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.

The Wall Street Journal [1/15/2026 12:27 AM, Alyssa Lukpat, 646K] reports that a federal immigration agent shot and injured a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis on Wednesday, authorities said, a week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a woman in the city. The Department of Homeland Security said an officer shot the subject in the leg after he fled a traffic stop Wednesday night. The subject and two other people then struck the officer with a shovel or broom handle, DHS said. The agent and the man were taken to a hospital. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the man got into a struggle with a federal agent and was shot. He retreated inside a home until agents entered and took him to a hospital with a non-life-threatening injury, O’Hara said at a news briefing Wednesday night. The shooting unfolded during a tense week for Minneapolis, where protesters are criticizing the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good last week. The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement in the city and sent thousands of agents to make arrests this month. Minnesota sued the administration this week over what it said were aggressive enforcement tactics. The New York Times [1/15/2026 4:25 AM, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Mitch Smith, Hamed Aleaziz, 135475K] reports Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that federal agents were trying to arrest a man from Venezuela who was in the country illegally in a “targeted traffic stop” at around 6:50 p.m. She said that he fled from agents. When the officer caught up to him, Ms. McLaughlin said he “began to resist and violently assault the officer.” She said two people came out of a nearby building and, along with the man being sought, attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle. The officer feared for his life and fired shots, striking the man whom agents were seeking in the leg, Ms. McLaughlin said. The agent and the man who was shot were in the hospital, she added, and the other two people she accused of attacking the agent were in custody. The federal government’s narrative could not immediately be verified. City officials said the person who was shot had “apparent non-life-threatening injuries.” The agent’s condition was not immediately clear. As word of the latest shooting spread, at least 200 protesters gathered near the apparent scene on Wednesday night. A group of them yelled at Minneapolis police officers who had blocked the street to traffic, telling the local officers that the federal agents should be arrested. Chief O’Hara said the crowd at the scene was “engaging in unlawful acts.” He and the mayor urged people to leave the area near the shooting. “They have thrown fireworks at police officers and at multiple times, gas has been deployed,” Chief O’Hara said. Several heavily armed Border Patrol agents arrived in a large, military-style vehicle outside of the crime scene tape. Protesters swarmed the vehicle and yelled and threw snowballs at agents who had gotten out. The agents eventually retreated, and as they left, they fired at least two canisters of gas that made a loud bang and made it difficult for some to breathe. A few minutes later, at least two ICE agents arrived in an unmarked S.U.V. and sprayed chemical agents in the faces of protesters who approached them, causing one protester to say that he could not see. At one point, a protester fired several fireworks toward retreating ICE agents and their cars. Chemical agents were used against protesters, and two people were detained and later released. Protesters damaged an unmarked vehicle with police lights. A Minneapolis police officer who identified himself as a supervisor to several protesters told them he did not know exactly what happened. “It’s not like they’re talking to us,” he said, referring to the federal agents on scene. Federal Bureau of Prisons officers were seen carrying out crowd-control duties alongside state troopers. Chief O’Hara said he had asked the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate the shooting, and its agents were also at the scene. That agency was excluded from the F.B.I. inquiry into Ms. Good’s death. Bloomberg [1/15/2026 12:26 AM, Myles Miller and Alicia A. Caldwell, 18207K] reports that around the time of the shooting, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz delivered an address in which he condemned the federal presence in his state. In unusually stark terms, he accused agents of pulling over people indiscriminately, including US citizens, and detaining residents at grocery stores, bus stops and schools. He described the operations as “a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.” Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters at a late-night news conference that a demonstration near the scene of the shooting “had become an unlawful assembly” with protesters shooting fireworks at officers. His department had asked for assistance from the local sheriff’s office as well as the Minnesota State Patrol. “This is already a tense situation and we do not need this to escalate any further,” O’Hara added. Standing beside the chief, Mayor Jacob Frey, who has repeatedly called for ICE and other federal agents to leave the city, said that while little about what led to the shooting was known, “this is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in.” Frey implored angry residents “not to take the bait.” “Go home. We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos,” the mayor said. FOX News [1/14/2026 2:16 AM, Michael Sinkewicz , Bill Melugin, 40621K] reports that "This attack on another brave member of law enforcement took place while Minnesota’s top leaders, Governor Walz and Mayor Frey, are actively encouraging an organized resistance to ICE and federal law enforcement officers," DHS said in a statement. The department added that the two leaders’ "hateful rhetoric and resistance against men and women who are simply trying to do their jobs must end.” "Federal law enforcement officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest criminals and lawbreakers," DHS said. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a crowd was gathering at the scene and committing "unlawful acts," including throwing fireworks at police officers. He urged people to "leave immediately.” "This is already a very tense situation, and we do not need this to escalate any further," he said, adding that authorities had deployed gas in the crowd multiple times. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the ongoing situation in his city "not sustainable.” "This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in," he said at a news conference Wednesday evening, adding that the presence of roughly 3,000 ICE agents in Minneapolis and statewide was "creating chaos.” "It’s certainly not creating safety when a huge percentage of the shootings that have taken place so far this year in Minneapolis have been by ICE," he said. "So let’s be very clear. I’ve seen conduct from ICE that is disgusting and is intolerable.”

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The Washington Examiner [1/14/2026 2:41 PM, Rachel Schilke, 1394K] reports House Democrats introduced three articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday, coming after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement-involved shooting in Minneapolis and DHS operations across the country. The articles, led by Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL), include obstruction of Congress, violation of public trust, and self-dealing. The congresswoman said Wednesday the impeachment articles have the support of close to 70 members of Congress. Kelly accused Noem and the department of denying members of Congress from entering ICE facilities to conduct oversight, as well as allowing DHS officials to arrest people without warrants and engage in violence against citizens as the Trump administration carries out its immigration and deportation policies. Democrats’ tipping point on Noem was the death of Renee Good, a U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. The political parties have been torn over the details of the incident, sharing videos of the shooting from different vantage points. The Trump administration and most of the GOP have defended the ICE officer’s actions, accusing Good of being a "domestic terrorist" and seeking to run over law enforcement. However, Democrats and some Republicans have accused ICE officers of "lawless" behavior and shooting an innocent woman who was trying to get away from the scene. "Renee Good is dead because Secretary Noem has allowed her DHS agents to run amok," Kelly said during a press conference. "Secretary Noem has called my impeachment efforts ‘silly.’ I want to tell her right now: Secretary Noem, you have violated your oath of office, and there will be consequences," Kelly said. "I am watching you. Members of Congress are watching you. The American people, most importantly, are watching you. And most of all, we’re not liking what we’re seeing. If you believe impeachment is silly, then you are not taking your job or our Constitution seriously.” At a separate press conference with other Homeland Security Committee Democrats on Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who represents part of Minneapolis, also called for Noem’s impeachment. FOX News [1/14/2026 3:58 PM, Rachel Wolf, 40621K] reports that the conference was orchestrated by Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and included several high-profile Democrats. The Chicago Tribune [1/14/2026 5:39 PM, Dan Petrella, 4829K] reports U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and roughly 70 Democratic colleagues on Wednesday moved to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a largely symbolic move as Republicans maintain a narrow House majority. Kelly, speaking at a Washington news conference, acknowledged the long odds of moving the articles of impeachment against Noem through the GOP-controlled House. But the seven-term congresswoman from south suburban Lynwood, who is running in Illinois’ March 17 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, said growing support for the effort and a groundswell of public opposition to the tactics of federal immigration agents, most recently the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis a week ago, will put pressure on Noem. The 10-page resolution, which includes three articles alleging Noem obstructed Congress, violated the public trust and engaged in self-dealing, had been in the works for some time and “wasn’t just a knee-jerk reaction” to recent events, Kelly said, but she and other supporters felt that “enough was enough.” FOX News [1/14/2026 10:56 AM, Ashley Carnahan, 40621K] reports that the congresswoman’s office said Kelly is seeking to initiate three articles of impeachment against the DHS secretary for allegedly obstructing Congress, violating public trust and self-dealing for using her office for personal gain. A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital of the impeachment push: "How silly during a serious time. As ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, Rep. Kelly is more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually cleaning up her crime-ridden Chicago district. We hope she would get serious about doing her job to protect American people, which is what this Department is doing under Secretary Noem.” Kelly said on the House floor Tuesday that Noem "needs to be held accountable for terrorizing our communities.” Noem dismissed the impeachment push, telling "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo that she would continue doing her job. "President Trump promised the American people that he would make America safe again, that we would be out there enforcing the laws and that we would apply them equally, that nobody was above the law and that we were going to start putting American citizens first," she said. "So, criminal, illegal aliens in this country are going to be brought to justice under his administration.”

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Axios [1/14/2026 6:12 PM, Andrew Solender, 12972K] reports articles of impeachment targeting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are garnering support from House Democrats at a rapid clip. Not all the party’s lawmakers are happy about it. This is by far the most credible impeachment effort of President Trump’s second term thus far, but some centrists continue to argue impeachment is a waste of the party’s time and energy. "One of the things I dislike about D.C. a lot is the number of messaging items ... People introduce bills that have no hope of any consequential change in peoples’ lives," Rep. Adam Gray (D-Calif.) told Axios. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) said it is "quite possible that impeachment could be a distraction." Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), who is leading the effort, pushed back on the notion that affordability and impeachment are mutually exclusive during a brief interview at the Capitol. "Affordability and health care is the thing ... I totally agree with that. But I don’t think this is the distraction," she said. The Illinois Democrat added that fears about ICE "feed into the affordability and health care issues, quite frankly ... restaurants aren’t as busy, people can’t do their jobs because they’re snatching them off the streets." Kelly also noted that "all kinds of people are on the bill," including swing-district members and centrists like Reps. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.). Kelly formally introduced three articles of impeachment against Noem on Wednesday, which accuse the DHS secretary of obstructing Congress, constitutional violations and corruption. DHS has repeatedly dismissed the impeachment effort as "silly" and argued that Kelly, who is running in a contested Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, should focus on issues in her district.

Breitbart [1/15/2026 12:14 AM, Pam Key, 2416K] reports that, on Wednesday on MS NOW’s "All In," Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) called for Congress not fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached. Host Chris Hayes said, "Senator Murphy has said as, as we approach, a vote on, funding the government. And this is a little complicated because there’s some appropriations bills that have actually come through in what’s called regular order, there might be another, continuing resolution. But Senator Murphy, among others, have said we can’t vote to fund DHS if this continues. And, you know, we can’t write them a blank check. What’s your view?". Yeah, we can’t. We authorize reappropriation of funding for ICE. We just can’t do that. First of all, the funding is coming from cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s where they’re getting the funding in order to increase funding for ICE. So no funding for ICE. We just have to absolutely draw the line and not only say, no funding for ICE, but we should begin an impeachment proceeding of Kristi Noem, who is right now actually orchestrating on the streets of our country this, this almost vigilantism on the part of ICE agents terrorizing cities all across the country, with right now Minneapolis being the prime example.

CBS News [1/14/2026 6:02 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports as unrest continues to rattle Minnesota, House Democrats are pushing for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Democratic Rep. Mike Levin of California joins CBS News to explain why he’s not on board with the move.

FOX News [1/14/2026 5:30 PM, Elizabeth Elkind, Alex Miller, 40621K] reports the House of Representatives passed a roughly $80 billion spending package Wednesday evening, taking a significant step toward averting a government shutdown at the end of this month. The package combines two of Congress’ 12 annual appropriations bills in what’s called a "minibus." It covers funding for the State Department and related national security, as well as federal financial services and general government operations. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 341-79 vote. Glaring questions still remain, however, over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as progressives threaten to withhold support from any such bill unless it’s paired with significant reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The push comes from the left in response to an ICE agent shooting 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen who was driving her car when it made physical contact with a law enforcement official who then fatally shot her. Partisan divisions have erupted over the narrative, with GOP officials like DHS Secretary Kristi Noem saying the agent acted in self-defense, while Democrats on Capitol Hill have called for criminal investigations. The Washington Examiner [1/14/2026 5:34 PM, Rachel Schilke, 1394K] reports that the House voted 341 to 79 to pass a "minibus" that includes a Financial Services-General Services bill and a national security and State Department bill. The vote was bipartisan, with 57 Democrats voting in favor of the package and 22 Republicans voting against. It now heads to the Senate, where lawmakers face a short time frame to pass the remaining appropriations bills before the Jan. 30 funding deadline. The bill to fund DHS was originally supposed to be in the financial services and national security minibus, but Democrats asked for that bill to be removed after the party’s uproar over the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer-involved shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Cole said on Wednesday he didn’t have any updates regarding the DHS bill.

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CBS News [1/14/2026 5:18 PM, Nicole Sganga and Jennifer Jacobs, 39474K] reports the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good last week in Minneapolis, Jonathan Ross, suffered internal bleeding to the torso following the incident, according to two U.S. officials briefed on his medical condition. It was unclear how extensive the bleeding was. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Ross’ injury, but has not yet responded to CBS News’ requests for more information. The Hill [1/14/2026 12:34 PM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports that video taken of the incident showed Ross walking up and down the street after Good was shot and killed. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said following the shooting on Jan. 7 that Ross was hospitalized after the shooting. Noem claimed Good struck the officer with her SUV, which she later called an act of “domestic terrorism.” “The officer was hit by the vehicle,” Noem told reporters at a press conference Jan. 7. “She hit him. He went to the hospital. A doctor did treat him. He has been released.” Good’s death drew condemnation and has expanded Minnesota’s growing tensions with the federal government, which was previously focused on a growing welfare fraud scandal. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) said that most protests in his city, which have drawn thousands of protesters since Good was killed, have been peaceful. They carried on through the weekend, with some protesters facing off with federal officers, who have deployed tear gas while clad in helmets and carrying batons. Frey and other state and local officials have told ICE to stop its operations in Minnesota. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Monday that the state sued the Trump administration to block a federal immigration enforcement surge in the Gopher State. “This has to stop,” Ellison said. “Let’s be clear: it never should have started. These agents have no good reason to be here.” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin called it “astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the Tenth Amendment when they don’t want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law.” FOX News [1/14/2026 12:14 PM, Alexis McAdams, Stephen Sorace, and Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports that the federal agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis last week suffered internal bleeding to his torso when he was struck by her vehicle, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday. The extent of the bleeding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross was not immediately clear.

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The Hill [1/14/2026 11:05 AM, Max Rego, 12595K] reports Billionaire Bill Ackman is defending his donation to the legal defense fund for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who fatally shot Renee Good last week. Ackman donated $10,000 — tied for the largest contribution — to a GoFundMe set up for ICE officer Jonathan Ross’s legal costs on Sunday. As of Wednesday, it has raised more than $704,000 of its goal of $800,000. The hedge fund manager wrote on the social platform X Sunday that he is a “big believer in our legal principal that one is innocent until proven guilty.” He also noted that he intended to donate to a GoFundMe for Good’s family, but it was closed by the time he attempted to do so. The GoFundMe for the 37-year-old’s loved ones raised nearly $1.5 million, far exceeding its goal of $50,000. The co-organizer of the fund, Mattie Weiss, wrote on the platform Friday that it was closed and the money raised will be placed in a trust for the family. Good, 37, was shot and killed by Ross last week in Minneapolis. The Trump administration has defended Ross, saying he acted in self-defense and that Good obstructed federal law enforcement operations. “The whole situation is a tragedy,” Ackman said Sunday. “An officer doing his best to do his job, and a protester who likely did not intend to kill the officer but whose actions in a split second led to her death.”

The Hill [1/14/2026 9:05 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12595K] reports Border Czar Tom Homan on Tuesday said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer involved in the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis last week is now in hiding. “I know for a fact now he has to be in hiding … for the safety of him and his family,” Homan said during an episode of the Will Cain Country podcast. “There are ‘WANTED’ posters with his picture, license plate number, and the death threats,” he added. The officer, identified as Jonathan Ross, shot Good three times through the driver-side window of her SUV as she attempted to drive away. The victim was asked to step out of her vehicle during an ICE operation and instead, she backed up and then moved the car forward, according to a video shared online. Bystanders recorded and posted the viral footage, which sparked debate over the tactics employed by immigration authorities. Vice President Vance has said Ross will be granted “absolute immunity” for the shooting after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused Good of committing “domestic terrorism” by trying to use her vehicle as a “deadly weapon.” President Trump, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other administration officials have doubled down on the argument that the ICE official acted in self-defense. In response, Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) and Dan Goldman (N.Y.) are planning to introduce a bill that would strip federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers of their qualified immunity protections.

New York Times [1/14/2026 3:41 PM, By Mitch Smith, 330K] reports lawyers representing the family of Renee Nicole Good, the woman killed by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis last week, announced on Wednesday that they were pursuing what they described as a civil investigation of the shooting. The law firm Romanucci & Blandin, which said that it and another firm were representing Ms. Good’s partner, parents and siblings, also provided the family’s fullest accounting of what happened on Jan. 7, when Ms. Good engaged in a dispute with immigration agents that ended with her being fatally shot in her vehicle. The firm said Ms. Good and her partner saw federal agents after dropping their child off at school and stopped “to observe, with the intention of supporting and helping their neighbors.” A spokeswoman for the firm did not immediately respond to questions about whether the couple had been involved in any prior activism related to immigration enforcement. President Trump and top federal officials have repeatedly defended the actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who shot Ms. Good, describing it as self-defense, while state and local officials have dismissed the federal narrative. Antonio M. Romanucci, a lawyer for the Good family, said his firm intended to provide updates to the public about what it learned as it gathered more information about the case. The F.B.I. is conducting the official investigation of the shooting. Federal officials have resisted calls for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to participate in that inquiry, as was initially planned in the hours after the shooting. Mr. Romanucci said in a statement that people “want to know what could and should have been done to let Renee live and pick her child up safely from school that afternoon.” In another statement, Ms. Good’s parents and siblings described her as “relentlessly hopeful and optimistic.” In a speech on Wednesday night, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota called on the Trump administration to “end this occupation.” Mr. Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2024, has been criticized in recent weeks by federal officials for not doing more to stop fraud in the state’s social service programs. The governor on Wednesday called on residents to record ICE agents on their phones and to protest peacefully. “You’re angry. I’m angry,” Mr. Walz said in his address. “Angry is not a strong enough word.” The Trump administration has defended its broader surge to the Minneapolis area as necessary to crack down on illegal immigration and root out fraud in Minnesota social service programs. In a statement on Wednesday, Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, criticized what she described as “dangerous sanctuary policies” in Minnesota that release “criminal illegal aliens from jails and put them back on the streets to victimize more innocent Americans.”

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Washington Post [1/14/2026 12:02 PM, Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Justine McDaniel, 24149K] reports a week after 37-year old Renée Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer near her Minneapolis home, her partner, parents and four siblings have hired an attorney who represented the family of George Floyd to file a claim against federal officials. “What happened to Renée is wrong, contrary to established policing practices and procedures, and should never happen in today’s America,” Chicago-based law firm Romanucci & Blandin said in a statement to The Washington Post. The statement said Good’s family wants “to honor her life with progress toward a kinder and more civil America. They do not want her used as a political pawn, but rather as an agent of peace for all.” One of the firm’s founding partners, Antonio M. Romanucci, a civil rights lawyer, was among those who represented relatives of George Floyd after he was killed in 2020 by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. That legal team’s lawsuit against the city and the four officers involved resulted in a record $27 million settlement for Floyd’s family in 2021, the largest of its kind involving police misconduct. The case involved Floyd’s relatives challenging law enforcement’s portrayal of him and even commissioning an independent autopsy. Chauvin was ultimately convicted of murdering Floyd the same year, sentenced to 22½ years in prison and later pleaded guilty to a separate federal charge that he violated Floyd’s federal civil rights.

FOX News [1/14/2026 2:51 PM, Stephen Sorace, 40621K] reports Renee Good’s former father-in-law on Tuesday said that he doesn’t blame U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for her fatal shooting that happened in Minneapolis last week. Timmy Macklin told CNN that the shooting was a "hard situation all around," adding that he believes "some bad choices" were made. "I don’t blame ICE. I don’t blame [Good’s wife] Rebecca. I don’t blame Renee," he said. "I just wish that, you know, if we’re walking in the spirit of God, I don’t think she would have been there. That’s the way I look at it.” Good was married to Macklin’s son, who died in 2023. The two shared a son, who is now six years old. Macklin remembered Good as "an amazing person" and "good mother" who was "full of life.” "I just think we make bad choices, and that’s the problem, there is so much chaos in the whole world today," he said. "We need to turn to God and walk in the spirit of God and let him lead us and guide us.” When CNN anchor Erin Burnett pressed Macklin for his opinion on whether the shooting was justified, he said he "was not blaming anybody.” On Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to Fox News that the ICE agent suffered internal bleeding to his torso when he was struck by the vehicle. Federal officials have said the agents acted in self-defense and labeled the incident an act of domestic terrorism, while Democratic officials have rejected the self-defense assertion.

New York Times [1/14/2026 8:05 PM, Grace Ashford and Kristi Berner, 135475K] reports as the presumptive Republican candidate for governor of New York, Bruce Blakeman could be expected to find flaws in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address. Appearing in the State Capitol on Wednesday, a day after the annual address, he criticized the Democratic governor’s record on crime, complained about taxes and derided her child care agenda as a New York City giveaway. But perhaps the starkest difference between them was in their stances on the killing of Renee Good by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis last week, which Ms. Hochul has portrayed as an outrage. “When you look at both videos, it looks like the individual that was shot, that person was engaged in trying to run down the ICE officer,” Mr. Blakeman told reporters in Albany, with the caveat that he would like to see a full investigation. And he mused that a similar incident, which he said had resulted from a lack of respect for law enforcement, could happen in New York City, now being led by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist.

NPR [1/14/2026 5:02 AM, Juliana Kim, 28013K] reports in Minnesota, amid heated protests and immigration raids, federal and state authorities have also been sparring over the investigation into Renee Macklin Good’s killing by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross. Last week, in an unusual move, the FBI told Minnesota’s investigative agency that the bureau will solely lead the inquiry. The decision alarmed Minnesota officials who urged for a joint investigation in the name of fairness and transparency. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has argued that Minnesota authorities "don’t have any jurisdiction" to investigate the shooting. President Trump claimed the FBI was not sharing materials because Minnesota officials were "crooked.” The handling of the investigation is the latest rift between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials over the fatal shooting. Legal experts say the move away from a joint investigation marks a shift from how high profile criminal cases are typically handled — and that it could ultimately hurt both the federal inquiry and the prospects of a state one. "I’m not aware of any circumstance or any case in Minnesota where there has been a division like this," said Amy Sweasy, who was a prosecutor with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota for 28 years and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. In Portland, Ore., where two people were shot by U.S. Border Patrol officers last week, the incident is also not being investigated jointly. The FBI and Oregon’s attorney general are conducting separate probes. The White House did not respond to requests for comment, and the FBI declined to comment.

FOX News [1/14/2026 10:22 AM, Paul Steinhauser Fox, 40621K] reports one week after video of a fatal shooting of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent went viral, sparking protests and a national debate, a new poll shows a wide partisan split over whether the shooting was justified. Fifty-three percent of registered voters nationwide questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey said they think the shooting was not justified, with 35% saying it was and 12% offering no opinion. While 92% of Democrats surveyed said the shooting was not justified, more than three-quarters of Republicans (77%) said it was. Independents, by a 59%-28% margin, said the shooting was not justified. An ICE agent shot and killed the 37-year-old Renee Good last Wednesday during a federal enforcement operation in south Minneapolis. Federal officials have said agents were attempting to make arrests when the woman tried to use her vehicle as a weapon against officers, prompting an ICE agent to fire in self-defense. President Donald Trump and leading members of his administration have strongly defended the shooting. But top Democrats, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, criticized the federal account of the incident and rejected the claim that the officer acted in self-defense. Minnesota has since sued the Trump administration, claiming the immigration enforcement surge in the state is "unlawful" and "unprecedented.” Good’s death sparked widespread protests in Minneapolis and across the nation, with demonstrators calling for changes to federal immigration enforcement. According to the Quinnipiac poll, which was conducted Thursday through Monday and released on Tuesday, 82% said they have seen video of the shooting. Men questioned in the survey were divided, with 42% saying the shooting was justified and 44% disagreeing. Sixty-one percent of women surveyed said the shooting was not justified.

FOX News [1/14/2026 11:26 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin joins ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss the need for cooperation between federal officials and local police to crack down on illegal immigration in Minneapolis, the latest on anti-ICE protests and more. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Axios [1/14/2026 6:13 PM, Jason Lalljee, 12972K] reports the 10th Amendment is key to Minnesota and Illinois’ lawsuit to block ICE agents from the states. Illinois and Minnesota have been major sites of Trump’s deportation efforts and expansion of ICE, with both states citing the 10th Amendment’s limitation of federal powers in their efforts to curb the White House’s powers. Minnesota Judge Kate M. Menendez declined on Wednesday to rule immediately on a request by state and local officials to temporarily block agents to the Minneapolis area. The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office on Friday had requested a temporary restraining order that would block agents from the state, citing "immediate harm," such as an ICE officer shooting and killing Renee Nicole Good last week. Menendez gave the Justice Department until Monday to respond in writing to the state’s lawsuit. The Department of Homeland Security said it has arrested more than 2,400 people in Minnesota since November 29. About 3,000 federal agents have been sent to the state. Minnesota leaders have called the deployment a federal "occupation."

FOX News [1/14/2026 3:04 PM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports top officials in the Trump administration mocked Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the state of Illinois’ lawsuit against the Trump administration over immigration enforcement activities, calling out apparent hypocrisy in their reading of the Constitution. Earlier this week, Chicago and Illinois teamed up to file a federal suit challenging what they called "illegal actions" by federal immigration agents, including interrogating people on their citizenship status without basis, deploying "noxious chemicals" in public and making civil-law arrests without warrants. A top DHS official remarked that Democrats suddenly embraced federalism, after previously seeking to grab new control of numerous aspects of Americans’ lives when they had power in Washington. "It really is astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the 10th Amendment when they don’t want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law," Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.

New York Post [1/15/2026 1:02 AM, Victor Nava, 42219K] reports the White House mocked Tim Walz Wednesday over a prime-time address that was plagued by technical problems, encouraging the Democratic Minnesota governor to "just resign.” The audio glitched just seconds into the embattled governor’s message to Minnesotans, with delayed sound of Walz’s remarks about the ongoing presence of federal law enforcement in the North Star State playing over the live sound. "Tampon is currently attempting to do a live, highly produced statewide address to condemn the enforcement of our immigration laws in Minnesota… but it’s not going so well," read an X post from the White House’s Rapid Response account, which used the derisive nickname some Republicans use to refer to Walz. David Freeman, a conservative political activist, described Walz’s address as a "TOTAL DISASTER!" "Gov. Tim Walz’s high-stakes live speech about the ICE surge in Minnesota? Brutal tech FAIL, audio glitched out with TWO VOICES overlapping, making it impossible to hear a word!" he wrote in a social media post. The governor did not make any policy announcements in the speech, but encouraged residents to continue to film Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. "News reports simply don’t do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down upon our communities," Walz raged. He accused ICE agents of "going door to door, ordering people to point out where their neighbors of color live," pulling people over "indiscriminately" to check immigration paperwork and "kidnapping innocent people with no warning and no due process.”

New York Post [1/14/2026 3:43 PM, Priscilla DeGregory, 42219K] reports a federal judge Wednesday refused to halt immigration operations in Minnesota — at least until the Justice Department has had a chance to respond to a lawsuit accusing it of carrying out a "federal invasion" in the state. Federal Judge Katherine Menendez declined to immediately rule on an emergency request by the state of Minnesota and Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, to bar the Trump administration’s use of ICE to crack down on illegal immigration in the state. Menendez said she needed more time to make a decision in the case — which has little precedent to go off of. She said the case would remain "on the front burner" and told the feds to file their argument on the North Star State’s bid for a restraining order by Monday. Earlier in the hearing, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter argued that an immediate ruling was needed to help ease social unrest there. But Justice Department lawyer Andrew Warden supported Menendez’s decision to hold off on issuing a rush judgment on the bid for a temporary restraining order against ICE. The suit was filed after immigration agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed anti-ICE protester Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7 in her car.

AP [1/15/2026 12:05 AM, Scott Bauer, 31753K] reports Democrats across the country are proposing state law changes to rein in federal immigration officers and protect the public following the shooting death of a protester in Minneapolis and the wounding of two people in Portland, Oregon. Many of the measures have been proposed in some form for years in Democratic-led states, but their momentum is growing as legislatures return to work amid President Donald Trump’s national immigration crackdown following the killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis. Republicans are pushing back, blaming protesters for impeding enforcement of immigration laws.

Washington Examiner [1/15/2026 5:00 AM, Kaelan Deese, 1394K] reports a federal judge in Minnesota is considering whether to significantly restrict the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during a large-scale federal enforcement campaign in Minneapolis, including by imposing limits that critics argue could compromise agents’ ability to defend themselves in potentially hazardous situations. The case, Tincher v. Noem, was filed in December by Minneapolis residents and later backed by Minnesota officials challenging the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge known as “Operation Metro Surge.” Plaintiffs are seeking a court order that would restrict ICE’s use of force, including limits on chemical irritants and on when officers may draw their weapons. Similar lawsuits were filed this week in Illinois and Minnesota. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, declined this week to rule immediately on the request for a temporary injunction and instead gave the Justice Department until Monday to submit additional filings. She said the issues raised involve “grave and important matters” but fall into relatively uncharted areas of constitutional law. The lawsuit has gained renewed attention following the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Good, 37, during a confrontation with a federal agent last week. While the shooting was not the subject matter of a Tuesday hearing, it has intensified scrutiny of ICE operations already underway.

FOX News [1/15/2026 3:01 AM, Landon Mion, 40621K] reports protesters and federal law enforcement clashed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night into Thursday morning after a second ICE-involved shooting in the city, as local officials continue to demand the agency leave. An ICE agent shot an alleged illegal immigrant in the leg on Wednesday during an arrest attempt. The Department of Homeland Security claims the agent fired at the suspect because he was "fearing for his life and safety" after the individual resisted arrest and "violently assaulted the officer.” The suspect was reported to be stable and is now in custody, while the ICE agent is allegedly in the hospital. This comes after an incident last week in Minneapolis, where Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by masked ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who fired into the driver’s windshield and open window from the side of the vehicle and subsequently exclaimed "f---ing b----" as the car crashed into another parked vehicle. Democrats and local residents have condemned the shooting as a murder and called for Ross’ prosecution, while the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have defended the incident by arguing that it was a justified shooting. Protests continued on Wednesday after the latest shooting, with demonstrators using horns and whistles and officers deploying tear gas and pepper balls. There were at least a hundred people at the scene, where officers were dispersing pepper spray, throwing pepper balls and using flash bangs as protesters tossed items at the agents. Demonstrators were also calling on ICE to leave the city and holding signs with phrases such as "f--- ICE.” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a crowd was committing "unlawful acts," including throwing fireworks at officers, and urged people to "leave immediately.” "This is already a very tense situation, and we do not need this to escalate any further," he said. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz urged peaceful demonstrations in response to the shooting. "I know you’re angry. I’m angry. What Donald Trump wants is violence in the streets. But Minnesota will remain an island of decency, of justice, of community, and of peace. Don’t give him what he wants," Walz wrote on X. Walz also made an address to Minnesotans where he again called on ICE to leave the state. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

USA Today [1/14/2026 1:37 PM, Christopher Cann, 67103K] reports over the last week, tear gas and pepper spray have become familiar on the streets of Minneapolis amid protests following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a federal agent. Days after a federal agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, tensions remained high as clashes between protesters and immigration officers erupted across the city. In recent days, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Minneapolis to decry the fatal shooting and condemn federal agents’ aggressive enforcement of the Trump administration’s deportation agenda. Protesters banged drums outside a hotel where federal agents were believed to be sleeping, while skirmishes broke out near a federal building. According to the Department of Homeland Security, at least eight people involved in the protests were arrested on Jan. 13. Videos have shown tense standoffs between demonstrators and immigration agents. Protesters with signs reading "ICE get out" could be heard chanting "go home." Some threw snowballs and shot fireworks at agents; others trailed masked officers across Minneapolis, blowing horns and whistles. Multiple videos show agents firing pepper spray from their vehicles, throwing protesters to the ground and yanking people out of cars. Last week, U.S. Border Patrol agents near a high school released chemical irritants and handcuffed several staff members. The incident led Minneapolis Public Schools to close temporarily and offer students remote learning options. The turmoil comes after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Good in her SUV on Wednesday, Jan. 7. The shooting sparked protests nationwide and was followed by a surge of immigration agents into the Democratic-led city. Minnesota sued the Department of Homeland Security this week in an attempt to stop the ongoing immigration enforcement, describing it as a "federal invasion." On Jan. 14, a federal judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order to halt the operations. The development comes after multiple prosecutors in Minnesota resigned amid pressure from the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into Good’s wife, multiple news outlets reported. The DOJ declined to launch a probe into the shooting, saying there’s "no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation.”

New York Post [1/15/2026 1:11 AM, Zoe Hussain, 42219K] reports a group of violent anti-ICE protesters hurled fireworks and rocks at officers on a Minneapolis block where a federal immigration agent shot a Venezuelan migrant in the leg hours earlier Wednesday night. Local officials urged the angry crowd to "go home" and not exacerbate the already high tensions in the city after two shootings of Minneapolis residents by federal agents in one week. "The crowd is engaging in unlawful acts. They have thrown fireworks at police officers, and at multiple times, gas has been deployed. Police are attempting to disperse this unlawful assembly at this time," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference late Wednesday. "I urge anyone that is at the scene to leave immediately. This is already a very tense situation, and we do not need this to escalate any further. "I have faith that the investigators are involved, will follow every lead in this case, and ensure it is completed to its logical conclusion," O’Hara said. Anti-ICE protesters also threw ice, rocks, and other projectiles at federal officers, which "is well past the line," the police chief added. Cops at the scene deployed pepper balls and flash bangs back at the group, according to local outlets. The agitated crowds were primarily gathered around the 600 block of 24th Avenue North, where an illegal Venezuelan migrant was shot in the leg by a federal immigration agent during a scuffle earlier in the night. The man, who officials said entered the US illegally in 2022, allegedly fled during a targeted traffic stop and reportedly beat a federal officer with a snow shovel and broomstick, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey echoed O’Hara’s calls for protesters to disperse and asked residents not to "counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos.” "What I can tell you for certain is that this is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in," Frey told reporters. "I’ve seen conduct from ICE that is disgusting and is intolerant. If it were your city, it would be unacceptable there, too. And for anyone that is taking the bait tonight, stop," Frey said. "That is not helpful. Go home. We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos.”

FOX News [1/14/2026 6:01 PM, Alexandra Koch, 40621K] reports federal law enforcement agents were forced to leave a Mexican restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota, Sunday, after diners began shouting expletives at them, demanding they leave the business. Footage showed the federal agents walking through Cancun Mexican Grill & Cantina, as angry agitators screamed insults at them, followed them and recorded the ordeal on their phones. Customers could also be heard in the video asking if the agents had a warrant to be at the restaurant, noting the business asked them to leave. The incident came as tensions flared nationwide in response to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

Reuters [1/14/2026 6:30 PM, Daniel Wiessner, 36480K] reports a federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from withholding $80 million to administer Minnesota’s food stamp program while the state reviews the eligibility of 100,000 households amid claims of widespread fraud. U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino, during a hearing in St. Paul, Minnesota federal court, said it was likely illegal for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to give Minnesota only 30 days, until January 15, to complete the review of its food stamp program, known as SNAP. Minnesota sued after the USDA said it would stop covering half of the costs to administer the state’s food stamp program if it failed to meet the deadline. The USDA cited a broader scandal around the theft of federal funds intended for social-welfare programs in Minnesota. Provinzino on Wednesday said the USDA had not explained why the expedited review was necessary to root out fraud and that the agency had flouted a federal law barring states from reviewing SNAP recipients’ eligibility more than once a year. "USDA is asking the state to violate federal law, regulations, and the state’s own operational plan," which had previously been approved by the agency, said Provinzino, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden. The judge blocked the USDA from withholding the funding from Minnesota pending the outcome of the lawsuit, including $20 million for the first quarter of the year that the agency had said earlier on Wednesday would not be disbursed. The case does not involve the funding for monthly food stamp benefits that go to recipients. The state has argued that the USDA’s conduct was motivated by Trump’s personal and political grievances with Minnesota and Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who has been a frequent target of the Republican president. "This is part of an ongoing effort by the federal government to pummel our state," Joseph Richie of the Minnesota Attorney General’s office said during the hearing. Minnesota this week separately sued Trump’s administration to block a surge of immigration enforcement officers into the state, following the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. Brian Mizoguchi of the U.S. Department of Justice said during Wednesday’s hearing that Minnesota’s shortcomings in administering other federally-funded programs justified the USDA’s actions. He also said a preliminary ruling was unnecessary because the state could use its own funds to cover the loss of federal funding.

FOX News [1/14/2026 4:20 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday doubled down on his position of not cooperating with federal immigration authorities when asked about the case of an illegal alien who killed a local woman while allegedly driving drunk. Frey, who has repeatedly called for the Trump administration to claw back the deployment of U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the city, defended his stance during a Wednesday appearance on "Fox & Friends." Fox News’ Griff Jenkins then asked Frey about the case of Victoria Eileen Harwell, who was killed in August 2024, allegedly by an illegal immigrant from Ecuador. Jenkins asked Frey why his administration won’t cooperate with ICE to safely take illegal immigrants with criminal records or those wanted for crimes into federal custody. The mayor maintained that most of the people being arrested by ICE are not "a problem" for the city.

New York Post [1/14/2026 10:25 AM, Ryan King, 42219K] reports Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should head to red states such as Texas, Florida, and Utah with larger populations of illegal immigrants, despite critics accusing him of running a sanctuary city. Frey stressed that he doesn’t want ICE abolished, while arguing that the thousands of immigration officers swarming his city dwarf its roughly 600 police officers and are causing "distress.” "This, however, is the largest immigration enforcement action on record in the United States," Frey told Fox News in an interview that aired on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday. "I would just ask you, why is the largest-scale immigration enforcement action taking place where we don’t even have that many undocumented immigrants?" he went on. "Why would it not take place in Texas or Florida or Utah, where you do actually have a large number of undocumented immigrants?". The Minneapolis mayor, who famously said ICE should "get the f— out" of his city after the fatal shooting of resident Renee Good last week, now says he doesn’t want to eliminate ICE. "I do not support abolishing ICE," he said. "However, I absolutely oppose the way that this administration is conducting themselves with us.” Minneapolis, which has a population of about 429,983, has a separation ordinance on the books that hampers city employees from helping federal immigration officials and providing them with resources. The city council voted just last month to strengthen that ordinance. "We have a separation ordinance in the city. And you know what that ordinance says?" Frey stressed. "It says that I want our limited number of police officers focusing on keeping people safe, arresting perpetrators of violent crime; stopping car thefts from taking place.” "That’s what I want them focusing on," he added. "I don’t want them focusing on hunting down a dad that just dropped his kids off at day care, is about to go work a 12-hour shift, who happens to be from Ecuador.” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, pushed back on Frey’s comments, stating that ICE agents aren’t receiving the necessary access in Minnesota. "If [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz or Mayor Frey would let us in their jails, we wouldn’t have to be there at all," McLaughlin said on Fox News, noting ICE isn’t able to nab murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from prisons. While states like Florida, Texas, and Utah have much larger populations, and therefore likely more illegal immigrants than Minneapolis, they have been more cooperative with the feds than Minneapolis.

The Hill [1/14/2026 5:43 PM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) on Wednesday said he does not support abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while criticizing how the agency is operated under the Trump administration. Frey was asked about his position during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” with co-host Griff Jenkins on Fox News. Tensions have risen in Minneapolis after an ICE officer shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman, during an operation. Her death inside her SUV has led to massive protests across the Twin Cities and across the country. Frey and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) on Tuesday announced that the state was suing the Trump administration for its ICE deployment in the Gopher State. Ellison argued on Tuesday that ICE “agents have no good reason to be here,” listing Good’s name as a reason why ICE did not need to be in his state. The lawsuit asks a judge to declare the surge of ICE officers into Minnesota unlawful and block its implementation. It also argues that the administration is infringing on Minnesotans’ rights under the First and 10th Amendments.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [1/14/2026 11:28 AM, Jenny Goldsberry, 1394K]

Washington Examiner [1/15/2026 1:01 AM, Staff, 1394K] reports Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey expressed frustration late Wednesday night while commenting about a federal law enforcement officer who shot an illegal Venezuelan immigrant shortly before 7 p.m. local time. Wednesday’s incident occurred a week after Renee Good was shot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Frey called the current climate in the city an "impossible situation" and "not sustainable.” Frey spoke at a press conference about the shooting at 10:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday night. "There’s still a lot that we don’t know at this time, but what I can tell you for certain is that this is not sustainable," Frey said. "This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in, and at the same time, we are trying to find a way forward, to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order. And we’re in a position right now where we have residents that are asking the very limited number of police officers that we have to fight ICE agents on the street, to stand by their neighbors." "We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another," Frey added. Frey later took to social media to echo many of his statements from the press conference. He also called for peace, saying that "everyone" can contribute to enabling that peace and sustaining it. "Tonight a man was shot in the leg by an ICE agent on the Northside," Frey said in a social media post on X. "No matter what led up to this incident, the situation we are seeing in our city is not sustainable.” "I’m calling for peace. Everyone has a role in achieving that peace," Frey said. He also encouraged protesters to not "take the bait."

FOX News [1/14/2026 9:49 AM, Madison Colombo, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is refusing to retract his calls for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to "get the f--- out" of the city as violent protests continue for a second week. The backlash comes as the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good draws national attention to Minnesota. "I stand by exactly what I said," Frey said Wednesday on "Fox & Friends." His comments come as federal agents continue immigration operations across Minneapolis, while protests have led to repeated confrontations between demonstrators and federal authorities. Frey has faced criticism from Republican leaders for his rhetoric in the hours after Good’s death last week. Speaking at a press conference following the shooting, Frey said he believed the government was trying to "spin this as an action of self-defense.” "When the conclusion is drawn by the government that’s actually doing the investigation itself, it’s much harder to trust the investigation," Frey told Fox News’ Griff Jenkins. "We need to make sure that the American people can earn and gain that trust. And yes, I think there’s deep concerns with having exclusively the FBI and not our Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at the state level conducting the investigation itself," he added. The FBI has asserted authority over the investigation, but Minnesota officials say they will conduct their own inquiry into Good’s death. Multiple videos of the shooting have been released online, fueling a national debate over whether the officer involved was justified in using deadly force. The Department of Homeland Security said Good was attempting to "weaponize her vehicle" against federal agents. Minnesota officials have disputed that claim and are calling for an independent investigation into her death. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Federalist [1/14/2026 1:31 PM, Eddie Scarry, 785K] report that a week after the death of anti-ICE agitator Renee Nicole Good, we’re watching Democrats do what they always do when they know they hold an unpopular position. They make up an endless series of excuses for why they also want what’s good for the country, but they just don’t want it done the way it’s being done by the people who are actually trying to fix a problem. Democrat Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, most memorably seen trying to choke down a bowl of Somali slop last year, was on Fox News this week doing just that with regard to federal law enforcement doing their job in his city. "We are willing to work with people when it’s about murder and when it’s about crime, but the truth is this ain’t about that," he said. "If this were about that, we’d have many important areas where there would be areas where we could work together. This, however, is the largest immigration enforcement action on record in the United States." Then, with a straight face, he said, "Why is the largest scale immigration enforcement action taking place where we don’t even have that many undocumented immigrants?" Setting aside that perhaps Minneapolis needs special attention right now in light of billions of taxpayer dollars being stolen by Somalis occupying the city and who barely speak English, "crime" is not exclusive to murder and other forms of extreme violence. It includes theft, fraud, and, no less important, residing in the country illegally — even if an effete Democrat mayor says it’s fine.

Daily Caller [1/14/2026 10:09 AM, Nicole Silverio, 835K] reports Fox News host Griff Jenkins told Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey point-blank on Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are in his city to detain illegal immigrant criminals. Frey called on ICE to "get the fuck out" of Minneapolis in the aftermath of Renee Good’s death, who was shot by an ICE agent after she appeared to accelerate her car toward the officer during an enforcement operation. Jenkins and Frey sparred on "Fox & Friends" while the host noted that ICE operations have ramped up across the U.S. to arrest illegal immigrants who crossed the border during former President Joe Biden’s administration. "Mr. Mayor, you ask ICE to get the F out of your city. Here’s the little secret. ICE, I’m sure, would like to not have to be doing the surge operations, but because of four years under the President Biden administration, you had an unprecedented number of illegal migrants coming across the border. Many of them turned out to be criminal, illegal aliens, and now they’re going after those individuals," Jenkins said. "We can show you just a litany of, excuse me, scores of illegal criminal aliens that have been apprehended in the past few days that have included everyone from murders to sex assault of minors," Jenkins continued. "These individuals were roaming free in your city because your policies do not cooperate with detainers, and so ICE is then going to get these people off the street." Frey argued that the largest immigration enforcement operations should not be taking place in cities with little illegal immigration. President Donald Trump’s administration maintained that the officer acted in self-defense. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said on Jan. 7 that the officer was the victim of a vehicle attack that happened in June.

The Hill [1/14/2026 3:12 PM, Max Rego, 12595K] reports a contingent of Minneapolis officials slammed the continued presence of federal immigration enforcement in the city Wednesday, a week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot Renee Good. During a press conference at the Minneapolis City Hall rotunda, multiple officials referred to ICE officers remaining in the city as an “occupation,” with Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez calling it an “invasion.” City Council member Aurin Chowdhury noted that parents and educators are preparing for ICE raids on school property, with state Rep. Mike Howard (D) saying that the agency has “escalated” its tactics since Good’s death. Last Wednesday, an ICE officer shot and killed Good, 37, in her car. The shooting came days after the Trump administration surged ICE and Customs and Border Protection personnel to Minneapolis. The incident has also sparked backlash against the administration’s widespread immigration crackdown, with protests occurring in Minneapolis and cities across the country and Democratic lawmakers pushing legislation to limit ICE’s authority. Hours after the shooting, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) called on the agency to leave the city.

The Hill [1/14/2026 7:58 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12595K] reports President Trump announced early Wednesday that his administration will strip federal funding from sanctuary cities and states, in line with policies he promoted on the campaign trail. “EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY FIRST, NO MORE PAYMENTS WILL BE MADE BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO STATES FOR THEIR CORRUPT CRIMINAL PROTECTION CENTERS KNOWN AS SANCTUARY CITIES,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. “ALL THEY DO IS BREED CRIME AND VIOLENCE! If States want them, they will have to pay for them! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he added. The post follows his Tuesday speech at the Detroit Economic Club when he said sanctuary cities “do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens.” In August, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to 32 sanctuary jurisdictions deemed noncompliant with federal immigration laws. The list of states included California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. She urged them to comply with the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts or lose funding, citing an executive order signed by Trump in April. The order directs Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “identify appropriate Federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions, including grants and contracts, for suspension or termination, as appropriate.”

Reported similarly:
FOX News [1/14/2026 10:40 AM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE
Washington Times [1/14/2026 9:14 AM, Jeff Mordock, 852K]

NewsMax [1/14/2026 10:10 AM, Staff, 4109K] report Democrats will determine whether Congress avoids a partial government shutdown as the clock ticks down on the federal spending deadline, Sen. Ron Johnson told Newsmax on Wednesday. The Wisconsin Republican said on "Wake Up America" that GOP lawmakers in both chambers are working to pass appropriations measures and have little appetite for a shutdown, placing responsibility instead on Democrats’ willingness to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and defense programs. "Republican appropriators, both in the Senate and the House, are doing everything they can to get these bills passed," he said. "Quite honestly, no Republican wants a shutdown," Johnson said, adding that "it’s pretty much up to the Democrats whether they are willing to fund DHS and defense." Congress faces mounting pressure to complete spending legislation in the coming days, with several appropriations bills still unresolved and temporary funding measures at risk of expiring. Lawmakers have increasingly relied on short-term extensions in recent years, a practice critics say fuels uncertainty across federal agencies. Johnson said Republicans are attempting to move the process forward, but warned that partisan dynamics could again stall progress.

FOX News [1/14/2026 5:23 PM, Madison Colombo, 40621K] reports Trump administration "border czar" Tom Homan told Fox News that death threats against him have surged and include threats toward his family as anti-ICE rhetoric intensifies. Homan blamed what he called "hateful rhetoric" from Democratic leaders for fueling the rise in real-world threats. He said the danger is not limited to him but extends to law enforcement officers across the country. The Department of Homeland Security released figures on Jan. 8 showing ICE officers have faced more than a 1,300% increase in reported assaults, a 3,200% rise in vehicular attacks and an 8,000% spike in death threats. Immigration enforcement operations have continued nationwide, with activity increasing in cities such as Minneapolis. Anti-ICE rhetoric rose in Minnesota after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good.

FOX News [1/14/2026 1:14 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports that Border czar Tom Homan discusses the anti-ICE protests after a deadly Minneapolis shooting, reveals deportation statistics and more on ‘The Faulkner Focus.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

USA Today [1/14/2026 6:46 PM, Christopher Cann, 67103K] reports Christopher Parente wasn’t shocked to learn that a federal immigration agent had shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in her car in Minneapolis. Last fall, Parente defended in court Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago and survived. The news out of Minnesota, Parente said, served as a stark reminder of what happened to his client just months earlier. The fatal shooting of Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has put a spotlight on previous violent – and sometimes deadly – interactions involving federal agents carrying out the Trump administration’s deportation agenda. Immigration agents have fired upon at least 10 people since August, USA TODAY has found. In each case, agents shot at drivers or into moving cars – a practice that has largely been discouraged by law enforcement because of risks to public safety. The Department of Homeland Security and federal prosecutors have defended the agents who opened fire and accused drivers of trying to run them over. Of the four drivers charged by federal prosecutors, three have had their charges dropped, court records show. Similarities between the various shootings have raised concerns among public officials, judges and policing experts about the aggressive tactics used by federal authorities in cities nationwide.

NBC News [1/14/2026 11:50 AM, Amber Frias, 34509K] report a man has suffered serious injuries after he participated in a demonstration held last week in Santa Ana in support of Renee Good, a Minnesota woman fatally shot by an immigration agent. As video shot by a freelance photographer showed the protester was dragged into the Santa Ana federal building by an agent, the injured man’s friends said Tuesday that one of his eyes became severely injured. The demonstration happened last Friday after 8 p.m. in front of the Santa Ana federal building after most of the peaceful protesters left. But footage from the demonstration site later that night showed violent clashes between protesters and authorities. One video clip appeared to capture the sound of less lethal rounds being fired as federal agents approached a crowd gathered on the building’s steps. NBC Los Angeles could not independently confirm what had happened before the video was shot. The same footage then showed a man with a megaphone had a brief struggle as more less lethal rounds were fired. Moments later, another man was seen kneeling face down on the ground. Shortly after, federal agents grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the building. His face appeared to be bloody. The injured man, according to his friend, was hospitalized and unable to speak publicly. "I heard a bang, and suddenly I was on my knees," the man, who was identified as "K," said in a statement read by his friend. "It hadn’t dawned on me what had happened; everything was a blur.” The man’s friend, Rue el Amar, said he suffered a serious eye injury. It would require surgery, and he may not regain vision, she said. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said two officers were injured, and two protesters were arrested and charged with assault on a federal officer and disorderly conduct. When asked about K’s injuries, the DHS said, "One of the rioters, who was arrested for disorderly conduct, was taken to the hospital for a cut and was released that night.” Breitbart [1/14/2026 11:55 AM, Katherine Hamilton, 2416K] reports Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Tricia McLaughlin called the group "violent rioters" and said two officers were injured in the altercations, according to the report. Two protesters were arrested and are facing charges for assault on a federal officer and disorderly conduct, McLaughlin said. DHS reportedly did not answer questions about what kind of projectiles were fired, although one protester told the outlet they were pepper balls.

New York Times [1/15/2026 5:01 AM, Zach Montague, 135475K] reports a federal judge in Boston last September issued a landmark ruling that the Trump administration deliberately chilled the speech of international students with a string of targeted arrests intended to “strike fear” in demonstrators and academics critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Now Judge William G. Young will decide what should be done about that violation. Last year, he did not order the Trump administration to correct course right away, but asked the government and the academic organizations who sued to return to argue over how he could intervene. In his ruling, Judge Young, who is 85 and has served as a federal judge for over 40 years, described the case as “perhaps the most important” of his career. Academic organizations that sued argued that the attempted deportations of a few prominent student activists — and broader threats by President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — had a silencing effect across academia and chilled speech about the war in Gaza and other contentious issues. During a two-week trial, lawyers for the groups examined the cases of five prominent student activists: Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, Mohsen Mahdawi, Badar Khan Suri and Yunseo Chung. Though the students were in the United States legally, the administration accused them of undermining U.S. foreign policy interests through their activism. In some cases, they were held for months, and federal officials attempted to deport them. The students successfully challenged their deportations in separate, individual lawsuits, and those who were detained were eventually ordered released.

New York Post [1/14/2026 6:42 PM, Staff, 42219K] reports President Donald Trump may face a tough legal battle to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities and states, as he vows he will. But eventually he’ll prevail, unless Democrats somehow manage to sway voters to back an "amnesty for all" approach, even for violent criminal illegal immigrants — and good luck with that. Clearly these defiant, increasingly violent jurisdictions need to be restrained and forced — one way or another — to follow the law. The best way to handle sanctuary cities is to: "Starting Feb. 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states" with "sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens," the prez warned; "it breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come.” Actually, it’s worse than that: When cities and states ban cooperation with federal immigration authorities, they force agents to track down and arrest illegal immigrants at loose in the community, and risk resistance from activists as well as the immigrants themselves. Cooperation would curb the chaos: For starters, local officials should honor ICE "detainers" by holding arrestees and convicts subject to deportation until federal agents can take custody of them, rather than setting them free. Alas, rather than remind ICE haters of that and urge calm, Democrats — like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — have only stoked resistance. They’re "prioritizing politics over public safety," fumed Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

FOX News [1/14/2026 5:00 AM, Joe Abraham, 40621K] reports as I read and watched the coverage coming out of Minneapolis about the tragic shooting of a woman allegedly attempting to run over a federal agent with her vehicle, two things immediately came to me. First, how demonstrators were being stoked, inflamed and used by politicians for self-serving purposes. Second — and far more personal — where was the outrage when my innocent 20-year-old daughter, Katie Abraham, was killed by an illegal alien shielded and protected by Illinois’ sanctuary policies? Katie’s killer was Julio Cucul-Bol. He was using an alias. He is currently being treated for an incurable communicable infectious disease, according to court transcripts. Yet when my daughter was violently killed, there were no viral videos, no breathless media panels, no emotional press conferences and no candlelight vigils amplified by politicians and pundits. Where were the stories about how the car Katie was riding in — stopped at a red light — was struck from behind at nearly 80 miles per hour by a drunk-driving illegal alien? Where was the outrage over how first responders had to pry the vehicle open like a tuna can to pull my daughter’s lifeless body from the wreckage? But these politicians had this to say about the ICE shooting: New York City Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani: "We know when ICE agents attack immigrants, they attack every single one of us across this country.” Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson: "We stand in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis and with all of those across the country whose lives have been torn apart due to reckless actions by Trump’s lawless, racist force.” Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Karen Bass: "It happened because of the brutal and racist policies of the Trump administration that unleashed these agents.” The hypocrisy is impossible to ignore.

New York Post [1/14/2026 11:22 PM, Andrew Cherkasky and Katie Cherkasky, 42219K] reports the chaos erupting in Minneapolis isn’t an organic protest movement, and it certainly isn’t spontaneous. It’s coordinated. It’s calculated. And it’s deadly. Ordinary Americans are being played — manipulated into dangerous confrontations by politicians and rabble-rousing activists. The indoctrination has convinced them that federal immigration law is illegitimate, that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have no authority to operate, and that physically confronting federal officers is not only justified, but moral. It’s a weaponized form of Trump Derangement Syndrome — and federal prosecutors should call it what it is: criminal conspiracy. After federal courts in September upheld ICE’s authority to make detentive stops, the opposition didn’t accept the ruling. They escalated, moving from rhetoric to coordinated action. What’s followed, in Minneapolis and elsewhere, no longer looks like civil disobedience, but like a concerted effort to obstruct federal law enforcement through misinformation, agitation and street-level interference.

Blaze [1/14/2026 3:00 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1442K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents continue their efforts to remove the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens from American communities. The Department of Homeland Security highlighted the Tuesday arrests of five illegal aliens in a press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News. "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the arrest of more worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from across the country, including those convicted of first-degree rape of a child, homicide, and arson," the DHS wrote. Federal agents captured Eduardo Salgado-Martinez, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of first-degree rape of a child in Benton County, Washington. A 2019 local news report by KEPR-TV explained that Salgado-Martinez’s charges stemmed from an attack in 1995 but that he spent years on the run. Prosecutors claimed he raped two boys, a 7-year-old and a 6-year-old, whom he was babysitting. Salgado-Martinez’s brother was found guilty of similar charges. "Our ICE law enforcement put their lives on the line every single day to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. Yesterday’s arrests included child rapists, murderers, and arsonists," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated. "What the media and sanctuary politicians do not want the American public to know is 70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S. Despite comparisons to the Gestapo and an 8,000% increase in death threats, our officers show up every day and arrest heinous criminals from American communities," McLaughlin added.

FOX News [1/14/2026 7:30 AM, Joseph A. Wulfsohn, 40621K] reports a liberal journalist slammed what she described as the "sloppiness" of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for allegedly accepting her recruitment application despite being an outspoken critic of the Trump administration. Laura Jedeed, who’s been published in left-wing outlets like Rolling Stone, The Nation and The New Republic, revealed Tuesday that she was "hired" by ICE in a piece for Slate, calling out the "minimal screening" she underwent before being offered the job. "The plan was never to become an ICE agent," Jedeed began the piece. "The plan, when I went to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Career Expo in Texas last August, was to learn what it was like to apply to be an ICE agent. Who wouldn’t be curious?" Jedeed, an Army veteran who was deployed twice to Afghanistan before becoming a journalist, said she assumed her online presence with rhetoric critical of President Donald Trump and ICE would prove she’s a "less-than-ideal recruit." But later, at her interview appointment, the recruiter was "spectacularly uninterested" in her career following her military service, which Jedeed coyly described to her as "gig economy stuff.” "‘They are prioritizing current law enforcement first. They’re going to adjudicate your résumé,’ she told me. If my application passed muster, I’d receive an email about next steps, which could arrive in the next few hours but would likely take a few days. I left, thanked her for her time, and prepared to hear back never," Jedeed wrote. "I completely missed the email when it came. I’d kept an eye on my inbox for the next few days, but I’d grown lax when nothing came through. But then, on Sept. 3, it popped up.” She continued, "‘Please note that this is a TENTATIVE offer only, therefore do not end your current employment,’ the email instructed me. It then listed a series of steps I’d need to quickly take. I had 48 hours to log onto USAJobs and fill out my Declaration for Federal Employment, then five additional days to return the forms attached to the email. Among these forms: driver’s license information, an affidavit that I’ve never received a domestic violence conviction, and consent for a background check. And it said: ‘If you are declining the position, it is not necessary to complete the action items listed below.’ "As I mentioned, I’d missed the email, so I did exactly none of these things. And that might have been where this all ended—an unread message sinking to the bottom of my inbox—if not for an email LabCorp sent three weeks later. ‘Thank you for confirming that you wish to continue with the hiring process,’ it read. (To be clear, I had confirmed no such thing.) ‘Please complete your required pre-employment drug test.’" Jedeed called the timing "unfortunate," telling readers she had smoked cannabis six days before her scheduled drug test. Nonetheless, she went to her local LabCorp and took a test with the expectation that she would be told she failed. "Nine days later, impatience got the best of me. For the first time, I logged into USAJobs and checked my application to see if my drug test had come through. What I actually saw was so implausible, so impossible, that at first I did not understand what I was looking at," Jedeed wrote. "Somehow, despite never submitting any of the paperwork they sent me—not the background check or identification info, not the domestic violence affidavit, none of it—ICE had apparently offered me a job.” A representative of the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital, "Applicants may receive a Tentative Selection Letter following their initial application and interview that is not a job offer. This individual was NEVER offered a job at ICE." Jedeed went on to wonder whether ICE had potentially allowed domestic abusers, sex offenders and racists to get through their screening process. "How are we to trust ICE’s allegedly thorough investigations of the people they detain and deport when they can’t even keep their HR paperwork straight?" she wrote.

NBC News [1/14/2026 5:19 PM, Julia Ainsley, 34509K] Video: HERE reports as Immigration and Customs Enforcement was racing to add 10,000 new officers to its force, an artificial intelligence error in how their applications were processed sent many new recruits into field offices without proper training, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the error. The AI tool used by ICE was tasked with looking for potential applicants with law enforcement experience to be placed into the agency’s "LEO program" — short for law enforcement officer — for new recruits who are already law enforcement officers. It requires four weeks of online training. Applicants without law enforcement backgrounds are required to take an eight-week in-person course at ICE’s academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia, which includes courses in immigration law and handling a gun, as well as physical fitness tests. The officials said the AI tool sent people with the word "officer" on their résumés to the shorter four-week online training — for example, a "compliance officer" or people who said they aspired to be ICE officers. The majority of the new applicants were flagged as law enforcement officers, the officials said, but many had no experience in any local police or federal law enforcement force. The AI mistake was identified in mid-fall — over a month into the recruitment surge — and ICE immediately began taking steps to remedy the situation, including manual reviews of résumés of new hires, the officials said. The officials weren’t sure how many officers were improperly trained. It’s also not clear how many may have been sent out to begin immigration arrests. As the immigration agency surges agents into American cities, their enforcement tactics are increasingly questioned by local law enforcement, community groups and lawmakers following the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by ICE officer Jonathan Ross.

NewsMax [1/14/2026 5:49 PM, James Morley III, 4109K] reports Republican lawmakers negotiating the Department of Homeland Security funding bill are advancing a proposal to allocate explicit funding for body-worn cameras for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Politico reported Wednesday. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., told reporters the inclusion of body camera funding will be clear and specific in the bill’s language. The push comes amid heightened scrutiny of ICE practices after a fatal shooting last week in Minneapolis, where an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good during a federal operation. Video and news reports indicate that federal and local accounts differ over what transpired, with federal officials asserting the agent acted in self-defense during an attempted vehicle attack and local leaders challenging that narrative. The incident has stoked protests and renewed debate over federal enforcement tactics.

Daily Caller [1/14/2026 5:33 PM, Hudson Crozier, 835K] reports the leftist group involved in a deadly Jan. 7 incident with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota is one of countless ICE-tracking networks using confrontational tactics nationwide. Thirty-seven-year-old Renee Good volunteered for the Minnesota branch of "ICE Watch," a web of residents notifying each other about nearby ICE operations in order to document them in person, before she allegedly hit an agent with her car and was fatally shot, former acquaintances and law enforcement officials told the press. Similar self-proclaimed watchdogs have emerged or gained new relevance under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, according to online directories by allied groups seeking to raise awareness. A crowdsourced map of alleged ICE activity throughout the U.S., complete with photos and license plate numbers, is also available on "Stop ICE," an anonymously-run website featured on Minnesota ICE Watch’s Linktree page. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) filed a subpoena seeking to identify an Instagram user affiliated with the site in September due to alleged "doxxing," but withdrew the request after litigation led by the American Civil Liberties Union and Civil Liberties Defense Center, court records show. The Instagram user denied any wrongdoing.

New York Times [1/14/2026 10:06 AM, Julie Bosman, 135475K] reports it began in Los Angeles, in Signal chats and strategy sessions on Zoom. Last year, as immigration raids proliferated throughout the city, Latino activists and neighbors began organizing a response, monitoring for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents along sidewalks and in Home Depot parking lots and texting their networks when they spotted an arrest underway. By late summer, activists in Chicago were trained and ready. Before the Trump administration had announced a crackdown called Operation Midway Blitz, immigrant rights organizations had handed out orange whistles for volunteers to use as a public warning system, formed “rapid-response” groups and advised people to report sightings of ICE agents and memorize their own legal rights. Chicagoans, even many without formal ties to protest groups, showed defiance against ICE with “Hands Off Chicago” signs adorned with the city’s beloved starred-and-striped flag, placed prominently in windows of restaurants and bungalows. And in recent weeks in Minneapolis, the latest focus for a Trump administration surge of immigration enforcement, a loose but growing network of neighborhood volunteers has shown up near reported arrests, yelling at agents and recording them on iPhone cameras. Some gathered near hotels where agents were believed to be staying, pounding drums and making noise. President Trump’s sweeping effort to tamp down illegal immigration, using masked federal agents who film their interactions with cellphones and often question American citizens about their legal status, has set off a surge in confrontational activism fueled by both large liberal advocacy groups and hyperlocal neighborhood networks. In Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, established groups representing labor and immigrant rights have provided funding and organized downtown rallies against the Trump administration. But fierce opposition to ICE and the Border Patrol has also sprung up through block clubs, neighborhood group chats, school Facebook groups and Catholic parishes, stretching beyond the typical Democratic voter base. Participants say they have been propelled into action with two goals in mind: an urge to protect their neighbors, many of whom are in the country without authorization but have no criminal backgrounds, and also to push back against what they see as a violent and overreaching federal government.

Washington Post [1/15/2026 5:03 AM, Joseph Menn, 24149K] reports as immigration agents and protesters clash in the streets, a parallel battle is unfolding over sensitive data used to identify and, as each side sees it, hold those on the other side to account. Government officers are using new technological tools featuring real-time location data and license-plate tracking to detain immigrants and investigate protesters. Activists, outmatched in force and spending, are using burner phones and donated dash cams to counter those efforts, recording masked agents in action and compiling lists of names and badge numbers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other law enforcement personnel. In response, the government has charged activists under criminal statutes and tried to compel online platforms to reveal the identities of activists using their sites. In one such case, a federal judge in San Francisco held a hearing Wednesday over whether to throw out ICE’s demand that Meta identify users of anonymous Facebook and Instagram accounts that tracked raids in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In a court filing last month, an ICE official said it was investigating “the open organization of people to impede immigration based investigations and operations,” posing “a serious threat to law enforcement officer safety.” The American Civil Liberties Union, which is defending the anonymous account-holder, is asking that the subpoenas issued to Meta be quashed on First Amendment grounds. “This isn’t being litigated because of any criminal activity but rather because the government wants to tamp down on people who are opposing this activity,” ACLU attorney Ari Shapell said. At Wednesday’s hearing, attorneys for both sides said they knew of no court ruling on whether ICE could unmask its critics with an administrative subpoena, which does not require it to establish that a crime was probably committed. The attorney for ICE said the lower standard was appropriate because no one was yet being accused of wrongdoing. U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Kang expressed skepticism at ICE’s view of its authority but did not say when he planned to rule.

Bloomberg [1/14/2026 11:55 AM, Suzanne Monyak, 803K] reports that a Washington federal judge pressed a Justice Department attorney on whether the government’s revived policy limiting congressional access to immigration detention facilities may violate an earlier court order blocking those restrictions. Judge Jia Cobb of the US District Court for the District of Columbia held an emergency hearing Wednesday in a challenge by House Democrats to a Department of Homeland Security policy requiring members of Congress to provide seven days of advanced notice before visiting an immigration facility. Cobb ruled last month that the policy violated oversight language in annual appropriations bills that fund the department’s operations. However, the government put the seven-day requirement back in effect last week and claimed it would now be funded by other sources. Cobb said at the hearing that she agreed with the government that the reinstated notice requirement is a new policy. However, she questioned the government’s lawyer, Amber Richer, how reimposing a requirement she already halted wouldn’t "run afoul" of her earlier decision if annual appropriations are spent. "Taking steps to exclude members of Congress from facilities is the subject of my order," Cobb said. Cobb asked Richer several times during questioning if she could confirm that no money from annual appropriations has gone toward creating and enforcing the revived visitation policy that the judge already halted. "I’m prepared to accept the government’s representations," Cobb said. "But if you can’t make that representation, I have to figure out what to do." The case is Neguse v. ICE, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-02463, hearing held 1/14/26.

Roll Call [1/14/2026 3:22 PM, Ryan Tarinelli, 548K] reports a federal judge appeared open to siding with House Democrats at a hearing Wednesday over a new Department of Homeland Security guidance restricting congressional oversight visits to immigration detention facilities. Judge Jia M. Cobb of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia pressed for answers over how the Trump administration is funding the implementation of the guidance that includes a seven-day wait period for lawmakers to gain access to immigration facilities. Attorneys for lawmakers say that’s a brazen attempt to sidestep a provision in appropriations law, Section 527, that allows lawmakers to make unannounced visits to immigration detention facilities. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in the newest guidance that the funding is coming from the reconciliation law that President Donald Trump signed on July 4, which she refers to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Lawyers for the House members had asked Cobb to seek clarity from DHS on why the newest guidance doesn’t violate Section 527, saying "it is practically impossible" that the development and implementation of the policy has been done "without using a single dollar of annually appropriated funds subject to section 527." Cobb, at the hearing Wednesday, asked the Justice Department whether such funds have been used to implement the policy. Justice Department attorney Amber Richer told the court she didn’t have all of that information. But Richer added that DOJ could make a filing later addressing whether any annually appropriated funds were used to promulgate or enforce the guidance. On Wednesday, attorneys on both sides zeroed in on a new declaration from DHS official Holly C. Mehringer. She said the department can track the costs associated with the newer policy and "can adjust its accounting ledgers" to ensure those costs are applied to reconciliation funds and not annual appropriations. Cobb said she was simply trying to determine whether there was a violation of her previous order. Cobb ended the Wednesday hearing without ruling on the issue.

Politico [1/14/2026 4:45 AM, Jennifer Scholtes, Nicholas Wu, and Katherine Tully-McManus, 2100K] reports new calls to “defund ICE” are reverberating through the Democratic Party following last week’s deadly shooting by a federal agent in Minneapolis. Behind the scenes, top Democrats are feverishly working to fund the agency — with strings attached. The mismatch between the anti-ICE rhetoric and the actions of Democratic appropriators reflects a Catch-22 of congressional power: The only way lawmakers can put guardrails on the controversial agency and curb President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda at this moment is to hand it billions of taxpayer dollars. As they negotiate fiscal 2026 funding for the Department of Homeland Security with Republicans ahead of a Jan. 30 shutdown deadline, Democrats are demanding new rules for DHS agents, such as forcing them to use body cameras, refrain from wearing masks and go through more extensive training. Even as new polling fielded after the fatal Jan. 7 shooting of Renee Good shows that a plurality of voters back ICE’s elimination, top Democrats on Capitol Hill are seeking to restrain the agency under Trump’s leadership — not disband it. “House Democrats want accountability and oversight of ICE,” Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the No. 3 Democratic leader, told reporters Tuesday. “They should have to continue to testify to Congress as to what they are doing. But more importantly, we need to look out for the American people right now. They are terrorizing people in the streets of this country.” Among the rank-and-file, there is also a deep desire to rein in the agency. Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.), deputy chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said in an interview his group supports “reforms” for the agency. “It’s not the CHC’s position that we’re terminating ICE,” Soto said. “But there is a culture of violence that’s happening that does need to be addressed.”

Daily Caller [1/15/2026 12:24 AM, Mariane Angela, 835K] reports Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman urged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Wednesday to continue arrests and enforcement rather than scale back operations. ICE faces scrutiny after an agent allegedly shot 37-year-old Renee Good as she blocked a street with her vehicle during an enforcement operation and began driving away when officers approached. Appearing on "The Will Cain Show," Fetterman said that securing the border and enforcing immigration law are not partisan issues, claiming the nation must confront unlawful entries and criminal conduct head on. "As a Democrat, it shouldn’t be unreasonable to want to secure our border," Fetterman told host Will Cain. Fetterman said the fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis was tragic but also said Democrats should not retreat from immigration enforcement. "What happened in Minneapolis was absolutely tragic. This is from Washington Post. This is the latest statistics. [Exactly] 67% have criminal charges, pending ones," Fetterman said. "So that’s more than two-thirds of the people. Now, there are some people that aren’t involved in any kinds of illegal things, but I think two things can be true. Round up all the criminals. Deport them. They shouldn’t have ever been here, and they definitely have to go.” Fetterman said Democrats must reject extremes on immigration, arguing both accountability and enforcement can coexist. (RELATED: ‘Not Gonna Take That Bait’: CNBC’s Joe Kernen Spars With Dem Senator Over Party’s Outrage Over Deportations). "I strongly reject the extreme on either side about this now," Fetterman said. "And I watched you earlier in your show. You just pointed out that President Obama deported millions of people, and there wasn’t the same kind of outrage here as from Democrats.” From Jan. 20 through Oct. 15, 2025, roughly 36% of people arrested by ICE had criminal convictions and about 30% had pending criminal charges, which together amounts to about 66%–67% with either convictions or charges, according to a Washington Post report on ICE enforcement data.

Breitbart [1/14/2026 11:44 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2416K] reports Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) urged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to "round up all" of the criminal illegal aliens. During an interview on Fox News Channel’s The Will Cain Show, Fetterman spoke about the recent shooting in Minneapolis, where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has claimed that Good "weaponized her vehicle" against ICE agents who were trying to get their vehicle unstuck. "Round up all the criminals," Fetterman said. "Deport them. They shouldn’t have ever been here, and they definitely have to go.” While Fetterman expressed that the incident is "a tragedy," he pointed out that it is "very clear" to him when he arrived in the Senate in 2023, that the Biden administration was "failing at our border.” He also shared the "latest statistics" from Washington Post regarding the criminal history of immigrants arrested by ICE. "Sixty-seven percent have criminal charges — pending ones … that’s more than two-thirds," Fetterman continued, adding that "two things can be true" as people can support deportations while rejecting "the extreme.” During the interview, Fetterman also shared statistics from New York Times regarding monthly encounters at the United States southern border over the past few years. "When you reach almost 300,000 people, that’s unsustainable," he added. "As a Democrat, it shouldn’t be unreasonable to want to secure our border and do it in that way.” Fetterman has previously thrown his support behind ICE, stating that the agency "performs an important job." He has also criticized his own party for failing to "handle the border appropriately.” Breitbart News reported that during an interview on CNN in 2024, Fetterman clarified that while he would like to "provide the American Dream for any migrant," it is difficult to do so when "you have 300,000 people showing up encountered at our border.”

USA Today [1/14/2026 7:21 AM, Lauren Villagran, Ignacio Calderon, and Jennifer Borresen, 67103K] reports Donald Trump’s second presidency has brought sweeping changes to immigration enforcement. One of the top takeaways: ICE detention has expanded dramatically, both in the number of people being held and the sites holding them. Here are five key things to know about immigration detention today. ICE is holding a record number of people in detention. There are more ICE detention centers than ever. People detained without a criminal charge, record is surging. Deaths are at their highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic. ICE has more money to expand immigration detention.

New York Post [1/14/2026 10:41 PM, Anna Young, 42219K] reports a top Department of Homeland Security official fired back at Joe Rogan after he defended protesters comparing ICE to Hitler’s Gestapo amid ongoing unrest in Minneapolis over the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good. The mega-popular podcaster told Republican Sen. Rand Paul that he understands the "point of view" of critics who have likened federal immigration agents’ tactics to those of the Nazi-era secret police force. "You don’t want militarized people in the streets just roaming around, snatching people up — many of which turn out to actually be US citizens that just don’t have their papers on them," Rogan said on Tuesday’s episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience.” "Are we really gonna be the Gestapo? ‘Where’s your papers?’ Is that what we’ve come to?". Rogan, who endorsed President Trump, noted the situation is also "complicated" after acknowledging why conservatives believe sweeping ICE raids are needed to undo the "damage" linked to illegal immigration. Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, responded to Rogan’s take on Wednesday. "If Tim Walz and Mayor [Jacob] Frey would let us in their jails, we wouldn’t have to be there at all," she told Fox News. "Currently, there are 680 illegal aliens that includes murderers, that includes rapists, child pedophiles, people, who whether you’re Republican or Democrat, you would never want these people to be on your streets or your neighbors," she continued. "That’s the people who we are targeting and we’re trying to get out of Minneapolis because we don’t have state and local law enforcement’s help. We have to have a physical presence on the ground there.” The controversial topic came up as Rogan and the Kentucky lawmaker were discussing Good, who was shot dead by ICE agent Jonathan Ross when she clipped him with her SUV while attempting to flee after blocking a Minneapolis street on Jan. 7. The Trump administration has said Ross had no choice but to open fire on the anti-ICE activist, claiming the mother of three "weaponized" her plum Honda pilot against the law enforcement officer and hit him.

Telemundo [1/14/2026 8:39 PM, Staff, 2218K] reports former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio suggested in a message on the social network X that he had become an agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “A list I’m finally glad to be a part of…,” Tarrio wrote in response to a user who claimed to be among the Floridians who had signed up with ICE during the agency’s controversial recruitment drive in the state. ICE has launched a campaign in Florida to add agents to its ranks, which has faced protests. On Tuesday, the city of Tampa hosted a recruitment event for aspiring federal agents. The event drew activists and residents who oppose Trump’s policies and attempted to persuade attendees, many of whom were of Hispanic origin. Participants in that event denounced what they considered "hate" and "racism" on the part of ICE in its raids. Tarrio was found guilty of orchestrating a plot to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power on January 6, 2021, after President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

Washington Examiner [1/14/2026 1:53 PM, Jenny Goldsberry, 1394K] reports that an officer with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement expressed his gratitude for his job when confronted by a protester. Protesters were recording a masked ICE officer when he ordered them to "stay back." Then the protesters peppered him with questions. "You should be ashamed of yourself, man," one protester tells the officer. "He is," another protester pipes in. "I love my job. I can’t believe I get paid for this," the officer responds. "I’d do this for free." "Really?" one protester said, laughing. Another protester shouts out that her salary is $200,000. She said she was a physician’s assistant. "How long did you go to school for that?" the officer asked the self-reporting PA. "Over seven years," the protester said. "I went to high school, and I make 200k," the officer said before walking away. The video ends shortly after. The official ICE account complimented the officer, calling him a "patriot" in response to the video on X. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) echoed the agency in an X post of his own. Tesla CEO Elon Musk reposted the video on X with the caption "based." Musk’s repost has been seen over 19 million times. At the start of the year, ICE reported it had 12,000 new agents and officers. The agency initially had a goal of 10,000 new hires and received over 220,000 applications. The job has also proved to be dangerous. The Department of Homeland Security reported assaults against ICE officers surged by 1,153% in 11 months. Additionally, the number of death threats made against ICE officers increased by 8,000%, according to the Center Square.

Axios [1/14/2026 1:49 PM, Herb Scribner, 12972K] reports that tensions between Americans and ICE are running high after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good earlier this month. The big picture: Americans are showing signs of discomfort about the far-reaching federal intervention of ICE and Border Patrol, with major cities like Boston and Phoenix anticipating agent arrivals. That expanded intervention has so far led to thousands of arrests across the country, a CEO’s resignation, employees forced out of their workplaces and protesters directly arguing with federal agents, attracting criticism from lawmakers and prominent podcasters from Joe Rogan to comedian Tim Dillon. By the numbers: A majority of Americans say ICE is making the country less safe rather than more safe (47% vs 34%), according to an Economist and YouGov poll released Tuesday and conducted from Jan. 9-12. The same poll found that a majority of Americans say shooting Good was not justified (50% vs. 30%), while 20% were unsure. An ICE officer shot and killed Good, a 37-year-old mother, in early January during "targeted operations" in Minneapolis, Axios previously reported. Good was not the target of the enforcement activity, law enforcement officials said at the time. The shooting came amid a surge of immigration enforcement in Minnesota, which included thousands of agents entering the state. Protesters took to the streets nationwide for "ICE Out For Good" protests and vigils after the fatal shooting. There’s "currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday. Federal investigators have restricted Minnesota investigators’ access to case materials and put the FBI in charge of the probe. What they’re saying: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the shooting, calling Good’s actions an "act of domestic terrorism" before any investigation concluded.

CNN [1/14/2026 12:00 PM, Ariel Edwards-Levy, 18595K] reports that most Americans see an immigration officer’s fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Good as an inappropriate use of force, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds. Roughly half view it as a sign of broader issues with the way US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is operating, with less than one-third saying that ICE operations have made cities safer. Just 26% of Americans say that they view the shooting as an appropriate use of force. The majority, 56%, call it an inappropriate use of force, with 51% saying that it also reflects bigger problems with the way that ICE is operating. A single-digit share called it an isolated incident while the rest say they haven’t heard enough about it to weigh in. Americans say, 51% to 31%, that ICE enforcement actions are making cities less safe rather than safer; another 18% say there’s been little effect either way. The videos of ICE agent Jonathan Ross shooting Good have elicited sharply different responses from elected Democrats and Republicans, a divide that is reflected in CNN’s polling of the public. But Democrats are more fully united in their concerns about ICE operations than Republicans are in their willingness to defend the agency. More than 8 in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents call the shooting an inappropriate use of force that reflects larger problems, with a similar share saying that ICE enforcement actions have made cities less safe.

USA Today [1/14/2026 3:50 PM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 67103K] reports that a federal prosecutor this week apologized in court and called last year’s deportation of a Babson College student to her Central American birth country "a mistake," records in the federal case show. Any Lucia Lopez Belloca, a freshman at Babson College in Massachusetts, was stopped at Boston Logan Airport on Nov. 20, detained by federal immigration officials, and deported to Honduras. Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, filed a lawsuit challenging her detention the next day. Belloca is among swaths of people being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since President Donald Trump took office last year. During a Jan. 13 hearing in federal court in Boston, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter apologized to the college student, online clerk notes from proceeding show, and acknowledged the court’s order was violated. "The Government forthrightly acknowledges that it made a mistake and, this incident aside, has a record of complying with stay of removal orders issued by court," the notes read. "On behalf of the government, we want to sincerely apologize," Reuters reported Sauter told Judge Richard G. Stearns, after citing a "mistake" by an ICE officer who thought the order no longer applied and failed to properly flag it. Sauter said there were no grounds to hold anyone in contempt, but called it "a rare instance of the government not following an order" in more than cases filed in the state of Massachusetts by migrants challenging their detention since Trump took office.

Univision [1/14/2026 4:53 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports the Trump administration apologized to a court after admitting that it made a “mistake” of deporting Hispanic college student Any Lopez when he was going to take a flight to Texas on Thanksgiving Day to surprise his family, according the AP. But despite admitting his mistake, the government argued that this should not affect his case. Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, 19, is a young Hispanic student awarded a scholarship to Babson College, a prestigious university in Boston. On November 20, Any was arrested by ICE in the Boston airport and deported to Honduras two days later, the country in which she was born, but who has not returned since she was 7 years old. Her deportation was carried out despite an emergency court order issued on Nov. 21, which instructed the federal government to keep her in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for at least 72 hours. During a federal court hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Boston, the government argued that the Court has no jurisdiction because Any’s attorneys filed the emergency court order several hours after she arrived in Texas, the AP news outlet said.

FOX News [1/15/2026 1:16 AM, Landon Mion, 40621K] reports New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is supporting legislation that would allow state residents to sue ICE agents for violating their constitutional rights. The governor said on Tuesday during her State of the State address that she wants to allow New Yorkers to "hold ICE agents accountable in court when they act outside the scope of their duties.” "This doesn’t interfere with lawful enforcement or public safety," Hochul said. "It simply affirms a core truth: Power does not justify abuse. And if someone’s constitutional rights are violated here in the state of New York, I say they deserve their day in court.” Last year, New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Micah Lasher proposed measures to allow private citizens to file lawsuits against federal officials who violate their constitutional rights. Lasher’s version cites Title 42, Section 1983 of the U.S. Code, which allows people to sue state and local officials for violating their rights. The proposal highlights that New York does not have a law in place allowing citizens to sue federal officials. "Every day, ICE is terrorizing our communities & violating our civil rights. We must be able to hold them accountable," Lasher, who is running for Congress, wrote on X, adding that he is glad Hochul is taking up his legislation. Multiple states, including California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, have implemented similar laws allowing residents to sue federal officials. Hochul also proposed other immigration guardrails, including a measure to require judicial warrants before ICE can conduct raids in sensitive locations like schools, churches and hospitals. Earlier this year, the Trump administration reversed a Biden administration policy barring immigration arrests in these sensitive locations. The governor also announced that New York "will not allow the use of state resources to assist in federal immigration raids on people who have not committed serious crimes.” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin alleged in a statement to The Hill that Hochul "continues to smear law enforcement who are simply enforcing the rule of law and are putting their lives on the line to remove violent criminals from New York.” McLaughlin also argued that there has been an increase in threats against federal law enforcement officers who she purports have shown "incredible restraint and professionalism in exhausting all options before any kind of non-lethal force is used.” This debate has intensified after a recent incident in Minneapolis, where Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by an ICE agent during an enforcement action. Protests followed in multiple cities, and Democrats and local residents have condemned the shooting and urged charges against the agent. The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have defended the incident by arguing that it was a justified shooting. Officials are also investigating a second ICE-involved shooting that happened in Minneapolis on Wednesday, as the mayor continues to demand that the agency leave the city and state. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/14/2026 7:22 PM, Peter Pinedo Fox, 40621K] reports following outrage from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani over the arrest of a city council employee, the Department of Homeland Security shared that the individual arrested is an illegal immigrant with a previous arrest for assault. According to DHS, the employee, Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, 53, is a "criminal illegal alien" from Venezuela. The agency said that despite Rubio Bohorquez being employed by the city council of America’s largest city, he has no work authorization and was illegally employed. Further, DHS said that Rubio Bohorquez has a criminal history, including an arrest for assault in New York. Rubio Bohorquez entered the United States on a B2 tourist visa in 2017, which required him to depart the same year, according to DHS. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the fact that "a criminal illegal alien with no authorization" was employed by the New York City Council "shocking.” "This takes sanctuary city to a whole new level," said McLaughlin. "This criminal illegal alien has no authority to be in the U.S. and has a previous arrest for assault. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, the United States is no longer a safe haven for criminals," she added. Mamdani and other city leaders demanded the man’s release on Monday. "I am outraged to hear a New York City Council employee was detained in Nassau County by federal immigration officials at a routine immigration appointment," Mamdani wrote in a statement on X. DHS, however, maintains that he has no authorization to even be in the U.S. "DHS confirmed that this employee had gone in for a routine court appointment and was nevertheless detained. They provided no other basis for his detainment," Menin said during a press briefing on Monday. "On the contrary, he was a city council employee who is doing everything right. He went to the court when he was asked.”

New York Post [1/14/2026 2:39 PM, Haley Brown, Hannah Fierick, an Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, 42219K] reports that Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on the Big Apple’s "sanctuary city" status in response to new chum President Trump’s warning that he’ll pull federal funding over the migrant-friendly policies. "Our values and our laws cannot be bargaining chips," the lefty mayor wrote on X. "I will always defend the city and every single person who calls the city home, even in the face of threats from the federal administration to withhold funds." Trump said Tuesday that he would freeze federal funding to sanctuary city and states — including New York and New York City — on Feb. 1, claiming they "do everything possible to protect criminals." Cities and states who claim sanctuary city status typically protect immigrant rights and refuse or limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement — which derails Trump’s ongoing campaign to arrest and deport thousands of people living in the US without legal authorization. Mamdani, who as The Post reported this week remains chummy with Trump and chats with him over text about twice a week, said he reached out to the president about the latest funding threat. "So, I reached out to President Trump to express my sharp opposition to this decision and to make my values clear, and I will always continue to do so, whether to the president or to all New Yorkers, to be honest about where I actually stand," he said Tuesday night. "I have yet to hear back from the president, and this is the position I hold as the mayor of New York."

Univision [1/14/2026 3:02 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports a 68-year-old Honduran immigrant, identified as Luis Beltrán Yáñez-Cruz, died on January 6 while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported. Yáñez-Cruz, a resident of Union City, New Jersey, died at 1:18 a.m. (Pacific time) at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio, California, after being hospitalized for heart-related health problems, according to the official version. According to ICE, on January 4, while detained at the Imperial Regional Detention Center in Calexico, Yáñez-Cruz reported chest pain. Center staff initially took him to the medical unit for evaluation. Due to the severity of his condition, he was taken to El Centro Regional Medical Center and later transferred by helicopter to John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital for further medical attention. Despite all efforts, he died two days later. According to the DHS, Luis Beltrán Yáñez-Cruz entered the United States without inspection, admission, or parole by an immigration officer. In June 1993, he was arrested by the Border Patrol near Eagle Pass, Texas, for illegal entry and subsequently deported. At an unspecified date, he re-entered the country without authorization. Between 1999 and 2012, he filed multiple applications for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), all of which were denied, according to official records. On November 16, ICE located and arrested him during a police operation in Newark, New Jersey. After serving him with a summons to appear before an immigration judge, he was transferred to ICE custody, where he remained awaiting deportation proceedings at the time of his death. This case brings the total to four deaths of undocumented immigrants in ICE custody in the first 10 days of the year, a figure that has raised concerns among human rights organizations and migrant advocates.

Washington Examiner [1/14/2026 10:24 AM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1394K] reports Philadelphia officials continue to thrust their city into the spotlight regarding the Trump administration’s illegal immigration efforts, including actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Much of it seems to center on two well-known left-wing ideological figures in Philadelphia: the city’s district attorney, Larry Krasner, and now, Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal. Bilal came under scrutiny due to recent comments she made at a press conference in which she disparaged ICE officers and criticized them over the controversy involving the death of Renee Good. Bilal described ICE as "fake, wannabe law enforcement." Shortly after, Bilal added to the controversy by calling a black Republican congressman a racial slur. In a social media video post last week, Bilal called Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) a "handkerchief head negro." Bilal’s comments came, once again, regarding the Good incident and were in response to Hunt calling for respecting law enforcement. She also seems to have an odd obsession with President Donald Trump and took time to bash him while speaking about Hunt. "See, he don’t even know what he’s talking about," Bilal said in the video. "But, if you bucking for a job, and you keep being a "handkerchief head negro," exactly what you doing, then go ahead and do that. Go over there and get a job over there. Because you black, he ain’t going to give you one either. So, you might as well stay where you are, and just get out of the way with the nonsense.” Like much of what Bilal says, and has said, her comments made little, if any, sense. They were just the hateful, bigoted, mindless rants of an agenda-driven and incompetent city bureaucrat in Philadelphia. And this description is in addition to her earlier pointless comments regarding the death of Good, who was killed while impeding ICE officers in a city over 1,000 miles away from Philadelphia. Adding in her bigotry, prejudice, and radically toxic political agenda, Bilal represents the worst of every bureaucrat in the City of Brotherly Love. Hunt did issue a reply in kind on X, highlighting Philadelphia’s poor record on crime during Bilal’s time as sheriff. Moreover, Bilal would be wise to follow the adage, "those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones." For as Bilal rambled on about "made-up law enforcement" and called Trump a criminal and a black Republican congressman a racial slur, she has a history of being the very thing she claimed to object to, dismiss, and oppose. Her background is rife with lawsuits, controversies, incompetence, and questionable ethics.

Politico [1/14/2026 8:06 PM, Alfred Ng, 2100K] reports a federal judge raised doubts about the Trump administration’s attempt to unmask the identity of an anonymous Instagram account that has been warning about immigration raids in Pennsylvania. Federal Magistrate Judge Peter Kang of the Northern District of California appeared skeptical of the government’s arguments during an hourlong hearing Wednesday that it has the authority to use a provision originally intended for customs violations to subpoena Meta for the Montco Community Watch’s personal information. The account was created last June to post alerts about sightings of ICE agents and arrests in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The Department of Homeland Security sent a subpoena to Meta in September seeking information on the account owner’s name, email address, phone number and IP addresses. The government said the information was needed for an investigation into a “serious threat to law enforcement officer safety,” and noted language in the statute saying it was applicable to any laws or regulations administered by Homeland Security Investigations, not just customs violations. “Why didn’t DHS ask the Department of Justice or the U.S. attorney’s office to try to get a warrant for this information?” Kang asked at one point. Any decision could create stronger protections for similar activist groups across the country that have been filming and uploading clips to social media of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. DHS secretary Kristi Noem has called such accounts recording and posting video of ICE agents an act of violence.

Univision [1/14/2026 5:37 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports a family from Mexico and living in Maryland is experiencing a double tragedy, as the mother was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( and, days later, one of her children — a 15-year-old teenager — died of cancer. Arlit Maria Martinez, 41, was on her way to work in Salisbury on the morning of January 3, 2026, when she was detained by immigration agents. Although she pleaded to be let out and explained that her son Kevin Martinez was sick with cancer and asked to be with him, she was denied and transferred to an ICE detention center in Baltimore. She is currently being held at the Delaney Hall detention center in New Jersey, according to the agency’s online database of detainees. Two days after the arrest, the 15-year-old died; both doctors and the family explained that the child weakened after the situation of his mother, so the disease intensified, losing the battle on January 5, a few days after his birthday. Martinez, who is a mother of four, has been living in Maryland for 20 years, despite this she was arrested and was denied a humanitarian measure to be able to say goodbye to her son and probably not leave to be in the funeral services. "She’ll never see him anymore. We tried to get her out, but they didn’t let her out to say goodbye to my son for the last time," Rigo Mendoza-Lopez, Arlit’s husband, told CNN Newssource. Maryland court records obtained by WBOC show that Martinez-Carrada received a traffic ticket in 2015 for driving without a license. There is no other criminal record in the state. ICE did not answer questions about whether it faces other charges.

Telemundo Washington DC [1/14/2026 2:18 PM, Mauricio Casillas, 61K] reports a Washington DC couple has been forced apart for more than a month — now their future together is in limbo. The couple has mixed immigration status. Jonathan Blanco Gallegos is a U.S. citizen, and his husband, Elías Pérez-Zuazo, is undocumented. Pérez-Zuazo was detained on December 10 during what they believed would be a routine annual check with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The couple was already in the process of applying for Pérez-Zuazo’s green card. Pérez-Zuazo is from Panama. Blanco Gallegos claims his husband crossed into the United States without documentation in November 2021. Blanco Gallegos says his husband was processed by immigration authorities at the Texas-Mexico border and released on his own recognizance, allowing him to go live with a sponsor in Washington, D.C., while his immigration case was being resolved in court. ICE issued a statement saying: "On December 10, ICE arrested Elias Enoc Perez-Zuazo, an illegal alien from Panama. He illegally crossed the border in November 2021 and was released into the United States by the Biden administration. He was afforded due process, and an immigration judge ordered his removal in November 2021, but the Biden administration released him in this country. This administration will not ignore the principle of legality." Blanco Gallegos shared with News4 his husband’s "Order of Release on Bond" form, issued by ICE. The form indicates that Pérez-Zuazo was placed in removal proceedings after initially being processed by immigration authorities in November 2021, but so far, News4 has not been able to determine whether an immigration judge has issued a deportation order for Pérez-Zuazo. Pérez-Zuazo’s lawyer denies that an immigration judge issued a deportation order, claiming that it does not match the documents he has reviewed in the case and arguing that, if such an order had actually been issued, Pérez-Zuazo would have already been deported. Meanwhile, Pérez-Zuazo’s lawyer filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, challenging the detention and calling it illegal.

FOX News [1/14/2026 6:37 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports a dual tragedy in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fueling fresh outrage against "sanctuary" policies after an illegal alien was charged in the cold-blooded murders of two teenagers, crimes federal officials say never should have happened. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer against Aristides Eli Orellana-Ramirez, an El Salvadoran national, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced. Orellana-Ramirez was charged with killing 16-year-old Bravlio Galeano Ayala and 18-year-old Samir Canales Molina. "Another tragic loss of life at the hands of a criminal illegal alien," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "The two male victims were just 16 and 18 years old, both with a whole life ahead of them. Their lives were ripped away in moments by a criminal illegal alien who should have NEVER been in our country in the first place.” Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said gunfire erupted around 3:30 a.m. Dec. 20, 2025, in southwest Charlotte. Both teens were later pronounced dead at a local hospital. In a harrowing detail, investigators said the victims’ bodies were found more than 6 miles apart. Detectives believe the teens were "shot at the same location during the same incident and then traveled away from the scene in an attempt to find help.” According to DHS, Orellana-Ramirez entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown date and location without inspection. The killings come as federal authorities ramp up pressure on jurisdictions that refuse to honor ICE detainers, a practice DHS says allows criminal aliens to cycle back onto the streets. ICE reported in November that local authorities across North Carolina failed to honor nearly 1,400 detainers, instead releasing criminal aliens back into communities. "Unfortunately, North Carolina’s sanctuary politicians often REFUSE to allow us into their jails and release these known criminals back into American communities," McLaughlin said. "President Trump and Secretary Noem launched Operation Charlotte’s Web to target these criminals and get them out of American neighborhoods.”

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [1/14/2026 2:21 PM, John Binder, 2416K]

Breitbart [1/14/2026 9:17 PM, Bob Price, 2416K] reports ICE officials say the killing of 15‑year‑old Amber Paris was "entirely preventable," blaming Charlotte’s sanctuary policies for allowing repeat‑offender illegal alien Julio Cesar Xocop‑Vicente to walk free on bond after he allegedly sped through a neighborhood, ran a stop sign, struck the teen, and fled the scene. Charlotte officials rushed the criminal alien out of the jail before an immigration detainer could be issued by ICE enforcement officers. ICE Fugitive Operations arrested the Guatemalan national on January 12. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials revealed to Breitbart Texas that an ICE Fugitive Operations team hunted down and arrested Xocop‑Vicente on Monday for immigration charges after Charlotte officials allowed him to be released from jail after he allegedly struck and killed the North Carolina teen in a hit-and-run crash. He will remain in ICE custody, pending removal proceedings, officials stated. In a statement sent to Breitbart Texas, ICE Director Todd Lyons said, "My heart is with Amber’s family — and although nothing can ease the pain of losing a child, ICE will continue arresting and removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from North Carolina and across the country.” "Sanctuary policies have real consequences, and this is one of them. It’s heartbreaking, but this tragedy was preventable," Lyons continued. "ICE isn’t waiting for another tragedy to take action; we are out on the streets every day to arrest and remove public safety threats so this doesn’t happen to another child.” On November 25, police say that Zocop-Vicente ran a stop sign while speeding through a neighborhood, striking 15-year-old Amber Paris. The Guatemalan illegal alien fled the scene on foot but was arrested by local police the following day on charges of driving without a license, reckless driving, and felony hit-and-run, ICE officials reported. "The soft-on-crime and pro-illegal criminal illegal alien policies of Charlotte, North Carolina, mayor Vi Lyles and other politicians allowed him walk free on bond before ICE could file an immigration detainer," officials told Breitbart. As Amber fought for her life, local authorities dismissed the driving without a license charge on December 2. "This is also the second time that Mayor Lyles’ Charlotte has allowed this criminal illegal alien to walk free and avoid deportation after an arrest," ICE officials stated. "He was convicted in 2023 for driving under the influence and driving without a license and had a criminal record that includes a previous arrest for assault on a female.” Without cooperation from Charlotte law enforcement, an ICE Fugitive Operations team tracked him down and place him back in custody on January 12. This arrest happened during a targeted enforcement operation. This is also the second time that Mayor Lyles’ Charlotte has allowed this criminal illegal alien to walk free and avoid deportation after an arrest.

Reuters [1/14/2026 11:46 PM, Kanishka Singh, 36480K] reports U.S. federal immigration officers arrested two people driving dump trucks to a construction site of Facebook-owner Meta Platforms in Richland Parish, Louisiana, the local sheriff’s office said on Wednesday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents did not enter the Meta site at any time, the Richland Parish Sheriff’s Office said, adding ICE agents assisted the sheriff’s office with the traffic stops that led to the arrests. Meta is building its largest-ever data center in Richland Parish. The company had no immediate comment on the detentions. "During those stops, two drivers were arrested by ICE due to their immigration status," the sheriff’s office said in a statement, adding they were from Guatemala and Honduras. Since taking office a year ago, U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has pursued a hardline immigration policy, involving an aggressive deportation drive, revocations of visas and green cards and screening immigrants’ social media posts and past speeches. Human rights groups have widely condemned Trump’s immigration and travel-related policies, saying they harm due process guarantees and free speech. Trump and his allies say the policies seek to improve domestic security. ICE’s actions have been subject to particular criticism by protesters, community leaders, Democrats and human rights advocates.

FOX News [1/14/2026 2:05 PM, Andrew Mark Miller, 40621K] reports that as Minnesota’s Democratic officials hold news conferences, attend vigils and publicly lash out against the Trump administration over the shooting death of Renee Good, a Fox News Digital review found a much different response from those politicians when Minnesotans were killed or seriously harmed by illegal immigrants. Several Minnesotans have been killed in the last few years by immigrants who had no legal right to be in the United States, but Fox News Digital did not find any evidence of news conferences or outrage for them from Walz, Frey or Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. ICE officials on Saturday released a shocking list of the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal immigrants arrested during their recent surge in the sanctuary state of Minnesota, including child rapists and nearly a dozen killers. "Governor Walz and Mayor Frey REFUSE to cooperate with ICE law enforcement and have released nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens including violent criminals back onto the streets of Minnesota," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "They have made it abundantly clear they are prioritizing politics over public safety. Minnesota’s sanctuary politicians have chosen to side with criminal illegal aliens and ignored their American victims. This administration is putting the safety of Americans first and standing up for the victims of illegal alien crime. Secretary Noem relaunched the VOICE office to give victims and their families access to resources and support services. We will always put the American people first."

Daily Wire [1/14/2026 10:34 AM, Cameron Arcand, 2494K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a slew of illegal immigrants in Minneapolis Tuesday, including several convicted of sexual assault and drug trafficking. The arrests were part of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s effort to arrest illegal aliens in the Twin Cities, which began in December. Among those arrested Tuesday were Teng Houa Vang, a Vietnamese national with a domestic assault conviction — as well as guilty pleas for terror threats and breaking a "protection order," The Daily Wire has learned. He is also facing charges for "arson, peeping tom, obstructing police, trespassing, assault, drug possession, and property damage.” "Another day another scourge of sexual predators, violent assailants, domestic abusers and drug traffickers arrested from the streets of Minnesota by our law enforcement," Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Wednesday. "We are in Minnesota to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. Governor Walz and Mayor Frey refuse to let us into their jails and instead choose to release criminal illegal aliens back into Minnesota neighborhoods to victimize more Americans. Despite violence against them and a lack of cooperation from sanctuary politicians, our law enforcement will not stop their efforts to get criminals out of [the] country," she continued. Salvadoran national Francisco Salazar-Solorzano was arrested on DUI, domestic violence, and assault charges. Mexican national Victor Javier Bahena-Sandoval has previous arrests for domestic violence, in addition to past convictions for "disorderly conduct" and for coming back into the country illegally. Mexican national Santiago Antunes Mendiola faces charges for battery.

Washington Post [1/14/2026 6:38 PM, Arelis R. Hernández and Caroline O’Donovan, 24149K] reports the family of six had entered the United States as refugees after years of vetting, they said, and at last felt safe from the threat of violence that haunted them in Venezuela. Then came a knock on the door of their home in Minneapolis on Tuesday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers tapped on their windows, drew their long guns and surrounded the property, two of the family members recounted. The family was not in danger, the officers said, but they needed to check the eldest son’s paperwork, according to an audio recording of the encounter obtained by The Washington Post. Reluctantly, the 20-year-old man’s parents opened the door and complied. They watched as officers put their son in handcuffs and ushered him away in what immigration lawyers and advocates say is part of a pattern in arrests that has begun to emerge in Minnesota. He told his family that officers are planning to send him to a detention center in Texas. “We thought we’d be protected,” said A.J., the mother of the young man. The Post is identifying her by only her initials because she fears reprisals from U.S. officials. “They tricked us.” Federal immigration agents in Minnesota have arrested dozens of refugees — including teens and adults from countries including Somalia, Mali and Eritrea — over the past week after the Department of Homeland Security launched a fraud investigation targeting refugees they say require additional screening. The Jan. 9 memo said investigators would start by conducting background checks on 5,600 refugees who have not yet obtained a green card. Refugee detention is rare and typically happens if an individual has been convicted of a crime, according to a dozen experts, lawyers and resettlement advocates. But several attorneys said none of the cases they have identified of detained refugees in Minnesota involves an individual who has been accused of a crime in the U.S., leading to questions about the detainment’s justification. DHS did not respond to questions about what triggered the review of specific individuals such as the Venezuelan family’s eldest son, or why refugees with protections from deportation are being detained if they are not facing criminal charges. An agency spokesperson said that the “operation in Minnesota demonstrates that the Trump administration will not stand idly by as the U.S. immigration system is weaponized by those seeking to defraud the American people.”

FOX News [1/14/2026 10:38 AM, Michael Dorgam, 40621K] Video: HERE reports anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agitators were seen surging and confronting federal agents during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis on Tuesday, as tensions continue to rise in the Twin Cities following the death of Renee Nicole Good last week. Video from the hectic scene shows dozens of agitators stepping into the path of immigration agents’ vehicles, positioning themselves near and in front of them as officers attempted to push through the crowd. Agents could be seen deploying tear gas and pepper spray in an effort to disperse the crowd and carve out an exit route. As the scene unfolded, agitators could be heard chanting anti-fascist slogans, shouting profanities, blowing whistles and honking vehicle horns in what appeared to be an attempt to disrupt the operation and drown out commands from law enforcement. "Day in and day out we will fight the fascists," one young man could be heard shouting while recording the scene on his cellphone. "This is Minneapolis, and we will not lose," he added. Others could be heard encouraging others over bullhorns and congratulating each other for disrupting law enforcement. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [1/14/2026 4:24 PM, Emily Crane, 42219K] reports the screaming woman who was filmed being pulled from her car by ICE agents in Minneapolis has been identified as a tech guru and LGBT and racial justice activist who describes herself as a "friendly neighborhood deniable asset." Aliya Rahman, a software engineer with a lengthy background in coding, has backed policies for police-worn body cameras and also has prior ties to multiple different advocacy groups, including a decade-long history with the Black Lives Matter movement. Rahman was thrown into the spotlight after viral footage showed federal agents breaking her car window and yanking her out on Tuesday after she apparently blocked ICE vehicles during a protest — less than a week after Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot nearby. The driver was caught on camera shouting that she was "disabled" and claimed she "was just trying to get to the doctor" as multiple masked federal agents cuffed her and escorted her away in chaotic scenes.

FOX News [1/14/2026 2:14 PM, Marc Tamasco, 40621K] reports that Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara warned that escalating rhetoric surrounding the fatal ICE-involved shooting of Renee Nicole Good could lead to "yet another tragedy," potentially sparking unrest similar to that following George Floyd’s death in 2020. During a Wednesday appearance on CNN’s "Out Front with Erin Burnett," O’Hara was asked whether he was concerned about President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post telling Minnesotans to "FEAR NOT" because "THE DAY OF RECKONING AND RETRIBUTION IS COMING." "I have been concerned for several weeks about the escalating situation that’s been unfolding on our streets," O’Hara responded. "Hours before this woman was killed, I was telling people very publicly that I was worried a tragedy was going to happen — and that is what has happened." The police chief added that "no one wins when we have a loss of life," warning that the city could face serious consequences if the rhetoric is not toned down. "I’m concerned that the rhetoric keeps escalating, that the tensions keep rising, that we are headed towards yet another tragedy and a potential trigger to what happened here yet again in 2020," O’Hara cautioned. Good, 37, was fatally shot last Wednesday during an ICE operation in south Minneapolis. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), agents were attempting to make arrests when Good allegedly tried to use her vehicle as a weapon against officers, prompting a federal agent to fire in self-defense. O’Hara said the issue is not that ICE is conducting immigration operations in Minnesota, but rather the tactics being used.

NPR [1/14/2026 4:20 PM, Martin Kaste, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports immigration agents are threatening protesters with arrest while protesters are making noise and trying to prevent immigration arrests. The legality of the actions of both sides appears to be in flux.

Free Beacon [1/14/2026 5:00 AM, Jessica Costescu and Chuck Ross, 411K] reports when the Trump administration sent some 2,000 immigration agents to the Twin Cities area, they were met by activists who trailed their movements and harassed them outside their hotels. The activists are members of radical groups that together have received millions of dollars from the Left’s premier foundations and dark money networks, including George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, the Tides Foundation, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a Washington Free Beacon review found. At the center of the unrest is the Sunrise Movement, a left-wing group founded to fight climate change that has since directed its local chapters to fight the Trump administration. For Sunrise Twin Cities, that means tormenting ICE agents on the ground. The group holds in-person "action trainings" on how to "stop ICE & build a revolution." It also maintains a running list of the Twin Cities hotels housing ICE agents and organizes late-night "noise demonstrations" aimed at making it "impossible" for those hotels to operate. Sunrise is bankrolled by a who’s who of deep-pocketed left-wing organizations. Open Society Foundations has sent it $2 million since 2019, according to its grant database. Half of the money supported general "social welfare activities." The Ford Foundation contributed $150,000 in 2024 and $550,000 in 2025, while the MacArthur Foundation—the 12th-largest private charity in America—gave $250,000 in 2024, according to tax filings and grant disclosures. Sunrise says it generally rejects "checks that come with expectations of input on our strategy." It also says donations go to support its local chapters with "materials, housing, technology, food, travel, training expenses, and more.” Sunrise Twin Cities has collaborated with two other local groups to drive anti-ICE demonstrations: Unidos MN and Defend the 612.

FOX News [1/14/2026 9:43 PM, Greg Wehner, 40621K] reports a taxpayer-funded Minnesota charter school moved classes online this week citing safety concerns, while a community organization advised illegal immigrants to stay home amid reported U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity and warned of widespread fear and disruption in the local Myanmar community. Sejong Academy, a public charter school in St. Paul, announced it would move to online learning for the remainder of the week after citing concerns for the "safety and well-being" of its school community, according to a notice posted on its website. "Sejong Academy will proceed with online learning for the remainder of this week (January 14 and 15)," the school’s website read. "Thank you for your continued support and cooperation as we prioritize the safety and well-being of our school community.” The school said students would attend classes remotely Wednesday and Thursday before a previously scheduled day off Friday for staff professional development. The announcement did not specify the nature of the safety concerns prompting the decision. The shift came as Urban Village, a Minnesota-based community organization, released a video and posted statements on Instagram addressing immigration enforcement activity and urging illegal immigrants to remain at home. In the video, a representative of Urban Village said the organization was communicating urgent information "regarding ICE," while another speaker advised people without a green card or proof of citizenship to stay home and avoid opening their doors to people they do not recognize. The video also referenced schools offering online learning options for families concerned about sending children to school. In a separate Instagram post, Urban Village said members of Minnesota’s Myanmar diaspora had been detained by ICE and U.S. Border Patrol and transferred to detention centers outside the state. The organization claimed some detainees were pressured to sign documents waiving legal rights and alleged enforcement actions that may have violated policies or laws, citing information obtained from a public official. Urban Village said it was advising noncitizens and non-green card holders to remain home, avoid driving and limit contact amid what it described as heightened enforcement, adding that the guidance had caused parents to miss work, medical appointments to be skipped and children to miss school and activities. Sejong Academy did not reference immigration enforcement or ICE in its online learning announcement, and it is unclear whether the school coordinated with Urban Village or adjusted operations in response to the organization’s guidance. According to IRS filings reviewed by ProPublica and verified by Fox News Digital, Sejong Academy reported receiving more than $7 million in government grants, underscoring its status as a publicly funded charter school.

USA Today [1/14/2026 2:24 PM, Eduardo Cuevas, 67103K] reports that Federal agents have detained a handful of Native Americans amid the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota. The detention of at least five men in and around Minneapolis has sparked an outcry among Native American groups about Indigenous people being racially profiled as undocumented immigrants by federal immigration agents. Minneapolis is one of the largest urban centers for Native Americans in the United States. "It is deeply offensive and ironic that the first people of this land would be subjected to questions around their citizenship," Jacqueline De Leon, senior staff attorney at the nonprofit Native American Rights Fund and a member of the Isleta Pueblo. "Yet nevertheless, that is exactly what we’re seeing." USA TODAY previously spoke with Native American citizens worried about getting caught at the start of President Donald Trump’s push to apprehend and deport millions of immigrants suspected of being undocumented. The incidents against Native people appear to be increasing. On Jan. 8, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Jose Roberto "Beto" Ramirez, a 20-year-old Red Lake Nation descendant, outside of Minneapolis during a traffic stop his aunt filmed. He was later released and no charges were filed as of Jan. 9, Indian Country Today reported. In a statement, ICE said Ramirez "violently assaulted" an ICE officer during a "high-risk immigration enforcement stop." The investigation is ongoing, ICE said. The same day as Ramirez’s arrest, Oglala Sioux Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out said four tribal members had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The four men were homeless, sleeping under a bridge near the Little Earth housing project, he said in a Jan. 8 Facebook post.

CBS News [1/14/2026 6:10 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux is defending his department’s decision not to release data about officer interactions with ICE. The issue resurfaced after Dallas police rejected a $25 million federal offer last October to assist with immigration enforcement.

Los Angeles Times [1/14/2026 8:37 PM, Sonja Sharp, 14862K] reports a top Trump administration lawyer pressed a federal judge Wednesday to block a newly enacted California law that bans most law enforcement officers in the state from wearing masks, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Tiberius Davis, representing the U.S. Department of Justice, argued at a hearing in Los Angeles that the first-of-its-kind ban on police face coverings could unleash chaos across the country, and potentially land many ICE agents on the wrong side of the law it were allowed to take effect. "Why couldn’t California say every immigration officer needs to wear pink, so it’s super obvious who they are?" Davis told U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder. "The idea that all 50 states can regulate the conduct and uniforms of officers ... flips the Constitution on its head.” The judge appeared skeptical. "Why can’t they perform their duties without a mask? They did that until 2025, did they not?" Snyder said. "How in the world do those who don’t mask manage to operate?". The administration first sued to block the new rules in November, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act and its companion provision, the No Vigilantes Act, into law. Together, The laws bar law enforcement officers from wearing masks and compel them to display identification "while conducting law enforcement operations in the Golden State." Both offenses would be misdemeanors. Federal officials have vowed to defy the new rules, saying they are unconstitutional and put agents in danger. They have also decried an exception in the law for California state peace officers, arguing the carve out is discriminatory. The California Highway Patrol is among those exempted, while city and county agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, must comply. "These were clearly and purposefully targeted at the federal government," Davis told the court Wednesday. "Federal officers face prosecution if they do not comply with California law, but California officers do not.” The hearing comes at a moment of acute public anger at the agency following the fatal shooting of American protester Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis — rage that has latched on to masks as a symbol of perceived lawlessness and impunity. "It’s obvious why these laws are in the public interest," California Department of Justice lawyer Cameron Bell told the court Wednesday. "The state has had to bear the cost of the federal government’s actions. These are very real consequences.” She pointed to declarations from U.S. citizens who believed they were being abducted by criminals when confronted by masked immigration agents, including incidents where local police were called to respond. "I later learned that my mother and sister witnessed the incident and reported to the Los Angeles Police Department that I was kidnapped," Angeleno Andrea Velez said in one such declaration. "Because of my mother’s call, LAPD showed up to the raid.”

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg Law [1/14/2026 6:43 PM, Maia Spoto, 91K]

SFGate [1/14/2026 10:29 AM, Staff, 13945K] reports San Jose will prohibit federal immigration activity at dozens of city properties and vacant lots. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from using 11 city garages and parking lots, as well as the parking areas of 75 community centers and libraries as staging areas or operational bases. The city’s policy comes on the heels of Santa Clara County passing a similar policy to block ICE from using county-owned vacant lots, garages and other spaces for immigration enforcement. The city and county’s plan is part of a spreading, national movement to freeze ICE agents out of certain areas after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an Oct. 6 executive order laying out similar rules. "We are sending a bold and unmistakable message: City property exists to serve our residents, not to facilitate federal actions that undermine community trust or public safety," District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who led the effort, said at the council meeting. "I do want to acknowledge that this policy has yet to be challenged in the court of law, and there are questions about enforcement. That being said, just as we see the executive branch of our federal government expanding beyond its historical role to target our residents, so should we, in order to defend those we love and call our neighbors." Signs stating prohibited use will be posted at all locations, and gates will be installed where appropriate. City employees who become aware of ICE activity will be required to report it to their supervisors.

FOX News [1/14/2026 3:09 PM, Ashley Carnahan, 40621K] reports the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion Tuesday to begin drafting an ordinance that would establish "ICE-free zones" across county-owned and county-controlled properties. Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said in an announcement on her website that the motion she introduced with Chair Hilda Solis directs county counsel to return a draft to the board within 30 days. Her office said the proposal was prompted by a federal immigration enforcement operation carried out in October 2025 at Deane Dana Friendship Park and Nature Center in San Pedro, which temporarily disrupted public access and county operations. If approved, the ordinance would bar the use of county-owned and county-controlled property from being used as staging areas, processing locations or operations bases for unauthorized civil immigration enforcement. It would also require signage on county properties, establish a permit process for civil immigration enforcement activities and specify that criminal law enforcement and valid judicial warrants would still be permitted.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [1/14/2026 1:59 PM, Paris Barraza, 67103K]

Los Angeles Times [1/14/2026 5:59 PM, Gavin J. Quinton, 14862K] reports state and local officials are once again on the defensive after President Trump renewed threats Wednesday to strike federal dollars from "sanctuary" jurisdictions such as California and Los Angeles, which have long opposed cooperation with immigration enforcement agencies. The ultimatum, laid out in an early morning Truth Social post, echoed sweeping statements the president made Tuesday at the Detroit Economic Club, putting billions in funding flagged for healthcare, education and transportation at stake. The U.S. government is supplying $175 billion to California this fiscal year — about a third of the state’s total 2025-26 spending plan, according to state budget records. California Department of Justice officials were quick to point out that courts have repeatedly sided against the president on this matter, most recently in August, when a judge ruled the federal government cannot deny funding to Los Angeles and 30 other cities over policies that limit cooperation on immigration enforcement. But at a December hearing, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel signaled it might overturn the injunction, as judges questioned whether the administration’s latest orders actually require agencies to cut funding in a way that exceeds their authority. A final ruling on the appeal is pending.

The Washington Post [1/14/2026 1:14 PM, Adam Taylor and David Nakamura, 24149K] reports the Trump administration is halting immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries, including Brazil, Iran, Russia and Somalia, the latest effort by officials to restrict legal immigration pathways. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the indefinite pause aims to limit applicants deemed likely to become a “public charge,” a term for someone who relies on government benefits for their basic needs. The order takes effect Jan. 21, and a full list of the countries on the administration’s list has not been released. “The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people,” Pigott said. The State Department has ramped up efforts in recent months to restrict migration, particularly from nations the president has deemed a threat to national security. Last month, the administration expanded a full or partial travel ban on entry to the United States to citizens of 39 countries, a move that came after an Afghan immigrant was charged in the shooting in November of two National Guard members in D.C. The administration also paused all asylum cases processed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, suspended processing of citizenship and green card applications for citizens of the initial 19 countries subject to the travel ban, and suspended all immigration-related requests from Afghan nationals. “This new announcement is effectively an immigration ban on a very significant portion of the world coming to the United States,” said Elora Mukherjee, director of Columbia Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. “While claiming the decision was motivated by public benefits, we’re seeing an administration intent on demolishing nearly all legal pathways for immigrants to come to the United States from countries where people are overwhelmingly Brown and Black.” David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, estimated that the pause on visa processing “will ban nearly half of all legal immigrants to the United States, turning away about 315,000 legal immigrants over the next year.” Fox News Digital first reported the decision, citing a State Department cable explaining the change to consular officers. The order will not affect processing for nonimmigrant visas — a category that include students and tourists — officials said. That means fans seeking temporary entry to the United States to attend World Cup soccer matches this summer are unlikely to be affected, immigration experts said. Trump has long complained that immigrants are a drain on public resources, even though studies show that their labor benefits the U.S. economy. The president has targeted Minnesota amid allegations that day care providers in the state improperly collected millions of federal dollars, with state and federal fraud investigations underway into 14 Minnesota-run safety net programs, including for child nutrition, housing and autism assistance. The AP [1/14/2026 4:09 PM, Matthew Lee, 28013K] reports that the State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become "public charges" in the U.S. The step builds on earlier immigration and travel bans by the administration on nearly 40 countries and is part of President Trump’s ongoing efforts to tighten U.S. entry standards for foreigners. "The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people," the department said in a statement. "Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.” The suspension, which will begin Jan. 21, will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas, or temporary tourist or business visas, who make up the vast majority of visa seekers. Demand for non-immigrant visas is expected to rise dramatically in the coming months and years due to the upcoming 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics both of which the U.S. will host or co-host. A separate notice sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates said that non-immigrant visa applicants should be screened for the possibility that they might seek public benefits in the United States. "With the uncovering of massive public benefits fraud across the United States, the Trump administration is laser-focused on eliminating and preventing fraud in public benefits programs," said the cable that referred specifically to most non-immigrant visa applications and was sent on Monday.

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Daily Caller [1/14/2026 10:51 AM, Reagan Reese, 835K] reports the State Department is freezing all immigration from Somalia after an internal investigation found that the "vast majority of Somali migrants take welfare once present in the United States," the Daily Caller has learned. The freeze is expected to remain in place while the State Department reassesses immigration processing procedures. The effort is meant to "prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would become a public charge on the American people," the State Department shared with the Caller. The State Department will freeze immigration from approximately 75 countries, including Somalia, on Jan. 21. "Under President Trump, we will not allow aliens to abuse America’s immigration system and exploit the generosity of the American people. For years, foreign nationals from Somalia have entered the United States and extracted wealth from the American taxpayer, including by taking welfare at obscene rates," Deputy Principal Spokesperson Tommy Pigott told the Caller. "The Trump administration is exercising the State Department’s long-standing authority to end this abuse of our immigration system," he added. The Somali community, especially in Minnesota, has been under fire following a report that accused some of stealing millions in taxpayer funds through fraud schemes. There are about 80,000 Somalis in Minnesota alone, and a majority are foreign-born, according to the Minnesota Compass. Overall, most of the community lives in the Minneapolis region. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Tuesday that it is ending Temporary Protected Status for Somali nationals living in the United States. DHS also deployed more officers to the Minneapolis region to arrest illegal aliens. Numerous child rapists, murderers and other illegal migrant convicted criminals have been arrested by deportation officers. "Temporary means temporary," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a public statement. "Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status.”

Daily Wire [1/14/2026 4:59 AM, Cameron Arcand, 2494K] reports a new House proposal aims to crack down on abuses of the student visa system, including by imposing tougher penalties on administrators and institutions found responsible for visa fraud. The "Student Visa Integrity Act," introduced by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), would tighten visa expiration dates and require in-person interviews for visa extensions for applicants from countries considered sponsors of terrorism or that are in programs otherwise deemed high national security risks. Under the proposal, students from state sponsors of terrorism, nations with an overstay rate of 10% or higher, or institutions that do not use E-Verify would be limited to a maximum student visa term of two years. "Studying in the United States is a privilege, not a right," Gill told The Daily Wire. "Unfortunately, a system intended to spread the American dream has been abused by fraudsters and bad actors. My bill restores integrity to a system that has been exploited for decades by protecting national security, enforcing immigration law, and ensuring the student visa program serves America’s interests." Gill’s proposal would also require educational institutions and affiliated organizations to disclose any financial links to China. In addition, the bill would set new limits on foreign students wanting to transfer between schools. The bill also empowers the Department of Homeland Security to reject student visa applicants from "countries of concern" if the applicant could pose a future national security risk to the United States. That includes individuals seeking to work in "the energy sector of Iran" or to "participate in coursework or training relating to or otherwise engage in flight training, aviation maintenance, or flight operations.”

AP [1/14/2026 5:53 PM, Tiffany Stanley and Giovanna Dell’orto, 31753K] reports at a time of tightening immigration restrictions, the Department of Homeland Security is attempting to make it easier for visa-holding religious workers to serve their U.S. congregations with less disruption. DHS announced on Wednesday a regulatory change aimed at reducing visa wait times abroad for the foreign nationals many U.S. religious communities depend on to serve as pastors, priests, nuns, imams and rabbis. These religious workers face a yearslong backlog to obtain legal permanent U.S. residency, but congregations can bring them into the country on temporary visas called R-1.

New York Times [1/14/2026 10:20 PM, Jazmine Ulloa, 135475K] reports immigrant rights lawyers on Wednesday urged a federal appeals court in California to affirm a district court’s order that would block the Trump administration from ending temporary deportation protections for about 600,000 Venezuelans in the United States. In oral arguments before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, lawyers representing immigrants who had been covered under the protections said many of their clients had already lost their jobs and businesses as the program, known as Temporary Protected Status, or T.P.S., has been allowed to expire. Hundreds of Venezuelans have been detained and deported, and parents are being separated from their American-born children, the lawyers said. “We absolutely have shown harm in all 50 states,” Ahilan T. Arulanantham, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the panel at the hearing in Pasadena, Calif. Sarah Welch, a lawyer with the Justice Department, urged the appeals court to overturn the district court order. She said the Supreme Court had already made two rare interventions on the issue, both favoring the Trump administration’s decision to end T.P.S. Over the past year, Mr. Trump, long a skeptic of asylum seekers and refugees, has sought to drastically curb the forms of legal immigration, arguing that some petitioners are exploiting the programs and threatening national security. Immigration lawyers and advocates say that the administration is embarking on the largest de-legalization effort in U.S. history as it seeks to expel millions of immigrants from the United States.

Bloomberg News [1/14/2026 8:42 PM, Isaiah Poritz, Andrew Kreighbaum, 91K] reports a panel of Ninth Circuit judges at oral arguments Wednesday appeared bogged down over how to interpret the US Supreme Court’s emergency interventions into a case seeking to stop the Trump administration from stripping legal protections for Venezuelan migrants. The three judges for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit are caught between a fast moving district court judge who has twice ruled against the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end protections for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans and the US Supreme Court, which has twice used its emergency docket to temporarily overturn the district judge.

USA Today [1/14/2026 9:24 AM, Jeanine Santucci, 67103K] reports for the first time in decades, net migration for the United States was likely negative in 2025, and the trend could continue amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement actions, according to a new think tank report. A "significant" drop-off in new entries into the country coupled with an increase in immigration enforcement activity leading to increased removals and voluntary departures contributed to the close to zero or negative net migration, according to a report released Jan. 13 from the Brookings Institution. Net migration for 2025 was estimated in the report to be between -10,000 and -295,000. Negative net migration – when more people leave the country than enter – hasn’t been seen in the United States in at least 50 years, the report said. "For 2026, we project net migration is likely to remain in negative territory," Brookings said, noting that a recent reduction in data transparency makes the estimates more uncertain. "The slowdown implies weaker employment, GDP, and consumer spending growth.” Trump admin policies driving the migration decline, report finds. The sharp drop in migration flows is due to "dramatic" changes in immigration policies under the Trump administration, Brookings said. That includes a suspension of refugee programs and humanitarian parole programs. Trump has also sent federal immigration agents into Democratic-led cities in waves of escalated immigration enforcement actions over the last several months. The increased patrols and immigration sweeps have prompted outcry from protesters and sometimes led to clashes. Most recently, during a surge of agents to Minneapolis, an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a U.S. citizen a week ago.

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FOX News [1/14/2026 7:38 AM, Greg Norman-Diamond, 40621K]

Bloomberg [1/14/2026 1:18 PM, Andrew Kreighbaum, 91K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security is amending rules that have forced foreign religious workers to depart the US when their work visa expires before they can be approved for permanent residency.

Regulations released by the agency Wednesday (RIN 1615-AD02) remove requirements that R-1 workers be present outside the US for one year before re-entering the US after reaching their maximum admission period. The temporary status allows ministers, nuns, and other religious workers to be present in the US for up to five years before extending their status. DHS policies and back logs in a green card category for religious employers... [Editorial note: consult extended commentary at source link]

FOX News [1/14/2026 10:53 AM, Leo Briceno, 40621K] reports Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said a Senate hearing Wednesday will expose how the Biden administration’s Afghan refugee program allowed scores of individuals with alleged terrorist ties to enter the United States — failures he argues put American lives at risk. "I think we’re going to see tomorrow that pro-Hamas groups, pro-terrorist groups actually got money from the Biden administration to shepherd these parolees. It is a scandal. It’s outrageous," Hawley told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. "We’ve got to figure out how many people are here with national security concerns. And I can tell you, I think we’re going to hear testimony tomorrow that there are over 50 folks known in the country with terrorist ties who had hits on terrorist databases and were allowed to come into the country. I mean, over 50," Hawley said. The Senate hearing is titled, "Biden’s Afghan parolee program — a Trojan Horse with flawed vetting and deadly consequences." The hearing comes after an Afghan national shot a pair of National Guard members in Washington, D.C., in November, killing one and leaving the other in critical condition. The attack, which the FBI labeled an act of terrorism, raised questions among Republicans like Hawley about whether the administration had done enough to ensure the United States had screened the people it was attempting to help. According to reporting from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. welcomed 76,000 evacuees during its Operation Allies Welcome in 2021, a directive from Biden to resettle vulnerable Afghans. But other experts believe the number of total refugees goes much higher.

FOX News [1/14/2026 1:38 PM, Staff, 10085K] reports that Customs and Border Patrol senior advisor Ron Vitiello addresses a poll on how Americans feel about I.C.E.’s enforcement of laws during an appearance on ‘Varney & Co.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/14/2026 10:52 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino discussed ongoing operations in Minneapolis Tuesday with Fox News’ Matt Finn. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [1/14/2026 6:02 PM, Claire Rush, 31753K] reports a man shot and wounded by a Border Patrol agent during an immigration stop in Portland, Oregon, last week pleaded not guilty Wednesday to aggravated assault on a federal employee and damaging federal property. Luis David Nino-Moncada’s public defender entered the plea on his behalf during a hearing in U.S. District Court. He was indicted on the charges Tuesday and remains in custody, with a release hearing scheduled for next week. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman set a five-day jury trial for March. The shooting, which came one day after a federal agent shot and killed a driver in Minneapolis, prompted protests over federal agents’ aggressive tactics during immigration enforcement operations. The FBI said in a court filing that it had found no surveillance or other video of the shooting, in which a Border Patrol agent shot and wounded Nino-Moncada and passenger Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras while they were in a pickup truck in the parking lot of a medical complex. The Department of Homeland Security has said the two people entered the U.S. illegally and were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Zambrano-Contreras was previously arrested for prostitution, Day said, and Nino-Moncada was present when a search warrant was served in that case. Border Patrol agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire after Nino-Moncada put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper. Zambrano-Contreras was being held Wednesday at a private immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, according to an online detainee locator system maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She faces a charge of illegal entry into the U.S., which federal prosecutors in Texas filed last week.

USA Today [1/14/2026 11:48 AM, Paris Barraza, 67103K] reports roadway work continues on southbound Interstate 5 at the busy San Ysidro border crossing in south San Diego County after officials previously warned motorists to anticipate delays. The second phase of work at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, involving removing speed humps and installing dividers, has begun, a spokesperson with the U.S. General Services Administration said in an email to the USA TODAY Network. It followed the first phase, which began earlier January, that involved a multi-lane closure of southbound I-5 and an on-ramp closure, according to GSA. The scheduled roadway work is expected to last through the early morning of Jan. 23, according to GSA officials. GSA did not say whether it was still on track to be completed by this time, nor did it respond to a question about whether there is any planned roadwork or construction near or at the San Ysidro Port of Entry following this project. Called the "busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere" by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, San Ysidro processes an average of 70,000 northbound vehicle passengers each day, DHS said last year. Officials warned motorists to expect potential delays amid the roadway work, which is part of a $2.7 million project "designed to enhance safety, security, and efficiency at the port.” However, on Jan. 13 Caltrans District 11 told the USA TODAY Network in an email that they have not seen any significant delays with this current one lane closure — as part of the second phase of roadway work — likely a welcome sign to motorists passing through the border in the coming days. The roadway work involves removing speed bumps near the southbound inspection booths and replacing temporary concrete barriers with permanent dividers, GSA said earlier January.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/14/2026 5:39 PM, Hannah Elsmore, 1538K] reports Santee has received a $7.2 million federal grant to clear fire hazards throughout the San Diego River Corridor. The corridor cuts through the center of Santee, in an area where houses intersect with overgrown vegetation. The city waited more than five years before it was notified it had been awarded the Federal Emergency Management Agency grant they were promised to reduce hazardous fuels in the area. This delayed mitigation efforts despite the city’s desire to move forward, City Manager Wendy Kaserman said. The City Council voted to match the $7.2 million grant in 2019, Kaserman said, but the city did not receive the funding until fall 2025. The clearing project will require collaboration between the city, fire departments, state and federal agencies, as well as property owners.

AP [1/14/2026 9:11 AM, Gabriela Aoun Angueira, 852K] reports nearly 1,000 households displaced by catastrophic wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui are anxiously awaiting word on whether federal assistance helping them stay housed will be left to expire, forcing them to find new housing or pay more for it in one of the tightest and most expensive rental environments in the country. For 2 1/2 years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been key to assisting those residents. But FEMA, facing a broader Trump administration effort to diminish the agency’s role and shift more responsibility to states, is set to choose in the coming weeks whether to end the funding. Advocates say evicting renters and taking away financial assistance will undermine progress toward bringing residents back to Lahaina, the West Maui town that was largely razed by a massive fire on Aug. 8, 2023, and could lead to a new wave of homelessness and more departures from the island. “All of them entering into our already impacted rental market in February scares me a lot,” said Nicole Huguenin, executive director and co-founder of the mutual aid organization Maui Rapid Response. The fires in Lahaina and Kula, in Maui’s upcountry region, destroyed 2,200 structures and killed 102 people. Then-President Joe Biden declared a major disaster, unlocking FEMA assistance to help 12,000 displaced people, 89% of whom were renters at the time of the fires. His administration eventually extended the 18-month program until February 2026. But with few homes rebuilt and rental inventory nearing zero, the state requested another extension in May with a decision due before the end of January. The uncertainty comes against the backdrop of greater upheaval surrounding FEMA’s future role in disaster recovery. President Donald Trump has frequently floated the idea of eliminating the agency, saying he wants states to take on more responsibility handling disasters. If the program expires, all housing-related financial assistance to fire survivors would cease and any units being leased directly through FEMA must be vacated, according to an agency notice. The request is “currently under review,” according to FEMA spokesperson Daniel Llargues. Maui County spokesperson Laksmi Abraham said the county is “working with the state and FEMA toward an extension and is optimistic” it will be granted.

FOX News [1/14/2026 8:42 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports anti-ICE agitators were filmed burning an American flag outside a federal building in California on Tuesday. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [1/14/2026 11:03 AM, Emily Hallas, 1394K] reports one of the Secret Service agents on Vice President JD Vance’s security detail was placed on administrative leave on Tuesday after being accused of leaking sensitive information. The agent was captured on video footage and in text messages published Tuesday by the O’Keefe Media Group telling an undercover journalist about sensitive information related to Vance’s security measures and travel plans. "This incident is under investigation, and the employee involved has been placed on administrative leave with his clearance suspended and access to agency facilities and systems revoked," Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. Quinn said the Secret Service has also issued an order for all personnel to retake the agency’s required anti-espionage training "to ensure employees are aware of the threats posed by individuals aiming to exploit agency employees for information about our protective operations.” The official also issued an apology to the Vance family, saying the agency has "no tolerance for any behavior that could potentially compromise the safety, privacy, or trust of our protectees.” "The U.S. Secret Service deeply apologizes to the Vance family for this violation of their trust and privacy," Quinn said. "The faith our protectees place in this agency is not something the U.S. Secret Service takes lightly, and we are committed to taking the necessary actions to ensure that a similar breach of standards does not occur again.”

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [1/14/2026 2:06 PM, Jasmyn Jordan, 2416K]
Blaze [1/14/2026 9:35 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1442K]

AP [1/14/2026 3:55 PM, Julie Carr Smyth] reports a grand jury indicted the individual accused of vandalizing the Ohio home of Vice President JD Vance and causing other property damage on federal charges Wednesday. The three-count indictment charges William D. DeFoor, 26, of Cincinnati, with damaging government property, engaging in physical violence against any person or property in a restricted building or grounds, and assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers. DeFoor faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the first two charges and up to 20 years on the third. Court records show that separate vandalism, criminal trespass, criminal damaging and obstruction charges initially brought against DeFoor in state court, mostly misdemeanors, were dropped on Friday. Federal prosecutors allege that the Secret Service saw someone run along the front fence of Vance’s residence in Cincinnati’s upscale East Walnut Hills neighborhood just after midnight on Jan. 5 and then breach the property line. The person later identified as DeFoor was armed with a hammer and tried to break out the window of an unmarked Secret Service vehicle on the way up the driveway before moving toward the front of the home and breaking 14 historic window panes, according to a federal affidavit. Damage done to security enhancements around the windows was valued at $28,000, according to the filing. A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that DeFoor must remain incarcerated pending trial.

Wall Street Journal [1/14/2026 1:10 PM, Angus Loten, 646K] reports federal lawmakers next week are expected to revive efforts to renew lapsed cybersecurity legislation aimed at fostering collaboration between Washington and private-sector companies in chasing down state-sponsored hackers. “We’re making a hard push,” Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican, said about extending the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, which provides liability and antitrust protections to companies sharing cyberattack intelligence with the federal government. Garbarino at a congressional hearing Tuesday said House and Senate lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are committed to fully reauthorizing the decade-old legislation, known as CISA, beyond a reprieve passed in November and set to expire at the end of January. Congress failed to approve a long-term extension before last year’s government shutdown in October. The reauthorized cyber legislation would likely be rolled into the federal budget bill, Garbarino said. Efforts to renew the legislation come as the White House seeks to go on the offensive against China, Russia and other cyber adversaries targeting U.S. critical infrastructure. Sean Cairncross, the administration’s national cyber director, last year laid out a framework for a national cyber strategy that pivots from focusing primarily on online defenses to taking the fight directly to adversaries. At an industry event in November, Cairncross said the strategy involved sending a signal to global cyber foes targeting power plants, water-supply systems, hospitals and other essential services “that this behavior is not consequence-free.” Doing that will require a “two-way street” of attack intelligence between the government and private-sector firms, to identify attackers and craft an effective response that deters future attacks, said Joe Lin, co-founder and chief executive of Twenty Technologies, an Arlington, Va.-based firm that builds cyberwarfare software for the U.S. military and intelligence community. Building trust between businesses and federal security agencies is what the initial cyber-sharing act set out to do over a decade ago, Frank Cilluffo, director of Auburn University’s McCary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security, said at Tuesday’s hearing. “Imagine kicking us back a decade, that’s what we’re looking at,” Cilluffo, a former cybersecurity adviser to President George W. Bush on homeland security and counterterrorism, said about the risk to U.S. infrastructure.

Daily Wire [1/14/2026 6:09 AM, Hank Berrien, 2494K] reports that on Tuesday, the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection held a hearing titled, "Defense through Offense: Examining U.S. Cyber Capabilities to Deter and Disrupt Malign Foreign Activity Targeting the Homeland.” Chairman Andy Ogles (R-TN) opened the hearing by declaring that the United States can no longer rely solely on a defensive posture. Citing recent breaches like Salt Typhoon (targeting Congressional staff) and Volt Typhoon (targeting critical infrastructure), Ogles argued that adversaries — primarily China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea — operate with impunity because they face no meaningful consequences. The consensus among the subcommittee and the witnesses was that the U.S. must shift toward a proactive, "industrial-scale" offensive strategy to alter the risk calculus of state-sponsored actors. Joe Lin, the CEO of Twenty Technologies, Inc., provided a blunt assessment: the United States is currently losing the cyber war because it treats offensive operations as "bespoke," elite activities while adversaries operate at "machine speed." Lin called for codifying operator tradecraft into automated software systems. He argued that one operator should be able to manage hundreds of targets simultaneously to match the scale of Chinese campaigns. He emphasized that "patching" alone will never secure critical infrastructure. Deterrence requires the demonstrated ability to impose asymmetric costs upstream before attacks reach U.S. soil.

MeriTalk [1/14/2026 12:15 PM, Weslan Hansen, 22K] reports President Donald Trump renominated Sean Plankey to be the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday, after Plankey failed to receive Senate confirmation by the end of 2025. Trump named Plankey in a batch of more than 60 nominations sent to the Senate. However, it is unclear whether Plankey will be able to overcome hurdles coming from both sides of the aisle to be confirmed as CISA director. Trump first nominated Plankey in March 2025 to lead CISA, and he had a confirmation hearing by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in July. The committee approved his nomination on a 9-6 vote that same month. Though the committee approved him, that process was slowed after Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., stated he would place a hold on the nomination because of CISA’s refusal to publicly release a 2022 report on telecom sector security. The nominee has also faced pushback from three Republican senators, who refused to move forward with Plankey’s confirmation for different reasons. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., said he would not move forward over cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) disaster relief for his state. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., put forward a statement on Friday that he would block all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nominations until Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., reportedly also placed a hold on Plankey after the Department of Homeland Security terminated a U.S. Coast Guard contract with a shipyard in Florida.

CyberScoop [1/14/2026 3:25 PM, Derek B. Johnson, 122K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is finalizing plans for a new body that would replace the functions of the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC) and serve as a communications hub between industry and government to discuss ongoing threats to U.S. critical infrastructure, including from cyber attacks. Under previous administrations, CIPAC served as a nerve center for federal agencies, industry and other stakeholders. While industry widely praised its utility, the council was one of many DHS advisory bodies that were shuttered last year by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem when President Donald Trump returned to office. Now, according to multiple sources, a proposed regulation for a new replacement council is in the final stages of review and approval from Noem’s office. The new body will be called the Alliance of National Councils for Homeland Operational Resilience, or “ANCHOR,” and will also serve as an umbrella organization for other federal sector risk management agencies. Its goal is to restart conversations and planning around infrastructure security that took place under the previous CIPAC, according to a former DHS official. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the administration’s plans, said all 15 federal sector coordinating councils have been briefed on ANCHOR. One of the primary differences between CIPAC and ANCHOR will be in structural authorities and liability protections.

CyberScoop [1/14/2026 10:22 AM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports Microsoft announced Wednesday that it worked with international law enforcement to seize infrastructure used to run cybercrime subscription service RedVDS and organized civil actions in the United States and United Kingdom to disrupt its further use. RedVDS has enabled at least $40 million in fraud losses in the U.S. since March 2025, according to Microsoft. Victims that are joining Microsoft as co-plaintiffs in the civil action include Alabama-based H2 Pharma, a pharmaceutical company that lost more than $7.3 million, and Florida-based Gatehouse Dock Condominium Association, which was tricked out of nearly $500,000. “For as little as US $24 a month, RedVDS provides criminals with access to disposable virtual computers that make fraud cheap, scalable and difficult to trace,” Steven Masada, assistant general counsel at Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, said in a blog post. “It provides access to cheap, effective, and disposable virtual computers running unlicensed software, including Windows, allowing criminals to operate quickly, anonymously and across borders.” Microsoft said a joint operation with Europol and authorities in Germany allowed it to seize RedVDS’s infrastructure and take the marketplace offline. Cybercriminals used the site, which included a loyalty program and referral bonuses for customers, to send high-volume phishing attacks, host infrastructure for scams and facilitate fraud such as business email compromise.

HS Today [1/14/2026 6:40 AM, Staff, 38K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has announced the retirement of ten Emergency Directives issued between 2019-2024. Marking a significant milestone in federal cybersecurity, this is the highest number of Emergency Directives retired by the agency at one time. These directives achieved their mission to mitigate urgent and imminent risks to Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies. Since their issuance, CISA has partnered closely with federal agencies to drive remediation, embed best practices and overcome systemic challenges – establishing a stronger, more resilient digital infrastructure for a more secure America. By statute, CISA issues Emergency Directives to rapidly mitigate emerging threats and to minimize the impact by limiting directives to the shortest time possible. Following a comprehensive review of all active directives, CISA determined that required actions have been successfully implemented or are now encompassed through Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01, Reducing the Significant Risk of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities. “As the operational lead for federal cybersecurity, CISA leverages its authorities to strengthen federal systems and defend against unacceptable risks, especially those related to hostile nation-state actors. When the threat landscape demands it, CISA mandates swift, decisive action by Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies and continues to issue directives as needed to drive timely cyber risk reduction across federal enterprise,” said CISA Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala. “The closure of these ten Emergency Directives reflects CISA’s commitment to operational collaboration across the federal enterprise. Every day, CISA’s exceptional team works collaboratively with partners to eliminate persistent access, counter emerging threats, and deliver real-time mitigation guidance. Looking ahead, CISA continues to advance Secure by Design principles – prioritizing transparency, configurability, and interoperability - so every organization can better defend their diverse environments.” Emergency Directives tied to specific Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) have been retired because those vulnerabilities are now included in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. These directives include EDs 2002, 2003, 2004, 2102, 2103, 2104, and 2203. For EDs 1901, 2101, and 2402, CISA determined that their objectives were achieved, requirements no longer align with the current risk posture, and changes in practices have rendered the directives obsolete.

FOX News [1/14/2026 10:59 AM, Brooke Singman, 40621K] reports U.S. intelligence officials prevented more than 10,000 individuals with ties to narco-terrorism from entering the country in 2025 and placed more than 85,000 similarly tied individuals on the terror watchlist, Fox News Digital has learned. Officials told Fox News Digital that intelligence was collected and passed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to law enforcement partners in the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to block their access to the United States. "President Trump gave the order to secure the homeland, and ODNI’s National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) delivered," Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Fox News Digital. "In 2025, intelligence shared by our team to federal, state and local partners stopped more than 10,000 persons with connections to terrorism from accessing our country.” Gabbard told Fox News Digital that "thousands of successful actions against cartels and gangs are driven by intelligence from the National Counterterrorism Center, whose integrated intelligence, analysis, and timely response to terrorist threats have directly led to the apprehension and removal of thousands of criminals from U.S. soil.” "Thanks to President Trump for his commitment to securing our nation, and thanks to the men and women of NCTC for their vigilance and dedication to keeping the American people safe," Gabbard said. A senior counterterrorism official told Fox News Digital that President Donald Trump’s move to designate cartels as terrorist organizations allowed counterterrorism officials to "leverage the tools of the intelligence community.” The official said that as a result of the intelligence provided by the National Counterterrorism Center, more than 10,000 terror-linked cartel or gang members were denied access to the U.S. in 2025. "Denied access" can come in the form of visa revocations, arrests, deportations or investigations, according to the official. The National Counterterrorism Center also added more than 85,000 new identities to the terrorist database, which directly informs the FBI’s Terror Watchlist and is shared with local law enforcement across the country.

Politico [1/14/2026 5:59 PM, Hailey Fuchs, 2100K] reports House Republicans used the first hearing of the new committee to investigate the Capitol attacks on Jan 6, 2021, to explore the Biden-era investigation into the pipe bombs left at the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters the day before riots — and relitigate conspiracy theories and grievances. It illustrated how Republicans plan to use their new select subcommittee and how far apart the two parties remain five years later in their accounts of the day a violent mob stormed the Capitol to contest the results of the 2020 presidential election. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), the chair of the new GOP-led panel, questioned why it took nearly half a decade for law enforcement to identify a suspect in the pipe bombs case, when the Trump Justice Department apprehended the alleged perpetrator, Brian Cole, late last year. “How is it that the Biden-Wray FBI was able to flawlessly execute a cellular dragnet to capture the information and eventually apprehend those trespassing at the Capitol, but failed to exercise the same investigative technique into the pipe bomber,” Loudermilk said, referring to President Joe Biden and his FBI chief, Christopher Wray. “How is it that the [Democratic]-controlled select committee to investigate January 6th managed to write a final report in which they cover more than 700 pages and 8 chapters without ever mentioning the pipe bombs until an appendix in the back of the report?,” Loudermilk added. Michael Romano, the former deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Capitol Siege Section called to testify by the Democrats, said the pipe bombs investigation was particularly difficult, given the “needle-in-a-haystack nature of the evidence.”

NPR [1/14/2026 9:07 PM, Jason Breslow, 28013K] reports Republicans in the Senate have blocked a war powers resolution that would have required President Trump to secure authorization from Congress before launching any further military operations in Venezuela. The resolution’s defeat came less than a week after five Republicans broke ranks with their party and joined Democrats on a procedural vote to advance the measure -- a rare rebuke for President Trump from within the GOP. The initial vote was an immediate response to the surprise operation earlier this month that led to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Those votes drew a furious response from President Trump, who called for the Republican defectors to lose their seats in Congress. By Wednesday, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was able to flip two of those five Republican votes against the measure. The final vote was 51 to 50, with Vice President JD Vance brought in to break a tie. The resolution was blocked with the support of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Todd Young, R-Ind., two of the five Republicans who had sided earlier with Democrats. Speaking to reporters, Hawley said his concerns about U.S. intervention in Venezuela had been alleviated by speaking with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. For his part, Young said he changed his mind after receiving assurances from senior national security officials "that there are no American troops in Venezuela." "I’ve also received a commitment that if President Trump were to determine American forces are needed in major military operations in Venezuela, the Administration will come to Congress in advance to ask for an authorization of force," Young said in a statement.

Breitbart [1/15/2026 12:30 AM, Staff, 2416K] reports Vice President JD Vance was needed Wednesday to vote in the Senate for the Republicans to quash a Democratic effort to rein in President Donald Trump’s ability to launch military action against Venezuela. Vance cast the deciding vote to break the 50-50 tie in a point of order to bar Senate Joint Resolution 98 from advancing to final consideration. The resolution appeared to have bipartisan promise, with five Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues in supporting the measure last week, but Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Todd Young, R-Ind., changed their positions in the decisive motion following a pressure campaign from President Donald Trump. "Senate Republicans continually fall in line behind Donald Trump, no matter how reckless, no matter how unconstitutional, no matter the potential cost of American lives," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a press conference following the vote. "What has happened tonight is a road map to another endless war because this Senate under Republican leadership failed to assert its legitimate and needed authority.” The bill was introduced in early December by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., amid a U.S. military buildup near Venezuela and as the Trump administration was attacking alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, a move that heightened concerns about the president’s ability to attack the South American country without congressional approval. As the bill was pending, Trump ordered a clandestine military operation earlier this month that resulted in the seizure of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro. Despite Maduro’s ouster, concerns over further U.S. military action in Venezuela remain, along with uncertainty over the Trump administration’s plans for the country. "The White House put a full-court press on unlike any I’ve sen in 13 years here to stop a public debate about war," Kaine said. "If they were that righteous about the justness of this cause or the validity of their legal rationale, they wouldn’t be afraid of public debate.” On Jan. 8, the resolution cleared an initial procedural vote 52-47, with five Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues. Following the initial vote, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to call for the senators’ ouster. "Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America," Trump said.

CBS News [1/14/2026 8:25 PM, Will Croxton, 39474K] reports there’s a new development in the yearslong international mystery over Havana Syndrome: The U.S. has obtained and has been testing a device that officials believe could be linked to the debilitating condition. Sources said the device was quietly obtained by the Department of Homeland Security in late 2024, almost a decade after symptoms of what became known as Havana Syndrome were first reported by U.S. embassy personnel in Cuba. The Pentagon has since been testing the portable, backpack-sized device, which emits pulsed, radio-frequency energy and contains components of Russian origin. The sources said Homeland Security investigators believe it may be capable of reproducing the effects described by victims of Havana Syndrome. The Pentagon and DHS did not immediately reply to requests for comment, and the CIA declined to comment. Here’s what to know about the mysterious illness. The term Havana Syndrome is derived from the cases first reported by U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers in Cuba’s capital. After the U.S. embassy opened there in 2015, media outlets started reporting on strange medical symptoms affecting U.S. embassy personnel working in the country: dizziness, fatigue, memory problems and impaired vision. Other symptom include nausea, migraines, head pressure, vertigo and ringing or popping sensations in the ears. Many people with Havana Syndrome describe hearing an intensely high-pitched, painful sound that appeared to subside when they moved to another location, with effects so severe for some that they were ultimately forced to leave their jobs. "My brain is broken," former CIA analyst Erika Stith told CBS News in 2022. "We got this as a result of serving our country. And we deserve to be taken care of," she said. The U.S. government refers to the cases as "anomalous health incidents," or AHIs, and officials have not confirmed what caused them. But "60 Minutes" has spoken with experts who believe the incidents involve targeted sonic or microwave attacks. Many of those affected believe that they were wounded by a secret weapon that fires a high-energy beam of microwaves or ultrasound. Some Havana Syndrome victims have spent more than a decade trying to draw attention to their cases, often faulting the government for failing to provide enough support or access to specialized medical care. More than 1,500 U.S. officials have reported experiencing the condition since 2016, including White House staff, CIA officers, FBI agents, military officers and their families. Cases have emerged in dozens of countries, and have even been reported in Washington, D.C. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [1/14/2026 7:25 PM, Ian Duncan and David J. Lynch, 24149K] reports President Donald Trump capped a long-running investigation into American dependence on imported computer chips Wednesday by imposing a far narrower set of tariffs than the sweeping levies the White House threatened to introduce on the vital technology last year. The move reflects the delicate line the administration has been walking on chips as it tries to stoke the booming domestic artificial intelligence sector that depends on chips manufactured abroad, mostly in Taiwan. In an order Wednesday putting the tariffs into place, Trump noted that the United States faces a national security risk in manufacturing so few chips at home. But the administration has opened the door to more advanced chips made abroad by U.S. companies Nvidia and AMD being sold to its chief AI rival, China. In its announcement Wednesday, the government is imposing a new 25 percent tariff on what the White House called “a very narrow category of semiconductors,” including models made by Nvidia and AMD. The tax will apply only to chips imported into the United States but ultimately bound for customers overseas. In December, the president said he would allow Nvidia, the leading AI chipmaker, to export some of its less powerful chips to China. The tariff order Trump signed Wednesday, along with rules governing those exports finalized this week, will enable the government to take a cut of those sales. “We’re allowing them to do it, but the United States is getting 25 percent of the chips in terms of the dollar value, and I think it’s a very good deal,” Trump said Wednesday. The president’s announcement establishes an unusual arrangement that distinguishes between imported semiconductors designed for domestic use and those set to be reexported to other nations, notably including China.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [1/15/2026 3:38 AM, Ram Nabong, 36480K]

Reuters [1/14/2026 6:26 PM, Ernest Scheyder and Kanishka Singh, 36480K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had opted for now against imposing tariffs on rare earths, lithium and other critical minerals, and instead ordered his administration to seek supplies from international trading partners. The move defers a decision on duties that could further roil the U.S. economy, especially while the Supreme Court is deliberating the legality of Trump’s tariffs. By acknowledging the country is far from being self-reliant for its critical minerals needs, though, it may rankle the domestic mining sector. Trump ordered U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to "enter into negotiations with trading partners to adjust the imports of (critical minerals) so that such imports will not threaten to impair the national security of the United States.” The negotiations, Trump said, should promote the use of price floors for critical minerals, a step long sought by Western miners and policymakers. G7 finance ministers and those from other major economies like Australia met in Washington earlier this week to discuss such a step, for example. If Greer and Lutnick’s negotiations are not successful, Trump said he would consider setting minimum import prices for critical minerals or "may take other measures," without elaborating. Trump is essentially agreeing to a recommendation by Lutnick, who last April launched a national security review under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and in October submitted his findings to the president.

New York Times [1/14/2026 6:41 PM, Ana Swanson and Tripp Mickle, 135475K] reports President Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday to impose a 25 percent tariff on a narrow list of foreign semiconductors, providing a way for the government to earn revenue off the sale of lucrative chips used in artificial intelligence. The tariff, which would take effect Thursday, is far more limited than what the president initially threatened. Last year, the administration began an investigation aimed at encouraging tech companies and chip makers to buy semiconductors made in America. But instead of approving sweeping tariffs that would affect the industry, Wednesday’s announcement showed the administration has settled for narrower levies that allow it to take a cut of artificial intelligence chips sold to China. A document released by the White House said a 25 percent tariff would be put on A.I. chips made by companies like Nvidia and AMD that are imported into the United States and then re-exported to other countries. The tariff would not apply to semiconductors that are brought into the country to be used domestically in data centers or in products for American consumers, industry or the government. But it would allow the U.S. government to collect revenue from the sale of A.I. chips to China, an idea Mr. Trump proposed last year. The president may still impose broader tariffs on semiconductor imports and products containing them in the near future, the White House said, including a program that would provide tariff relief for companies that manufacture chips domestically. For now, though, the arrangement will very likely be welcomed by major chip companies that have lobbied fiercely to limit the scope of any tariffs. Most chip companies manufacture the bulk of their products in Taiwan or East Asia, where many of the world’s electronics are made, and ship them into the United States only if they are to be used domestically. Mr. Trump threatened last August to impose a 100 percent tariff on foreign semiconductors unless manufacturers committed to invest in the United States. But chip tariffs had the potential to rankle foreign governments, as well as many of the tech companies that have grown close with the president. The administration has been particularly cautious of disrupting a trade truce that it reached last year with China, a major manufacturer of semiconductors. The announcement on Wednesday avoided any such impacts, while also allowing Mr. Trump to realize his plans to take a 25 percent cut of the revenue that Nvidia, the A.I. chip giant, will make from selling advanced chips to China.

AP [1/14/2026 1:53 PM, Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker, 14862K] reports FBI agents searched a Washington Post reporter’s home on Wednesday as part of a leak investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of taking home classified information, the Justice Department said. Hannah Natanson, who has been covering President Donald Trump’s transformation of the federal government, had a phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch seized in the search of her Virginia home, the Post reported. Natanson has reported extensively on the federal workforce and recently published a piece describing how she gained hundreds of new sources — leading one colleague to call her “the federal government whisperer.” While classified documents investigations aren’t unusual, the search of a reporter’s home marks an escalation in the government’s efforts to crack down on leaks. The Post was told that Natanson and the newspaper are not targets of the probe, executive editor Matt Murray said in an email to colleagues. “Nonetheless, this extraordinary, aggressive action is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work,” Murray wrote. “The Washington Post has a long history of zealous support for robust press freedoms. The entire institution stands by those freedoms and our work.” Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the search was done at the request of the Defense Department and that the journalist was “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.” “Leaking classified information puts America’s national security and the safety of our military heroes in serious jeopardy,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X. “President Trump has zero tolerance for it and will continue to aggressively crack down on these illegal acts moving forward.” The warrant says the search was related to an investigation into a system engineer and information technology specialist for a government contractor in Maryland who authorities allege took home classified materials, the Post reported. The worker, Aurelio Perez-Lugones, was charged earlier this month with unlawful retention of national defense information, according to court papers. He has not been charged with sharing classified information, and he has not been accused in court papers with leaking. Perez-Lugones, who held a top secret security clearance, is accused of printing classified and sensitive reports at work. In a search of his Maryland home and car this month, authorities found documents marked “SECRET,” including one in a lunchbox, according to court papers. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday. The Washington Post said Wednesday that it was monitoring and reviewing the situation. An email seeking comment was sent to lawyers for Perez-Lugones, who is expected to appear in court on Thursday for a detention hearing. First Amendment groups expressed alarm at the search, saying it could chill investigative journalism that holds government officials to account.

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Wall Street Journal [1/14/2026 1:48 PM, Sadie Gurman and Alexandra Bruell, 646K]
New York Post [1/14/2026 10:34 AM, Josh Christenson and Emily Goodin, 42219K]
CBS News [1/14/2026 4:47 PM, Sarah N. Lynch, 39474K]
NewsMax [1/14/2026 10:58 AM, Mark Swanson, 4109K]

AP [1/15/2026 12:10 AM, Regina Garcia Cano and Megan Janetsky, 30493K] reports President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month. Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country. "She’s a very nice woman," Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. "I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.” The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations. Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his "America First" policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week. Trump said Wednesday that he had a "great conversation" with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted. "We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things," Trump told reporters. "And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.” In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government. Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that "it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Breitbart [1/14/2026 7:21 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had held a "long call" with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, the first known contact between the two leaders since the ouster of Nicolas Maduro. "We just had a great conversation today, and she’s a terrific person," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He later said on social media that he and Rodriguez had discussed "many topics," including oil, minerals, trade and national security. "We are making tremendous progress," Trump said. After Maduro’s capture in a deadly US special forces operation on January 3, Trump said he was content to let his former deputy Rodriguez take over — as long as she gave the United States access to Venezuelan oil. He has suggested the United States could maintain oversight of the Caribbean country for years. Rodriguez has been walking a diplomatic tightrope, trying to meet Trump’s demands without alienating Maduro loyalists, who control Venezuela’s security forces and feared paramilitaries. Writing on Telegram, she described her call with the US leader as "productive and courteous" and characterized by "mutual respect.” The 56-year-old added that she and Trump, 79, had discussed a "bilateral work agenda for the benefit of our people, as well as outstanding issues in relations between our governments.” Earlier, she said at her first press conference as interim president that Venezuela was entering a "new political era" marked by greater tolerance for "ideological and political diversity.” Under pressure from Washington, Venezuela has released dozens of political prisoners in the past week, but kept hundreds still behind bars. Rodriguez claimed a total of 406 political prisoners had been released since December in a process that "has not yet concluded.”

NBC News [1/14/2026 7:41 PM, Sahil Kapur, Brennan Leach and Frank Thorp V, 182K] reports the Senate voted 51-50 on Wednesday to effectively block a resolution that would have prevented President Donald Trump from using military force in Venezuela without congressional approval after Trump flipped two Republican votes in recent days. Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Todd Young, R-Ind., voted last week to advance the resolution to require Trump to seek prior approval from Congress to strike Venezuela. But after Trump attacked and pressured them, they flipped their positions and voted with most Senate Republicans to remove "privilege" under the resolution, all but sinking it in the chamber. The vote broke 50-50, and Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote to scuttle the war powers resolution. Voting to move forward with the resolution Wednesday were the 47 Democratic members plus Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine. The measure, led by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., initially advanced 52-47 last week and appeared on track to pass. The vote is another reminder of the skittishness among Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill about crossing Trump as he threatens further action in Venezuela and dials up his rhetoric and threats against Iran and Greenland. Last week, Trump trashed the five Republicans who voted to advance the resolution, saying they “should never be elected to office again.” Hawley said he changed his mind after he received a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who assured him that there are no U.S. ground troops in Venezuela and that if the administration sought to put them there, “they would come to Congress for congressional authorization.” In a statement, Young said: “After numerous conversations with senior national security officials, I have received assurances that there are no American troops in Venezuela. I’ve also received a commitment that if President Trump were to determine American forces are needed in major military operations in Venezuela, the Administration will come to Congress in advance to ask for an authorization of force.”

NBC News [1/14/2026 5:00 AM, Daniella Silva and Alicia Victoria Lozano, 34509K] reports Jhovanny, a 44-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker in Chicago, looked on in shock and hope as news reverberated around the world of the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro. Even though Maduro now sits in a jail in New York City, Jhovanny still lies awake at night, fearing that he’ll be forced to return to a country in turmoil. Multiple Venezuelan migrants and asylum-seekers told NBC News that as long as the current regime is in power, even with Maduro gone, the country is far too dangerous and unstable for them to return. "It’s something extreme and dangerous for those of us abroad, because we are targets of the paramilitaries, we are targets of the regime," said Jhovanny, who asked that his last name not be used out of fear for his immigration case in the U.S. and of fear for his safety in Venezuela. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have come to the U.S. in recent years, fleeing political repression and economic crisis, seeking asylum or other legal protection, including Temporary Protected Status. In addition to having an open asylum case, Jhovanny was a TPS beneficiary. He said he is fleeing political persecution.

NBC News [1/14/2026 6:32 AM, Abigail Williams, 34509K] reports multiple American citizens who were detained in Venezuela have been released, the State Department said Wednesday — the first to be freed since the U.S. military’s stunning nighttime raid to capture President Nicolás Maduro. The move was welcomed by a State Department official who said it was “an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities.” However, the official declined to say how many had been freed or identify those released. The news comes six days after the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, said that a “significant number” of prisoners, both foreign and Venezuelan, would be released as a gesture to “seek peace” following the capture of Maduro in the early hours of Jan. 3. Rodríguez is the brother of Venezuela’s President Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president before the American attack. Maduro was taken to the U.S. to face drug charges at a New York court. Before the releases began, rights groups said more than 800 political prisoners were being held.

Miami Herald [1/14/2026 2:33 PM, Syra Ortiz Blanes, 5023K] reports that the Trump administration is publishing contrasting information about on-the-ground conditions in Venezuela, raising questions about how different agencies are making policy decisions towards Venezuela and its nationals in the U.S., as well as American travelers. The Department of Homeland Security, when ending Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela in February 2025, said that while some conditions for the deportation protections continue, there have been "notable improvements" in sectors like the economy, public health and crime. That made it possible for Venezuelans "to be safely returned." But in a recent security alert on Jan. 10, the State Department urged any Americans to depart Venezuela immediately. It emphasized reports that pro-regime groups were stopping people for evidence of U.S. citizenship or U.S. support and highlighted the risk of wrongful detention, torture in detention, kidnapping, crime, poor health infrastructure and civil unrest. The safety alert from the State Department comes days after the United States bombed military installations in Caracas and snatched Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. It also comes as uncertainty around Venezuela’s political future has renewed calls in the U.S. to restore TPS for the over half-a-million Venezuelans residing in the U.S. who lost the protections. A spokesperson for the State Department said that "the Trump administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas." Meanwhile, Tricia McLaughlin at DHS said "there is no discrepancy here.

Wall Street Journal [1/14/2026 7:54 PM, Ryan Dubé, 646K] reports in the days after Nicolás Maduro’s removal from power, senior figures in Venezuela’s ruling circle began signaling a thaw with Washington. On Wednesday, the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, said 400 political prisoners would be released. Days before, the notoriously anti-American interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, announced support for restarting diplomatic relations with the U.S. And the leader of the rubber-stamp Congress openly called for gestures of peace toward the U.S. “The message is very clear,” said Rodríguez during the political-prisoners announcement. “Venezuela is entering a new political moment that allows for understanding despite differences.” Venezuela’s regime remains intact since Maduro was swept out of office by U.S. commandos in a nighttime raid on Jan. 3. But the regime is doing its best to adapt to the new political reality in the face of a mix of threats and overtures from President Trump, who has praised the country’s new leader. “She’s a terrific person,” Trump said Wednesday from the White House, describing his impressions of Rodríguez after a conversation. “She’s somebody that we’ve worked with very well.” In a social-media post later, Trump said he discussed oil, minerals, trade and national security with Rodríguez. “This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one FOR ALL,” he wrote. “Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!” From Venezuela, Rodríguez called the conversation “courteous” and “within a framework of mutual respect.” She added: “We addressed a bilateral work agenda for the benefit of our peoples, as well as pending matters between our governments.” There is a strange, new dynamic that has descended on Venezuela less than two weeks after Maduro was ousted. On the one hand, the country’s leadership has toned down attacks on the U.S., long a favorite punching bag for Venezuela’s Socialist officials, who long characterized the U.S. as “The Empire” intent on seizing the homeland’s resources. At the same time, the message to supporters at home remains much as it has always been—with officials casting themselves as anti-imperialists.

New York Times [1/14/2026 12:00 PM, Max Bearak and Annie Correal, 135475K] reports Max Bearak was in a taxi leaving El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, when he got the call. It had been just two days since the U.S. military swooped into Venezuela and captured its president, and just one day since President Trump, aboard Air Force One, implied to reporters that Colombia’s leader, Gustavo Petro, could be next. Mr. Petro was a “sick man” involved in drug trafficking, Mr. Trump said, without evidence. And as for military action against Colombia? “Sounds good,” he added. The call was from one of Mr. Petro’s closest aides. “Mr. President wants to speak with The Times,” the aide said. “He wants to clarify some things.” A president requesting an interview, rather the other way around, is rare. It is an even rarer opportunity to be able to sit with a head of state who has just been called out by the U.S. president. Mr. Petro and Mr. Trump, who had never spoken before, had spent much of the past year butting heads, mostly on social media, on topics ranging from deportations and U.S. boat strikes to Gaza and climate change. Little did we know how unusual the next 72 hours would be. Unusual is a word well-suited to Mr. Petro. He is a former Marxist guerrilla leading a staunchly religious country whose citizens are exhausted by decades of armed conflict. Nearly all his predecessors could be called conservatives, both in dogma and style, and the white linen guayaberas he often wears are a stark contrast to a longstanding protocol of cashmere sweaters and slacks. We were instructed to be in the seaside city of Cartagena as early as possible the next day, where the interview was to take place on a naval base. Once there, with little time to prepare, we were asked to set up our chairs, lights and cameras on a large balcony attached to a mess hall. Under swaying coconut palms, we wilted for eight hours as the sun crossed the sky and as Mr. Petro delayed and delayed the interview. Sweat stains mottled our shirts. While we waited, we checked our phones, watching his foreign minister declare the armed forces would respond if attacked, and as he posted more than a dozen ideology-laden screeds on X. In one post, he wrote that Mr. Trump’s attacks against him were symptomatic of a “senile brain.” In others, he referred to the “jaguar” that had been awakened in the heart of the Latin American people by U.S. imperialism.

NewsMax [1/14/2026 10:43 PM, James Morley III, 4109K] reports multiple NATO countries are deploying troops to Greenland following failed negotiations among the United States, Denmark, and Greenland. The move underscored rising tensions over security in the Arctic and President Donald Trump’s renewed push for U.S. control of the strategically located island. Sweden confirmed Wednesday that it is sending military personnel to Greenland at Denmark’s request as part of a broader allied presence. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the deployment is tied to a Danish-led exercise. "Several officers from the Swedish Armed Forces are arriving in Greenland today. They are part of a group from several allied countries," Kristersson said in a post on X. "Together, they will prepare for upcoming elements within the framework of the Danish exercise Operation Arctic Endurance. "It is at Denmark’s request that Sweden is sending personnel from the Armed Forces. Germany’s Defense Ministry also confirmed it will send 13 soldiers to Greenland, while France said it would contribute troops as well. The deployments follow a high-level meeting in Washington between U.S., Danish, and Greenlandic officials that ended without agreement. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen rejected Trump’s push to acquire Greenland, calling it unacceptable to both Denmark and Greenland. Rasmussen said Denmark remains committed to cooperation with the United States and NATO on Arctic security but drew a firm line on sovereignty.

AP [1/15/2026 4:57 AM, Emma Burrows, Claudia Ciobanu and Daniel Niemann, 31753K] reports troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, Norway and Sweden, are arriving in Greenland to help boost the Arctic island’s security after talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. on Wednesday highlighted “fundamental disagreement” between the Trump administration and European allies. “The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 French soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise. Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, its Defense Ministry said. Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland, with NATO allies joining them, just as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers met with White House representatives on Wednesday in Washington to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s intentions to take over the island in order to tap its mineral resources and protect the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest. On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”

Washington Examiner [1/14/2026 8:52 AM, Emily Hallas, 1394K] reports President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Greenland is "vital" for the Golden Dome missile defense system, reiterating arguments that U.S. possession of Denmark’s territory is critical for national security. The president also urged NATO to support Greenland’s acquisition on the basis that it will boost the alliance’s defense capabilities against Russia and China. His statement came just hours ahead of a meeting Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are holding at the White House with Denmark and Greenland’s top diplomats. "The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security," Trump said in a post to Truth Social. "It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Militarily, without the vast power of the United States, much of which I built during my first term, and am now bringing to a new and even higher level, NATO would not be an effective force or deterrent – Not even close! They know that, and so do I. NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES," he added. "Anything less than that is unacceptable.” Trump has attracted sweeping condemnation from authorities presiding over Denmark and Greenland over his hopes to either purchase Greenland or take it over with military force. The meeting on Wednesday between Vance and Rubio, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, will seek to advance discussions and smooth over tensions. The president has refused to back away from his position on the Danish territory, frequently citing its strategic location in the Arctic. Trump’s most recent comments, stating the island is essential for the cutting-edge missile defense system the U.S. is building, come after he called last week for a 50% increase in U.S. defense spending to produce "an unparalleled Military Force." If successful, the move would set military spending at $1.5 trillion in 2027. Some of those funds would go to advance the Golden Dome system, which is meant to intercept threats from reaching the U.S., and comes with a hefty price tag.

Washington Post [1/14/2026 5:53 PM, Adam Taylor and Michael Birnbaum, 24149K] reports Denmark’s foreign minister said there had been a “frank but also constructive” conversation with the Trump administration during a high-stakes White House meeting about the fate of Greenland on Wednesday, but that the two sides had come to no agreement about President Donald Trump’s demands to “own” the Arctic territory. “We still have a fundamental disagreement,” said Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the top Danish diplomat, speaking alongside his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, outside the Danish Embassy in Washington. “We didn’t manage to change the American position.” The White House meeting, which was hosted by Vice President JD Vance, did see the two sides agree to form a “high-level working group” to discuss Trump’s concerns about Greenland, Rasmussen said. The White House and State Department did not immediately provide their own readout of the meeting, which was also attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump told reporters after the meeting that he had not yet been briefed on the talks, but said that the United States had a good relationship with Denmark and he thought something would work out. “The problem is there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland, but there’s everything we can do,” he said in the Oval Office.

Washington Times [1/14/2026 7:33 AM, Tom Howell Jr, 852K] reports NATO needs the U.S. to take control of Greenland to be an effective deterrent to China and Russia, and anything less is “unacceptable,” President Trump said Wednesday. Mr. Trump aimed his comment, posted on Truth Social, at European leaders who say Denmark, a NATO member, must maintain control of Greenland. “Militarily, without the vast power of the United States, much of which I built during my first term, and am now bringing to a new and even higher level, NATO would not be an effective force or deterrent — Not even close!” Mr. Trump said. “They know that, and so do I.” Mr. Trump has pushed for the annexation of Greenland for years. His bold raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro put Greenland back in the spotlight. The U.S. president is making aggressive moves in the Western Hemisphere as part of his “Don-roe Doctrine.” Mr. Trump says Greenland is vital to national security and his plans to build a Golden Dome, a system designed to protect America from ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles launched by enemies. “NATO should be leading the way for us to get [Greenland]. IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!” Mr. Trump said in his post. Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt and her Danish counterpart, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, are scheduled to meet with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday to discuss Mr. Trump’s demands.

AP [1/14/2026 1:39 PM, Sara Cline and Jack Brook, 31753K] reports while President Donald Trump says he will take action on Greenland whether its people “ like it or not, " his newly handpicked U.S. special envoy is setting off on his own approach. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, appointed in December, has said he is not interested in meeting diplomats. The Republican has not visited the Arctic island but plans to attend a dogsled race there in March. He has suggested Greenlanders would feel right at home in Louisiana, saying he heard they like to hunt, fish and “have a good time.” As Trump threatens seizing control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, Landry has brought his thick Cajun accent and reputation for confrontational politics to the American effort to acquire the world’s largest island, elevating his national profile on a mission that has showcased his ties to the president and rattled partners in the military alliance. Landry’s debut has not escaped Denmark’s attention. The Danish ambassador to the United States pushed back on Sunday when Landry posted on X that the U.S. had protected Greenland during World War II “when Denmark couldn’t.”

Daily Caller [1/14/2026 2:38 PM, Melissa O’Rourke, 835K] report that the Trump administration on Wednesday announced the launch of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, seeking to shore up the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said the new phase transitions Gaza from a temporary truce toward demilitarization, technocratic governance, and long-term reconstruction. A central component of the second stage is the establishment of a transitional Palestinian governing body in Gaza, called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). "The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations," Witkoff wrote in a post on X, warning that failure to do so would result in "serious consequences." Trump’s Gaza peace framework was signed in October and approved by the United Nations (UN) Security Council in November. The first phase established a ceasefire, called for the release of living and deceased hostages, facilitated a limited Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdrawal from Gaza City, and expanded humanitarian aid. While Witkoff offered few specifics, the second phase is expected to center on the disarmament of Hamas, additional withdrawals of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and the creation of an International Stabilization Force composed of foreign troops tasked with maintaining order in Gaza, according to the UN. The administration has not yet announced which countries will contribute to the stabilization force.

FOX News [1/14/2026 8:35 PM, Ashley J. DiMella, 40621K] reports the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a security alert Wednesday reminding personnel and Americans in Israel of the embassy’s standard advice. The alert follows weeks of mass street protests in Iran against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime, heightening global tensions. "Given ongoing regional tensions, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem continues to reiterate standard advice to its personnel and all U.S. citizens in Israel to exercise good personal security and preparedness practices," the alert says. Officials encourage Americans to review travel plans "in case of disruptions" and to make "appropriate decisions for themselves and their families. "Crises can happen unexpectedly while traveling or living abroad, and a good plan helps you think through potential scenarios and determine in advance the best course of action.” Officials say the U.S. Mission posture, staffing and operations remain unchanged, with consular services continuing as normal. Iran issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) alert late Wednesday, closing airspace to all flights except international flights with prior permission from the country. Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Qatar issued a public notice telling citizens they can receive alerts and relevant updates from the Embassy in Qatar via WhatsApp. The U.S. Virtual Embassy Iran told American citizens who are still in the country to leave immediately on Tuesday. "Leave Iran now. Have a plan for departing Iran that does not rely on U.S. government help," the U.S. Virtual Embassy Iran said on its website, suggesting land crossings into Armenia or Turkey if it is "safe to do so.” "If you cannot leave, find a secure location within your residence or another safe building. Have a supply of food, water, medications and other essential items," it added.

Reuters [1/14/2026 9:47 AM, Rachna Uppal, 36480K] reports the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday joined a U.S.-led initiative to secure AI and semiconductor supply chains, dubbed Pax Silica, further strengthening economic ties with the United States. The programme is a key pillar of the Trump administration’s economic statecraft strategy to reduce dependence on rival nations and strengthen cooperation among allied partners. The group also includes Australia, Britain, Israel, Japan, Qatar, Singapore and South Korea. "Ultimately we want to focus on the arteries of the supply chain, primarily logistics, the muscle of the supply chain, via industrial capacity, and the fuel of the supply chain, primarily capital and energy," U.S. Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg told Reuters. "And we view the UAE as a comprehensive partner that can make meaningful and important contributions in all three of those areas.” Helberg invited the UAE on behalf of President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to a ministerial level meeting on critical minerals in Washington next month, which he said would include a "large group" of countries.

CNN [1/14/2026 11:49 AM, Mostafa Salem, Jeremy Diamond, and Gul Tuysuz, 18595K] reports some personnel at the United States’ largest military base in the Middle East have been urged to leave, a US official told CNN on Wednesday, as regional nations press the Trump administration to reconsider taking military action against Iran. The US official described the directive to some personnel to leave al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar as a "precaution," given current tension in the region. The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia also advised its personnel to "exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel to any military installations in the region" and urged citizens to maintain a "personal safety plan.” Meanwhile, anxiety is spreading across Iran’s neighbors. Those countries fear that an attack could destabilize the region and have far-reaching consequences, prompting them to speak to the Trump administration to air their concerns. Arab and Turkish officials have significantly intensified diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran this week, sources told CNN. "Any military escalation will have consequences for the wider region, including its security and economy," a regional official with knowledge of the matter told CNN on Wednesday.

ABC News [1/14/2026 9:33 AM, Staff, 30493K] reports Former U.K. national security official and ABC News contributor Steve Hill discusses new warnings from the Iranian government. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/14/2026 11:05 AM, Greg Norman-Diamond, 40621K] reports despite President Donald Trump’s warnings, Iran’s chief justice called for fast trials and executions of suspects detained in the ongoing anti-government demonstrations, a report said Wednesday. The remarks from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei come as the death toll in the protests has risen to at least 2,571, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said. Other reports say the death toll is more than 3,000, with the real number likely to be even higher. "If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly," Mohseni-Ejei said in a video shared by Iranian state television, according to The Associated Press. "If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect. If we want to do something, we have to do that fast." Trump warned Iran about executions in an interview with CBS News that aired on Tuesday. "We will take very strong action," Trump said. "If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action.” "We don’t want to see what’s happening in Iran happen. And you know, if they want to have protests, that’s one thing, when they start killing thousands of people, and now you’re telling me about hanging — we’ll see how that works out for them. It’s not going to work out good," the president added. Trump also vowed on Tuesday that those responsible for killing anti-regime demonstrators will "pay a big price."

FOX Business [1/14/2026 7:08 PM, Sophia Compton, 10085K] reports Chinese authorities have reportedly instructed domestic companies to halt the use of cybersecurity software from over a dozen U.S. and Israeli firms, citing national security concerns. Beijing officials warned that the software could collect sensitive data and transmit it overseas, Reuters reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The directive targets American companies including VMware, Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet, along with Israeli companies such as Check Point Software Technologies, two sources told Reuters. A third source said the software of Mandiant and Wiz, owned by Alphabet, was banned, in addition to U.S. companies CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Recorded Future, McAfee, Claroty and Rapid7, according to Reuters. Israeli cybersecurity company CyberArk was also included, along with fellow Israeli firms Orca Security and Cato Networks. Imperva, owned by French defense company Thales, was also on the list, Reuters reported. As China and the West continue to clash over Beijing’s push to expand its chip and AI industries, China has been keen on replacing Western-made technology with its own alternatives. The U.S. and China are also preparing for a visit by President Donald Trump to Beijing in April, according to Reuters.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [1/14/2026 10:55 AM, Staff, 36480K] Video: HERE

Reuters [1/14/2026 3:46 PM, Alexandra Alper, 36480K] reports that U.S. lawmakers and former officials on Wednesday questioned President Donald Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia to sell its second most powerful AI chips in China, arguing the move erodes America’s AI edge and threatens to electrify Beijing’s military. The Trump administration on Tuesday gave a formal green light to China-bound sales of Nvidia’s NVDA.OH200 chips, putting in place a rule that will likely kick-start shipments of the H200 despite deep concerns among China hawks in Washington. Matt Pottinger, who served as a senior White House Asia advisor during Trump’s first term, told a congressional hearing that the administration is on the "wrong track" on AI and that its decision to allow the chip sales will damage its goal of winning the AI race. Selling H200s to China "will supercharge Beijing’s military modernization, enhancing capabilities in everything from nuclear weapons to cyber warfare, autonomous drones, biological warfare and intelligence and influence operations," he said. "Congress needs to put guardrails in place so that this mistake can’t be repeated," he added. Some Republican lawmakers echoed his concerns, without explicitly condemning the policy change. "You cannot sell military-grade AI technology to China," Michael McCaul said, without referencing H200s specifically. "They steal so much intellectual property from this country but we don’t have to sell it to them." National security fears around Beijing’s access to American AI chips had prompted the Biden administration to bar sales of the prized semiconductors to China.

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