting an on-site investigation of the carrier that hired Beishekeev. "There MUST be accountability for the community of Bryant, Indiana, who are devastated by the loss of their loved ones," Duffy declared. "I will continue to demand we shine a spotlight on these preventable tragedies and pray for the beautiful Amish community.” "Beishekeev illegally came to the United States using the Biden administration’s disastrous CBP One app and was released into the United States. Even worse, Josh Shapiro’s Pennsylvania issued him a commercial driver’s license," the DHS wrote. "Sanctuary politicians must STOP issuing commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens before another American is killed.” Gov. Shapiro argued that Beishekeev had legal status. "Every person who applies for a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license issued by PennDOT must provide proof of identify and proof of their legal presence in the United States. That information is verified by the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, administered by Kristi Noem and the United States Department of Homeland Security," a spokesperson for Shapiro told Fox News. "The individual in question had legal status in Kristi Noem’s database when the license was issued in July 2025 and still shows as eligible to receive a license as of today. Kristi Noem should focus on minding the shop in her own agency, as her incompetence and operational failures seem to be matching the scale of her moral failures as the Secretary of Homeland Security," the spokesperson added.

NPR [2/6/2026 5:01 AM, Kat Lonsdorf, 28764K] reports that Nick Benson stands tucked out of the cold inside an elevator terminal at the Minneapolis-St. Paul international, looking out a window at the tarmac. Commercial airplanes dart by, but one chartered flight sits parked away from the gates, a set of stairs pulled up to its open door. Dressed in a plaid button up, the 41-year-old leans into a digital camera on a tripod, with a long telephoto lens pointed toward that plane, and slowly counts. Benson is counting people, as they hobble out of a mini bus, up the steps and onto the plane. These immigration detainees, their hands and feet shackled, are being flown out of Minnesota, caught up in President Trump’s sweeping federal immigration campaign that started in Minneapolis back in December. The administration has touted it as the largest operation ever. Federally chartered deportation flights on ICE Air, as the Department of Homeland Security calls it, aren’t new. They were happening under the Biden administration as well. But in Trump’s second term, their frequency and scope has essentially doubled, according to ICE Flight Monitor, an advocacy initiative that keeps watch. The flights have also become increasingly harder to track, and information or data about the passengers is difficult to get. That’s where observers like Benson have stepped in. Today’s plane will head to Texas. "It’s just happening in the background," says Benson, motioning to the rest of the airport. "Here you could be sitting in the Delta lounge eating your cheese and crackers, and you wouldn’t have even noticed that that was anything unusual going on out the window."

Daily Caller [2/6/2026 10:33 AM, Hudson Crozier, 803K] reports an East Central Minnesota sheriff argues that Democratic officials’ hostility toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) creates "chaos" as other sheriffs walk back their support. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minneapolis leaders should welcome partnering with ICE if they want its current surge in deportations to run smoothly and transparently, Mille Lacs County Sheriff Kyle Burton told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Burton’s office is one of nine local law enforcement agencies in Minnesota that signed contracts with ICE authorizing them to perform tasks such as arresting illegal aliens for federal immigration violations or transferring inmates to ICE. The agencies, spanning seven counties and one city, signed the contracts after President Donald Trump returned to office, ICE records show. "Immigration enforcement is going to take place whether we agree or disagree with that," Burton said in an email. "That being said, I felt that I needed to be proactive and not reactive to the discussions about how and what that is going to look like in my county.” "I did not want to have a situation like many communities have experienced where there are immigration enforcement operations taking place without the sheriff or police chief having any knowledge or input into the operations," Burton said. "That is what you are seeing in Minneapolis and it should come as no surprise to anyone that there has been chaos as a result.” Walz’s office, Ellison’s office and the Minneapolis city government’s media team did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment. Walz’s Department of Corrections, which controls state-level jails, previously defended itself against Trump’s criticism by saying that it complies with ICE detainment requests. Two fatal shootings of protesters by immigration agents in January brought tensions to a boiling point in Minneapolis. White House border czar Tom Homan announced Wednesday that 700 federal agents were leaving Minnesota after a phone call between Walz and Trump. ICE’s contracts with local agencies — known as 287(g) agreements — are under fire from Ellison and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which sued the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office in December over claims that the agreements give undue authority to local law enforcement. Ellison issued a non-binding legal opinion that month declaring that Minnesota law bars sheriffs from signing them without county commissioners’ approval and bans local law enforcement from detaining people based solely on ICE requests. Isle Police Department Chief Mark Reichel and Sheburne County Sheriff Joel Brott did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment on their agencies’ 287(g) agreements. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin concurred that more local assistance means fewer ICE agents in the streets. "Elected officials who refuse to cooperate with DHS law enforcement are wasting law enforcement time, energy, and resources, while putting their own constituents in danger," she told the DCNF, claiming that seven of America’s top ten safest cities cooperate with ICE. "We would love for state and local law enforcement to sign 287(g) agreements to help us remove criminal illegal aliens," McLaughlin said. "Partnerships with law enforcement are critical to having the enforcement we need to arrest criminal illegal aliens across the country.”

New York Times [2/6/2026 5:03 AM, Mitch Smith and Ernesto Londoño, 148038K] reports months before immigration agents flooded into Minnesota, the Trump administration outlined its grievances against state and local officials in a lawsuit that accused them of engaging in “an active and deliberate effort to obstruct federal immigration enforcement.” The claims in that lawsuit, which remains unresolved, have been echoed by President Trump and his allies in recent weeks as some 3,000 agents descended on the state, where they have arrested thousands, clashed with residents and shot three people. The Trump administration is correct that certain state and local policies limit cooperation on immigration enforcement, yet the details of those policies are complex and vary depending on location. The Democrats who lead Minnesota have defended their limits on cooperating with federal agents as lawful and in line with the state’s values. The reality is that Minnesota’s state and local governments have a patchwork of rules that go much further to limit coordination on immigration than in many Republican-led states, but stop short of the comprehensive statewide restrictions on cooperation in other Democratic-run states like California, Illinois and Oregon. Minnesota prisons routinely hand over inmates who are in the country illegally to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents when they complete their sentences. Under Minnesota law, the state’s Department of Corrections must notify ICE officials when an immigrant convicted of a felony is set to be released. Last year, prison officials turned over to ICE 84 inmates who had finished sentences and were leaving the prison system, according to the state agency. Federal officials have repeatedly complained that Minnesota jails release people who don’t have authorization to be in the United States with little or no effort to transfer them to federal custody. But some in the state have raised concerns about whether it is appropriate for jails to hand over people whose criminal cases are still pending. James Stuart, the executive director of the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, said sheriffs were working to address concerns raised by federal officials in hopes of seeing fewer immigration agents operating on Minnesota streets in the days ahead. He described recent meetings with Tom Homan, the White House border czar who is leading the Minnesota crackdown, as productive. Mr. Stuart is also President Trump’s nominee for U.S. marshal in Minnesota.

CNN [2/6/2026 7:00 AM, Holly Yan, 19874K] reports aore than an hour before dawn, on a pitch-black street lined with heaps of Minnesota snow, 10-year-old Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano and her mother headed out to her school bus stop – just like they do every weekday at 6:10 a.m. Out of nowhere, federal agents’ vehicles surrounded the family’s car in suburban Minneapolis. Elizabeth thought the agents were going to take her to school, her father told CNN. Instead, the aspiring doctor and her mother were detained and flown 1,200 miles away to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas – with the young girl’s future up in the air. Over the next month, at least five other kids from her small school district were also sent across the country to Dilley – including 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. "There are other students with whom we have lost contact who might also be in a detention facility," spokesperson Kristen Stuenkel said. The children’s plight has sparked renewed criticism over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, known as Operation Metro Surge, which has also ensnared children and separated family members. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson firmly denied accusations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are trying to detain students. "ICE does NOT target children or schools. That is not how it works," DHS said. "ICE keeps families together.” On the bitterly cold morning of January 6, Elizabeth and her mother were driving to her school bus stop when federal agents intercepted the family’s car and blocked it with their own vehicles, Elizabeth’s father Luis Zuna said. Elizabeth called her father, who was at his construction job, and said they had been stopped by ICE. But she told her father what sounded like reassuring words. "She said, ‘ICE is going to drop me off at school,’" Luis said. "So I thought, OK, they will drop her off at school, and we hung up.” But when Luis later called his daughter and didn’t get an answer, he panicked and rushed to find her. "He was here at school by 7:30 a.m. looking for her," Highland Elementary secretary Carolina Gutierrez said. "I know that because we open our school doors at 7:25, and he was the first person at my window.” Luis and school social worker Tracy Xiong hoped the ICE vehicle just hadn’t arrived yet. "That morning turned into hours of phone calls, desperately trying to locate a child. We did everything we could to keep Elizabeth’s father calm and allowed him to remain at school as we searched for answers. By that afternoon, we had learned that Elizabeth and her mother were already taken to Texas.” DHS said parents "are asked (if) they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. "This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement," the agency said. In a statement to CNN, DHS said Elizabeth’s mother "is an illegal alien from Ecuador with a final order of removal — meaning she was given full due process.” "Officers conducted a vehicle stop to arrest the illegal alien. Upon discovering a child was in the car, officers allowed her to make phone calls to place the child in the custody of someone she designated," DHS said. "She failed to find a trusted adult to care for the child, so officers kept the family together for the welfare of the child.”

Federalist [2/6/2026 6:32 PM, Staff, 540K] reports during his reporting trip to Minneapolis, The Federalist’s White House correspondent Breccan Thies documented ICE agents arresting Hector Quinatoa-Quinatoa outside a McDonald’s. Quinatoa-Quinatoa was in the country illegally and had a prior DUI arrest. After refusing repeated commands from officers delivered in both English and Spanish, agents were forced to break the vehicle window to complete the arrest. This is what immigration enforcement looks like on the ground: officers attempting to carry out federal law while being immediately swarmed, harassed, and shouted down by agitators determined to obstruct them. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Federalist [2/6/2026 6:35 PM, Staff, 540K] reports in an exclusive sit-down interview, The Federalist’s White House correspondent Breccan Thies spoke directly with ICE’s Saint Paul Field Office Director about reports of a 700-agent drawdown in Minnesota. What he confirmed: There have been confirmed instances of local police not cooperating with federal agents. Officer and public safety remain the top priority during enforcement operations. ICE says it has sufficient resources to operate safely on the ground. The interview cuts through the media and political noise to present a clear, on-the-record account of how immigration enforcement is operating in Minnesota. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Detroit Free Press [2/6/2026 5:22 PM, Beki San Martin, 4749K]
Leysi Palacio-Mora, 39, opens the back door of her Ypsilanti child care center. She’s walking through what would happen if agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement came to the site: Kids go to the back with staff while Palacio-Mora goes out the front to try to confirm the ICE agent’s identity and ask for a warrant. In case of an emergency, kids evacuate out the back to a nearby business. “Imagine wrangling 20 babies out the back to get safe,” she said. Palacio-Mora is one of several child care providers in Ypsilanti, a city with a significant foreign-born population, who say they’re trying to figure out how to best protect kids and families and address parent fears as reports of ICE enforcement increase locally. While a local spokesman for ICE said it does not target schools or bus stops for enforcement actions aimed at arresting unauthorized immigrants, there are reports of parents being detained shortly after student drop-off or pickups in Michigan. Despite reassurances from federal officials, many are worried and are preparing. Concern in Ypsilanti reached a fever pitch late last month when rumors spread — including through a Facebook post from the county sheriff — that ICE had targeted parents at a bus stop. Another rumor circulated that ICE was at a child care facility in the city. Attorneys for at least three of the four individuals detained that day, who ICE said were in the country illegally, have since confirmed the agents did not target the bus stop. And the child care facility owner said ICE was not at the center. These two Ypsilanti incidents are a window into the wider concern growing across Michigan over ICE activity in the wake of violent escalations that have captured national attention, most prominently in Minneapolis where two U.S. citizens, Renee Nicole Good, 37, and Alex Pretti, 37, were shot and killed by federal immigration agents. Last week, a post in a Royal Oak Reddit page titled “ICE Came to my Door Today” spread online across multiple different Michigan Reddit threads, though the Royal Oak Police Department told the Free Press it hasn’t received any official reports of ICE in the city. On Monday, Feb. 2, several Facebook posts showed ICE at an Amazon facility in Hazel Park arresting an employee, which Free Press reporting substantiated. ICE said the employee had previously crossed into to the United States illegally. And the Livonia Police Department responded to growing worry recently on Facebook, to dispel rumors swirling that the office was actively working with ICE and Customs and Border Patrol to enforce immigration laws. In the statement, the department said it has not worked with ICE or CBP to enforce immigration law and doesn’t have an agreement with them to do so. What’s clear is that community fear over ICE enforcement is real. And in an era where previously guaranteed protections against immigration enforcement in sensitive places — like child cares, schools and places of worship — have been rolled back, no one feels immune, child care providers in Ypsilanti say — not a parent picking up their kid from preschool, nor the kid themself. In response to Free Press questions about growing fears surrounding their enforcement actions, a local ICE spokesperson reiterated that the agency does not target schools or bus stop locations, and that those detained in Ypsilanti “remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings and will receive due process.” The spokesperson reiterated their concern that rumors like the one about ICE targeting a bus stop in Ypsilanti put ICE officers at greater risk for attacks and death threats, and encouraged those not legally authorized to be in the United States to self-deport in order to "reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream." In response to questions nationally about ICE enforcement in places like child cares, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has defended ICE activity across the board, insisting ICE’s objective is to arrest violent criminals. The administration has painted increasing deployment of ICE officers in cities like Minneapolis and escalating enforcement as being in the interest of public safety, though Trump himself has recently called for a "softer touch" in immigration enforcement in response to public outcry over the ICE killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

Federalist [2/6/2026 7:35 AM, Breccan F. Thies, 540K] reports for a city that is persistently in the news for left-wing rioting and obstruction, it will come as no surprise that Minneapolis is overrun with political agitators who terrorize its residents. But Minneapolis’ de facto militia occupation is not some organic outgrowth from a self-righteous people. Rather, it is a highly technical, well-strategized force that is entirely self-aware of its political power — and when, where, and how to escalate tensions or surge forces. After walking around Minneapolis, blending in with the agitators, and talking to them for only a couple of days, it became abundantly clear that it is a city that is not entirely run by a government. Instead, social services, criminal justice, and the rest are meted out under a captivity agreement struck between elected leadership and genuine anarchists who want autonomy over the city, and ultimate power over its people. Politics doesn’t make too strange a bedfellow here, because the anarchists and the political leadership largely agree. The government is merely a moderating force and uses that off-brand anarcho-tyranny to its political advantage when it wants to. Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and Democrat Mayor Jacob Frey just put this dynamic in practice. After weeks of encouraging a network of agitators to obstruct and be violent with federal agents, while refusing to let state and local police support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, they appeared to obtain certain concessions from the Trump administration. On Wednesday, border czar Tom Homan, who was dispatched to Minneapolis after agitator Alex Pretti was shot, announced a "draw-down" of 700 law enforcement personnel "effective immediately.” But the lawlessness persists. Road blockades are erected by agitators who cross-reference license plates with a database of suspected or confirmed ICE vehicles before allowing Minneapolis citizens to pass through. One at the intersection of Cedar Avenue and East 34th Street was taken down by Minneapolis police, but in short order, one agitator told me, the blockades will sprout up again. The social media account Minneapolis Spring is an agitator account that appears to be heavily involved in organizing blockades, and telling others how they can do the same. Those blockades are guarded by faceless, nameless people who are not afraid of assaulting journalists. I have both experienced and witnessed the snap-hostility with which some of the agitators treat a person once they find out they are a journalist, raising tensions and the potential for violence. Because of the agitators’ penchant for violence, and their ability to circulate the faces of people they decide they do not like and doxx them, I was advised by everyone I spoke to inside and outside of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to move a ride-along scheduled with ICE to my last day in the city.

FOX News [2/6/2026 11:57 AM, Andrew Mark Miller, 37576K] reports that federal authorities arrested a self-described Antifa member in Minnesota on Thursday morning after he racked up a significant social media following that the government says was used to obstruct federal law enforcement and threaten to kill ICE agents. In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, Kyle Wagner, 37, of Minneapolis was arrested in the early morning hours wearing a sweatshirt that said, "I’M ANTIFA," a reference to the far-left organization that the Trump administration has deemed a domestic terrorist group. Wagner’s bald head and numerous tattoos, including "RESISTANCE" across his chest and a "three arrows" anti-fascist symbol on his neck, have made him a recognizable figure on anti-ICE social media feeds. Wagner operated an Instagram account under the handle @kaos.follows, where he had amassed tens of thousands of followers before the account was deleted. In his bio, he reportedly used the hashtag #IronFront and described himself as an "entrepreneur." On that channel, the DOJ said Wagner had urged followers to confront and attack ICE officers, referred to agents as "murderers" and the "gestapo" and at times called for armed violence against them. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision Austin [2/6/2026 12:57 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports a Venezuelan woman arrested at the Dilley ICE detention center in Texas described as inhumane the conditions in which thousands of detainees, including many children, are being held. Margely and her son have been locked up in that detention center for 77 days after being arrested at their home in Michigan in November 2025. The woman recounts that the way in which she was captured was illegal, since they entered her house and arrested her minor son when she was not present. Then they arrested her after tracing the calls between her and her son. Margely recounts that access to food, personal space, and coexistence has become increasingly difficult, causing psychological damage to her and her son, as well as to thousands of other people detained there. All this amid an alleged measles outbreak, which, according to her, authorities at the detention center have not implemented any health measures to prevent contagion on site. Margely described what it’s like to live day-to-day inside the Dilley detention center, from access to food to the personal space that, she said, they don’t have.

Houston Chronicle [2/6/2026 2:03 PM, John Wayne Ferguson, 2493K] reports that a group of Hispanic Texans are asking a federal judge to rule that ICE agents can’t detain U.S. citizens or require those people to prove their citizenship in order to be freed from custody.

In a complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas on Friday morning, the group of more than 30 people said that immigration authorities’ current practices violate their rights to due process and protection against unreasonable arrests. “ICE has ignored constitutional protections and created and encouraged an environment of seize first and sort it out later,” attorney Raed Gonzalez wrote. “Constitutional protections and limits are not even treated as an afterthought; they are ignored, trampled on, and forgotten.” The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the filing. DHS leaders, including Secretary Kristi Noem, have denied that citizens have been detained during ICE operations or said that examples of detained Americans were cases of people trying to interfere with legal arrests. The complaint was announced during a news conference at the Houston Democratic Party’s Second Ward headquarters. The lawsuit doesn’t seek damages, but instead asks a judge to declare that any policies or practices that require U.S. citizens to carry proof of citizenship are unconstitutional. The lawsuit claims that ICE has stopped legal citizens while enforcing the White House’s immigration agenda. In one example, the lawsuit points to a Jan. 9 ICE raid in Donna, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border, where agents jumped a fence and held a man, Humberto Garcia, at gunpoint before tackling him. The agents also allegedly kicked a woman at the home and then entered the house without a judicial warrant to detain even more people, according to the complaint.

NBC News [2/6/2026 12:59 PM, Mike Hixenbaugh and Daniella Silva, 42967K] reports that before she arrived at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center last fall, Kelly Vargas said, her 6-year-old daughter was thriving. Maria loved school and spent her afternoons drawing and playing with her cat. But Vargas said that within days of the family’s being detained and sent to the prisonlike facility in South Texas — where guards patrol the halls and the lights never turn off — her daughter began to unravel. After years without accidents, Maria started wetting her pants and her bed. She cried through the night, asking when she and her parents would return to their apartment in New York. She begged to start breastfeeding again. Vargas, who was deported to Colombia with her family in November after having spent nearly two months at Dilley, said she never imagined the United States could act so callously. “How are they going to do this to a child?” Vargas told NBC News, speaking in Spanish. “How could this happen here?” Accounts from detained families, their lawyers and court filings describe the federal detention center in Dilley as a place where hundreds of children languish as they’re served contaminated food, receive little education and struggle to obtain basic medical care. The center was thrust into the national spotlight last month after Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old boy, to the facility following his father’s arrest in Minneapolis — an encounter captured in a photograph showing the boy in a blue bunny hat as he was taken into federal custody.

CBS Colorado [2/6/2026 1:08 PM, Spencer Wilson, 51110K] reports that a nonprofit immigration support organization that first alerted CBS Colorado to custom playing cards left behind by ICE agents is applauding the move by members of Colorado’s Democratic congressional delegation to call for an independent federal investigation. Voces Unidas said the custom Ace of Spades cards left on vehicles belonging to people detained in Eagle County earlier in the year carried ties to white supremacist symbolism. The Glenwood Springs–based advocacy group argued the cards sparked broader concerns about enforcement tactics and discrimination. ICE acknowledged the incident and said it launched an internal review. "ICE is investigating this situation, but unequivocally condemns this type of action and/or officer conduct. Once notified, ICE supervisors acted swiftly to address the issue. The ICE Office of Professional Responsibility will conduct a thorough investigation and will take appropriate and swift action." The statement added that under federal leadership, the agency maintained high professional standards while arresting and removing "dangerous criminal illegal aliens" and said Americans could be proud of officers’ professionalism. Voces Unidas said two families found separate cards left on the detained family members’ cars. "We opened two cases of civil rights violations," said Alex Sanchez, the organization’s president and CEO. Sanchez argued the imagery carried historical symbolism used to dehumanize communities and called for outside accountability rather than an internal investigation. The Department of Homeland Security has not indicated when the review will be completed.

Washington Examiner [2/7/2026 5:00 AM, Mia Cathell, 1147K] reports a mob of anti-deportation activists is planning on protesting outside Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s home this weekend as part of a multi-coalition pressure campaign demanding that local officials force “ICE Out” of the sanctuary city. Portland Contra las Deportaciónes, a group of left-wing activists opposing deportations, is circulating a digital flyer calling on followers to march together to the mayor’s private residence and rally in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "If immigrants aren’t able to have peace at home … neither is Keith Wilson," wrote PDX CD in an Instagram post. According to the call-to-action, the mob will assemble first at Wilshire Park around noon on Saturday before heading to Wilson’s home, which organizers said is located "a short walk" away in the nearby residential neighborhood. Saturday’s planned protest is in concert with a citywide anti-ICE movement to shutter the immigration processing center in South Portland.

FOX News [2/6/2026 3:45 PM, Louis Casiano, 37576K] reports the Trump administration’s top immigration enforcement officials are urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom not to release more than 33,000 criminal illegal immigrants, some of whom have violent felony convictions, back onto the streets without notifying federal authorities. In a letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons are asking Newsom to honor ICE detainers of 33,179 inmates in California’s custody. All told, the inmates account for 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 3,171 burglaries, 1,011 robberies, 8,380 dangerous drugs offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses, and 1,293 sexual predatory offenses," DHS said. Newsom’s office referred Fox News Digital to a Friday post on X: "California cooperates with ICE when it comes to REMOVING CRIMINALS — like sick rapists and murderers — in our state prisons." Since Newsom took office in 2019, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has coordinated the transfer of more than 12,000 people, including murderers, rapists, and other violent offenders, into ICE custody.

Breitbart [2/6/2026 5:08 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports since President Donald Trump took office, the sanctuary state of California has released more than 4,500 illegal aliens, several convicted of crimes like murder and child sex crimes, into communities rather than turn them over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On Friday, ICE officials said that since January 20, 2025, California’s sanctuary state law ensured that 4,561 illegal aliens were able to get released from jails and prisons — evading federal immigration agents. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons is urging California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) to honor ICE detainers on more than 33,000 illegal aliens across the sanctuary state that are currently in local or state custody. "Governor Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk," the Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

San Diego Union Tribune [2/6/2026 4:44 PM, Alex Riggins, 1257K] reports a San Diego federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return three recently deported families to the U.S., finding the administration unlawfully removed those families through "lies, deception, and coercion." The order issued late Thursday by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw came in litigation over the first Trump administration’s unconstitutional family-separation policy. That litigation reignited last year despite a historic settlement agreement in the case aimed at providing temporary legal protections to the previously separated families so that they can seek asylum in the U.S. Most recently, the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the separated families and others covered by the settlement, argued that the Trump administration had once again violated the agreement by unlawfully deporting several families who were legally in the U.S. on parole. Sabraw once again agreed with the ACLU and ordered the federal government to facilitate and pay for returning three of those families to the U.S. The ACLU had also argued last week that about two dozen other individuals covered by the settlement who have legal parole status in the U.S. have been detained in recent months by immigration authorities for unknown reasons. While acknowledging that some of those detentions could be legitimate, ACLU attorneys argued that the government should be ordered to at least explain why it has detained those individuals. Sabraw followed that recommendation and ordered the government to provide the ACLU with information regarding the basis for each detention, writing that "it should be easy" for the government if they have followed the law when detaining individuals with valid immigration parole status. In a separate order issued earlier Thursday, Sabraw rejected an argument from government attorneys that the families and others covered by the settlement should have to pay increased fees that were imposed on immigrants by the passage last year of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Those fees include a $100 payment for individuals applying for asylum, a $550 fee associated with work authorization applications and a $1,000 fee for individuals granted parole into the U.S.

Telemundo52 [2/6/2026 11:18 AM, Staff, 61K] reports the man accused of killing an innocent driver during a police chase in Orange County faces additional charges for having injured an older woman while in the custody of immigration officials. Darwin Felipe Bahmon Martinez, who pleaded not guilty to serious vehicle homicide, eluding an officer causing death and reckless driving, was being held on a $2 million bond and had an immigration detention order against him until Thursday. The chase initially began on Jan. 24, when patrol officers spotted Martinez behind the wheel of a dark Jeep Gladiator, driving recklessly and almost bumping into a parked car, police reported. After refusing to stop, Martinez fled, but soon collided with several vehicles in Placentia. An 83-year-old woman driving one of the vehicles was taken to a local hospital without serious injuries. The man in the other vehicle was killed in the collision and was identified as 59-year-old Jose Antonio Ramos Hernández. He was described as a dear father.

Daily Wire [2/6/2026 7:39 AM, Jennie Taer, 2314K] reports that an illegal immigrant is accused of violently sexually assaulting an Uber driver in Miami, causing her to collide with another vehicle and slam into a concrete wall, The Daily Wire has learned. Oscar Ernesto Sanchez-Aguire, who hails from El Salvador, snuck across the border undetected, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire. Last month, authorities finally learned about him after he allegedly violently groped the ride-share driver. The unidentified victim said Sanchez-Aguire, 26, told her to turn down a dark street before he covered her mouth and began attacking her, according to Local 10. The woman was left with bruising to her chest, scratches to her neck and scrapes to her mouth, according to the local news outlet. "In that moment, I panicked and lost control of the car and crashed," she said. The woman crashed into another car, causing it to hit the wall of a church. Her vehicle then hit the concrete wall of a storage facility. Sanchez-Aguire then allegedly jumped out of the car and began running, but was later nabbed. A witness, Candela Navarro, reported seeing the Uber driver "trapped inside the car," which "was completely destroyed," according to 7News. "This is yet another example of how years of open border policies have resulted in a heartbreaking number of preventable attacks. This monster should never have been in our country in the first place and had the opportunity to prey on this innocent woman," Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Friday. "Every day, we’re working to get illegal aliens out of our country before more innocent Americans are victimized," McLaughlin said. Sanchez-Aguire faces charges of battery and culpable negligence, according to Local 10. His bond was set at $1,450.

New York Post [2/6/2026 1:58 PM, Josh Koehn, 40934K] reports that fiery White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is doubling down on accusations that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s top cop are turning their backs on public safety — and putting violent criminals back on the streets — by refusing to cooperate with ICE detainer requests. Leavitt posted a Department of Homeland Security press release on X Friday morning that included a litany of people charged or convicted of sex crimes against children, violent assaults and even murder. "Why is Gavin Newsom doing this?" Leavitt wrote in the post. It follows a blistering letter sent by Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to Attorney General Rob Bonta this week saying California’s sanctuary policies have led to the release of 4,561 "criminal illegal aliens" since Jan. 20. "Governor Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers from their jails back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk," Lyons said in a statement, calling the policy "dangerous derangement." Newsom fired back at the administration in a post on X mentioning an image President Trump posted to Truth Social depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as monkeys.

Telemundo 48 - Area de la Bahia [2/6/2026 1:01 PM, Staff, 26K] reports that San Jose police announced that search warrants executed this week at three suspected illicit massage parlors in the city are part of an initiative to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation, especially during large-scale events like Super Bowl LX. On Monday, detectives executed search warrants at two establishments, located in the 2000 and 2100 blocks of Lincoln Avenue, where they allegedly found evidence of illegal activity related to massage services. According to police, three women present at the locations were offered victim support services and resources. On Wednesday, another search warrant was executed at a suspected illicit massage business in the 6100 block of Santa Teresa Boulevard. Two women at this location were also offered support services and resources. One man was cited on suspicion of attempting to purchase sexual services, police said. Detectives also seized more than $6,000, allegedly connected to the illegal operation. "These operations are part of the San Jose Police Department’s ongoing strategy to proactively combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation, particularly in advance of large-scale events, including Super Bowl 60," the San Jose Police Department stated in a press release. The operations were led by the San Jose Police Department’s Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Santa Clara County Human Trafficking Task Force, the San Jose Police Department’s Covert Response Unit, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security.

NBC News [2/6/2026 5:26 PM, Albinson Linares, 42967K] reports a journalist couple from Peru who crossed the border into the U.S. claim the death threats they received in their home country because of their work are proof their lives were in danger. But their most recent asylum petition was denied, and their attorney and several legal advocates say this shows how much tougher it’s gotten to be granted asylum amid a steep decline in the rate of approvals. Last month, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the highest administrative body for the review of immigration cases in the U.S., analyzed the case of Soria and his wife and dismissed their appeal for asylum, concluding that "a death threat that is vague, anonymous, or used merely to intimidate, by itself, does not rise to the level of severity required to establish persecution." Soria’s attorney is filing a request to review the case with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

DailySignal [2/6/2026 4:00 PM, Rebecca Downs, 474K] reports prominent Ohio lawmakers have been reacting swiftly to a last-minute court ruling maintaining Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in the United States. Springfield, Ohio, has been the epicenter of the effort to end TPS for Haitian migrants. On Monday night, Judge Ana Reyes blocked the Trump administration from ending TPS for Haitians, with the decision coming on the eve before the program was to end. The Trump administration is determined to appeal. Reyes, a Biden-appointed judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, had strong words for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in her conclusion, claiming that the Trump administration is motivated by racism.

Houston Chronicle [2/6/2026 2:11 PM, Rhyma Castillo, 2493K] reports that less than a week after a federal judge in San Antonio ordered the release of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father Adrian Conejo Arias from a South Texas immigrant detention center, the federal government is seeking to expedite the family’s deportation proceedings.

According to a Thursday evening report from MPR News, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security filed a motion Wednesday to end the family’s asylum case and expedite the family’s removal from the country. The motion came after U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on ABC News’ "This Week" segment. During the interview, Blanche said the Trump Administration intended to issue an appeal to U.S. District Judge Fred Biery’s order last Saturday to release Ramos and his father from the South Texas Family Detention Center. The center is located just an hour outside of San Antonio, and is the subject of civil rights abuse allegations against detained migrants, according to court documents. "There is a schism in the law right now about whether an illegal alien can be held pending their proceeding, or whether they need to be released on bail," Blanche told ABC News. "We very strongly believe that they should be held." Now, the family’s legal representatives are expressing frustration at what they say feels like "retaliation" from the federal government. "It’s really frustrating as an attorney, because they keep throwing new obstacles in our way. There’s absolutely no reason that this should be expedited. It’s not very common," immigration attorney Danielle Molliver said, according to MPR News.

FOX News [2/6/2026 5:03 PM, Louis Casiano, 37576K] reports Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, is calling on lawmakers to strengthen protections for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel when assisting local and state law enforcement. In January, Gonzales introduced the Homeland Threat Response Act, which would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the deployment and assistance of CBP for investigations of certain violent acts, shootings, and mass killings, and for other purposes, including big events. He cited BORTAC (Border Patrol Tactical Unit) and BORSTAR (Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue), elite units within the U.S. Border Patrol’s Special Operations Group (SOG) which are often called upon to assist local authorities in matters not related to immigration enforcement.

Bloomberg [2/6/2026 5:50 PM, Fola Akinnibi, 18082K] reports when Mark Pettibone was swept off a Portland street into an unmarked minivan by a group of people in camouflage and tactical gear during the George Floyd protests in 2020, he had no idea who they were or where he would be taken. In the vehicle, he said they pinned him down and pulled his beanie over his eyes so he couldn’t see where they were going. Pettibone was taken to a federal facility, arrested, processed, put in a cell and then released without paperwork, charges or a sense of why he’d been arrested, according to his account. It was only later that he’d learn he had been detained by Customs and Border Protection officers. The incident was an early sign of the Trump administration’s willingness to deploy these immigration officers far from the nation’s land borders, and its burgeoning comfort with military-style operations in US cities. In Trump’s second term, tactics used by federal immigration officers have evolved to include roving patrols, using force for crowd control, warrantless arrests, shootings and a raid on an apartment complex using a Black Hawk helicopter — all of which have marked ongoing enforcement activity in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans and beyond. The federal agents’ aggressive behavior has jarred both local and global observers, spurring mass protest. Federal immigration agents have not historically patrolled the streets of these cities. But many of these practices are not new in US immigration enforcement; they’ve migrated from border areas to the middle of America’s densest neighborhoods. They’re being circulated in viral videos for the world to see, instead of being relegated to deserts and dead-of-night operations. Agents also appear more emboldened than ever before, more frequently using tactics like deploying tear gas and other non-lethal weapons.

The New York Times [2/6/2026 12:35 PM, Mattathias Schwartz and Robert Chiarito, 148038K] reports that a federal judge in Chicago will allow the release of evidence, including body camera video footage and text messages, from the October shooting of Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old teacher’s assistant, by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago. On Friday, Judge Georgia N. Alexakis of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said she would allow the release of text messages from Charles Exum, the agent who shot Ms. Martinez, and video of the incident, as soon as the materials were redacted to obscure the identities of other parties. That could happen as soon as Monday, Ms. Martinez’s attorney said. The evidence was gathered as part of the now-defunct criminal case against Ms. Martinez and had been sealed by a judicial protective order. In its filings, the government has argued that releasing the text messages “will serve only to further sully Agent Exum, his family and co-workers.” Ms. Martinez’s attorney, Christopher V. Parente, responded that it would be “a fully deserved self-imposed sullying,” following a “campaign of lies” against Ms. Martinez by the Department of Homeland Security. After the hearing on Friday, he praised the judge’s ruling. “You can’t call a U.S. citizen with no criminal history who’s a Montessori schoolteacher a domestic terrorist,” he said. Ruling from the bench, Judge Alexakis said Ms. Martinez had “demonstrated good cause to warrant the release of the text messages,” because they “will counter the government’s public narrative of her and her actions. ABC News [2/6/2026 1:11 PM, Laura Romero and James Hill, 34146K] reports that an attorney for Martinez, who was shot and wounded by a Customs and Border Protection agent during Operation Midway Blitz, had asked the court to allow the release of more evidence from the shooting -- including body camera footage, electronic communications and photographs -- in order to "combat the continuing harm to her reputation.” Among the evidence the judge ordered released is the body camera footage of Charles Exum, the CBP agent who fired the shots, plus two other agents; FBI reports on Exum and the other agents; audio of Martinez’s 911 call; FBI reports regarding custody and medical treatment; and about 40 text messages Exum sent to friends, family and coworkers following the shooting. The government in November dismissed the charges it had brought against Martinez after it had accused her of participating in an "ambush" of CBP agents by ramming them with her car. While the body camera footage to be released does not show the shooting -- because Exum was not wearing his body camera at the time -- Martinez’s attorney told reporters that audio of the gunfire will be audible in other videos that will be released. Judge Alexakis said Exum’s text messages provide insight into his perspective of the shooting as well as how DHS leadership and other government officials responded to the incident. NBC News [2/6/2026 1:51 PM, Natasha Korecki and Selina Guevara, 42967K] reports that, in messages previously made public, the agent bragged about his marksmanship. U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis stated in court that the text messages provide insight into the agent’s and the Department of Homeland Security’s credibility, as well as into how DHS leadership perceived the shooting. The agent, Charles Exum, shot Marimar Martinez five times on Oct. 4, after she allegedly rammed her car into agents’ vehicles. Martinez denies ramming them and said agents were the aggressors. Exum did not have his body camera turned on during the incident. In one text message previously released, he bragged about his shooting skills, writing: "I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys." Government lawyers argued that the release of Exum’s text messages would further sully the agent and his family. The judge pushed back. "I don’t know why the United States government has expressed zero concern for the sullying of Ms. Martinez’s reputation," Alexakis said. Martinez’s attorney, Chris Parente, said his team would work over the weekend with government lawyers on redactions, and Martinez’s legal team would be releasing the evidence no earlier than Monday.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [2/6/2026 11:23 AM, Renee Hickman, 38315K]
Chicago Tribune [2/6/2026 3:25 PM, Jason Meisner, 5209K]

Texas Standard [2/6/2026 1:42 PM, Sarah Asch, 130K] reports that the Big Bend — an expansive, quiet and undeveloped area that’s preserved as both state and federal parkland — provides a sense of isolation and freedom from the noisy buzz of city life. But that may change soon, with the arrival of construction equipment and crews building out another stretch of the border wall. What does this mean for the short and longer-term future of one of Texas’s most pristine landscapes? Sam Karas, who reports for the Big Bend Sentinel, said the Department of Homeland Security plans to have physical wall barriers running from Fort Quitman, which is outside of Sierra Blanca, to Colorado Canyon, which is about 175 miles of wall. "(At Colorado Canyon) the smart wall system will take over, and that, of course, is kind of a hybrid of stuff," she said. "It’s sensors, it’s roads, it’s lights, it’s kind of a more holistic border security strategy. But the traditional wall is now slated to go in somewhere around Presidio." This means that, for the most part, within the national park, the Department of Homeland Security is still going to be operating a smart wall system. But in Big Bend Ranch State Park, it’s a much different story, Karas said. "It has a lot to do with just the naked topography of the land, that the landscape (in the national park) is a lot more rugged, the river is walled in by canyons in many places," she said. "Where upstream of that, you don’t have quite so much canyon country, and particularly that stretch upstream of Presidio isn’t really a river anymore, it’s kind of just a track of mesquite, and so that’s much more easy for a contractor to tackle."

Chicago Tribune [2/6/2026 7:54 AM, Brian Niemietz, 5209K] reports former U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino was reportedly asked to leave a Las Vegas bar out of safety concerns for the venue’s customers. Days after being removed from his post in Minneapolis, Bovino headed to Sin City, where he was spotted drinking wine at the multi-level Bottled Blonde sports bar on the Las Vegas Strip. A representative from the establishment told the Daily Beast that the 55-year-old officer is no longer welcome there. “Upon becoming aware of the individual’s presence, the patron was asked to leave the premises and was escorted out by staff in accordance with venue policy to maintain a safe and orderly environment for all patrons,” the venue said. Bottled Blonde did not provide further details other than describing itself as a private business that “does not engage in political activity or affiliations” and “reserves the right to refuse service to any patron at its discretion.” Bovino was filmed chugging wine with a group of young men at the Bottled Blonde on Jan. 30. He was also photographed strolling the Strip with that same group after being booted from the venue, according to the Daily Beast. He has not responded to the outlet’s request for comment. Bovino headed operations in Minneapolis, where federal officers fatally shot protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month. He was replaced by Border Czar Tom Homan on Jan. 27.

CBS News [2/6/2026 11:48 AM, Staff, 51110K] Video: HERE reports the TSA began testing a new program that will let pre-screened passengers speed through airports in four major airports. Mark Strassmann reports.

USA Today [2/6/2026 4:21 PM, Eve Chen, 70643K] reports a Massachusetts woman says federal agents took her dad’s life savings at the airport. A class-action lawsuit says the cash was deemed "suspicious" and wasn’t given back for months. Now, Rebecca Brown and her father are among a handful of people suing the Transportation Security Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration to prevent further cash seizures. U.S. Customs and Border Control requires travelers to declare currency exceeding $10,000 when traveling in or out of the U.S., but they may carry more than that, as long as it’s reported. There is no similar rule for domestic travel. As with other baggage contents, TSA may further inspect large amounts of currency for suspicious materials that could pose security threats. According to the lawsuit, Brown had $82,373 in cash seized at Pittsburgh International Airport in August 2019. She said her dad, August "Terry" Rolin, gave her his life savings to manage when she visited him. According to the lawsuit, TSA agents first spotted the money in Brown’s carry-on bag during security screening. Despite explaining the nature of the money to various authorities and checking with her dad, the lawsuit says a DEA agent seized the cash "because it was greater than $5,000 and was thus considered a ‘suspicious’ amount presumptively subject to seizure under DEA’s policy or practice of seizing cash without probable cause from travelers at U.S. airports for civil forfeiture." Two other plaintiffs listed on the class-action lawsuit shared similar experiences. In all three cases, Alban confirmed no one was charged, nor was money returned until the domestic travelers sought legal representation. A district court judge will make the rulings.

AP [2/6/2026 4:40 PM, Gabriela Aoun Angueira, 31753K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency will resume staff cuts that were briefly paused during January’s severe winter storm, according to two FEMA managers, stoking concern across the agency over its ability to address disasters with fewer workers. FEMA at the start of January abruptly stopped renewing employment contracts for a group of staffers known as Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery, or CORE employees, term-limited hires who can hold senior roles and play an important role in emergency response. But FEMA then paused the cuts in late January as the nation braced for the gigantic winter storm that was set to impact half the country’s population. FEMA did not say whether that decision was linked to the storm. The two FEMA team managers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the staffing changes with the media, were told this week that dismissals were going to resume soon but were not given a specific date. It was not clear how many people would be impacted. FEMA staff told The Associated Press that the policy indiscriminately terminates employees without taking into account the importance of their role or their years of experience. The hundreds of CORE dismissals have wiped out entire teams, or left groups without managers, they said. “It’s a big impact to our ability to implement and carry out the programs entrusted to us to carry out,” one FEMA manager told the AP. The officials said it was unclear who at the Department of Homeland Security or FEMA was driving the decision. Managers used to make the case to extend a contract months in advance, they said, but now leaders were often finding out about terminations at the same time as their employees. In an emailed statement, FEMA spokesperson Daniel Llargues did not confirm or deny the planned staffing cuts but said the CORE program was meant to fluctuate based on operational need and available funding.

Blaze [2/6/2026 8:00 AM, Joseph M. Hanneman and Steve Baker, 1556K] reports the FBI’s narrative about the autistic Virginia man being prosecuted in federal court for allegedly placing two pipe bombs on Capitol Hill keeps running into snags, including suspect Brian J. Cole Jr.’s apparent location during key segments of the pipe-bomb timeline. After arresting Cole, 30, of Woodbridge, Va., on Dec. 4, the FBI said Cole waived his Miranda rights and made a "detailed confession" with no attorney present. Cole allegedly said he planted bombs at the Democratic National Committee building and the Capitol Hill Club adjacent to the Republican National Committee building on Jan. 5, 2021. Some of the details in Cole’s confession, which his attorneys now question, conflict with newly developed evidence from independent investigations. Cole’s prosecution does not explain other case details, including years of the FBI altering video evidence, failure to preserve key case evidence, and the dozens of police officers and Secret Service agents who went near the bombs on Jan. 6 but did not act as if they were a threat to the public. One former FBI special agent and a current supervisory special agent who worked on the pipe-bombs investigation in 2021 said they received a briefing on the devices in January 2021. An official from the federal Joint Program Office for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices told the agents that the bombs were "inert devices." The former agent said the devices "just looked good.” Perhaps the thing that drew the most suspicion in the five-year pipe-bombs case was the shocking, cavalier attitude of U.S. Secret Service agents who were outside the DNC building during a visit of then-Sen. Kamala Harris, the vice president-elect. The Secret Service did not find the bomb that the FBI insists was sitting in public view at the DNC building from 7:54 p.m. the night before. It was one of numerous egregious failures identified in a report by the Homeland Security Inspector General.

Reuters [2/6/2026 9:31 PM, Kanishka Singh, 38315K] reports a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a 33-year-old man with threatening to kill U.S. Vice President JD Vance during his visit to the Ohio region in January, the Justice Department said on Friday Shannon Mathre, of Toledo, Ohio, is accused of making a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, Vance, the Justice Department said in a statement. Mathre allegedly stated, "I am going to find out where he (the vice president) is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him," according to the indictment cited by the Justice Department. Mathre was arrested by U.S. Secret Service agents on Friday. A representative of Mathre could not immediately be reached. Experts have raised alarm about political violence and threats of violence in a polarized U.S. in recent years. Earlier this week, a January 6, 2021, rioter, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty to a harassment charge after being accused of threatening to kill U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. While investigating the alleged threats, federal agents also discovered multiple files of child sexual abuse materials in Mathre’s possession, the Justice Department said. Mathre made his initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Ohio on Friday and remains in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for February 11, the Justice Department said.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [2/6/2026 9:44 PM, Michael Katz, 3760K]

FOX News [2/6/2026 5:52 AM, Alex Nitzberg, 37576K] reports that War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that some cartel drug traffickers operating in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility have halted narcotics activity following recent U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean. "WINNING: Some top cartel drug-traffickers in the @SOUTHCOM AOR have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean," Hegsth wrote in a post on X. Hegseth credited President Donald Trump with directing the military actions, calling the effort a lifesaving deterrent. "This is deterrence through strength. @POTUS is SAVING American lives," he wrote. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina praised the military action, writing on X, "Well done @SecWar and to all under your command. We must continue to verify and monitor. We can’t trust drug cartels." The Trump administration has been pursuing a policy of conducting deadly attacks against vessels of alleged "narco-terrorists." SOUTHCOM announced a strike that killed two on Thursday. "On Feb. 5, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed," Southern Command noted in a post on X.

Washington Post [2/6/2026 4:14 PM, Jeremy Roebuck, 24826K] reports a man Justice Department officials described as a key participant in the 2012 attack that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, was taken into U.S. custody Friday and will face prosecution. Zubayar al-Bakoush was arrested in an undisclosed country and flown to an airfield near Washington, where he arrived just after 3 a.m. Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said. He faces an eight-count indictment on charges including murder, terrorism and arson. Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel declined at a news conference to answer questions about where al-Bakoush was arrested and whether the operation that brought him into custody involved the assistance of foreign agents. “We have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” Bondi said. In the Sept. 11, 2012, attack, at least 20 militants, armed with AK-47s and grenade launchers, stormed the U.S. mission in Benghazi, breaching its gates, forcing their way into offices and setting buildings ablaze. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, State Department employee Sean Smith and CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty were killed. Stevens was the first U.S. ambassador slain while performing his duties abroad in nearly four decades. The incident almost immediately became a subject for partisan finger-pointing, with Republican lawmakers faulting the Obama administration and especially then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for alleged security failures at the facility and what they described as a slow response to the violence. A Republican-led congressional investigation into the incident found no evidence of wrongdoing by Clinton, though it faulted the Obama administration more broadly for being slow to respond after the militants breached the gates. Still, references to Benghazi remain a potent point of political division nearly 14 year after the attack. Even as they announced al-Bakoush’s arrest Friday, Justice Department officials seized the opportunity to swipe at frequent Republican targets, renew old lines of attack and credit President Donald Trump despite the investigative work that had happened under both Republican and Democrat administrations.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [2/6/2026 10:09 AM, Josh Christenson, 40934K]
Bloomberg [2/6/2026 2:25 PM, Chris Strohm, 18082K]
The Hill [2/6/2026 11:47 AM, Ella Lee, 18170K]
Reuters [2/6/2026 10:04 AM, Andrew Goudsward, Jana Winter, Katharine Jackson, 38315K]
CBS News [2/6/2026 12:05 PM, Kathryn Watson, 51110K] Video: HERE
CNN [2/6/2026 12:21 PM, Hannah Rabinowitz, 19874K]
Daily Caller [2/6/2026 10:11 AM, Katelynn Richardson, 803K]
Washington Examiner [2/6/2026 10:38 AM, Kaelan Deese, 1147K]
Daily Wire [2/6/2026 11:57 AM, Kassy Akiva and Cameron Arcand, 2314K]

Breitbart [2/6/2026 11:23 AM, Frances Martel, 2238K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed in an essay published on Friday that the administration of President Donald Trump would not pursue a new nuclear arms reduction agreement with only Russia, arguing that China’s "rapid and opaque" nuclear buildup made such a deal "obsolete.” Secretary Rubio’s commentary, published on the State Department’s Substack page, follows the expiration of the Obama-era New START treaty on Thursday. That agreement voluntarily limited American and Russian deployments of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with nuclear warheads and other strategic arms. The Russian government pressured the United States to extend the treaty beyond the February 4 deadline despite Vladimir Putin announcing in 2023 that Russia would start ignoring its restrictions unilaterally. During his first term, Trump repeatedly stated that he did not think that a nuclear weapons restriction agreement would be useful without addressing the Chinese military. According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published in 2024, China is expanding its nuclear arsenal at a much faster pace than any other country, adding about 100 nuclear warheads a year. Beijing has repeatedly rejected all calls to agree to limits in its nuclear weapons development, claiming it is still a "developing" country not on par with Russia or China. Secretary Rubio categorically rejected the idea of China as a second-tier nuclear threat in his essay. The secretary proposed the creation of an agreement "that reflects that the United States could soon face not one, but two, nuclear peers in Russia and China.” "China’s rapid and opaque expansion of its nuclear arsenal since New START entered into force has rendered past models of arms control, based upon bilateral agreements between the United States and Russia, obsolete," Rubio posited. "Since 2020, China has increased its nuclear weapons stockpile from the low 200s to more than 600 and is on pace to have more than 1,000 warheads by 2030.” "An arms control arrangement that does not account for China’s build-up, which Russia is supporting, will undoubtedly leave the United States and our allies less safe," he argued.

Breitbart [2/6/2026 12:49 PM, Staff, 2238K] reports that President Donald Trump says U.S. elections should be nationalized, shifting away from the model of state control that has lasted nearly 250 years. Trump shared his idea on former Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino’s podcast earlier this week, continuing his longstanding position that widespread fraud is a problem for U.S. elections. That claim was repeatedly found to be lacking evidence when he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. "The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’" Trump said of nationalizing elections. "‘We should take over the voting in at least maybe 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize voting.’" Trump’s proposal conflicts with the longstanding manner by which elections are governed and the constitutional limits on the powers of the president. What Trump means by nationalizing elections is not immediately clear since he did not go into detail. There is also no legal definition for the term but Trump has made clear that he wants greater authority over the election process. He has taken steps such as issuing executive orders to call for proof-of-citizenship requirements and restrictions to mail-in voting. Mark Lindeman, policy and strategy director of Verified Voting, told UPI that Trump’s distrust of the election process is the backdrop to the entire idea. "The context in which to hear all of this is that Donald Trump has said repeatedly that the 2020 election was stolen," Lindeman said.

Reuters [2/6/2026 10:33 AM, Staff, 38315K] reports Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that her government is aiming to send humanitarian aid, including food and other basic supplies, to Cuba by Monday. "We are planning to send this aid either this weekend or on Monday at the latest," Sheinbaum said at her morning daily press conference. Sheinbaum also said that her administration is working "on all diplomatic efforts to be able to resume oil shipments to Cuba," as Mexico halted shipments of crude and refined products to the island in mid-January under pressure from the Trump administration. Washington subsequently threatened tariffs on countries that supply oil to the communist-ruled island, saying that Cuba poses an "extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security - a claim Havana denies. "Obviously, we do not want sanctions against Mexico, but we are in the process of dialogue and, for now, humanitarian aid will be sent," Sheinbaum said.

FOX News [2/6/2026 11:40 AM, Staff, 7946K] reports that Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to break down Iran’s seizure of foreign oil tankers, rising military tensions in the Persian Gulf and what’s at stake as US-Iran nuclear talks resume. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [2/6/2026 3:55 PM, Susannah George, Victoria Craw and Lior Soroka, 24826K] reports U.S. and Iranian representatives met in Oman on Friday for talks over the fate of Tehran’s nuclear program, the first such negotiations between the two sides since U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June ended 12 days of war with Israel. Desperate to avoid another confrontation, regional leaders launched a flurry of diplomacy to push Washington and Tehran to agree to the meeting Friday. But the scope of the talks remains unclear. Iranian officials have said they will only discuss the nuclear program, while the Trump administration has called for broader concessions. “The subject of our talks is solely nuclear, and we are not discussing any other issue with the Americans,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state-run media Friday. Araghchi, who is leading negotiations on the Iranian side, said the talks were “intensive,” and carried out “in a very good atmosphere. It was a good start,” he said. Oman, which was hosting and mediating, called the talks “very serious,” and said they would reconvene, according to a Foreign Ministry statement on X. “It was useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress,” said Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi. Initially, talks were scheduled to occur in Istanbul with foreign ministers from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan present, but Iran made a last-minute demand to move the venue to Oman and exclude other regional officials. The fact that the venue change did not derail the talks was a testament to the pressure applied on Iran and the United States to engage, according to a Western diplomat briefed on the talks, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with the media. This diplomatic push is occurring against the backdrop of a massive U.S. military buildup in the region that President Donald Trump has threatened to use if Iran doesn’t agree to a nuclear deal. Iranian officials have responded by threatening devastating counterattacks in the event of a U.S. strike. The U.S. negotiating team is led by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Images of the meeting published in local media also showed Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, present. The Trump administration launched talks aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran last year. Negotiators met in Oman and Italy, but didn’t secure measurable progress. The Israeli attacks that launched the 12-day war upended the diplomatic effort.

NBC News [2/7/2026 12:13 AM, Courtney Kube, Abigail Williams, and Babak Dehghanpisheh, 42967K] reports President Donald Trump said Friday that the high-stakes talks between Iran and the United States in Oman had gone well and that the two sides would meet again next week, though he did not provide any details about the meeting. "They had a very good meeting with a very high representative Iran, of Iran, and we’ll see how it all turns out," Trump said in a gathering of reporters aboard Air Force One, noting that the country could not be permitted to have nuclear weapons under any deal. He added, "We’re going to meet again early next week, and they want to make a deal, Iran, as they should want to make a deal. They know the consequences if they don’t. If they don’t make a deal, the consequences are very steep. So we’ll see what happens.” U.S. and Iranian officials did not meet directly but exchanged their positions through Omani mediators, a U.S. official told NBC News.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [2/6/2026 10:47 PM, Claire Carter, 1147K]

New York Times [2/6/2026 10:35 PM, Aurelien Breeden and Leily Nikounazar, 148038K] reports President Trump said on Friday that talks between Iran and the United States had gone well and would continue early next week, in comments that mirrored those of Iran’s foreign minister, who told state media that the negotiations were off to a “good start.” Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he headed to Palm Beach, Fla., said the administration was in “no rush” to make a deal with Iran. Using his actions in Venezuela as an example, he said, “We waited around for a while.” Iran wants “to make a deal, as they should want to make a deal,” Mr. Trump said, adding that if the country did not reach an agreement the “consequences would be steep.” Describing the terms of a potential deal, Mr. Trump said Iran would have to agree to “no nuclear weapons.” The foreign minister of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, said earlier on Friday that the talks, which took place in Oman, had been “exclusively nuclear.” Iran’s nuclear program had been expected to be part of the discussions. But before the talks began, American officials had said that they also needed to include Iran’s ballistic missiles and its support for militant groups across the Middle East. Mr. Araghchi, seemed to rule that out. “We are not discussing any other issues with the Americans,” he told Iran’s official news agency, IRNA. The negotiations, mediated by Omani officials, were the first between the United States and Iran since they went to war last June, and they were an effort to stave off another conflict. The negotiations “can continue well,” Mr. Araghchi told Iranian state broadcasters. He said that a “lack of trust” between the two sides had to be “overcome,” adding, “Then we can define a framework for new talks.” Mr. Araghchi said the timing, location and format of the next discussions would be decided later.

Reuters [2/6/2026 5:20 PM, Jasper Ward and Christian Martinez, 36480K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that may impose a 25% tariff on countries that do business with Iran. The order comes as tensions between Iran and U.S. continue to simmer even as the two countries engaged in talks this week.

Reuters [2/6/2026 9:21 AM, Olivia Le Poidevin and Mark Trevelyan, 42967K] reports that the United States accused Beijing on Friday of conducting a secret nuclear test in 2020 as it called for a new, broader arms control treaty that would bring in China as well as Russia. The accusations at a global disarmament conference highlighted serious tensions between Washington and Beijing at a pivotal moment in nuclear arms control, a day after the treaty limiting U.S. and Russian missile and warhead deployments expired. "I can reveal that the U.S. government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons," U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno told a Disarmament Conference in Geneva. The Chinese military "sought to conceal testing by obfuscating the nuclear explosions because it recognized these tests violate test ban commitments. China has used ‘decoupling’, a method to decrease the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, to hide their activities from the world," he said. DiNanno said China had conducted one such "yield-producing test" on June 22, 2020. China’s ambassador on disarmament, Shen Jian, did not directly address DiNanno’s charge but said Beijing had always acted prudently and responsibly on nuclear issues. "China notes that the U.S. continues in its statement to hype up the so-called China nuclear threat. China firmly opposes such false narratives," he said. "It (the US) is the culprit for the aggravation of the arms race.” Diplomats at the conference said the U.S. allegations were new and concerning.

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