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 New York Times [1/16/2026 9:15 PM, Mitch Smith, 135475K] reports a federal judge in Minnesota imposed restrictions on the actions of immigration agents toward protesters in the state on Friday, a decision that comes after weeks of mounting tension between demonstrators and federal officers. Judge Kate M. Menendez ordered agents not to retaliate against people “engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity,” and not to use pepper spray or other “crowd dispersal tools” in retaliation for protected speech. The judge also said agents could not stop or detain protesters in vehicles who were not “forcibly obstructing or interfering with” agents. The ruling, which granted a preliminary injunction, stems from a lawsuit brought by activists who said agents had violated their rights. The suit was filed before an immigration agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Ms. Good, 37, had partially blocked a roadway where agents were working and did not follow commands to get out of her S.U.V. As she began to drive, an agent near the front of her car opened fire. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement responding to the injunction that “D.H.S. is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.” She said agents had faced assaults, had fireworks launched at them and had the tires of their vehicles slashed. She added that despite “grave threats,” agents had “followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public and federal property.” Ms. McLaughlin did not say whether the department planned to appeal the ruling. Minnesota residents have clashed with federal agents since late 2025, when the federal government began an immigration enforcement campaign that it named Operation Metro Surge. Judge Menendez’s order applies only to federal agents in Minnesota who are participating in that campaign. Judge Menendez, who was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., clarified in her order that “the court’s injunction does nothing to prevent defendants from continuing to enforce immigration laws.” The injunction did not include explicit protections for recording of agents or other provisions sought by the plaintiffs. The case is the latest in a series of legal challenges across the country, including in California, Illinois and Washington, D.C., where civil and immigrant rights organizations have sought to curb the tactics of federal agents. In Illinois, where immigration agents amassed for several weeks last year, a federal judge issued a sweeping injunction that placed several limits on how agents could use force and interact with protesters. An appellate court later blocked that ruling, calling it too broad and too prescriptive. NBC News [1/17/2026 12:11 AM, Dennis Romero, 34509K] reports that the lawsuit names as defendants Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; as well as multiple other officials and agencies under the department. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that officers and agents have displayed restraint amid what she characterized as riotous protests. "Rioters and terrorists have assaulted law enforcement, launched fireworks at them, slashed the tires of their vehicles, and vandalized federal property." McLaughlin defended the law enforcement personnel, stating they have "followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.” Politico [1/16/2026 10:42 PM, Kyle Cheney, Hassan Ali Kanu, and Josh Gerstein, 13586K] reports that in a statement, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said: “This absurd ruling embraces a dishonest, left-wing narrative. Here’s the truth: federal agents have acted lawfully to protect themselves and ensure the integrity of their operations when individuals attempt to intervene. The Trump Administration will always enforce the law.” The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the Trump administration may seek to immediately appeal the decision. It has recently surged more than 2,000 Homeland Security officials in Minnesota to conduct deportation operations and pursue claims of fraud by members of Minneapolis’ prominent Somali community. Reuters [1/17/2026 12:29 AM, Brad Brooks, Nate Raymond, and Daniel Trotta, 36480K] reports that the 83-page order explicitly prohibits federal officers from detaining people who are peacefully protesting or merely observing the officers, unless there is reasonable suspicion that they are interfering with law enforcement or have committed a crime. Federal agents also are banned from using pepper spray, tear gas or other crowd-control munitions against peaceful demonstrators or bystanders observing and recording the immigration enforcement operations, the judge ruled. Menendez wrote that the government, in defending the street tactics of its immigration officers, had failed to "explain why it is necessary for them to arrest and use force against peaceful observers." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, one of the federal officials named in the lawsuit, said after the shooting that Good had been "stalking and impeding" ICE agents all day and had committed an act of "domestic terrorism" by trying to run over federal officers. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and local activists disputed Noem’s account, saying Good posed no physical threat to ICE agents. They pointed to video clips of the incident they said showed that Good was trying to drive her car away from officers and that the use of lethal force against her was unjustified. The Wall Street Journal [1/16/2026 11:02 PM, Sadie Gurman, John McCormick, and Joseph Pisani, 646K] reports that Friday’s court order, issued by U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, stems from a lawsuit filed last month by a group of protesters accusing immigration-enforcement officers of violating their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and against unreasonable search and seizure by law enforcement. Besides barring federal agents from detaining or using crowd-dispersal tools against peaceful protesters, including those that are observing the activities of immigration agents, the order blocks agents from stopping drivers unless they are interfering with immigration enforcement actions. It also blocks agents from retaliating against peaceful protesters and observers. “Plaintiffs allege they have been subject to a variety of retaliatory behavior by Defendants, including traffic stops, arrests, the indiscriminate use of chemical irritants, and pointing of firearms,” said Menendez, a Biden appointee. “These kinds of conduct are those that undoubtedly give rise to an objective chill of First Amendment rights.” Minnesota separately sued the Trump administration earlier this week, arguing that ICE’s operations violate the state’s residual sovereignty under the 10th Amendment. A judge has yet to rule on that lawsuit.

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The New York Times [1/16/2026 9:15 PM, Glenn Thrush, Alan Feuer, Devlin Barrett, and Jonah E. Bromwich, 135475K] reports the Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation into elected Democrats in Minnesota, a major escalation in the fight between the federal government and local officials over the aggressive immigration crackdown underway in the city, according to a senior law enforcement official familiar with the matter. The investigation would focus on allegations that Gov. Tim Walz and Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, had conspired to impede thousands of federal agents who have been sent to the city since last month. Last week, one of those agents killed a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good. It remained unclear what investigative steps have been taken. The senior law enforcement official said subpoenas had yet to be issued, but could be in the days to come. Both Mr. Walz and Mr. Frey responded with combative statements on Friday night, denouncing what they said was a weaponized use of law enforcement power and promising to stand firm in the face of the administration’s efforts. “Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic,” Mr. Walz said in a statement released by his office, which said it had not yet received notice of an investigation. “The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.” Mr. Frey described the investigation as an “obvious attempt to intimidate” him, but vowed it would not work. “America depends on leaders that use integrity and the rule of the law as the guideposts for governance,” he said. “Neither our city nor our country will succumb to this fear. We stand rock solid.” The Washington Post [1/16/2026 6:08 PM, Perry Stein, 24149K] reports that the subpoenas, which are without recent precedent, escalate an already bitter political battle between the Trump administration and state officials following the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by an immigration officer last week. That shooting happened amid a surge of federal immigration officers in the state ordered by President Donald Trump. One of the people familiar with the case confirmed that the plan was to serve the subpoenas Friday. Walz and Frey have claimed they have been wrongly excluded from the investigation into the killing and have publicly said they fear that the Justice Department is not conducting a fair and robust probe. In turn, Trump administration officials have said that Minnesota’s Democratic leaders are corrupt and can’t be trusted to handle an investigation. The subpoenas suggest that the Justice Department is examining whether Walz’s and Frey’s public statements disparaging the surge of officers and federal actions have amounted to criminal interference in law enforcement work. The law under which they are investigating the two officials, a federal statute on conspiracy to impede a federal investigation, is similar to the charges filed against protesters whom federal officials allege have attempted to block immigration officers as they do their work. CNN [1/16/2026 8:26 PM, Kaitlan Collins, Hannah Rabinowitz and Elizabeth Wolfe, 606K] reports President Donald Trump and his administration have been critical of state and local officials’ response to unrest in Minnesota over the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, with the president suggesting he might invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to the city to quell any violence. The investigation, though, represents an escalation of the rhetoric, threatening possible criminal consequences for the two Democratic leaders. Both Walz and Frey have openly rebuked the surge of federal activity in Minneapolis, with Frey delivering a public message for federal agents to "get the f**k out of Minneapolis.” Walz did not confirm the investigation to CNN but in a statement accused the federal government of "weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents," which he called a "dangerous, authoritarian tactic.” NewsMax [1/16/2026 6:20 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that Frey and Walz need to get their city under control. Noem accused the two Democrats of encouraging assaults on federal law enforcement — felonies. Noem has argued their rhetoric helped perpetuate violence directed at federal officers by undermining trust in law enforcement and emboldening protesters.

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Washington Post [1/17/2026 6:00 AM, Patrick Marley and Yasmeen Abutaleb, 24149K] reports President Donald Trump’s Justice Department crossed a new threshold with its criminal investigation of top Democratic elected officials in Minnesota, targeting vocal critics during a moment of crisis in which protesters and federal agents are clashing on icy city streets. The Twin Cities have been a tinderbox for more than a week since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a woman in her vehicle, with residents confronting ICE agents. Trump has raised the prospect of sending U.S. troops into the state, and the Justice Department escalated tensions Friday as it prepared to send subpoenas to Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, two of Minnesota’s highest-profile Democrats. The pair have loudly disparaged ICE’s presence in the state and the way Trump and his administration have defended the officer and sidelined state officials in an investigation into the shooting. The subpoenas the Justice Department is preparing to send suggest the agency is looking at whether Walz’s and Frey’s public statements about the administration’s actions amount to illegal interference with law enforcement. The administration has pursued numerous other Democrats and perceived adversaries, fulfilling Trump’s promises to prosecute his foes. However, the administration had not taken such forceful action against elected officeholders at a volatile moment when public safety was at issue — until now. To Trump’s allies, the latest investigation should serve as a warning to critics who they argue are inflaming matters with their rhetoric. Former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon said he believes Walz and Frey hit Trump’s “trip wire” with their heated comments and expects “intense prosecution.” “Walz and Frey should listen when the president says, ‘No games,’” he said.

Breitbart [1/16/2026 12:51 PM, Neil Munro, 2416K] reports Democratic Gov. Tim Walz may be complicit in Minnesota’s massive migrant-run fraud and corruption, according to Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem. "We believe that he didn’t just know about it, that he may be complicit in it as well," Noem told a gaggle of reporters at the White House on Thursday. She said: We are there in surge operations because of the largest fraud scheme in American history. We had people stealing from taxpayers, stealing funds away from the most vulnerable individuals in this country, people who needed mental health services, developmental services, autism daycare. Instead, individuals came in — much from the Somalian community — and stole dollars from those people who needed it, and put it in their own pockets and enriched themselves. Did it right under Governor Walz’s nose and we believe that he didn’t just know about it, that he may be complicit in it as well. Noem’s dramatic statement was ignored by establishment reporters, who declined to ask her if Walz is likely to face corruption indictments. The next questioners, for example, asked: "Do you believe there are any cases in Minnesota where the ICE agents have gone too far?" and "Secretary Noem, are you okay with federal agents and officers violating people’s Fourth Amendment rights by asking for papers without reasonable suspicion?"

New York Times [1/17/2026 12:19 AM, Jazmine Ulloa, 135475K] reports President Trump appeared to back down on Friday from his threat to send military forces into Minneapolis. But Democratic officials and activists told members of Congress that it felt as though they were already living under a military occupation. Convoys of agents from federal immigration agencies have swarmed the city in the first two weeks of 2026, spreading fear and violating constitutional rights, officials said in testimony at an unofficial hearing in the Minnesota Senate Building. They accused the Trump administration of profiling residents of color, ripping apart immigrant families and wrongfully detaining U.S. citizens as part of a campaign of political retribution. “There is no modern precedent for this level of federal overreach,” Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who represents Minneapolis, told a panel of more than two dozen fellow Democratic members of Congress, describing the actions as violent and lawless. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, called the claims of racial profiling a “disgusting charge.” “A person’s immigration status makes them a target for enforcement, not their skin color, race or ethnicity,” she said in a statement on Friday.

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Washington Examiner [1/16/2026 4:28 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 1394K]

FOX News [1/16/2026 12:17 PM, Rachel Wolf, 40621K] reports several Republican lawmakers are looking to talk President Donald Trump out of invoking the Insurrection Act in Minneapolis as the city sees demonstrations over the fatal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-involved shooting of Renee Nicole Good. The Insurrection Act, which was passed in 1807, was last invoked in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots over the acquittal of LAPD officers involved in the beating of Rodney King. If invoked, the Insurrection Act would allow Trump to deploy active-duty troops or federalized National Guard members to restore order. It would temporarily override the Posse Comitatus Act, which normally restricts the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. There are some Republican lawmakers who are resistant to the idea of the president invoking the centuries-old law in the wake of the fatal shooting of Good. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., seemed to downplay Trump’s threat, placing his hope in local law enforcement’s ability to "settle things down.” "Hopefully the local officials working with not only the federal law enforcement, ICE and other agencies, but also the local law enforcement officials will be able to settle things down," Thune told reporters. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., cast doubt on whether it would be appropriate to invoke the act, according to The Hill. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., also expressed her concerns about the move, saying that the administration needs to be "very careful," The Hill reported. "I have felt that since the fatal shooting [of Good] a week or so ago that we needed to be very, very careful, very cautious in how we proceed, not only in Minnesota but in other areas, to keep the conflict, the potential for conflict as it relates to ICE enforcement dialed back," Murkowski said, according to The Hill.

NewsMax [1/16/2026 11:45 AM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4109K] reports that tech billionaire Elon Musk called on President Donald Trump to deploy U.S. military forces domestically, posting on X as protests continued in Minneapolis over ongoing federal immigration raids. "Time to invoke the Insurrection Act," Musk wrote in response to a post by another account that outlined the 218-year-old law’s purpose and uses. "Look I just described Minnesota," Insurrection Barbie said after providing examples of the rebellions and uprisings the law was designed to quash. Musk’s comment came as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents continued high-visibility operations in and around Minneapolis, drawing nightly demonstrations and clashes near the downtown federal building. Tensions have flared between protesters and federal authorities since Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent earlier this month, becoming a flashpoint for the current unrest. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has criticized the federal buildup, and state lawyers have explored court challenges to the deployment. The Insurrection Act is one of the few statutes that allow a president to use active-duty troops for domestic law enforcement.

NewsMax [1/16/2026 7:10 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K] reports President Donald Trump has the authority under the Insurrection Act to deploy federal troops domestically under certain conditions, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday. Paxton told Newsmax’s "The Chris Salcedo Show" that Trump "certainly has the right" to invoke the Insurrection Act in situations where "there’s domestic violence, if there’s armed conflict with a state or with people in that state that the state refuses to put down.” He also said the provision could apply if a state government fails to act in the face of violence or lawlessness or if actions occur against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. Former presidents George H.W. Bush, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy all invoked the Insurrection Act, Paxton said. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson also invoked the Insurrection Act. "It’s been used when there’s out-of-control states who aren’t enforcing state and federal laws," Paxton said. Trump threatened Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops amid protests in Minneapolis over federal immigration enforcement.

CNN [1/16/2026 12:14 PM, Giana Asterito, 18595K] reports as tensions flare in Minneapolis between federal agents and protesters, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin defended the controversial tactics federal agents are using in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX Business [1/16/2026 12:28 PM, Staff, 10085K] reports DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss escalating violence in Minnesota, sanctuary city policies blocking ICE arrests and growing calls for federal action. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/16/2026 4:11 PM, Sophia Compton, 40621K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday released photos of four alleged agitators who were arrested during ongoing protests outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis. In a post on X, ICE said the arrests occurred Thursday after the men refused repeated orders to disperse. Authorities said the four individuals were taken into custody and booked on federal charges. The arrests were made during overnight protests, resulting in 12 people being taken into custody for assaulting law enforcement officers, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It was not immediately clear whether the four men highlighted by ICE were among the 12 individuals arrested overnight. Protests continued Friday, with crowds again gathering outside the Whipple Federal Building, according to local outlet FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. The ongoing unrest follows two recent ICE-related shootings in Minneapolis.

FOX News [1/16/2026 8:37 PM, Jasmine Baehr , Bill Melugin , Olivia Palombo, 40621K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday announced the arrest of what it called the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal immigrants during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, including a man with 24 criminal convictions. The agency blasted state and local leaders for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. DHS said the arrests show the results of ICE enforcement operations in sanctuary jurisdictions, contrasting the agency’s actions with what it described as the refusal of Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to honor ICE detainers. That policy, DHS claims, has resulted in hundreds of criminal illegal aliens being released back into local Minnesota communities. "As our law enforcement are facing rampant violence against them, they arrested murderers, drug traffickers and an illegal with 24 criminal convictions in Minneapolis," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "These are the criminals Governor [Tim] Walz and Mayor [Jacob] Frey are protecting. No American wants these criminals for neighbors.” DHS said the arrests were made as part of Operation Metro Surge, a targeted enforcement effort focused on removing criminal illegal aliens from Minnesota neighborhoods. The department said the operation prioritizes offenders with serious criminal histories, including violent crimes. According to DHS, criminals arrested in the state during the operation include Hien Quoc Thai, a Vietnamese national who was previously convicted of murder. Brian Anjain from the Marshall Islands has 24 criminal convictions, including assault causing bodily injury, domestic abuse, public nudity, theft, interference with official acts, public intoxication and trespassing, DHS said. Eddy Xol-Lares of Venezuela was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while aboard a vessel. Those arrested also include criminal illegal immigrants from Guatemala, Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, South Africa and Romania, according to DHS. DHS said the operation also resulted in the arrests of people convicted of crimes including domestic violence, assault, fraud, identity theft, forgery, restraining order violations, property damage and multiple drunken driving offenses, with several facing prior charges involving kidnapping, robbery with deadly weapons, gun possession and narcotics offenses. The department claims that since President Donald Trump took office, nearly 470 criminal illegal immigrants have been released back into Minnesota communities due to sanctuary-style policies. DHS also said it is urging Walz and Frey to honor ICE detainers for more than 1,360 aliens, including violent criminals currently in custody, arguing that cooperation would improve public safety. Additional information about those arrested nationwide is available through the agency’s public-facing database at wow.dhs.gov, which tracks enforcement actions involving serious offenders.

CBS News [1/16/2026 4:09 PM, Patrick Maguire, 39474K] reports Senate Homeland Security Committee Democrats are urging the panel’s chairman, Sen. Rand Paul, to convene oversight hearings and call Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House border czar Tom Homan to testify, after the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Good’s fatal shooting on Jan. 7 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has sparked days of protests and heated clashes with federal officers, and it’s prompted renewed scrutiny of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics. In a letter first obtained by CBS News, Democrats on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, led by ranking member Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, called on Paul, a Kentucky senator, to use the panel’s authority to hold hearings and potentially issue subpoenas to senior administration officials. In addition to Noem and Homan, the lawmakers said ICE acting director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino should be called before the committee. The senators said the deployment of federal agents has occurred "without appropriate coordination with state and local law enforcement." They also accused federal officers of engaging in "numerous operations involving excessive uses of force," including in the case of Good’s killing. Democrats say Good’s killing is part of a broader pattern. They catalogued incidents beyond Minnesota, alleging federal agents appear to have used excessive force in firing pepper balls at peaceful protesters, detaining U.S. citizens during immigration raids — despite proof of citizenship — and deploying tear gas and pepper balls against journalists covering demonstrations. The lawmakers also expressed concern about agents conducting operations while masked and their use of unmarked vehicles, both practices they say have fueled fear and confusion in communities. The senators accuse DHS leadership of failing to fairly and transparently investigate such incidents. They faulted Noem for claiming publicly that "no American citizens have been arrested or detained," despite lawsuits, rulings and reporting that indicate otherwise, and for stating in the immediate aftermath of Good’s killing that she had committed an act of domestic terrorism.

FOX News [1/16/2026 9:19 AM, Michael Dorgan, 40621K] reports Renee Nicole Good, the woman fatally shot by a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer last week, was found with four gunshot wounds, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported, citing a fire department incident report. Good, 37, suffered two gunshot wounds to the right side of her chest, one to her left forearm and one "with protruding tissue on the left side of the patient’s head," according to the report by the Minneapolis Fire Department. Blood was also flowing from her left ear, the report said. Initial reports indicated Good had been shot three times during the Jan. 7 incident. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the ICE officer fired in self-defense after Good used her Honda Pilot SUV in a way that posed a threat. DHS said video showed Good interfering with ICE officers by parking her vehicle in the roadway in an apparent attempt to block federal vehicles. The ICE officer suffered internal bleeding to his torso when he was struck by her vehicle, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday. The extent of the bleeding was not immediately clear.

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CNN [1/16/2026 3:28 PM, Karina Tsui, 18595K] reports after Renee Good was shot last week by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis, the mother of three was "unresponsive, not breathing, with inconsistent, irregular, thready pulse activity," an incident report from the city’s fire department says. "I saw … an ICE officer fire two shots through her windshield into the driver," a caller to 911 reported soon after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot Good, according to scores of emergency call transcripts CNN also got from Minneapolis officials. "She tried to drive away but crashed into the nearest vehicle that was parked," the caller said. "I saw blood all over the driver, then the partner who was trying to provide assistance." Good, whose killing has spurred days of protests in Minneapolis and far beyond against the White House’s nationwide immigration enforcement crackdown, had blood on her face and torso when an emergency responder found her in the driver’s seat of her SUV minutes after the January 7 shooting, the incident report says. President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal officials have accused Good of trying to use her vehicle to kill or harm ICE agents in what Noem has called an "act of domestic terrorism." Another call to 911 came from a man who said he was calling on behalf of federal Homeland Security officers on the scene, according to the transcripts. "We had officers stuck in a vehicle and we had agitators on scene. And we have shots fired by our locals," he said, requesting emergency services and local law enforcement. He did not have a description of the shooter and was getting his information from a local joint operation command center, he said. FOX News [1/16/2026 10:02 PM, Olivia Palombo, 40621K] reports that the 911 call transcripts consisted of 17 pages of calls made out of the area in the moments after Good was shot and offered a profane, splintered glimpse into eyewitness accounts. Calls began shortly after 9:38 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 7, and according to the reports, there were "[multiple] voices yelling [and] screaming in the background.” "I saw (inaudible) an ICE officer [fire] two shots through her windshield into the driver. She tried to drive away but crashed into the nearest vehicle that was parked," said a caller, according to the transcripts. "[Her] partner was out of the vehicle, ran to help. [I] a vehicle as well and I saw blood all over the river and then the partner who was trying to provide assistance.” The operator questioned the caller if she was near Good, and she detailed that she was across the street and said ICE made her move away from the incident. Another caller described their account of the moment agents shot at Good’s vehicle. "They just shot a lady. Point-blank range in her car," described the caller. "They shot her, like, [be]cause she wouldn’t open her car door.” The same caller mentioned someone on scene was recording a video and captured the moment Good was shot. In the hours after the shooting, multiple videos of the incident began circulating online. Another caller in the transcript appeared to be calling on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The caller requested emergency assistance and relaying messages from agents on the scene, according to the transcript. The caller reported, "officers stuck in a vehicle," "agitators on scene," and "shots fired by our locals." The operator asked for a description of the shooter and the caller replied, "I don’t have any of that stuff, we’re just trying to get assistance.” According to the police report, the fire department began giving "medical aid" at 9:45 a.m. after arriving on scene. The report also detailed a crowd was beginning to form in the area and requested "crowd control and [the] area blocked off.” The Wall Street Journal [1/16/2026 7:33 PM, Jennifer Calfas, 646K] reports that a little more than a week after an ICE agent shot Good in Minneapolis, Minn., the city released 911 call logs, a fire department incident report and other documents detailing the emergency response to the fatal shooting. The documents provide more details on the Jan. 7 encounter captured by bystanders in widely shared videos that show agents approaching Good’s car while it is stopped in the middle of the road, then ICE agent Jonathan Ross firing into the car as the vehicle moved forward. The Trump administration and local leaders have described the fatal shooting with stark differences. The Trump administration has accused Good of trying to use her vehicle as a weapon, with the ICE agent shooting in self-defense. Minneapolis leaders have disagreed, saying the ICE agent acted in a reckless manner. Emergency responders found Good unresponsive with two apparent gunshot wounds to her right chest, an apparent gunshot wound in her forearm and a possible gunshot wound in her head, according to a Minneapolis Fire Department incident report released by the city. Responders tried to resuscitate her with chest compressions and transferred her to a hospital, according to the report. They stopped their attempts to resuscitate her at around 10:30 a.m. local time, the report said. Multiple people who witnessed the shooting called 911, according to call transcripts released by the city

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Reuters [1/16/2026 3:45 PM, Brad Brooks, Joseph Ax and Renee Hickman, 36480K]

CNN [1/17/2026 3:00 AM, Zoe Sottile, Alisha Ebrahimji, Karina Tsui, 18595K] reports emergency call logs and reports detailing last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Good by a federal immigration officer reveal a greater sense of the organizational chaos and heightened emotion surrounding her final moments. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents "just shot a lady," one 911 caller said soon after the agent shot Good in her vehicle on January 7, according to emergency call transcripts CNN obtained from Minneapolis officials. "Point blank range in her car.” With the help of eyewitnesses, some of whom recorded both the shooting and protests that followed, along with the newly released reports from officials, here’s a timeline of how the shooting unfolded: Video from ICE agent’s perspective shows moments leading up to shooting. The moments leading up to the shooting were captured by bystanders as well as Jonathan Ross, the 10-year ICE veteran who shot and killed Good, a 37-year-old mother of three. A senior Department of Homeland Security official told CNN Ross started filming the encounter – which came amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities – because Good and her wife were harassing officers. The video shot by Ross starts with the ICE agent in front of Good’s burgundy SUV, which was stopped for a few minutes perpendicular to a snowy residential Minneapolis street, obstructing the flow of traffic. Ross did not say anything as he walked across the front of the car toward the driver’s side. Around two hours after Ross fatally shot Good, DHS released a statement accusing Good of an "act of domestic terrorism." The agency said the ICE officer relied on his training and "fired defensive shots" at the vehicle, which they claimed was trying to "run over" agents. But as video and witness accounts have called into question DHS’ version of events, outrage over the killing – one of several incidents in which federal agents have shot people, including US citizens – has grown. Even former and current DHS officials initially privately questioned Ross’ conduct. The shooting happened just blocks away from where George Floyd was murdered five years ago by a police officer who knelt on his neck, prompting months of protests and a nationwide reckoning about police use of force, particularly against Black people. Hours after the shooting, people gathered near where Good was killed for an impromptu vigil, standing around a shrine fashioned from flowers and candles on a patch of snow. "Say it once. Say it twice. We will not put up with ICE," they chanted. Some carried signs with messages like: "Killer ICE off our streets.”

New York Times [1/16/2026 5:32 AM, Mitch Smith, 135475K] reports Renee Good was concerned about the actions of immigration agents in Minneapolis, said Antonio M. Romanucci, a lawyer for her family, but she and her partner “weren’t following anybody around” on the morning that Ms. Good was fatally shot by one of those agents. The killing of Ms. Good, 37, touched off tense protests in Minneapolis and revealed the vastly different frames through which Americans are interpreting President Trump’s immigration crackdown. The president’s allies immediately defended the shooting as an act of self-defense, with some of them saying Ms. Good was engaged in “domestic terrorism.” Many local and state officials have dismissed the federal narrative and defended Ms. Good. But for the first week after the shooting, as Ms. Good’s name appeared in international headlines and as immigration agents continued to flood into Minnesota, relatively little was known about Ms. Good herself. In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Romanucci, who is representing Ms. Good’s parents, her partner and her siblings, filled in some of those blanks. He described some of Ms. Good’s background, her actions on the day of the shooting and what her family wants to see going forward.

USA Today [1/17/2026 1:00 AM, Josh Meyer, 67103K] reports President Donald Trump and his administration’s top officials have claimed the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Minnesota resident Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was provoked by Good’s participation in a left-wing extremist network that directs people to attack federal officers. But the administration has offered no public evidence tying Good − who was driving her own car when shot − to such a network. Vice President JD Vance said at a Jan. 8 press briefing that Good’s death was "a tragedy of her own making and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an entire movement — a lunatic fringe — against our law enforcement officers.” FBI Director Kash Patel went even farther in an interview with the right-wing "Real America’s Voice" online show the night of Jan. 15. "I can tell you, generally speaking, that these protests, whether it’s Minneapolis or LA or Portland or where have you, aren’t spontaneous," Patel said. "They don’t magically appear. ... Somebody has to pay for the transportation. Somebody has to pay for the signs." He described protests against ICE’s recently ramped up enforcement as an "organized, in my opinion, effort to criminally disrupt and cause chaos into our communities." "Left-wing organizations have fueled violent riots, organized attacks against law enforcement officers, coordinated illegal doxing campaigns, arranged drop points for weapons and riot materials, and more — all around the country," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. "The Trump Administration is employing a whole-of-government approach to get to the bottom of this vast network inciting violence in American communities." Good’s family and friends have said she was a devoutly religious mother of three who was doing what she believed was her civic duty in supporting anti-ICE protests in her hometown of Minneapolis, where as many as 3,000 federal agents have swarmed the city looking for undocumented migrants as part of the Trump administration’s deportation agenda. Trump has dramatically increased interior immigration enforcement, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and top Trump immigration aide Stephen Miller demanding in May that immigration agents seek to arrest 3,000 people a day. Within hours of the Jan. 7 incident, Noem described Good’s actions at a news briefing as "domestic terrorism." Vance alleged that Good was part of a "broader left-wing network to attack, to dox, to assault and to make it impossible for ICE officers to do their job." Neither Noem nor Vance has publicly identified any named group, legal case, investigative or intelligence finding, training program, funding source or communications network to demonstrate a left-wing extremist operation opposing immigration enforcement in Minneapolis or Good being involved in it.

New York Times [1/17/2026 3:24 AM, Katie J.M. Baker, 330K] reports Jonathan Ross stood before a small group of his fellow students at Anderson University in Indiana and cautioned that the war in Iraq was not the one they were seeing on television. It was April 2006, and the 23-year-old was recently back from a National Guard deployment to Iraq, speaking at a “Support the Troops” event hosted by the College Republicans. Mr. Ross showed the students photos of charred Humvees and walls pockmarked with bullet holes. “We just got armor from the dump,” he said, describing how they outfitted their vehicles. “They didn’t supply us with the trucks you see on the news at all.” Twenty years later, Mr. Ross, now an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is once again on the front lines of a polarizing mission: the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota. On Jan. 7, during an enforcement surge in south Minneapolis, Mr. Ross fired three shots into a moving S.U.V., killing Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three. Her partner, Becca, who recorded the standoff on her phone, later said the couple had “stopped to support our neighbors” after federal agents were spotted in their neighborhood. President Trump and other federal officials have said that Mr. Ross acted in self-defense when he killed Ms. Good, and have accused her of driving at him or even running him over. Minnesota officials have called the administration’s accounts “propaganda” and “garbage.” (A New York Times analysis of videos of the shooting contradicts the claim that Mr. Ross was run over, and suggests Ms. Good was steering away from him at the time he opened fire.) Chris Madel, a Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota, has said he is representing Mr. Ross. He did not respond to requests for comment. The career trajectory of Mr. Ross from the National Guard to the Border Patrol, and finally to a tactical ICE unit, mirrors a broader, post-9/11 project: the steady militarization of the border and the agencies that police it. Mr. Ross joined the Indiana National Guard in 2002, a year after graduating from high school in Peoria, Ill. In November 2004, he deployed to Iraq, and was there for a year, during a time when the insurgency was growing increasingly violent. He served as a gunner in convoys for his logistics unit, but nothing in his record suggests he saw combat. Days before he deployed, Mr. Ross married for the first time. By the time he returned from Iraq, he had filed for divorce. According to records, the couple had no children or real estate to divide; the final decree simply required his ex-wife to return her engagement and wedding rings and Mr. Ross to pay her $3,000. He spent the next two years at Anderson University, a Christian liberal arts college in Indiana. Michael Smith, a former dormmate, remembered Mr. Ross as a quiet, dependable student who didn’t participate in the campus party scene. “He was a little more mature than the rest of us,” Mr. Smith said. He said Mr. Ross rarely discussed his time in Iraq.

NewsNation [1/16/2026 7:27 PM, Jeff Arnold, 8017K] reports in the wake of the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, the FBI took control of the investigation in part to protect the identities of the officers involved, Trump administration sources told NewsNation. However, that plan was “blown to shreds” after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem released details about the officer that led to him being identified as 10-year ICE veteran Jonathan Ross, Trump administration sources said. Multiple videos from different angles show Good blocking a street with her SUV and interacting with ICE officers, including Ross, just moments before Ross fatally shot her multiple times as she drove her vehicle. The Trump administration characterized her actions before her death as an act of domestic terrorism, though state and local leaders have called the federal government’s narrative into question. Noem released several statements on the incident in the days that followed and told reporters, without naming Ross, that he previously worked for Border Patrol and was a 10-year ICE veteran who was injured in June 2025 when he was dragged by a car driven by a migrant in suburban Minneapolis. Court documents reviewed by NewsNation revealed that Ross needed 33 stitches after being dragged 100 feet. The killing has been widely debated since Good’s Jan. 7 death, with President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Noem all defending Ross’ actions as self-defense. However, local and state lawmakers and Democrats have condemned the use of deadly force by a federal immigration agent against a U.S. citizen. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats, have demanded to be a part of the investigation but have been prevented from doing so by the FBI. A DHS spokesperson told NewsNation that any use of force incident or any discharge of an ICE firearm must be properly reported and reviewed by the agency. All shootings are initially reviewed by the appropriate federal, state, local or tribal law enforcement agency principally charged with first response to the incident, the spokesperson said. Following a review of the incident by the appropriate investigative agency, ICE will conduct an independent review of the critical incident.

Breitbart [1/16/2026 12:14 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2416K] reports federal authorities have arrested a purported Latin Kings gang member with a "known violent criminal history" for allegedly stealing property from a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) vehicle vandalized during unrest in Minneapolis earlier this week. A joint operation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Thursday arrested a man identified by Fox News as 33-year-old Raul Gutierrez for allegedly stealing body armor and weaponry from a federal vehicle. The trashing of government vehicles and property, captured in footage that went viral this week, came during rioting after agents had responded to an attack on a federal officer who was trying to make an immigration arrest in a Minneapolis neighborhood on Wednesday. The suspect apparently was caught on video. Citizen journalist Nick Sortor in a post on X he put up the same night of the riot said that he’d "captured the thief’s face and license plate on the getaway vehicle" in his video, adding that he was forwarding the footage to the "top levels of the FBI." FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X Thursday evening, "One individual who allegedly stole federal government property out of an FBI vehicle in Minneapolis last night has been arrested. FBI personnel are continuing to pursue other subjects involved. There will be more arrests." The director’s post was accompanied by a poster offering a reward up to $100,000 for more information. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] Blaze [1/16/2026 11:25 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1442K] reports that during the violent riots, independent journalist Nick Sortor captured damning footage of radicals ransacking and destroying federal vehicles. In one of Sortor’s videos, anti-ICE rioters appear to rip a weapons locker out of a federal vehicle. In another video, radicals appear to successfully break open a different weapons locker and seemingly steal a rifle. Sortor not only managed in the second video to get clear images of the suspected rifle thief’s face — a face with a very specific tattoo — but his apparent license plate as well. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday evening that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives working in concert with Justice Department partners captured a known member of the Latin Kings gang who allegedly stole FBI body armor and weaponry. Fox News confirmed that the suspect is 33-year-old Raul Gutierrez. Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office records indicate that Gutierrez of Inver Grove Heights is being held on theft and weapons charges. "This criminal is a perfect example of what our brave federal law enforcement agents are up against every day as Minnesota leadership ENCOURAGES lawbreaking," said Bondi.

Wall Street Journal [1/16/2026 10:34 PM, Michelle Hackman, Kris Maher, and Brenna T. Smith, 646K] reports the collision of the Trump administration’s huge immigration operation and the enormous pushback from residents is leading to a tinderbox in Minneapolis. For locals, much of the anger stems from the clash between the administration’s stated rationale for being in the area and the reality on the ground. They are here, federal officials say, to find “criminal illegal aliens hurting Americans” after a sprawling welfare-fraud scandal involving dozens of Minnesotans of Somali descent gained national attention. But residents see massive federal overreach in a place with a relatively small proportion of immigrants in the country illegally compared with other states. Minnesota’s population of immigrants here illegally stands at an estimated 2.2%, about half the national average, according to the Pew Research Center. More than 90% of the state’s Somali population, the group highlighted in the fraud investigation, have some sort of permanent legal status, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. “They are taking people that are working within the system, that are asylum seekers, that are green-card holders,” said Dan Engelhart, a northeast Minneapolis resident and a commissioner on the city’s park board. “It’s really terrifying to see our neighbors terrorized in this way.” In a statement Friday, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said allegations that ICE engages in racial profiling were false, and that “obstructing federal law enforcement officers during the performance of their duties is not only dangerous but also a federal crime and a felony.” “Law enforcement uses ‘reasonable suspicion’ to make arrests, as allowed under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” she said.

NewsMax [1/16/2026 8:48 PM, Jim Thomas, 4109K] reports U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino said Friday that any effort to block federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota should be treated as a serious problem. He appeared on Newsmax after reports that the Justice Department is investigating Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and Minneapolis Democrat Mayor Jacob Frey over alleged interference with ICE agents. Appearing on Newsmax’s "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Bovino said, "Anytime there’s a conspiracy to preclude federal law enforcement from conducting its lawful law enforcement mission, in this case, our Title 8 immigration mission here in Minneapolis and Minnesota, there’s a problem there.” He added that he had not reviewed the subpoenas or the case, but said if subpoenas have been issued, "fantastic job!". CBS News and Minnesota station WCCO reported that Walz and Frey are under federal investigation, citing two U.S. officials, and said subpoenas have been issued. The Associated Press reported Friday that the DOJ is investigating whether Walz and Frey impeded federal immigration enforcement through public statements, potentially implicating a federal conspiracy statute. The AP reported the investigation had not been formally communicated to Walz’s office, and Frey’s office had not responded to inquiries. Bovino pointed to public statements in which Walz and Frey condemned the federal deployment, demanded it end, and urged protests and documentation of encounters. He said such rhetoric can make operations "very difficult and downright dangerous" for Border Patrol and other federal teams working in Minneapolis. Tensions have escalated in Minnesota following the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renee Good, 37, in south Minneapolis by ICE officer Jonathan Ross, according to multiple published accounts. A federal officer shot a man in the leg during a traffic stop Wednesday night, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The agency stated law enforcement was attacked with a shovel and broom while trying to complete the stop. The shooting occurred about 12 miles from where an ICE officer fatally shot Good last week, as protesters gathered nearby. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsNation [1/16/2026 5:31 PM, Ali Bradley, Jeff Arnold, Mills Hayes, 8017K] reports the violent opposition mounted by protesters in Minneapolis against federal immigration officers is not more violent than other enforcement operations U.S. Border Patrol Commander At-Large Gregory Bovino has witnessed, but it has escalated to anarchy, the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown told NewsNation. Bovino spoke to NewsNation exclusively Friday, referring to federal agents’ operations as “peaceful” despite Renee Good being shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer last week. Yet Bovino, who is overseeing more than 2,500 federal agents on the ground in Minneapolis, blamed protesters he characterized as “anarchists” as well as Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey for the escalation in tension between residents and federal agents. Bovino spoke to NewsNation after 14 federal vehicles used by ICE officers and Border Patrol agents were vandalized in a hotel parking lot. But he said that protesters also indiscriminately damaged nongovernment vehicles in their push to keep immigration enforcement from taking place, which is, in turn, harming everyday Americans.

NewsMax [1/16/2026 10:19 AM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4109K] reports Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino warned Friday morning on Newsmax that immigration teams are facing ongoing street violence in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as they try to enforce immigration law, and he blamed liberal politicians and activists for fanning the flames. Speaking from the city, Bovino said agents are seeing protests turn into attacks that make enforcement more dangerous. "On the ground here in Minneapolis, we see a lot of violence by some of those agitators, some of those rioters," he said, adding that "heated rhetoric by many of those elected officials contributes to that violence and that mayhem.” He believes there’s "a direct causation and attribution to the violence on the ground," telling "Wake Up America" that "oftentimes, we’ll hear one of those representatives talk on TV, and just a few hours later, the violence starts.” Bovino framed it as a choice between public safety and political theater, insisting, "We’re here to do this Title 8 mission, and that’s what we want to do.” He said agents want "to take those bad people, bad things off the streets … the murderers, the rapists, the people that should not be here," and he said many targets of enforcement action are migrants who "came in over the past four years.” "When we’re not allowed to do that or we’re prevented from doing that," said Bovino, "that’s where the problems occur," arguing that the pushback he’s hearing from "representatives and influencers" can translate into chaos on the ground. Bovino said cooperation matters, noting that in some places officers have worked "hand in hand" with local partners, and violence dropped sharply, which he called proof "there is a solution here.” He questioned motives behind the backlash, asking whether "those individuals, those influencers, those politicians … want that solution, or do they want that violence?".

NBC News [1/16/2026 1:04 PM, Suzanne Gamboa, Shaquille Brewster, and Colin Sheeley, 34509K] reports that the officers and agents the Trump administration has unleashed in Minneapolis and nearby communities have turned to stopping U.S. citizens, apparently at random, demanding identification and grilling them about their citizenship, residents who have recorded these encounters on video say. The "show me your papers" encounters are showing up on social media and have even prompted podcaster Joe Rogan, a Trump backer in the 2024 campaign, to ask, "Are we really going to be the Gestapo?" One man, Gage Diego Garcia, said he was held for six hours on Monday in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, after an encounter with officers that he told NBC News began when he was leaning into his friend’s car in an alleyway. The Department of Homeland Security said the media is "peddling a false narrative" and "attempting to demonize" law enforcement, which it says are being attacked and assaulted at significantly higher rates. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement emailed to NBC News that Garcia fled on foot when he saw the officers, "giving them reasonable suspicion." She said Garcia became "extremely hostile" and alleged he physically assaulted one officer by spitting on his face. McLaughlin did not specifically address Garcia’s allegations regarding what officers said to him as he was being driven to the Whipple Building.

(B) NBC News Daily [1/16/2026 1:01 PM, Staff] reports that about 30 Democratic US House Representatives from around the country are gathering in the Twin Cities today to speak out against federal immigration crackdown. This comes after protests erupted after ICE agents shot two people within a week in Minneapolis. Minnesota authorities filed a lawsuit to stop ICE operations. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents continue to flood neighborhoods and lawmakers say the aggression of federal officers and the intensity of these operations is disrupting communities. The Department of Homeland Security maintains that any US citizens who are arrested are being arrested because they are interfering with lawful law enforcement operations. The White House says that by continuing Minneapolis’ status as a sanctuary city, they are choosing defiance over partnership.

NewsMax [1/16/2026 10:04 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports rhetoric from Minnesota’s Democrat leadership is escalating tensions and putting federal officers at risk, former ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said Friday. She also said that public statements calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave Minneapolis are fueling unrest rather than restoring order. Appearing on Newsmax’s "Finnerty," Sheahan responded to remarks by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said during a hearing that order would be restored once ICE operations ceased. "What you see here is this continued rhetoric from the Democrats. You don’t see these protests happening in Louisiana under Gov. [Jeff] Landry’s watch," Sheahan said. "You don’t see this happening in Florida. "You don’t see this happening in Texas.” "But you see this continue to happen in Minnesota, thanks to the rhetoric from Gov. [Tim] Walz and the mayor, who continue to villainize ICE officers for going out and doing their jobs," she said. Sheahan said ICE officers are being targeted for enforcing federal law and that state and local leaders are undermining public safety by portraying those actions as illegitimate. "They’re arresting gang members, murderers, and rapists," she said. "They’re going out and protecting the American people and putting them first in a way that Gov. Walz has never done.” Guest host Bob Brooks noted reports suggesting President Donald Trump was concerned about the public perception of ICE enforcement, citing a report from Axios. Sheahan rejected the claim, saying Trump has consistently supported law enforcement. "President Trump has been so incredibly supportive of our ICE officers," she said. "He’s allowed them to go out and do their job, and he continues to back the men and women of law enforcement all over the country.”

CBS News [1/16/26 1128 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports Minnesota safety officials are asking that protesters participating in scheduled demonstrations this weekend stay orderly and peaceful. Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobsen and Major General Shawn Manke with the Minnesota National Guard discussed measures the state is taking at a news conference on Friday afternoon. "While peaceful expression is protected, any actions that harm people, destroy property or jeopardize public safety will not be tolerated," Jacobsen said. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz earlier this month issued a warning order to prepare the National Guard in response to the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in south Minneapolis earlier this month. Manke said members have been mobilized, though they will not be used unless needed. Manke said the National Guard was in a similar state of preparedness during last weekend’s protests against ICE. An ICE officer shot a man after allegedly being attacked by men with shovels during an arrest operation on Wednesday night, three U.S. officials told CBS News. Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said protesters at the scene in the hours after the shooting crossed the line. Police officers were struck by rocks, fireworks, ice chunks and snowballs, according to O’Hara.

Reuters [1/16/2026 3:36 PM, Maria Cardona, Savyata Mishra, and Ross Kerber, 36480K] reports up and down Lake Street in the heavily Latino area of south Minneapolis, numerous mom-and-pop restaurants have hung up signs that say "No ICE," referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who have been conducting frequent raids in the area. The federal actions have also prompted thousands in the streets to protest after ICE agents killed 37-year-old Renee Good in her vehicle last week. By contrast, large corporations in Minneapolis have been much less vocal about the effects of immigration enforcement on the city, known as both a bastion of progressive politics in the U.S. Midwest and a robust corporate employer. Seventeen Fortune 500 companies are based in Minnesota, including Target, UnitedHealth, and General Mills. Reuters reached out to those companies, as well as Minnesota-based corporations Best Buy, Hormel, Land O’Lakes, agricultural giant Cargill, and industrial conglomerate 3M. None would speak on the record on the guidance they have given to employees. Their websites also have not addressed the current federal actions or unrest in the city.

NewsMax [1/16/2026 8:37 AM, Staff, 4109K] reports Minnesota GOP state Rep. Mike Wiener Friday on Newsmax compared the inner workings of his state government to organized crime as he accused top Democrat leaders of covering up what he said is as much as $9 billion in Medicaid fraud. "Well, you could say that the state of Minnesota has almost been run like the Mafia," Wiener said on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America Early." "Things are getting covered up. Things are not getting talked about.” Wiener said "nearly 500 whistleblowers" have come forward and that lawmakers collecting information have seen people become reluctant to testify "because of the backlash or pushback." "Those whistleblowers are afraid," he said. "They’re afraid of what’s being said. They’re afraid to even testify in some situations because of the backlash or pushback." He also claimed some whistleblowers were threatened and discouraged from cooperating. "Some of the whistleblowers have been basically threatened," Wiener said. "They’ve been told not to go forward with some of these investigations because of potential racism.” Wiener said the allegations have "blown up in the state" and questioned what it signals when, he said, residents are watching billions in taxpayer money disappear. "What kind of message does that send when you’re seeing $9 billion of potential fraud?" he said. "People are saying, we have a problem here." Wiener also addressed concerns around immigration enforcement, saying public anxiety is being fueled by confusion about Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. "The biggest problem that I see with some of this national attention on the ICE situation is people have been driven to the point of fear because of just not knowing what’s going on," he said.

The Hill [1/16/2026 10:21 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12595K] reports the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit Friday against the Trump administration, accusing federal agencies of using racial profiling to conduct illegal stops in Minnesota. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are named among the agencies in the complaint. The North Star State has been home to ICE’s Operation Metro Surge resulting in reports of racial profiling from both Somali and Latino residents. The ACLU lawsuit highlights the experience of 20-year-old plaintiff Mubashir Khalif Hussen, who says he was taken by ICE officers after repeatedly informing them of his citizenship. According to a release from the organization, officers refused to look at his ID. “At no time did any officer ask me whether I was a citizen or if I had any immigration status,” Hussen said in a statement. “They did not ask for any identifying information, nor did they ask about my ties to the community, how long I had lived in the Twin Cities, my family in Minnesota, or anything else about my circumstances,” he added. Eventually, he was let go after being driven to the Whipple government services building where he presented a photo of his passport. Prior to showcasing the travel document, the ACLU says Hussen was shackled and his fingerprints were taken. “The government can’t stop and arrest people based on the color of their skin, or arrest people with no probable cause,” said Kate Huddleston, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “These kinds of police-state tactics are contrary to the basic principles of liberty and equality that remain a bedrock of our legal system and our country,” Huddleston added.

The Hill [1/16/2026 5:21 PM, Sarah Davis, 12595K] reports Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) urged those demonstrating against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota to not let anger win out in response to reports of protesters throwing projectiles at police. Omar affirmed Minnesotans’ rights to record and document federal officials during the Trump administration’s massive immigration crackdown in the state. However, the congresswoman said there is “no justification for people to give them the PR that the administration is looking for.” Omar’s perspective echoes comments from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey last Saturday when the mayor warned demonstrators not to “take the bait” from President Trump. Tensions in the state over the fatal shooting of Renee Good have resulted in clashes between protesters and local and federal law enforcement agencies. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara reported that a protester threw a chunk of ice at a city police officer during a protest last week and others graffitied a hotel. Additionally, protesters threw fireworks at law enforcement at a protest last weekend, with federal officers deploying tear gas in response. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) held a joint press conference with state law enforcement agencies Friday afternoon ahead of a weekend of planned protests in Minneapolis. DPS Commissioner Bob Jacobson urged protesters to demonstrate peacefully and said the Minnesota National Guard is on standby in the event that local police need backup.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [1/16/2026 6:57 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K]

Washington Post [1/16/2026 3:28 PM, Angie Orellana Hernandez, Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Justine McDaniel, 24149K] reports the family of a man shot in the leg by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday has disputed key elements of the Department of Homeland Security’s version of the incident, saying the shooting happened at the door of the man’s house as he let his housemate inside, rather than out in the street during a scuffle. The Department of Homeland Security has said an ICE officer shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis as he was assaulting the officer “with a shovel or broom stick.” The agency said the incident began when the officer attempted to stop Sosa-Celis in his car, and that Sosa-Celis tried to flee and then got into an altercation with the officer outside, joined by two housemates. But Sosa-Celis’s mother, citing an account from her son, said DHS had actually been pursuing one of his housemates, who Sosa-Celis let into their house just before the shooting. Alicia Celis said her son made no mention of anyone running from the house to attack ICE officers. A Facebook Live video reviewed by The Washington Post includes people at the house telling 911 dispatchers that the shooting happened as the men closed the door at the residence. Another video includes Sosa-Celis mentioning some sort of scuffle before any gunshots were fired, but he does not specify whether that struggle happened at the door or in the street. DHS also said Sosa-Celis freed himself of the struggle and hit the officer “with a shovel or broom stick,” at which point the officer fired his gun. The agency called the shot “defensive” and said the officer feared for his life. DHS said the men ran into the residence and ICE officers then arrested them. When asked to provide additional evidence or body-camera footage of the alleged attack and to address the claims presented by Sosa-Celis’s family, DHS referred The Post to remarks Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem made Thursday morning. “I would say that our agent is beat up,” Noem told reporters. “He’s bruised, he’s injured, he’s getting treatment. And we’re thankful that he made it out alive.”

New York Times [1/16/2026 12:57 AM, Charles Homans, 135475K] reports there are plenty of obvious reasons Minneapolis, despite ranking far down the list of U.S. cities in terms of its immigrant population, is the latest Democratic-led urban area targeted by President Trump’s punitive anti-immigration raids. There is Tim Walz, the governor and Trump’s 2024 rival. There is the genuinely stunning fraud scandal, recently revealed, that happened on Walz’s watch. And there is the long shadow of George Floyd. But to understand both the crackdown and its stakes, it’s also worth revisiting a speech Trump gave in the city in November 2016, two days before the election that would first deliver him to the White House. “Oh, Minnesota,” Trump told the crowd, dropping into the just-you-and-me-talking mode that has always been one of his greatest assets as a politician. “You know what’s going on. You know what I’m talking about. Do you know what I’m talking about? Be politically correct. Just nod — quietly nod. The whole world knows what’s happening in Minnesota.” What was happening in Minnesota then was a slow-burning tension surrounding the state’s Somali community, its second-largest immigrant population. In 2008, a young Somalia-born man from Minneapolis was recruited by the Somali Islamist militant group Al Shabab and detonated a car full of explosives outside a government building in his birth country’s Puntland region, the first of dozens of young men from the community who would fight for Al Shabab in Somalia and, later, for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria over the next decade. Minnesota had been a haven for refugees since after World War II, when it was an early destination for Holocaust survivors in the United States, and especially since the late 1970s, when it began taking in thousands of South Vietnamese and Hmong people on the wrong side of America’s withdrawal from Southeast Asia. This hospitality had historically been a point of pride for the state, a piece of the exceptionalism that Minnesotans, performatively modest as they are, have always claimed. It was a product of a broader, deep-rooted civic idealism: the state’s preponderance of religious charities, community-level nonprofit organizations and in particular its Nordic-style social safety net, among the most generous in the country. But amid the Shabab and ISIS recruitment, Minnesotans had grown ambivalent.

AP [1/16/2026 4:58 PM, Amy Taxin] Video: HERE reports a 21-year-old college student who said he was blinded in one eye by a projectile fired by a federal officer during a Southern California protest said he faces a drastically different life now. Kaden Rummler said in an interview that he was in agonizing pain and underwent an extensive six-hour surgery to his left eye after he was injured at a Jan. 9 protest over the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis. Rummler said he has no depth perception and can no longer drive. Shards of metal and a nickel-sized piece of plastic remain lodged in his skull, his attorney said, and he is considering suing. A second demonstrator at the same protest outside a federal immigration building in Orange County told the Los Angeles Times he was also blinded in one eye by a projectile fired by federal agents. Britain Rodriguez, 31, said he was standing on steps outside the immigration building when he was struck in the face. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the agency, said in an emailed statement this week that the protesters were violent and that two officers were injured but didn’t specify the extent of their injuries. DHS said one demonstrator was taken to the hospital with a cut. McLaughlin confirmed to the Times that was a reference to Rummler and called his injury claims "absurd." Rummler has been charged with a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. One of his fellow protesters was jailed for several days and has been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer. Rummler’s attorney John Washington said doctors want to know whether the materials in the projectile could be toxic but have been unable to get answers from DHS. Washington said based on their preliminary investigation they believe it was a capsule made from metal and plastic containing pepper spray. The injuries in California are the latest in a growing number of violent encounters between federal agents and community members during protests over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Los Angeles Times [1/16/2026 6:00 AM, Ruben Vives, 14862K] reports Homeland Security officers who blinded a young protester by shooting a less-lethal projectile at close range in Santa Ana apparently shot a second man in the face that night, blinding him too. Britain Rodriguez, 31, a resident of Orange County, said he was standing at the bottom of some steps with other demonstrators when federal officers above opened fire at them, hitting him in the face. "I remember hitting the ground and feeling like my eye exploded in my head," he said. In a video his girlfriend shared with The Times, Rodriguez can be seen on the ground, holding his face as he screams in agony before demonstrators escorted him from the area. Rodriguez and his girlfriend, Ale, who declined to give her last name, said the officers gave no warning before firing at them. She said she was hit in the chest with a less-lethal round but was not injured. The video suggests Rodriguez was struck at the same time that 21-year-old Kaden Rummler was hit in the face. Rodriguez can be heard screaming in the background just as Rummler falls to the ground. In a statement released by Rummler this week and read by a member of the social justice organization Dare to Struggle, which organized one of the protests that day, he said doctors found pieces of plastic and glass in his skull as well as metal in his stomach lining, and pulled a piece of plastic "the size of a nickel" from his injured eye. Rummler said a piece of metal got lodged millimeters from his carotid artery, and doctors were unable to remove some of the shrapnel from his skull. He said the DHS officers did not call paramedics right away and at one point pushed his face into a pool of his own blood. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary with the Department of Homeland Security, played down the injury and denied the allegations in statements to The Times this week. "This is absurd," she wrote. "DHS law enforcement took this rioter to the hospital for a cut and he was released that night." McLaughlin said "a mob of about 60 rioters threw rocks, bottles and fireworks at law enforcement officers." She said two officers were injured but did not say how or what their injuries were. She said two people were arrested and charged with assault on a federal officer and disorderly conduct.

New York Post [1/16/2026 9:22 PM, Kevin Barr, 42219K] reports police have been banned from using a powerful, non-lethal weapon to control protests in an extraordinary federal court decision. Judge Consuelo B. Marshall ruled on Thursday the Los Angeles Police Department violated a standing court injunction by deploying the 40mm and 37mm projectile launchers against protesters who did not pose an immediate threat of physical harm. The ruling arose from protests in Los Angeles during the summer of 2025 following immigration enforcement raids carried out by the U.S Department of Homeland Security. It comes as video, obtained by The Post, shows LAPD using the non-lethal weapons while under fire from protestors using fireworks against them. The videos were recorded during anti-Trump and anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles in June 2025. Police believe using the projectile launchers is essential for officers facing fast-moving, unpredictable situations. They say they prevent more dangerous confrontations one-on-one confrontations, which increase danger not only to police, but to protesters and innocent bystanders during large-scale unrest. The rounds fired from the weapons are from foam, rubber and plastic. While those demonstrators were not part of the original order, which was made after Black Lives Matter protests, the court said the incidents were relevant in determining whether the city was complying with existing federal laws. In a sharply worded order issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Judge Marshall found that LAPD officers fired 40mm munitions without providing required warnings and struck protesters in areas of the body explicitly prohibited under the court’s earlier injunction. "Here, Plaintiffs provide evidence that Defendants used 40mm munitions on protestors who did not pose an immediate threat of violence of physical harm, did not provide warnings before using the munitions, and hit protestors in restricted areas of the body," Judge Marshall wrote. The injunction at the center of the contempt ruling dates back to May 2021, when the court imposed strict limits on LAPD’s use of so-called "less-lethal" weapons following widespread protests in Los Angeles in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. That order barred officers from targeting sensitive body areas, required warnings before use when feasible, and restricted deployment to situations involving immediate threats of violence. Judge Marshall found the city failed to take all reasonable steps to comply with those requirements and rejected arguments that the violations were technical or inadvertent. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [1/16/2026 6:03 PM, Dan Lamothe, 24149K] reports the Trump administration has extended the deployment of about 2,500 National Guard troops in D.C. through the end of this year, having touted their presence in the city over the objection of local officials and an ongoing legal challenge, two defense officials familiar with the plan said Friday. The mission is expected to continue including armed patrols in support of law enforcement plus a variety of sanitation and beautification projects, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the move has not yet been announced. The National Guard headquarters overseeing the mission, Joint Task Force-DC, said that 2,673 troops were assigned to the mission as of Friday morning, including 714 members of the D.C. National Guard and 1,959 sent from 11 states led by Republican governors who support the mission. The mission, which began in August at the direction of President Donald Trump, had been due to expire by the end of February after an earlier extension ordered in October. Trump has said the deployment is necessary because city leaders, in his view, had not done enough to combat crime. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and other D.C. government officials have objected to the deployment, saying it’s unnecessary. The mission is funded by the Defense Department, though the Pentagon has not disclosed how much it costs. Outside assessments have said the expense to federal taxpayers could be more than $1 million per day.

Washington Post [1/16/2026 5:04 PM, Emma Uber, 24149K] reports federal prosecutors said they couldn’t press charges against Homeland Security agents who shot into cars in D.C. in two incidents last year because the bullets didn’t hit anyone. In October, a federal agent patrolling with D.C. police shot at an unarmed man during a traffic stop. The bullets narrowly missed Phillip Brown, according to his lawyers, who provided photos of bullet holes in the car’s driver’s side window and passenger seat, as well as a bullet hole in the collar of the jacket he had been wearing. Less than a month later, another federal agent working alongside D.C. police officers shot at a car during a chase. No one was injured. Both incidents occurred within blocks of each other on Benning Road in Southeast Washington. In both instances, Homeland Security officials said the driver tried to use the car to injure law enforcement. It’s the same reason Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem and President Donald Trump have used to justify an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shooting a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis earlier this month, though a Washington Post analysis of video footage found the woman was veering her car past the ICE officer when he shot her. The D.C. police department’s internal affairs bureau investigated both cases and presented their findings to the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office. Timothy Lauer, a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, said in a statement Friday that the agents could not be prosecuted because no one was struck by the shots.

FOX News [1/16/2026 8:30 AM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports the Trump administration is firing back at a Democratic Bronx congressman who offered a new-age way for civilians to identify immigration enforcement agents who obscure their identity with masks or lack of names on their uniforms amid civil unrest around the country. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat, said he is introducing the Quick Recognition Act next week, which would require ICE and CBP agents to wear uniforms that feature QR codes – the two-dimensional offshoot of barcodes that can link a concrete item to a website or information portal. At sporting events or in restaurants, they often use QR codes to draw customers to scan them and open webpages to enter contests or access menus. In Torres’ case, scanning the QR code on an officer’s uniform would return their name, badge number and agency that employs them. The White House said Torres’ bill would spur a "widescale doxxing campaign" and encourage protesters to "approach and interfere with law enforcement operations." "This is all because Democrats want to defend criminal illegal aliens," spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. "Surely this cannot be a serious proposal," she added. The administration cited DHS data showing ICE officers facing a 1,300% increase in assaults because of Democrats’ "dangerous and untrue smears."

FOX News [1/16/2026 4:18 PM, Breanne Deppisch, 40621K] reports a Reagan-appointed federal judge assailed the Trump administration’s effort Thursday to deport certain pro-Palestinian protesters and academics at major universities, describing the actions as unconstitutional and "targeted" efforts to chill free speech — a characterization that prompted fierce pushback from the administration. U.S. District Judge William G. Young used a remedies hearing in Boston Thursday to take aim at Trump, whom he accused of acting "illegally" and "intentionally" in targeting noncitizen pro-Palestinian academic protesters on college campuses — an effort the judge described as illegal and targeting certain groups. In response to the remarks, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital that it’s "bizarre that this judge is broadcasting his intent to engage in left-wing activism against the democratically elected President of the United States." A senior DHS official also blasted the remarks from the Boston-based federal judge. Young ruled in September that the actions in question violated the First Amendment and had scheduled Thursday’s hearing with the intent of crafting a remedy to protect the noncitizens in question from being deported, or having their immigration status changed barring certain circumstances. But what transpired instead was largely a stunning dressing-down of top Trump officials, including the president, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Still, Young said Thursday he planned to issue an order with a more narrowly tailored form of relief for students than the lawyers had sought and would not grant them the blanket injunction they had sought.

FOX News [1/16/2026 1:02 PM, Alex Nitzberg, 40621K] Video: HERE reports an anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agitator in Florida was arrested after allegedly punching a trooper in the face during an immigration enforcement operation. "This is Jennifer Cruz of Jacksonville," Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote in an X post, sharing an image of the woman, who appeared to smile as law enforcement restrained her. Moments before she cracked a grin, video shows Cruz kicking toward a female officer while other law enforcement members had already placed her hands behind her back. "Jennifer disagrees with immigration enforcement and decided to commit a few felonies by getting out of her car and punching a Trooper in the face. But unlike Minnesota, we don’t put up with this nonsense. Not today, Jennifer," Uthmeier wrote. Footage shows a chaotic scene as authorities attempted to detain Cruz. As several officers placed her hands behind her back and walked her toward one of their vehicles, Cruz is seen attempting to kick another female officer nearby. Cruz then smirks as the officers detaining her place her on the hood of a vehicle. Once placed in the back of the vehicle, she is seen flailing her legs and continuing to shout at officers until the doors are shut. A News4JAX reporter spoke to Juan Alvarez, the owner of the Mi Pueblo grocery store which was near where the incident occurred. He said he witnessed a traffic stop involving a state trooper. "ICE agents showed up with the state trooper. They detained the driver," he said.

NBC News [1/16/2026 4:24 PM, Jon Schuppe and Erik Ortiz, 34509K] reports federal immigration officers have shot 11 people since September as the Department of Homeland Security has ramped up deportation operations around the country. In the majority of the shootings, officers have fired into cars — a tactic that law enforcement authorities and policing experts have been trying for decades to curtail. The vehicle shootings raise serious concerns among policing experts about the rapidly expanding deployment of DHS personnel into American communities, where officers are regularly captured on video clashing with immigrants who are in the country illegally as well as citizens who protest the arrests. DHS says that in each case, the officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection believed their lives were in danger and that in several of the incidents, officers were injured. The 10 shootings, detailed below, show the varied circumstances and places where ICE and CBP officers have opened fire on people while they were conducting President Donald Trump’s campaign to crack down on immigrants in the U.S. The effort has unleashed thousands of officers across the country, raiding homes and workplaces, approaching people in courthouses, immigration offices and stores, and stopping people on the street. A protest movement has grown to resist the operations, leading to confrontations. The people who were shot include suspected criminals, immigrants who lack permanent legal status and U.S. citizens. Three died. It is not clear how many of the shootings federal authorities have fully investigated; there have been no public reports of any findings, including whether the gunfire was deemed justified or whether officers have been disciplined. In at least four cases, people shot by agents have been charged with crimes; in two of those cases, the charges were later dismissed.

Daily Caller [1/16/2026 1:22 PM, Jason Cohen, 835K] reports that CNN host Pamela Brown pushed back after Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin accused the media of stoking fear about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). CNN aired video footage of an ICE agent asking a woman to present her identification on "The Situation Room." Brown asked McLaughlin for her response to people who were "concerned" by the video and others, who supposedly feared "Minnesota is turning into a police state," where ICE agents ask Americans for identification. "I think that there’s a lot of fearmongering going on, I think, by the media," McLaughlin said, leading Brown to interrupt her with a supposed fact-check. "Hold on, let me just correct you right there," the CNN host said. "Let me just — they’re watching these videos and using their independence of mind. It’s not ‘the media.’" McLaughlin rejected that characterization and cited Brown’s own language as an example. "No, actually it is the media. And we’re seeing it time and time again by saying things like ‘the police state.’ What we’re seeing is rampant violence against our law enforcement, highly coordinated," McLaughlin said. "We have our legal authorities. When individuals see videos like that, you have to ask the question: Was this individual obstructing law enforcement, which is a federal crime? Were they assaulting law enforcement, which is a felony."

NBC News [1/16/2026 6:40 PM, Jason Abbruzzese, 34509K] reports a series of recent social media posts from the Trump administration’s official government accounts have echoed terminology used by far-right extremists, experts said, adding that the posts offer no doubt that they are references to white supremacist rhetoric. One of the posts, published by the White House X account Wednesday, shows two groups of sled dogs with Danish flags, one path headed toward a U.S. flag and the other path headed toward the flags of Russia and China. Above the photo, the text reads: "Which way, Greenland man?". In August, the X account for the Department of Homeland Security used similar wording as a caption for a drawing of Uncle Sam with a recruitment call for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement: "Which way, American man?". That phrase closely mirrors the title of the 1978 book "Which Way, Western Man," which is an important text to white supremacist groups and remains in use by extremists online. Robert Futrell, a professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who has studied far-right extremism for more than two decades, said that the phrasing in relation to the way many in the Trump administration have talked about immigration points to what he called "movement rhetoric.” "I think connecting the phrasing of ‘Which way American man,’ especially paired with the ideas of cultural decline, the ideas of invasion, the idea of homeland, it’s connecting the phrasing to a white supremacist canon.” Some on the far right have acknowledged those posts as being aligned with their views. Wendy Via, co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, pointed NBC News to channels on the messaging app Telegram in which members of the Proud Boys circulated the posts. "Message received," read one message posted alongside the Homeland Security post on X. The White House and Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A White House spokesperson told Politico in response to questions about the posts: "This line of attack is boring and tired. Get a grip." A Homeland Security spokesperson told the publication: "Calling everything you dislike ‘Nazi propaganda’ is tiresome... DHS will continue to use all tools to communicate with the American people and keep them informed on our historic effort to Make America Safe Again.”

Axios [1/16/2026 6:43 AM, Alex Isenstadt and Marc Caputo, 12972K] reports President Trump’s team recently reviewed private GOP polling that showed support for his immigration policies falling. The results, reflected in public surveys, bolstered internal concern about the administration’s confrontational enforcement tactics. Now, as the chaotic scenes from Minnesota play out around the clock on TV and social media, Axios has learned that some Trump advisers quietly are talking about "recalibrating" the White House’s approach — though it’s unclear what changes Trump would embrace, if any. The worries in part of Trump’s brain trust are the first signs of internal second-guessing of his controversial ICE enforcement tactics. The private polling suggested a rupturing of the coalition of independent, moderate and minority voters who were key parts of Trump’s victory in 2024. Such voters will play a big role in determining whether Republicans keep their slim House majority in November’s midterms. If Republicans lose the House, Trump will head into his final two years in office as a lame duck who, he acknowledges, could face a third impeachment. To the degree they support a more constrained approach, some advisers are playing to the president’s occasional misgivings about the optics of some ICE tactics. "I wouldn’t say he’s concerned about the policy," a top Trump adviser told Axios. "He wants deportations. He wants mass deportations. What he doesn’t want is what people are seeing. He doesn’t like the way it looks. It looks bad, so he’s expressed some discomfort at that." "... [T]here’s the right way to do this. And this doesn’t look like the right way to a lot of people." Several Republicans in Congress have expressed concern to the White House about how the raids are playing out, according to a person familiar with the discussions. ICE’s aggressive tactics are dominating the news and obscuring the White House’s work on cost-of-living issues that congressional Republicans, Trump and his team see as more important.

The Hill [1/16/2026 6:00 AM, Mike Lillis, 12595K] reports the fight over ICE is heating up. Democrats in both chambers are escalating their push to overhaul U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. They’re doing so by vowing to oppose legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unless it includes tougher rules governing the conduct of ICE officers. “That is the leverage,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), head of the Congressional Black Caucus: “You have this rogue organization out there, [and] they need to be identified; they need to get off those masks, and they have to be able to be held accountable when they maim, injure or kill somebody.” Entering the government spending debate, some liberal Democrats were already demanding those changes in response to President Trump’s immigration enforcement surge, but party leaders weren’t on board. They wanted to stage a series of votes — bipartisan and drama-free — on all the outstanding spending bills to prevent a shutdown Jan. 30, and felt they were on track to do it. That changed dramatically in the wake of last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, by an ICE officer who said Good had threatened his life with her car. Since then, a growing chorus of furious Democrats has threatened to withhold support for DHS funding to insist on new ICE guardrails. And party leaders — who have struggled all year to convince base voters that they’re fighting the good fight against Trump — endorsed that strategy this week. “Taxpayer dollars are being used by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to unleash extremism on the streets of America by individuals who are showing depraved indifference to human life,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday. “That’s what we’re seeing,” he continued. “And the American people don’t want their taxpayer dollars used in that fashion.”

AP [1/16/2026 1:22 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports that a flight with 231 Venezuelan migrants deported from the U.S. city of Phoenix arrived Friday to their home country, nearly two weeks after the United States captured former President Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The Eastern Airlines plane arrived at an airport outside the capital, Caracas, marking the resumption of flights after Washington — according to Venezuelan officials — unilaterally suspended direct deportation air transfers in mid-December. The previous direct flight from the U.S. was on Dec. 10. Return flights for deported migrants had been regularized since late March as part of the transfers agreed upon by both governments. The transfers were successively affected amid heightened tensions since U.S. military forces began to execute a series of deadly attacks against boats suspected of smuggling drugs in international waters of the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean, including several vessels that they claim departed from Venezuela. Maduro maintained at all times that U.S. President Donald Trump could order military action to try to overthrow him. The flight’s arrival comes 13 days after Maduro was captured along with his wife, Cilia Flores, during a military intervention in Caracas. Subsequently, he was transferred to U.S. territory, where both appeared on Jan. 5 before a New York court to face narcoterrorism charges. Both have pleaded not-guilty.

New York Times [1/16/2026 6:45 PM, David Schulz, 135475K] reports the F.B.I. raid on the home of a Washington Post reporter on Wednesday took the Trump administration’s attacks on press freedoms to a troubling new level. Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the raid as a necessary part of an investigation into a violation of the Espionage Act, which outlaws the unauthorized possessing or disclosing of “information relating to the national defense” that could harm the United States. But invoking national security to seize the notes of a reporter who was actively working with hundreds of confidential government sources — many of whom do not work in areas related to national security — is an alarming overreach. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of the press independently of the freedom of speech. It does this because those who wrote our Constitution understood that an informed public requires not only free communication but also the facts necessary for meaningful communication. Knowing what the government is up to is essential for democracy to work. Any government action that strips away press freedom is tolerable only when a critical governmental concern demands it. Protecting national security is certainly a critical governmental concern. That is why federal laws protecting the confidentiality of reporters’ work all contain exceptions when the government asserts a national security need. But reporting on national defense issues is also critically important. Indeed, informed public opinion may be “the only effective restraint” on executive power (as Justice Potter Stewart of the Supreme Court asserted in allowing the publication of the Pentagon Papers), given the president’s broad constitutional authority over national defense. History is full of examples of whistle-blowers who were able to inform the public of misconduct, illegality and abuse only through reporters who could guarantee them confidentiality and could publish free of government interference. Wednesday’s raid is not the first time the government has seized a reporter’s records in an Espionage Act investigation. But such actions have typically been rare, always met with public condemnation and often led to greater legal restraints against such actions. In 2010, during the Obama administration, the Justice Department secretly seized the email of a Fox News reporter in an investigation into a leak of classified information about North Korea, and three years later, it secretly seized phone records of The Associated Press in a leak investigation concerning a foiled Al Qaeda plot in Yemen. Then, as now, when those actions became public, the attorney general at the time defended them as legally justified by major security threats. But President Barack Obama was worried that these investigations might impede journalists’ work, and ordered the Justice Department to review the rules that permit such investigations. The rules were tightened. Later, after it became public knowledge in 2021 that President Trump’s Justice Department had secretly seized reporters’ records despite the stricter rules, Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s attorney general, banned the Justice Department from ever seeking a reporter’s confidential work to aid a criminal investigation. After taking office in the second Trump administration, Ms. Bondi promptly erased that ban. Her action was troubling enough when it was announced. The F.B.I. raid on Wednesday raises concern that the administration may be using the Espionage Act to silence critics by portraying reporters as criminals. The act is so broad and vague — it never defines the term “national defense” — that an investigation can be opened into the possession of nearly any confidential information, even when protecting that information is clearly a pretext.

FOX News [1/16/2026 10:12 AM, Mike Davis, 40621K] reports Minnesota reeks of corruption and incompetence. Gov. Tim Walz presided over an fraud catastrophe that prosecutors say could top $9 billion, authorized tampons in boys’ bathrooms and bungled virtually every aspect of governance. Now, he outdoes himself by claiming Minnesota stands "at war" with the federal government and portraying federal law enforcement as an occupying force. Radical leftists riot once again in Minneapolis’ streets, assault ICE officers, and openly flout the law. Enough is enough. President Trump must invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 and restore order. Sanctuary states and cities cripple federal law enforcement. Leftist leaders refuse to assist the federal government in enforcing immigration law, including the outrageous refusal to honor federal detainers for illegal immigrants arrested for other crimes. When state jails release illegal immigrants, officials fail to notify ICE. Agents must track fugitives on the streets instead of making safe arrests inside jails, exposing themselves and the public to unnecessary danger. Sanctuary policies shield murderers, pedophiles, drug dealers, and armed robbers from deportation.

New York Times [1/16/2026 5:04 AM, Ross Douthat and Victoria Chamberlin, 135475K] Video: HERE reports the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis has put a spotlight on the aggressive tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents operating in U.S. cities, and it has spotlighted the groups organizing to observe and protest immigration enforcement. I’m really interested in these small-scale efforts. They have led to people standing on street corners, blowing whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE’s presence and following and recording agents while they are conducting operations and making arrests. It seems like a very effective style of protest in certain ways, especially since it generates footage of ICE’s overreach and abuse, but it’s also fraught with risk, especially when it tempts protesters to interfere with law enforcement directly. My guest today, Francisco Segovia, is training people for this kind of activism. He is the executive director of a Minneapolis nonprofit that’s on the front lines of anti-ICE operations. I wanted to talk to him about how he trains people for interactions with ICE agents, the risks it carries for protesters and what he wants to see from immigration policy. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [1/16/2026 12:00 PM, Bernard Goldberg, 12595K] reports President Trump apparently isn’t busy enough “running Venezuela” — and rattling cages in Iran and Cuba, and threatening the independence of the Federal Reserve — that he can’t find time to fixate on Greenland, which he, as a former real estate developer, sees as beachfront property that the U.S. needs for our national security. “We are going to do something in Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor,” Trump told reporters. And if he can’t make a deal with Greenland, “the easy way,” he said, then he’ll have to “do it the hard way.” That’s how wise guys talk. It’s how the godfather, Vito Corleone talks. “I’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse.” But what if they do refuse? What if Greenlanders stick to what they’ve said over and over again — that their country is not for sale? What then? According to the president’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, “acquiring Greenland is a national security priority” and “utilizing the U.S. military is always an option.” Of course it is. Because nothing says “stable foreign policy” quite like threatening a NATO ally over a giant frozen rock that isn’t for sale. Think about it: The U.S., a member of NATO, rolls in with warships and tanks to take over another member of NATO. This is industrial strength stupid. Except Trump doesn’t see it that way. “We need Greenland,” he says. “It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”

Reuters [1/16/2026 2:23 PM, Arriana McLymore and Ross Kerber, 36480K] reports a group of Home Depot (HD.N) investors is asking the company to review its partnership with surveillance firm Flock Safety and state how its data is used and shared with law enforcement, following reports by an independent media outlet that the vendor’s data has been used in Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations. Home Depot locations have become hotbeds for ICE arrests, after U.S. Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller said the agency should target the home improvement chain, where migrant day laborers are known to gather. Investors in several companies are increasingly seeking answers to how U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and enforcement are affecting company operations and reputation. Zevin Asset Management, a sustainability-minded investor that owns more than $7 million in Home Depot stock, is leading a shareholder proposal with 17 co-filers asking Home Depot to evaluate and report the risks associated with sharing data with third-party surveillance vendors. Zevin’s proposal comes after a Walmart (WMT.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) shareholder asked the retailers for details on how the immigration crackdown is affecting their finances and supply chains, and as protests erupt after the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman by a U.S. Immigration agent in Minneapolis. The investor group wants an "assessment of privacy and civil rights risks, including discrimination or wrongful detention from misuse of customer data," according to the proposal seen by Reuters.

National News Desk [1/16/2026 4:50 PM, Jessica A. Botelho] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) might ask Americans for proof of citizenship during enforcement operations. “In every situation, we’re doing targeted enforcement. If we are on a target and doing an operation, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and why they’re there and having them validate their identity," Noem said during a news conference outside the White House on Thursday. “That’s what we’ve always done in asking people who they are so that we know who’s in those surroundings," she added. Noem was responding to a question posed by a reporter, who wanted to know why people were asked to provide proof of citizenship in Minnesota. In a social media post on Friday, Noem praised President Donald Trump, saying U.S. borders "are safer than any time in our nation’s history" thanks to his crackdown on illegal immigration.

Newsweek [1/16/2026 6:22 PM, Dan Gooding, 52220K] reports Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin wrote to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday, telling her he was outraged at “repeated targeting and racial profiling” of American citizens by her agents carrying out "citizen checks." In a letter exclusively shared with Newsweek, the Democrat told Noem that statements she and U.S. Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino had made that U.S. citizens needed to prove their identity were false. “To state the obvious, we are not a ‘papers, please’ country,” Durbin wrote. “American citizens generally do not have ‘immigration documents’, and to require them to carry such documents to avoid being violently stopped or interrogated by federal immigration agents is absurd and unconstitutional. There is no requirement in the law for U.S. citizens to carry identification to avoid arbitrary arrest and detention.” The letter came after Noem spoke to reporters on Thursday, saying that ICE agents may ask U.S. citizens for proof of citizenship during enforcement operations that have seen protesters clash with federal officers and citizens temporarily detained. Some video has shown citizens reacting angrily to such requests, saying they do not need to prove who they are, with concerns around Fourth Amendment protections. "If we are on a target, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and why they’re there and having them validate their identity," Noem said Thursday, after questions over why some Americans were being asked for proof of citizenship. Durbin, who has been outspoken over the Trump administration’s actions over the past year already, said he was deeply concerned at Bovino’s comments. “The founders included explicit protections from unreasonable searches and seizures in the U.S. Constitution to prevent the types of arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests of U.S. citizens that are currently occurring in American cities,” Durbin told Noem, adding that current Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh had affirmed these protections recently. “Unfortunately, these caveats have not prevented an escalating number of arbitrary stops, arrests, and detentions of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents,” the senator added.

Breitbart [1/16/2026 10:07 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports US immigration agents now remind many Americans of the Gestapo — and not just the left-wing activists who have taken to the streets to protest violent raids commanded by President Donald Trump. Avid Trump supporter and podcaster Joe Rogan, whose massive audience heard him repeat Republican talking points in the run-up to the 2024 election, fueled debate this week by airing those concerns. "Are we really gonna be the Gestapo, ‘Where’s your papers?’ Is that what we’ve come to?" Rogan asked millions of listeners. "You don’t want militarized people in the streets just roaming around, snatching up people — many of which turn out to be US citizens that just don’t have their papers on them," he said. A growing number of Americans agree with that sentiment. In every national poll, a majority condemns the actions of the immigration officer who shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good, a US citizen, in Minneapolis on January 7. A Quinnipiac survey found that 57 percent of voters condemn ICE’s methods, with 94 percent of Democratic voters and 64 percent of independents against Republicans, by contrast, support them at 84 percent. Another poll from Economist/YouGov found that, for the first time, 46 percent of respondents support abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), exceeding the 43 percent who oppose getting rid of it. "The most useful way to think about Joe Rogan is as America’s most famous swing voter," left-wing commentator Ben Burgis posted on X this week. Rogan wasn’t the pliant conservative megaphone White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt may have had in mind when she reaffirmed the Trump administration’s hard line of the ICE officer’s innocence. ICE agents "are simply trying to enforce the law and the Democratic Party has demeaned these individuals," Leavitt told reporters Thursday. "They’ve even referred to them as Nazis and as the Gestapo, and that is absolutely leading to the violence we’re seeing in the streets," she added. Beyond differences on policy or polemics, the methods used by the masked and sometimes heavily armed federal agents run counter to deeply rooted principles within American political and legal culture, Steven Schwinn, a law professor at University of Illinois, Chicago, told AFP.

NBC News [1/16/2026 8:02 AM, Staff, 34509K] reports ICE loses support among Americans as raids continue. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Caller [1/16/2026 6:25 PM, Sean Hustedde, 835K] reports Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib went on an emotional rant about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recruitment posts on social media during a Friday shadow hearing in Minnesota. The hearing, chaired by Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, discussed the recent heightened presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minnesota and the fatal shooting of Renee Good. When it was Tlaib’s turn to speak, she used her time to passionately suggest that recent DHS social media posts evoked “neo-Nazi” and “white nationalist” imagery. Tlaib held up a printed Jan. 9 social media post by the DHS’ official account, shared across multiple platforms, that depicted a mountainous landscape with a man riding a horse in the right corner. The photo featured text that read “we will have our home again.” “We will have our home again,” the congresswoman said, presenting the photo. “What does that evoke in you when you see this? It literally, when I see it, as a Muslima, as a Palestinian, as a child of immigrants, I see that this is something that is evoking like I’m not welcome here.” “The Federal Government is openly embracing white nationalist online content, including in a recruitment post after ICE agent … killed Renee Good,” Tlaib said, noting that the post was made two days after Good was shot and killed. She stated that one version of the post, made on Instagram, included a song, also titled “We’ll Have Our Home Again,” by Pine Tree Riots. “It’s popularized in neo-Nazi spaces,” Tlaib said of the song. “The track features lines about reclaiming our home by ‘Blood or sweat,’ language often used in white nationalist calls for a race war.” While the phrase has been used online in some white nationalist forums, there is no evidence it was ever associated with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), despite claims by many of the post’s critics, Newsweek reported.

AP [1/16/2026 2:15 PM, Melissa Goldin, 31753K] reports that as protests continue in Minneapolis after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, social media users are falsely claiming that Enrique Tarrio, a former Proud Boys leader, is working for the federal agency. President Donald Trump pardoned Tarrio in a sweeping grant of clemency to all 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tarrio was serving a 22-year prison sentence for orchestrating a failed plot to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election. His was one of the most serious cases brought by the Justice Department and he received the longest sentence handed down for the attack. Posts cited a list of leaked ICE agents as alleged evidence. However, both ICE and Tarrio say he does not work for the agency. CLAIM: Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is now an ICE officer. THE FACTS: This is false. Tarrio denied working for ICE on social media and the federal agency confirmed that he is not now, nor ever has been, employed there. "This individual was never hired by ICE," said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. "ICE only recruits patriotic professionals who respect our nation’s laws, care about their communities, and have the integrity and moral compass to perform such critical roles in keeping America safe."

Daily Wire [1/16/2026 7:03 AM, Zach Jewell, 2494K] reports that Border czar Tom Homan said on Thursday that the Trump administration needs to be "better at messaging" on Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations to push back on what he called "false" legacy media narratives. Homan told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that recent polls showing growing disapproval for Trump’s massive deportation operations are "egged on by the press." Recent surveys conducted by the Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, and Quinnipiac show Trump’s approval rating on immigration slipping, despite immigration being one of the top issues that helped him win the 2024 election. "Tom, are you concerned about the CNN and Quinnipiac polls that show declining public support for ICE and President Trump’s approach to immigration enforcement? Do you think those are accurate, or are they being egged on by the press?" Ingraham asked. "I think they’re being egged on by the press. I think there’s a lot of false media out there. And I think we need to be better at messaging at what we’re doing," Homan replied. "Look, bottom line is 70% of everybody arrested is a criminal. We need to start advertising that every single day and put their pictures all over social media." "We just gotta push back the lies because a lot of people don’t get the facts," he added. "And we gotta be better about getting the facts out there." As part of gaining an advantage in messaging, Homan also proposed creating a "database" of people who are arrested for impeding ICE operations.

New York Times [1/16/2026 5:40 PM, Michael Levenson, 135475K] reports Any Lucia López Belloza, who was a freshman at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., said she was shocked that a federal prosecutor admitted this week that the Trump administration made a mistake when it deported her to Honduras as she was trying to fly home to Texas for Thanksgiving. Now, she hopes the government will actually allow her to return to the United States, although a Homeland Security spokeswoman on Friday strongly defended the government’s actions when it deported her in November. Immigration authorities detained Ms. López on Nov. 20 at Boston Logan International Airport. She was flown to Honduras two days later, despite a court order signed on Nov. 21, barring her from being removed from the United States while her case was pending. But at a federal court hearing in Boston on Tuesday, a federal prosecutor acknowledged that an ICE officer made a mistake when the government deported Ms. López, a rare admission of error as the administration seeks to quickly ramp up deportations. The government acknowledged that after Ms. López was moved out of Massachusetts, an ICE employee failed to activate a system that alerts other officers to deportation cases that are subject to judicial review and should be stopped, The Associated Press reported. Despite the admission, it remains unclear whether the government will allow Ms. López to return. The Trump administration has not moved to drop the case, and it has generally sought maximum authority to detain and deport noncitizens.

Reuters [1/16/2026 9:03 PM, Nate Raymond, 36480K] reports a U.S. judge on Friday gave the Trump administration three weeks to "rectify the mistake" it made by deporting a college student to Honduras while she was traveling home to spend Thanksgiving with her family in Texas, and he recommended it issue her a student visa. U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston imposed the deadline after a lawyer for the administration earlier this week apologized for having violated a court order that should have prevented 19-year-old Any Lucia Lopez Belloza from being sent to Honduras. Lopez Belloza is a Honduran national who was brought to the United States by her mother when she was 8 while seeking asylum. She has said she was unaware she was subject to a removal order. "There is happily no one-size-fits-all solution for seeing that justice be done in what all agree was an amalgam of errors that ended badly for Any," Stearns said. He said the "simplest solution" would be for the U.S. Department of State to issue her a student visa. The alternative, he said, would be for him to order President Donald Trump’s administration to arrange for Lopez Belloza’s return, with a threat of holding the government in contempt if it refused. He gave the administration 21 days to inform him of how it will proceed. A lawyer for the government on Tuesday apologized for what he said was a "mistake" by an officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement who failed to properly flag it because he thought it no longer applied as she was out of Massachusetts.

CBS News [1/16/2026 8:59 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the death of a Mexican citizen in an immigration detention facility this week in Georgia, as Mexican authorities sought details surrounding the circumstances of the incident. On Wednesday, Heber Sanchez Domínguez, a 34-year-old Mexican citizen, died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Center in Clayton County, south of Atlanta, DHS said in a statement Friday. The cause of death is currently under investigation. Sanchaz was in ICE custody for six days and was awaiting a hearing when he was discovered "hanging by the neck and unresponsive in his sleeping quarters" at about 2:05 a.m. local time, DHS said. Medical staff immediately attempted lifesaving measures and then transported him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead about one hour later. ICE said it first encountered Sanchez on Jan. 7 after he was arrested for driving without a license, DHS said. Two days later, on Jan. 9, ICE filed a notice requiring Sanchez to appear before an immigration judge. DHS said Sanchez entered the U.S. illegally on Dec. 22, 2023, at or near Nogales, Arizona. Border Patrol agents arrested him that same day and issued him a notice to appear. He was later released without bond. After his Jan. 7 arrest, ICE transferred Sanchez to the Robert A. Deyton Detention Center as he awaited removal proceedings. Medical staff conducted an intake evaluation and reported no signs of distress at the time. On Thursday, Mexico’s consulate in Atlanta said it was "closely monitoring" the death of a Mexican citizen Wednesday at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility and was maintaining "permanent communication" with the ICE field office in Atlanta. Mexican officials requested "that the circumstances of the incident be clarified," the consulate said, adding that it was "collaborating on the necessary procedures to ensure that the investigation is conducted promptly and transparently." The consulate said it planned to return the remains to Mexico as soon as possible. ICE has been at the forefront of President Trump’s mass deportation campaign. About 73,000 people facing deportation were being held by ICE as of Thursday, according to internal DHS data obtained by CBS News. This marks the first time in the deportation agency’s 23-year history that the number of ICE detainees has surpassed the 70,000 mark. Last year, 2025, was the deadliest year for ICE detainees in two decades, with at least 30 people dying in detention centers. At least four people have died in ICE detention so far this year, according to agency data. The agency has come under intense public scrutiny in recent days following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an immigration officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, sparking protests across the U.S. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/16/2026 2:15 PM, Andrew Mark Miller, 40621K] reports that Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno is demanding answers from a Toledo County commissioner after the official compared ICE officers to terrorists, which Moreno suggested could violate his oath of office. "Since December 2025, these agencies have changed from a legitimate agency to a terrorist group," Commissioner Pete Gerken said earlier this week as the Lucas County Board of Commissioners voted against enforcing a grant providing funding to DHS. In a letter to Gerken, obtained by Fox News Digital, Moreno called the vote "incoherent and perilous" and labeled Gerken’s comments as antithetical to the oath he swore as commissioner. "Your irresponsible rhetoric and decisions are wholly inconsistent with the duties that you swore a constitutional oath to uphold," Moreno wrote. "In fact, it is your legal responsibility, for example, to ‘work with all county elected officials and with judges to assure that they are properly funded to perform their statutory duties.’ Ohio Revised Code 3.07 states that ‘any person holding office… in this county… who refuses or willfully neglects to enforce the law or to perform any official duty imposed on him by law… is guilty of misconduct in office.’" According to the letter, Toledo Public Schools are facing an estimated $70 million budget deficit, while the Lucas County sheriff has requested a $6.57 million budget increase to address staffing shortages. Moreno argued that rejecting federal assistance under those circumstances was "particularly confounding" and harmful to county residents.

Blaze [1/16/2026 5:00 PM, Staff, 1442K] reports there was another ICE shooting in Minnesota, but while leftist politicians and media try to spin it to incriminate ICE, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales points out that they’re the ones fanning the flames. According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, "Federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis of an illegal alien from Venezuela who was released into the country by Joe Biden in 2022." When the subject attempted to flee the scene, he crashed into a parked car — and then fled on foot. When the ICE officer caught up to him, the subject not only began to resist and assault the officer, but two more subjects came out of a nearby apartment and began attacking the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle. While the officer was being attacked, the original subject got loose and began hitting the officer with the shovel or broom handle. As the officer was beginning to fear for his life, he fired a defensive shot to defend himself and hit the immigrant in the leg.

NPR [1/17/2026 5:00 AM, Jaclyn Diaz, 34837K] reports since the shooting of Renee Macklin Good, the Trump administration has escalated the federal immigration presence in Minneapolis, turning the city into a flashpoint for a new, more aggressive phase of immigration enforcement. NPR reporters on the ground in Minneapolis have witnessed federal agents pulling people off the streets and out of their cars or questioning people of color on their immigration status. In response, community members have protested, throwing snowballs at federal agents and blocking ICE vehicles. In turn, agents have deployed tear gas, tackled, or arrested those demonstrators. Experts on immigration and policing say what is unfolding in Minneapolis reflects a broader national shift: federal immigration authorities are pushing the limits of their power, deploying to cities with little formal coordination with local officials — a move that is creating confusion, fear and mistrust. The Trump administration, however, says this is what Americans want, and the actions of immigration in Minnesota are justified. In a statement to NPR, Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin says, "President Trump and [DHS] Secretary Noem are delivering on the American people’s mandate to deport illegal aliens." McLaughlin continues, "70% of illegal aliens arrested by ICE have been charged with or convicted of a crime in the U.S. The American people, the law, and common sense are on our side, and we will not stop until law and order is restored after Biden’s open border chaos flooded our country with the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens." Data published by the University of California Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project shows that in the first nine months of President Trump’s second term, around 75,000 people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not have a criminal record – over a third of all ICE arrests.

FOX News [1/16/2026 10:39 AM, Marc Tamasco Fox, 40621K] reports following the fatal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-involved shooting of Renee Nicole Good last Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison emphasized that "there is no statute of limitations on murder," suggesting the agent involved could face charges at a later date if political leadership changes. During a Thursday appearance on "The Jim Acosta Show," Ellison asserted that "there is no absolute immunity" for the agent who shot and killed Good, contradicting Vice President JD Vance’s claim following the shooting. "For anyone watching your show, Jim, there is no absolute immunity. It’s untrue. And there is no statute of limitations on murder, by the way," he told Acosta. "And that’s something that they should keep in mind because they’re not always going to be in power, and we will make the justice system operate on the basis of fairness, justice and truth one day again.” The day after Good was shot, Vance told reporters at a press conference that the ICE agent involved "is protected by absolute immunity" because he is a federal agent and "was doing his job.” Following up on Ellison’s assertion, Acosta said, "And if you have to wait until 2029, so be it," seeming to imply that a presidential win for Democrats in 2028 could lead to the agent’s prosecution. "That’s what it is, you know what I mean?" Ellison concurred. "There’s a reason why a statute of limitations on murder doesn’t exist. It’s because when you snatch a person’s life away, it leaves an indelible print on everyone around them. People can’t unsee this.” Ellison noted that for people like Good’s wife and children, their lives have "been altered forever," which is why "justice is not going to go to sleep or go away.” "We will pursue this to its logical, factual end," Ellison added.

Breitbart [1/16/2026 4:16 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is continuing to arrest illegal alien convicts across Minnesota as part of Operation Metro Surge, including drunk drivers, drug traffickers, and burglars. "Another day and more perpetrators of fraud, thieves, and drug traffickers arrested from the streets of Minnesota by our brave law enforcement," the Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Most recently, ICE officials revealed that the sanctuary policies of Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) have ensured that nearly 500 criminal illegal aliens have been released back into Minnesota neighborhoods rather than being turned over to ICE agents.

FOX News [1/16/2026 12:24 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey accuse Trump administration of unleashing "political retribution" and an "invasion" with ICE activity in their state.

Daily Caller [1/16/2026 3:08 PM, Alexis Lapp, 835K] reports Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Brad Tabke posted over 20 updates to his X account Thursday documenting ICE agent sightings across Shakopee, Prior Lake, and Savage — suburbs about 25 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Throughout the day, Tabke shared the real-time locations of ICE agents and vehicles, including sightings near gas stations, a Panera, and shopping centers in the Southbridge area. Tabke also described how to identify unmarked ICE vehicles. The posts come amid heightened tensions following the Jan. 7 death of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security claims Good attempted to use her vehicle as a weapon; Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Gov. Tim Walz have disputed that characterization, with Frey calling the claim "bullshit." Protests demanding ICE leave the state have since taken place in Minneapolis.

NPR [1/16/2026 4:32 PM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports Minneapolis residents are resisting as federal immigration agents surge into their city, creating what some locals describe as an atmosphere of fear and siege on the streets.

USA Today [1/16/2026 12:33 PM, N’dea Yancey-Bragg, Sarah D. Wire and Christopher Cann, 67103K] reports protestors who want to speak out about the fatal shooting of Renee Good face a barrage of conflicting directives from authorities. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz encouraged protestors to record federal immigration authorities: "Help us establish a record of exactly what’s happening in our communities," Walz said in an appeal to his state’s residents. But the Trump administration has framed groups that monitor and track ICE as improperly keeping the agency from completing immigration removals. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has said posting photos and videos of ICE agents online is "doxxing" and threatened to "prosecute those who illegally harass ICE agents to the fullest extent of the law.” "Gov. Walz is encouraging obstruction to federal law enforcement which is a federal crime and felony," McLaughlin told USA TODAY. "He is putting his own constituents in potentially dangerous and criminal situations.” And Republican Minnesota state Rep. Harry Niska slammed Walz, saying the governor "has fueled fear and anger by falsely claiming Minnesota is ‘at war’ with the federal government, ‘under attack’ by ICE, and by smearing federal agents as the ‘modern-day Gestapo.’". Officers have deployed gas and shot rubber bullets, a tense situation that has left demonstrators in "a very difficult position," Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice, told USA TODAY.

New York Times [1/17/2026 5:15 AM, Vivian Yee, 135475K] reports the vehicles all jolted to a stop — S.U.V.s full of masked immigration agents and cars carrying activists and journalists who had been tailing them — and in what felt like less than a second, everyone was out on the frozen Minneapolis street corner, facing off. Car horns and sirens and the screech of whistles from the activists almost drowned out the profanities hurled at the ICE agents. Men in military-style uniforms descended from an S.U.V., pointing cans of pepper spray at the cars. Other federal agents were already surrounding a man in a hoodie who had been standing at a bus stop on Lake Street. Activists scrambled toward the bus stop, some of them masked as well. Blowing their whistles, they held their phones aloft to shoot video, trying to alert the whole block: ICE is here. ICE is here, arresting someone. Expletives and pepper spray spattered the crowd. The agents stuck the man in the back of a car and were gone. Fear and fury can explode on any street corner during this charged time in Minneapolis, any time, any place the muscle of the federal government meets the rage of the citizens who reject its tactics. Thousands of people attended a march last Saturday to mourn Renee Good, the woman an ICE agent had shot and killed days earlier. There have been school walkouts, daily protests outside the federal building where agents take detainees, four-person protests on frigid street corners and an hourslong demonstration after an ICE agent shot a man in the leg while attempting to detain him on Wednesday night. But the city’s defiance toward the thousands of federal agents surging into Minneapolis also looks like this: locals using their cars, whistles, phones and local networks to monitor and confront the agents wherever they can, sticking close to them to complicate their efforts, like cornerbacks guarding wide receivers. It is a cat-and-mouse game with a global audience, high stakes and a looming element of danger. Activists are pressing against a gray zone of legality as they try to confront heavily armed federal agents they accuse of doing far worse. Many of the protesters are white, though others, including Native Americans, have participated. Several white protesters and volunteers said they felt that they had a special responsibility to stand up for neighbors who they said would be vulnerable to targeting by ICE. These white volunteers also said they had been motivated to get involved after Ms. Good’s killing on Jan. 7. The Trump administration has said an immigration crackdown in Minnesota is necessary to combat widespread fraud in the state, especially in Minnesota’s Somali community, which President Trump has repeatedly derided and insulted.

New York Times [1/16/2026 4:00 PM, Julie Bosman, 135475K] reports if there is a third character in the story of immigration agents versus protesters in Minnesota, it is the January weather. This weekend, temperatures in Minneapolis are expected to plunge even lower, to around zero degrees, an Arctic blast that could hinder the Trump administration’s continuing immigration crackdown and the angry demonstrations over the death of Renee Good, 37. Local and state officials in Minnesota are anxiously watching the forecast. In daily meetings this week, they have shared information on planned protests and gatherings, news conferences, arrests and unrest. Without exception, the weather is on the list, and though officials are reluctant to say it publicly, they are quietly hoping for a few days of brutal cold. That could calm residents in a city whose nerves are collectively frayed, city and state leaders reason, and make it harder for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to make arrests and disrupt life in Minneapolis any further.

AP [1/16/2026 11:41 AM, Staff, 31753K] reports a Liberian man taken into custody in Minnesota by immigration agents and later ordered released by a federal judge has been taken back into custody. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [1/16/2026 6:01 AM, Eric Levenson, 18595K] reports Minnesota’s federal lawsuit against Trump administration officials primarily focuses on how the surge of federal immigration agents into Minneapolis and the fatal shooting of Renee Good have terrorized local residents. Among those affected: Members of the Minneapolis Police Department, still scarred from the summer of 2020. "For officers present during the 2020 unrest, the incident has triggered traumatic memories as the officers resume operational duties amid concerns of potential instability," the lawsuit states. "Officers who joined the department after 2020 report similar emotional impacts, having experienced prior unrest as community members." One police source referred to the current situation as a "mess." "We all signed up for police work and law enforcement – going out there and helping victims and putting bad people behind bars," the source told CNN. "But becoming mediators between the federal government and activists is not what we signed up for." The comments reveal one aspect of how the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd more than five years ago continues to cast a long shadow over the Twin Cities and has colored the response to last week’s killing of Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Federal officials have defended the actions of federal agents as appropriate. "ICE and (Customs and Border Protection) are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and themselves," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CNN. "Our officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”

AP [1/17/2026 12:01 AM, Tim Sullivan, 31753K] reports work starts around sunrise for the federal officers carrying out the immigration crackdown in and around the Twin Cities, with hundreds of people in tactical gear streaming out of a bland office building near the main airport. Within minutes, hulking SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans begin leaving, forming the unmarked convoys that have quickly become feared and common sights in the streets of Minneapolis, St. Paul and their suburbs. Protesters also arrive early, braving the cold to stand across the street from the fenced-in federal compound, which houses an immigration court and government offices. "Go home!" they shout as convoys roar past. "ICE out!" Things often turn uglier after nightfall, when the convoys return and the protesters sometimes grow angrier, shaking fences and occasionally smacking passing cars. Eventually, the federal officers march toward them, firing tear gas and flash grenades before hauling away at least a few people. "We’re not going anywhere!" a woman shouted on a recent morning. "We’re here until you leave." This is the daily rhythm of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s latest and biggest crackdown yet, with more than 2,000 officers taking part. The surge has pitted city and state officials against the federal government, sparked daily clashes between activists and immigration officers in the deeply liberal cities, and left a mother of three dead. The crackdown is barely noticeable in some areas, particularly in whiter, wealthier neighborhoods and suburbs, where convoys and tear gas are rare. And even in neighborhoods where masked immigration officers are common, they often move with ghostlike quickness, making arrests and disappearing before protesters can gather in force. Still, the surge can be felt across broad swaths of the Twin Cities area, which is home to more than 3 million people. "We don’t use the word ‘invasion’ lightly," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told reporters this week, noting that his police force has just 600 officers. "What we are seeing is thousands — plural, thousands — of federal agents coming into our city.”

CBS News [1/16/2026 6:57 PM, Marissa Armas, 39474K] Video: HERE reports in a rare on‑camera interview, CBS News Texas spoke with the acting director of the ICE Dallas Field Office, Robert Cerna, to address concerns about immigration enforcement – from local partnerships to agent training. "I can tell you that morale here in Dallas is high," Cerna said. "I mean, we’re all committed to enforcing are our immigration laws.” CBS News Texas asked why Texas is not seeing as many raids or aggressive ICE behavior as in places like Minneapolis and California. "I can tell you that here in Texas, I mean, we do have local partnerships, and we do work well with all our local, federal, state, and partners," he said. "We do not have any problems with jurisdictions that are not honoring our immigration detainers. So, I think that has something to do with it.” In October, the Dallas Police Department made headlines after rejecting a $25 million federal offer to help ICE with immigration enforcement through the 287(g) program. The agreement allows local and state agencies to perform certain immigration duties under federal authority, and hundreds of agencies across Texas already participate. CBS News Texas asked Cerna how that decision affects local enforcement. "We have great partnerships with all of our federal partners and state local partners, and, you know, some partnerships are better than others, but as far as, you know, we can still get our job done," Cerna said. Some North Texans have raised concerns about ICE agents wearing masks and not clearly identifying themselves, saying it poses public safety risks. "Our officers will identify themselves as federal law enforcement officers," he said. "Now, the masking the masking is, is for their safety and the safety of their family.”

Daily Wire [1/16/2026 5:59 AM, Leif Le Mahieu, 2494K] reports that the FBI is hunting for an illegal immigrant from Honduras who is accused of ramming his truck into multiple Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles during a traffic stop in Texas last month. Jerson Lopez-Sanchez, 28, is charged with three counts of assaulting or resisting federal officers, according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Lopez-Sanchez is on the run, and the FBI has offered a $15,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest and conviction. The incident unfolded on December 1 after ICE agents conducted a registration check of a Chevrolet Silverado carrying five people driving through Dallas. After determining that Lopez-Sanchez was in the country illegally, agents followed the truck and attempted to initiate a traffic stop in nearby Lewisville, Texas. Three ICE vehicles surrounded the truck and prepared to conduct the stop when Lopez-Sanchez suddenly put his truck, which was loaded with ladders, in reverse and slammed it into a Jeep SUV driven by one of the ICE agents, according to the indictment. "The ICE agent in that SUV had one leg out of his vehicle and on the ground when the driver rammed the Jeep and jolted him backwards. This agent had to quickly jump back into his vehicle to avoid serious injury," the indictment said.

New York Post [1/16/2026 7:38 PM, Georgia Worrell, 42219K] reports an illegal migrant from Cuba is in federal custody after ramming ICE vehicles in a Walmart parking lot in Texas – and nearly mowing down an agent, according to authorities and video of the disturbing scene. Robyn Argote-Brooks, 25, was allegedly caught on camera ignoring officers’ directions to exit his gold sedan after getting pulled over in San Antonio on Tuesday, before suddenly flooring the gas in reverse. His vehicle, which was boxed in by agents’ cars, narrowly misses an agent before he continues accelerating into the feds’ SUV, the footage shows. Moments later, Argote-Brooks allegedly speeds into the second ICE vehicle in front of him, but is again unsuccessful in escaping the blockade. An officer who was in the front seat of that vehicle, a sedan, was hurt in the crash, according to DHS, who didn’t elaborate on his injuries. Agents are eventually able to break the driver’s side window, pull Argote-Brooks out of the car and cuff him on the ground, the video shows. The Cuba national, who entered the US in October 2024 at the Laredo Port of Entry, was among the more one million migrants who illegally crossed into the country that year under the Biden administration’s "disastrous" CBP One app, DHS said. At the time, Customs and Border Protection issued Argote-Brooks a notice to appear, then released him on parole while he awaited an immigration hearing, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in Texas’ Western District Court. His parole was terminated in April 2025, the court docs state. This week’s attack came after ICE agents ran a license plate check on Argote-Brooks’ car and found there was no Social Security number, driver’s license or date of birth attached to his owner’s registration, the complaint said, prompting officers to "initiate a casual encounter" with the migrant. Now, Argote-Brooks is facing a federal destruction of government property charge for causing at least $4,847.19 in vehicular damages, the affidavit says. The charge carries up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The shocking episode is just the latest in a recent string of car attacks on ICE officers, which have spiked by some 3,200% overall in the past year, according to shocking DHS data. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blamed sanctuary politicians for the rampant violence against agents. "As sanctuary politicians have encouraged illegal aliens to evade arrest, they have created an environment that incites violence against our law enforcement," McLaughlin said in a statement. "Secretary Noem has been clear: anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Telemundo51 [1/16/2026 5:08 PM, Staff, 182K]

AP [1/16/2026 6:25 PM, Michael Biesecker, Cedar Attanasio and Ryan J. Foley, 2218K] reports a Cuban immigrant died in a Texas immigration detention facility earlier this month during an altercation with guards, and the local medical examiner has indicated that his death will likely be classified as a homicide. The federal government has provided a differing account surrounding the Jan. 3 death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, saying the detainee was attempting suicide and staff tried to save him. A witness told The Associated Press that Lunas Campos died after he was handcuffed, tackled by guards and placed in a chokehold until he lost consciousness. The immigrant’s family was told by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday that a preliminary autopsy report said the death was a homicide resulting from asphyxia from chest and neck compression, according to a recording of the call reviewed by the AP. The death and conflicting accounts have intensified scrutiny into the conditions of immigration jails at a time when the government has been rounding up immigrants in large numbers around the country and detaining them at facilities like the one in El Paso where Lunas Campos died. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is legally required to issue public notification of detainee deaths. Last week, it said Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old father of four and registered sex offender, had died at Camp East Montana, but made no mention of him being involved in an altercation with staff immediately before his death. In response to questions from the AP, the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, on Thursday amended its account of Lunas Campos’ death, saying he tried to kill himself. “Campos violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. “During the ensuing struggle, Campos stopped breathing and lost consciousness.” In an interview before DHS updated its account, detainee Santos Jesús Flores, 47, from El Salvador, said he witnessed the incident through the window of his cell in the special housing unit, where detainees are held in isolation for disciplinary infractions. “He didn’t want to enter the cell where they were going to put him,” Flores told the AP on Thursday, speaking in Spanish from a phone in the facility. “The last thing he said was that he couldn’t breathe.”

Univision [1/16/2026 5:02 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports the death of a Cuban immigrant in Texas immigration custody has sparked questions about the use of force in detention centers and the transparency of official investigations. While the federal government maintains that the detainee attempted suicide, an eyewitness and the local medical examiner indicate that the cause of death was asphyxiation following a struggle with guards, which could lead to a homicide classification. The death occurred on January 3 at Camp East Montana, an immigration facility located within Fort Bliss military base in El Paso. The deceased was identified as Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban immigrant who had lived in the United States for nearly three decades. According to information from the El Paso County Medical Examiner, the preliminary cause of death was asphyxiation by compression of the neck and chest, and the case would be classified as homicide, the office informed relatives of the detainee in a call reviewed by AP. The initial official version from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stated that Lunas Campos died after showing “signs of distress” while in the segregation area of ​​the detention center and that medical personnel attempted to resuscitate him before emergency services arrived. However, after questions from the press, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) changed its account, asserting that the detainee attempted suicide and that agents intervened to save his life.

Reuters [1/16/2026 2:38 PM, Ted Hesson, 36480K] reports that U.S. immigration officials on Friday provided a new but incomplete account of an immigrant detainee’s death in Texas after a report emerged suggesting it may have been homicide. The Washington Post on Thursday reported the El Paso County medical examiner is likely to classify the death as a homicide, raising more questions about how it unfolded. The January 3 death was one of four deaths in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody over a 10-day period at the start of the year. Detention deaths reached a 20-year high in 2025 as President Donald Trump’s administration ramped up the number of people held for alleged immigration violations. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security initially said in a January 9 press release it was investigating the death of Cuban immigrant Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, which occurred after he experienced "medical distress." Lunas was being held in Camp East Montana, a detention site opened by the Trump administration inside Fort Bliss that has been criticized by immigrant rights advocates. DHS did not provide a cause of death, but the Washington Post reported that the medical examiner’s office planned to list the cause of death as a lack of oxygen due to pressure on the neck and chest, citing a recording of a conversation between the medical examiner’s office and the detainee’s daughter.

Newsweek [1/16/2026 11:01 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban immigrant held at a Texas ICE detention facility, may be classified as a homicide, according to a county medical examiner employee who spoke with his family, The Washington Post reported. The Washington Post, reported that an employee of the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner told Lunas Campos’ daughter that, pending toxicology results, a doctor is listing the preliminary cause of death as asphyxia caused by neck and chest compression. In a recording shared with the newspaper, the employee said the manner of death is expected to be ruled a homicide, meaning the death was caused at least in part by the actions of another person. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Lunas Campos died after attempting to take his own life. The spokesperson said he “violently resisted” staff during an ensuing struggle, stopped breathing, and lost consciousness. Medical staff attempted resuscitation but he was pronounced dead at the scene, the agency said.

Axios [1/16/2026 5:28 PM, Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi, 12972K] reports Dallas ICE agents arrested more than 12,000 people last year, and the majority of the detainees did not have a prior criminal conviction, the Dallas Morning News reports. The Dallas ICE field office, which includes North Texas and Oklahoma, averages about 100 arrests per day — the second-highest in the country, NBC 5 reported last week. The Department of Homeland Security tells the DMN that 70% of people arrested by ICE have been charged or convicted of a crime. But 62% of people arrested by the Dallas office between Jan. 20 and Oct. 16, 2025, had not been convicted of crimes, per the DMN. Meanwhile, the share of arrests of immigrants with previous convictions during that same time period declined from 56% in 2024 to 38% in 2025. And, the newspaper reports, those convictions are less likely in 2025 to be for violent crimes. The DMN examined ICE arrests and involuntary deportation data for the country and ICE Dallas’ coverage area.

Federalist [1/16/2026 7:27 AM, M. D. Kittle, 785K] reports the illegal alien who served as superintendent of Iowa’s largest public school district appears poised to take a plea deal in federal court. Ian Roberts remains in the Polk County Jail in Des Moines facing a March 2 trial on charges of possessing a firearm as an illegal immigrant and making false statements on his employment authorization form. Roberts claimed he was a U.S. citizen. He was not, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Then again, the Guyana native and longtime educrat whom the Des Moines School Board gleefully hired in 2023 has made a lot of claims that have turned out to be false. It seems he’s still making some. Now, Des Moines Public Schools is trying to recover from a nationally embarrassing episode while Roberts writes about "redemption" on his LinkedIn page — from jail. The Des Moines Register on Thursday reported that federal prosecutors and Roberts’ legal counsel have been working on a plea deal for some time. Just what the deal involves isn’t spelled out in court documents, but filings show the sides have sought to extend timelines. The "parties continue to negotiate in good faith for a resolution but need a few more days to discuss the possibility of resolution," one recent document states. The U.S. District Court in Des Moines ordered a change of plea hearing for Jan. 22. Roberts, who also is facing deportation, has claimed innocence in the messy matter. His attorney, Alfredo Parrish, could not be reached for comment Thursday at his Des Moines office. The office’s phone system prevented voicemails.

Daily Caller [1/16/2026 1:12 PM, Hudson Crozier, 835K] reports that a prominent anarchist blog is calling for a "disruptive" gathering at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent’s home in Portland, Oregon, on Friday night. Masked protesters should arrive at the property at 6 p.m. and "TAKE THE FIGHT" to ICE, whether the gathering is "peaceful" or not, according to the Tuesday post from "Rose City Counter-Info," which claims to identify the agent and a home address. The anonymous pro-Antifa website drew rebuke from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in July and October for efforts to "dox" ICE agents and telling Portlanders to illegally shine lasers at federal aircraft. "It’s time to take the battle to the actual people responsible for kidnapping, disappearing, and shooting our neighbors," reads the post. "Behind the masks, ICE agents have names and addresses, and some of them feel comfortable enough to live in the same city they terrorize on a daily basis." The blog also urges comrades to leave phones and cameras at home and refrain from filming each other to avoid creating evidence for police investigations. In a paragraph addressing whether the demonstration will be peaceful, the blog says it should be "loud, disruptive, and joyous" and that "we will not be spending our energy trying to control the way others protest." "Instead, we will work together to keep each other safe from the real violent agitators: the Portland Police and DHS," Rose City Counter-Info said. The FBI’s Portland office and the DHS did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

Los Angeles Times [1/16/2026 3:59 PM, James Queally, Libor Jany and Richard Winton, 14862K] reports a court filing made public this week claims to reveal the identity of the off-duty federal immigration agent who shot and killed a Los Angeles man on New Year’s Eve and includes allegations that the law enforcement officer whipped his sons with a belt and made racist and homophobic remarks in the past, according to documents obtained by The Times. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Brian Palacios shot Keith Porter Jr. late on Dec. 31 at a Northridge apartment complex, according to a sworn declaration submitted by attorney Michelle Diaz in a custody dispute between Palacios’ girlfriend and her ex-husband, which was made public Thursday. The document alleges that Palacios is the shooter "based on information and belief," citing records and testimony identifying him as an ICE agent who lives in the complex. Friends and advocates say Porter — a 43-year-old Compton native and father of two — was firing a gun into the air to celebrate the new year on the night of his death. Tricia McLaughlin, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary of public affairs, initially said a suspected "active shooter" was killed following an exchange of gunfire with an off-duty ICE agent. In her statement, McLaughlin said the agent "bravely responded to an active shooter situation at his apartment complex." The document filed this week sought to temporarily bar Palacios’ girlfriend from seeing her daughter from her first marriage, based on the potential danger posed by the ICE agent’s alleged involvement in the shooting. It remains unclear exactly what happened in Northridge around 10:40 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. The L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services opened an investigation, according to court records, but it was not clear what the results were.

New York Post [1/16/2026 3:23 PM, Zain Khan, 42219K] reports the Trump administration blasted LA Mayor Karen Bass over her call for ICE to leave town, arguing that her rhetoric — and the word from other Dems — is "doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens." Bass said she wanted ICE out of the city following an ICE raid in LA’s Fashion District Thursday morning. Bass also invoked the killing of Renee Nicole Good and took aim at the president. The White House said that because of rhetoric from officials like Bass, ICE officers are now facing a 1,300% increase in assaults due to what it called "dangerous, untrue smears from elected Democrats."

FOX News [1/16/2026 8:39 AM, Lindsay Kornick, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., appeared to walk back his earlier comments calling ICE raids "state-sponsored terrorism" when asked by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro during an interview Thursday. Shapiro brought up Newsom’s comments, which were made shortly after news broke about an ICE-related shooting in Minnesota last week. Although Shapiro criticized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s comments claiming the victim was taking part in "domestic terrorism," he expressed equal frustration over Newsom’s statement. "And then your press office tweeted out that it was state-sponsored terrorism, which I mean, Governor, I do have to ask you about that," Shapiro said on "This is Gavin Newsom." "That sort of thing makes our politics worse. Yeah, I mean, it does. I mean, our ICE officers obviously are not terrorists. A tragic situation is not state-sponsored terrorism.” "Yeah, I think that’s fair," Newsom responded. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link] The Washington Examiner [1/16/2026 11:19 AM, Ross O’Keefe, 1394K] reports Newsom’s press office, which has been incessantly imitating President Donald Trump’s Truth Social posting style, posted the statement criticizing the Trump administration for Good’s death on Jan. 7. "STATE. SPONSORED. TERRORISM," it wrote in a post on X. Many Democrats widely condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s actions in Minneapolis and referred to the death of Good as "murder." Newsom, a possible 2028 presidential contender, has marketed himself as more moderate recently, including launching his podcast as a space to communicate with conservatives, such as Shapiro. Newsom’s statement from his personal account after Good’s death further explained his stance on the Trump administration’s wide deployment of ICE. "His administration has driven extremism and cruelty while discarding basic safeguards and accountability," he wrote. "Now, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen is dead. Donald Trump owns this. His deliberate escalation of intimidation and chaos has consequences. His reckless crackdown must end.”

FOX News [1/16/2026 8:00 AM, Alexander Hall, 40621K] reports California Democratic Rep. Juan Vargas called to defund the Department of Homeland Security for the actions of ICE. Defunding law enforcement became a popular rallying cry for Democrats after the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd in 2020. While many Democrats since then have tried to distance themselves and the party from such rhetoric, others appear to be pushing forward when it comes to defunding ICE. The death of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE officer amid immigration raids has sparked nationwide protests and some riots. According to the DHS, the federal agent who fatally shot Good suffered internal bleeding to his torso when he was struck by her vehicle. Political podcaster Kate Powell spoke to Vargas about the unfolding controversy on her show this week in an episode titled, "Impeaching Noem." "So, I’m going to do everything I can along with my colleagues here to try to get her impeached and removed," Vargas said of Secretary of the DHS Kristi Noem’s leadership. "She has violated the law, she has allowed everyone in ICE and also these other agencies to violate the law, and she not only encourages it, she applauds it.”

CBS News [1/16/2026 6:31 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports a new federal rule will help foreign‑born religious workers stay in the U.S. with fewer disruptions. The Department of Homeland Security has eliminated the requirement that R‑1 visa holders leave the country for a full year before reapplying, a change meant to ease the impact of long visa backlogs. The update comes after cases like a North Texas pastor who was forced to return to Brazil when his visa expired last fall.

New York Post [1/16/2026 3:22 PM, Bianca Heyward and Erik Ortiz, 42219K] reports the White House says it is "reviewing’’ the immigration situation of Iranians who gained benefits under the Biden administration — as The Post revealed viral online petitions are demanding the US ouster of kin of Iran’s ruling elite. More than 41,000 people have already signed a Change.org petition urging President Trump to deport Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of a powerful Iranian official who currently serves as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. The Iranian security chief’s daughter, Ardeshir-Larijani — a specialized cancer doc at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. — was granted a green card in 2021 under former President Joe Biden’s administration, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek on Thursday. Another relative of a prominent previous government figure in Iran — who is living the American Dream in California — is also under fire online. The man, Eissa Hashemi, is the 43-year-old son of Masoumeh Ebtekar — a k a "Screaming Mary," the radical spokeswoman for the militants who stormed the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

Daily Signal [1/16/2026 6:30 PM, Brandy Perez, 549K] reports Congress created Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to briefly assist those in need. Shakespeare warned, "Ingratitude is monstrous; and for the multitude to be ingrateful, were to make a monster of the multitude." In the case of TPS, "multitude" is correct. As of January 2025, approximately 1.4 million foreign nationals in the United States were shielded from removal under the program. The Trump administration decided to terminate TPS for several countries, with Somalia as the most recent. That choice is the right step in a long-overdue course correction for an immigration program that previous administrations exploited far past its statutory purpose. Somalia was first designated for TPS in 1991, following political turmoil and the outbreak of civil war. At the time, granting temporary protection to Somali nationals already present in the United States was an act of kindness. Over three decades later, Somalis remained dependent on the charity extended to them by the United States and distorted the TPS program beyond recognition from its original legislative intent. Temporary Protected Status is governed by Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1254a. According to federal law, TPS may be granted only when extraordinary and temporary conditions prevent safe return to a designated country. It applies only to individuals physically present in the United States at the time of designation. Foreigners who arrive after the fact are ineligible. TPS is not an open-ended invitation or a pathway to citizenship. Yet over time, administrations treated TPS as anything but temporary. Excluding the first Trump administration, nearly every president extended or unlawfully redesignated TPS as a knee-jerk reaction, willfully pushing the program past its expiration date rather than enforcing the law. Congress imposed a mandatory review at 18 months precisely to prevent this outcome. And yet, as the deadline approached, bureaucratic habit won repeatedly, turning 18 months into 35 years in the case of Somalia. Section 244 does not authorize redesignation. It only permits designation, extension, and termination. The executive branch has not authority to cite the same emergency decades later to grant work authorization and removal protection to individuals who were not present in the United States when the original designation was made. That practice has no basis in statute and undermines our immigration system. The consequences are rampant throughout the nation. Minneapolis is home to the largest Somali community in the world outside Somalia. In Minnesota, federal investigators have alleged that around $9 billion in Medicaid claims since 2018 may be fraudulent, potentially marking the largest scam in U.S. history. President Joe Biden even urged Congress to pass legislation allowing TPS recipients to apply for green cards, highlighting how the administration viewed TPS as amnesty despite the law saying otherwise. Former Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, extended and redesignated Somalia for TPS through March 2026, allowing new applicants and issuing automatic employment authorization extensions.

AP [1/16/2026 12:16 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports a Philadelphia-based attorney has sued the Trump Administration, including Kristi Noem, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, challenging immigration enforcement policies that have resulted in the targeting and re-detention of Biden-era asylum seekers at the Pike County Correctional Facility, many of whom are being held without access to bond or meaningful judicial review. The lawsuit, Rojas v. Warden, Pike County Correctional Center et al., No. 3:26-cv-00073-PJC, pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, arises from the government’s treatment of individuals who lawfully sought asylum, passed credible-fear screenings, were released by DHS into the interior of the United States, and complied with all conditions while awaiting adjudication of their asylum applications—only to later be re-detained in the interior following a shift in federal enforcement priorities and a series of Immigration Board decisions that, according to the filing, have functioned to categorically approve the administration’s detention agenda and foreclose meaningful custody review. According to the petition, DHS has adopted a detention framework that treats these previously released asylum seekers as "applicants for admission" subject to mandatory detention, a classification that Immigration Judges have been instructed to treat as stripping them of jurisdiction to conduct bond hearings. The result, the lawsuit alleges, is a system in which individuals are detained for months without any neutral adjudicator authorized to assess flight risk, danger, or the necessity of continued confinement. "This case is about promises made and then broken," said attorney Robert C. Barchiesi, II. "Many of these individuals were encouraged to seek asylum, followed the process the government laid out, built lives here, and complied with every condition. They are now being pulled out of their communities and jailed without any meaningful review, not because of who they are, but because political winds shifted. Regardless of where you stand politically, denying people any forum to challenge their detention should concern everyone.”

Telemundo51 [1/16/2026 5:42 PM, Ana Cuervo, 182K] reports last year, the state legislature passed a law requiring local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE. This year, several proposals are underway to further strengthen Florida’s fight against illegal immigration. In this session, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill requiring businesses of all sizes to use the E-Verify system to confirm whether their new employees can legally work in the United States. The proposal would extend a 2023 law that only applies to public sector employers and private sector companies with more than 25 employees. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is still unclear whether it will advance. Among the measures is one that would require police to stop any undocumented immigrant driving a commercial truck and turn them over to immigration authorities. Others seek to hold companies liable for injuries to undocumented workers and mandate that officers check immigration status when investigating traffic accidents.

FOX News [1/16/2026 6:50 PM, Sophia Compton Fox, 40621K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem declared Friday that America’s border is the "most secure" in history, pointing to an eighth straight month of zero parole releases. In a post on X, Noem touted newly released Customs and Border Protection (CBP) numbers for December 2025, praising President Trump and frontline law enforcement for delivering historic results. "Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the dedication of DHS law enforcement, America’s borders are safer than any time in our nation’s history," Noem wrote. "What President Trump and our CBP agents and officers have been able to do in a single year is nothing short of extraordinary.” CBP reported zero parole releases in December, compared to 7,041 released along the southwest border in December 2024 under the Biden administration. "Once again, we have a record low number of encounters at the border and the 8th straight month of zero releases," Noem said. "Month after month, we are delivering results that were once thought impossible: the most secure border in history and unmatched enforcement successes.” According to CBP, total nationwide encounters from October through December fell to 91,603, the lowest ever recorded at the start of a fiscal year and 25% below the previous record low set in 2012. December alone saw just 30,698 encounters nationwide, a 92% drop from the Biden-era peak of 370,883 and the lowest December total on record, according to the federal agency. Along the southwest border, Border Patrol recorded just 21,815 apprehensions in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, marking a 95% drop compared to the Biden administration’s first-quarter average, CBP noted.

Washington Times [1/16/2026 6:11 PM, Stephen Dinan, 852K] reports Homeland Security continued its record streak of border calm, announcing another drop in illegal immigrants caught at the southern border in December. The Border Patrol also reported an eighth straight month without a single catch-and-release of illegal immigrants caught along the U.S.-Mexico boundary. The 6,478 illegal immigrants nabbed by agents on the southern border comes out to 209 a day. Two years ago, in December 2023, the worst month in border history, the Biden administration regularly recorded days with more than 10,000 migrants caught. And a majority of those were being caught and released into the U.S. Even last December, when things had already cooled, the Border Patrol still caught and released 7,041 migrants along the southern border. This past December, that figure was zero. “Our agents and officers have set a new standard for border security, achieving historic results that speak for themselves,” said Rodney Scott, commissioner at Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the boundaries. Other yardsticks are just as promising. At the northern border, agents recorded 434 apprehensions, the lowest rate since September 2022. That suggests that migrants have not found ways to circumvent the border by heading north. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the dedication of DHS law enforcement, America’s borders are safer than any time in our nation’s history,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. “Month after month, we are delivering results that were once thought impossible: the most secure border in history and unmatched enforcement successes.”

FOX News [1/16/2026 6:40 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made record seizures in four Mountain States last year, most of which were funneled through the southern border by two cartels. In 2025, the DEA seized 8,729,000 fentanyl pills and nearly 3,100 pounds of methamphetamine across the four-state Mountain region that includes Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming, the agency said in a news release. "These numbers are absolutely staggering. Colorado saw a 76% increase in pill seizures year over year. Utah pill seizures doubled. This should not only be a wake-up call, but a jolt to every citizen in our four-state region," said DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge David Olesky. Nationwide, the DEA seized around 47 million pills. In Colorado, the state saw its largest methamphetamine bust in April with 733 pounds of the drug and the largest one-time fentanyl pill seizure in November of 1.7 million pills. Cesar Avila, DEA assistant special agent in charge who oversees Wyoming and Montana, told Cowboy State Daily that the bulk of the drugs were being distributed to cartel networks — the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) — in cities like Denver and Salt Lake City, which then distribute them in Wyoming. "When you’re dealing with the user population, they are more in it for effects and not for the profit margins," Avila told the newspaper. "They’re not necessarily doing it for the business side of things; they’re doing it more because they need that particular addiction.” Avila speculated that both cartels have a presence in most, if not all Wyoming communities. South of the border, cartels primarily use tractor trailers to haul the drugs to the larger hubs, he said. The drugs are either transported by individual drivers or through the mail into Wyoming, he added.

FedScoop [1/16/2026 4:50 PM, Lindsey Wilkinson, 56K] reports the Department of Homeland Security would need to follow stricter guidelines when using mobile biometric applications under legislation introduced Thursday by the ranking member of the HouseHomeland Security Committee and other Democrats. The Realigning Mobile Phone Biometrics for American Privacy Protection Act seeks to prohibit the use of such technology except for identification at ports of entry, bars DHS from sharing the apps with non-law enforcement agencies, and implements a 12-hour storage limit on data in the apps. The legislation points to the DHS app Mobile Fortify, other mobile identification apps and potential successor apps as the prime targets. If the bill gains ground, DHS would need to remove the technology from any non-DHS IT systems and workflows outside the ports of entry. “DHS should not be conducting surveillance by experimenting with Americans’ faces and fingerprints in the field — especially with unproven and biased technology,” Mississippi’s Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, said in a press release accompanying the bill’s introduction. “We can secure the Homeland and respect the rights and privacy of Americans at the same time.” The bill’s other co-sponsors are Democratic Reps. Lou Correa of California, Shri Thanedar of Michigan, Yvette Clarke of New York, Grace Meng of New York, and Adriano Espaillat of New York. In written statements, members pointed to concerns around privacy, constitutional violations, civil liberties and the technology’s potential deficiencies. “Under no circumstances should our federal government install its full faith in an untested, untrustworthy technology with proven biases and dubious capabilities for matters as critical as immigration enforcement,” Clarke said in the press release. “It is past time for Congress to step in and check their negligence.”

Politico [1/16/2002 7:25 PM, Daniel Lippman, 13586K] reports infighting in the Department of Homeland Security — as the agency reels from a deadly confrontation with an American citizen — has gotten so bad that its leadership has turned on one of its own commissioners, ostensibly over $137,000 in front office upgrades. Top brass at the $115 billion department said the request was too expensive and unnecessary since U.S. Customs and Border Protection will move its headquarters in the coming years, according to three administration officials. The officials also harped on what they said were superfluous elements like sprucing up wellness rooms, pricey new furniture and window treatments, they said. The redecoration row engulfing the relationships between Customs and Border Protection commissioner Rodney Scott and his DHS higher-ups is over much more than just new office chairs. As President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement team has struggled to meet the president’s aggressive goals around restricting immigration, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has pushed a division previously focused on securing the border to take a more active role in the detention and removal of unauthorized immigrants from the United States. That has focused attention on the DHS division, which is a linchpin not only of Trump’s mass-deportation agenda but efforts to build the border wall and collect tariff revenue. Scott’s renovation budget has become a concern of the department’s top political leadership, who also said that Scott is not delivering results at the speed that they want, according to the three officials. “Don’t waste our time with silly things like this when we have other priorities we want to focus on,” said one of the officials. “The last thing that should be in mind is making your office fancier.” A fall memo that Customs and Border Protection facilities and asset management official Yvonne Medina sent to DHS’ acting chief financial officer explained the remodeling project was long overdue because the commissioner’s suite hadn’t been properly updated for 25 years. A spokesperson for the division defended the proposed renovations as part of “a routine and responsible part of managing government contracts.” Scott didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Federal News Network [1/16/2026 2:12 PM, Justin Doubleday, 986K] reports that District Judge Jamal Whitehead ruled that TSA’s latest attempt to dissolve union rights for airport screeners "plainly" violated an earlier court order. A federal judge has blocked the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security in their latest attempt to dissolve TSA’s union agreement. In a Jan. 15 ruling, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead granted an emergency motion to prohibit TSA from eliminating a collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 47,000 airport security screeners. TSA had been planning to dissolve the CBA effective Jan. 18. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents transportation security officers under the CBA, celebrated the ruling. "TSA officers – many of whom are veterans – are patriotic public servants who swore an oath to protect the safety of the traveling public and to ensure that another horrific attack like September 11 never happens again," AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. "The administration’s repeated efforts to strip these workers of a voice in their working conditions should concern every person who steps foot in an airport.” The ruling is the latest development in the Trump administration’s effort to eliminate TSA union rights. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem first moved to eliminate TSA’s union last March. AFGE sued to block that effort, and in June, the court issued a preliminary injunction that prohibited TSA from moving forward with eliminating TSO union rights while the court case played out.

Detroit Free Press [1/16/2026 9:43 AM, Sarah Moore, 4030K] reports Michigan travelers who can’t show acceptable Real ID-complaint identification at the airport will soon have to verify their identity for a fee through a service called "TSA ConfirmID." Even though Real ID requirements went into effect in May 2025, some travelers haven’t updated their identification to satisfy the requirements. Anyone planning to board a domestic flight or access federal facilities, military bases or nuclear power plants needs Real ID-compliant identification, federal officials say. Starting on Feb. 1, travelers who still haven’t upgraded their driver’s license or obtained a passport will have the option to verify a non-compliant form of ID for $45, according to a U.S. Transportation Security Administration Jan. 15 release.

Los Angeles Times [1/16/2026 4:11 PM, Tony Briscoe, 14862K] reports California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s disaster chief quietly retired in late December amid criticism over the state’s indecisive stance on whether soil testing was necessary to protect survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires. One year ago, Nancy Ward, then the director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), petitioned the Federal Emergency Management Agency to spearhead the cleanup of toxic ash and fire debris cloaking more than 12,000 homes across Los Angeles County. Although Ward’s decision ensured the federal government would assume the bulk of disaster costs, it came with a major trade off. FEMA was unwilling to pay for soil sampling to confirm these homes weren’t still heavily contaminated with toxic substances after the cleanup — testing that California state agencies have typically done following similar fires in the past. Following intense backlash from fire survivors and California lawmakers, Ward pleaded with FEMA to reconsider its soil-testing stance, writing in a Feb. 19 letter that it is "critical to protect public health" and "ensure that survivors can safely return to their homes." Her request was denied. However, in October, Cal OES — under Ward’s leadership — privately considered discontinuing state funding for soil testing in the aftermath of future wildfires, according to a confidential, internal draft memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The Times requested an interview with Ward, and sent questions to her office asking about her initial decision to forgo soil testing and for clarity on the future of state’s fire recovery policy. Ward declined the request; The Times later published an article on Dec. 29 about allegations that federal contractors illegally dumped toxic ash and misused contaminated soil in breach of state policy.

CNN [1/16/2026 4:47 PM, Betsy Klein, Devan Cole, Sunlen Serfaty, 18595K] reports the Trump administration took a major step toward giving President Donald Trump’s sweeping new ballroom the green light with the appointment of four new officials to a key Washington, DC, board this week. The new members of the Commission of Fine Arts, one of two commissions that must review the ballroom plans, were revealed in a court filing Thursday in a lawsuit seeking to stop construction. Joshua Fisher, a top White House official involved in managing the ballroom project, noted in his sworn declaration that one of the project’s additional goals beyond hosting large-scale White House events was to "(carry) out significant Secret Service upgrades to meet current protection requirements for the president and first family." And US Secret Service deputy director Matthew Quinn offered a new sworn declaration expressing additional security concerns about the possibility of halting the project. Until remaining work on infrastructure and utilities is completed, Quinn said, "Secret Service’s ability to meet its statutory mission of protecting the president, the first family, and the White House complex continues to be hampered." Quinn described the open construction site as "a coordinated and managed safety hazard" that "adds additional challenges to Secret Service operations.”

ABC News [1/16/2026 9:02 PM, Aaron Katersky, 30493K] Video: HERE reports Ryan Routh deserves a life sentence after he "plotted painstakingly" to kill President Donald Trump in attempt to accomplish what a prior prospective assassin failed to complete, federal prosecutors said Friday in a memo to the judge ahead of Routh’s sentencing next month. Routh, 59, was convicted as charged after he aimed a loaded SKS rifle toward Trump while the then-presidential candidate was playing golf on a course he owns in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2024. Federal prosecutors said he has since expressed neither regret nor remorse. "Routh’s criminal acts at the golf course were not impromptu; he had been planning to assassinate the President for months, at least," prosecutors said in their sentencing memo. "Then, in July 2024, after the unsuccessful attempt by another prospective assassin, Thomas Crooks, on President Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, Routh re-committed himself to accomplishing what Crooks failed to complete.” Routh was found guilty in September, a year after the assassination attempt in which he sat in a sniper’s hide near the golf course. A Secret Service agent noticed Routh near the 6th hole before he could fire a shot. Moments after the verdict was read, Routh tried to harm himself by puncturing his neck with a pen. Federal prosecutors said nothing about Routh mitigates the need for a sentence of life in prison. "Routh’s crimes of conviction reflect careful plotting, extensive premeditation, and a cowardly disregard for human life," the memo said. "Routh remains unrepentant for his crimes, never apologized for the lives he put at risk and his life demonstrates near-total disregard for law.” Routh’s sentencing was pushed to February after he asked for a lawyer to help him prepare. Routh, who lacks any legal education or experience, represented himself for much of the trial.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [1/16/2026 8:16 PM, Sam Barron, 4109K]

FOX News [1/16/2026 9:32 PM, Alexandra Koch, Matt Finn, 40621K] reports a California man was arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he made online death threats against Vice President JD Vance during his visit to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim in July. Marco Antonio Aguayo, 22, of Anaheim, was taken into custody Friday after he allegedly made multiple threatening comments on Disney’s official Instagram account referencing pipe bombs, imminent bloodshed and violent action against "corrupt politicians" July 12, the same day Vance and his family were visiting and staying at the resort. Aguayo was charged with threatening the president and successors to the presidency, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He is expected to make his initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. "This case is a horrific reminder of the dangers public officials face from deranged criminals who would do them harm," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a Department of Justice news release announcing Aguayo’s arrest. "I am grateful that my friend Vice President Vance and his family are safe, applaud the police work that led to the arrest and will ensure my prosecutors deliver swift justice.” Just before 6:15 p.m. July 12, an Instagram account posted a public comment on the Disney page saying, "Pipe bombs have been placed in preparation for J.D. Vance’s arrival," according to an affidavit by a U.S. Secret Service Special Agent. A subsequent comment said, "It’s time for us to rise up and you will be a witness to it," and a third comment added, "Good luck finding all of them on time there will be bloodshed tonight and we will bathe in the blood of corrupt politicians," according to the affidavit. Investigators traced the Instagram account allegedly used to post the threats to Aguayo’s email address, phone numbers, IP addresses and home in Anaheim, using records from Meta, Google and other sources. While questioning Aguayo at his home, investigators said he initially claimed his account had been hacked, but he later admitted to making the posts as a "joke," with the intention of deleting them, officials say. Aguayo consented to searches of his phone, bedroom and laptop, where investigators confirmed he was logged into the account that made the posts, according to the affidavit. "We will not tolerate criminal threats against public officials," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in the release. "We are grateful the vice president and his family remained safe during their visit. Let this case be a warning to anyone who thinks they can make anonymous online threats. We will find you and bring you to justice.”

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [1/16/2026 3:08 PM, Salvador Hernandez, 14862K]
NewsNation [1/16/2026 7:17 PM, Cameron Kiszla, 8017K]

Washington Examiner [1/16/2026 7:57 PM, Brady Knox, 1394K] reports Iranian state TV issued an assassination threat against President Donald Trump, broadcasting footage of the July 13, 2024, Butler shooting. Several accounts on X posted a clip from Iranian state TV, with the camera focusing on a sign held by a pro-government protester. The poster featured an image of Trump at Butler just after the assassination attempt, with the caption reading, "This time, it (the bullet) won’t miss.” When reached for comment, a Secret Service spokesman told the Washington Examiner that the agency was "aware" of the threat, but "out of concern for operational security, [they] do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.” Iran has issued numerous assassination threats against Trump over the past six years, but the most recent one holds more weight due to the elevated tensions, triggered by Iran’s brutal crackdown on widespread protests. One of its most recent threats came from Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a former senior adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, during the 12 Day War last year, threatening a drone strike against the president at Mar-a-Lago. "Trump has done something so that he can no longer sunbathe in Mar-a-Lago," he said in an interview with state TV. "As he lies there with his stomach to the sun, a small drone might hit him in the navel. It’s very simple.” In January 2022, Khomeini published a computer-generated video of a drone assassinating Trump while he was golfing. The specific targeting of Trump came after his order to assassinate former Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani in January 2020, a decision that would later prove devastating for the Islamic Republic after it was deprived of his charismatic leadership during the loss of conflicts with Israel after Oct. 7, 2023.

FOX News [1/16/2026 12:14 PM, Peter D’Abrosca Fox, 40621K] reports Iranian state television aired a vile threat against President Donald Trump earlier this week, referencing the 47th president’s near assassination while on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024. The clip showed a sign held by a demonstrator at a pro-Iranian regime gathering. The sign featured a now-iconic photo of Trump, standing on stage with a bloodied ear after being grazed by a bullet at the Butler campaign stop, while Secret Service agents rushed to his aid. The caption below the photo, written in Farsi, said, "This time, it (the bullet) won’t miss," according to i24 news correspondent Amachia Stein, who posted a screenshot of the television clip on his X account. The Secret Service confirmed that it is aware of the photo. At the Pennsylvania rally, Trump turned his head a split-second before the bullet struck him, avoiding what could have been a deadly shot. In defiance of his protective detail, he stood up and raised his fist, yelling, "Fight, fight, fight," before being scuttled off the stage. The threat comes amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, and as the Iranian people rise up against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s brutal regime. The protests stemmed from the cloistered Middle Eastern country’s economic crisis, which has become increasingly dire as the value of the Rial, Iran’s currency, has plummeted. The regime has cracked down hard on the protesters, with state-sanctioned killings estimated to be in the thousands. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency announced that 1,847 of the dead were protesters and 135 were members of Iran’s security forces. Other reports say the death toll is more than 3,000 people, Fox News Digital previously reported.

New York Times [1/16/2026 6:44 PM, John Ismay, 135475K] reports the video posted by the U.S. military on Thursday showed what is now a familiar scene: American troops sliding down thick braided ropes from a helicopter hovering just above a civilian oil tanker that is about to come under their control. The troops are armed with assault rifles slung across their chests and have night-vision goggles mounted to their helmets. Once they reach the tanker’s steel deck, they grab hold of their firearms. Some take a knee and point their weapons toward the ship’s stern to offer covering fire if needed, while others begin moving toward the tanker’s bridge. While the video is edited and incomplete, it shows how quickly the U.S. military can insert boarding teams onto “noncompliant” ships by using “fast-roping” techniques pioneered by special forces that spread to more conventional units over the past 30 years. The United States has intercepted at least six ships linked to Venezuela since December, as the Trump administration tries to take over the country’s oil industry. One was seized in the North Atlantic after running from Coast Guard cutters for weeks. While the Coast Guard has long boarded vessels from their cutters at sea, the service began exploring the possibility of boarding ships from helicopters in earnest after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A retired Coast Guard officer who helped establish the tactics and techniques used by these boarding teams said the service had invested heavily in special training for the teams that do these kinds of boardings, as well as the aviation units that deploy and support them. Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational details, he said the people seen in these videos included members of the Coast Guard’s elite Maritime Security Response Teams. For decades, fast-roping has been an option for quickly inserting an assault force in places where a helicopter cannot safely land, but until recent years, the training to do so was typically limited to special operations forces and Marines. According to an official Coast Guard historian, the service has boarded vessels at sea since its founding in 1790. It created specialized teams to seize drug smugglers beginning in the 1970s.

Homeland Preparedness News [1/16/2026 8:30 AM, Melina Druga] reports the U.S. Coast Guard recently awarded The Haskell Company a $200 million design-build contract for the comprehensive recapitalization and expansion of Coast Guard Station South Padre Island in South Padre Island, Texas. The station’s boat house was severely damaged by fire on April 20. “The courageous team of Station South Padre Island showed resilience and determination,” Admiral Kevin Lunday, Coast Guard acting commandant, said. “The day after fire severely damaged facilities at Station South Padre Island, this crew was back on patrol, successfully interdicting illicit activity in one of our most complex operating environments. This project will provide Station South Padre Island with modern facilities and empower them to continue operations to control, secure, and defend our southern border.” The contract, the largest in Coast Guard history, is for the design and construction of more than 120,000 square feet of facilities and supporting infrastructure. Work includes rebuilding waterfront infrastructure, a new harbor operations center, and utilities. Preliminary design and environmental work begins immediately. Construction is expected to end during summer 2028. The project also has the shortest timeline in Coast Guard history. The planning phase was shortened from 18 months to 45 days, and the contracting process was reduced from 15 months to four months.

Seapower Magazine [1/16/2026 8:30 PM, Staff, 27K] reports the United States Coast Guard held a formal swearing-in and assumption of command ceremony today for Adm. Kevin Lunday as the 28th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard during an event at Coast Guard Headquarters. Secretary Kristi Noem joined senior Coast Guard leadership, members of the Joint Force and distinguished guests in recognizing the transition of command and Adm. Lunday’s commitment to leading the Service. “President Trump’s plan was simple when he became President of the United States. He wanted to revitalize the Coast Guard, equip it with the best technology, ships, and aircraft available, and then recruit the men and women that were necessary to run it all. It’s a tall order, and it takes a special kind of leader to lead this team and make that a reality,” said Secretary Noem. ”With almost 40 years in the Coast Guard, and with command experience that has ranged from the Indo-Pacific to the Persian Gulf to cyberspace, Kevin Lunday was the man for the job. Congratulations, Admiral Lunday!”  Upon taking the oath of office, Adm. Lunday formally assumed the responsibilities of Commandant and reaffirmed the Coast Guard’s enduring role as a vital instrument of national power responsible for controlling, securing, and defending the U.S. border and maritime approaches; facilitating the safe and secure flow of commerce that is vital to economic prosperity, strategic mobility, and America’s maritime dominance; and responding to crises and contingencies that may come without warning. “I am honored to assume command of the United States Coast Guard,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday. “Every day, Coast Guard men and women carry out missions that protect our homeland, secure our maritime borders, save lives and protect national security. I am humbled to serve alongside them while ensuring they have what they need to succeed – today and in the future.” As Commandant, Adm. Lunday will lead the Service’s continued transformation through Force Design 2028, while strengthening operational readiness and supporting the Coast Guard workforce and their families.

Federal News Network [1/16/2026 12:06 PM, Michele Sandiford, 986K] reports that the Coast Guard has a new leader. Admiral Kevin Lunday officially assumed command of the service on Thursday during a ceremony at Coast Guard headquarters. The Senate confirmed Lunday last month after his nomination was temporarily delayed due to a controversy over the service’s policy regarding hate symbols. He had been serving as acting commandant since January, following the dismissal of Admiral Linda Fagan by President Donald Trump. Lunday previously led Coast Guard Cyber Command. He also held a senior leadership role at U.S. Cyber Command.

CyberScoop [1/16/2026 4:50 PM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports a 40-year-old Jordanian national pleaded guilty Thursday to operating as an access broker, selling access to at least 50 victim company networks he broke into by exploiting two commercial firewall products in 2023, according to the Justice Department. Feras Khalil Ahmad Albashiti, who lived in the Republic of Georgia at the time, sold an undercover FBI agent unauthorized access to the victim networks on a cybercrime forum under the moniker “r1z” in May 2023, authorities said in court records. The undercover FBI agent continued communicating with Albashiti for the next five months, uncovering evidence of additional alleged crimes. He’s accused of selling malware that could turn off endpoint detection and response products from three different companies. Albashiti proved the malware worked when, unbeknownst to him, the FBI observed him use the EDR-killing malware on an FBI server the agency granted him access to as part of its investigation. The undercover agent purchased additional malware from Albashiti capable of elevating internal user privileges without authorization and a modified version of a commercially available pentesting tool, according to an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/16/2026 8:00 AM, Roxana Popescu, 1538K] reports one more reason things cost more today: cybercrime. A survey by the Identity Theft Resource Center, a San Diego-based education and victim resource nonprofit, found that 38% of small businesses hit by a cyberscam or breach in the previous 12 months passed those losses to customers by raising prices. Another key finding: Cybercrime against small businesses is increasingly fueled by artificial intelligence. "The era of predictable, human-scale threats has been superseded by a new reality of automated, intelligent and massively scalable attacks powered by AI," said the report, which discusses trends in threats, prevention and attacks. It also gives detailed recommendations about network and application security, data protection and employee and contractor practices. (The survey reached out to more than 650 companies across more than 12 industries in August.). Eva Velasquez, the CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, said the results offer a stark reminder that hackers aren’t picky. They will grab data and money from anyone, including large and small businesses, and individuals. "When we think about risk, it really is all businesses," Velasquez said. From mom and pops to large companies, "They’re all attractive to hackers." Small businesses sometimes don’t pay enough attention to cybersecurity "because they think they’re not vulnerable. They think, ‘Well, why would anybody target me?’" Not only are they being targeted, but they are being successfully breached, some multiple times a year. Two or three breaches in a 12-month period was the most common pattern. Another 34% had one breach and almost 12% had four or more. One encouraging shift: The percentage of companies with one or two breaches increased from 2024, while the percentage of companies with more than two breaches dropped. Perhaps companies are improving their cybersecurity protocols after a first or second breach. The report, however, said companies being hit only once says something about cyber attackers’ methods.

ABC News [1/16/2026 1:57 PM, Peter Charalambous and Jim Scholz, 30493K] reports that the Uvalde, Texas, gunman fired 117 rounds in two Robb Elementary School classrooms during a two-minute period before school police officer Adrian Gonzales entered the building, a Texas Ranger told jurors on Friday. While prosecutors allege Gonzales did not follow his training, the defense contends that other officers arrived on scene at nearly the same time and had the opportunity to kill the gunman. Ranger Nick Hill testified that Gonzales had a window of one minute and four seconds after he parked his car before gunman Salvador Ramos entered the school. Gonzales took three minutes and 53 seconds to enter Robb Elementary after parking his car, Hill said. Hill said Gonzales parked at 11:31:55 a.m. and radioed in the active shooter report at 11:32:09 a.m. Ramos entered the west side of Robb Elementary at 11:32:59 a.m., and, after firing 21 shots in a hallway, he entered the first of two classrooms at 11:33:45 a.m. Gonzales entered the south door of Robb Elementary at 11:35:48 a.m., Hill said. In total, Ramos fired 173 shots during the massacre, while law enforcement discharged 25 rounds, Hill said. Ramos killed 19 students and two teachers. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [1/16/2026 12:59 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that efforts to crack down on Mexican cartels and slow migration north were showing "compelling results" in an effort to head off intervention talk by the Trump administration. The comments come after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened action against Mexican drug cartels by U.S. forces last week. Mr. Trump told Fox News last week that the United States had "knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water" and that the U.S. was "going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels." The Trump administration has also begun to add militarized zones to the southern border. Sheinbaum, a leftist who boasts of taking on chaos with a "cool head," has sought to placate Mr. Trump and, unlike Maduro, has worked to build out a strong relationship between the Mexican and U.S. governments. A dramatic United States military raid on Venezuela that deposed former president Nicolás Maduro in early January set much of Latin America on edge, fueling concern that Mr. Trump could soon turn American forces on other nations, particularly Cuba and Mexico. On Thursday night, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mexican Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente released a joint statement after a phone call, saying they agreed "more must be done to confront shared threats."

AP [1/16/2026 11:17 AM, Staff, 14862K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that efforts to crack down on Mexican cartels and slow migration north were showing "compelling results" in an effort to head off intervention talk by the Trump administration. The comments come after President Trump threatened that U.S. forces "will now start hitting land" in Mexico targeting drug cartels, after the dramatic United States military raid on Venezuela that deposed then-President Nicolás Maduro. Sheinbaum, a leftist who boasts of taking on chaos with a "cool head," has sought to placate Trump and, unlike Maduro, has worked to build out a strong relationship between the Mexican and U.S. governments. The early January raid in Venezuela set much of Latin America on edge, fueling concern that Trump could soon turn American forces on other nations, particularly Cuba and Mexico. On Thursday night, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mexican Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente released a joint statement after a phone call, saying they agreed "more must be done to confront shared threats.” Sheinbaum, mentioning the call on Friday in her morning press briefing, said that Mexico’s government had made significant progress cracking down on cartels, citing a steep drop in the homicide rate, much lower fentanyl seizures by U.S. authorities at the border and sparse migration. She noted it was a joint effort with the U.S. "There are very compelling results from the joint cooperation and the work that Mexico has been doing," she said.

NewsMax [1/16/2026 1:24 PM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4109K] reports that the United States is preparing, not pushing, to send CIA agents to accompany Mexican soldiers on raids against suspected fentanyl labs in the country, a Justice Department source has confirmed. "This isn’t about pressure, it’s about joint preparation," the source, who was not named, told "El Universal," the outlet reported on Friday. He added that the plans are for a special division of the CIA to enter Mexico "with authorization from the Mexican government, to accompany them in carrying out intelligence tasks and from there make other operational decisions.” The operation isn’t happening yet, but "it is going to happen," the source said. His comments came after The New York Times reported on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing for U.S. forces to carry out joint operations with Mexican forces to dismantle the laboratories. Meanwhile, the United States Northern Command on Thursday announced the creation of the Joint Interagency Task Force Against Cartels (JIATF-CC), naming U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Maurizio Calabrese as its director. "This is the next step in the whole-of-government approach to identify, disrupt, and dismantle cartel operations posing a threat to the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border," the War Department said. "The JIATF-CC will work with the Homeland Security Task Force National Coordination Center to ensure we are sharing all intelligence between our Department of War, law enforcement, and Intelligence Community partners to ensure our operations across the whole-of-government are synchronized and coordinated to have the greatest effect possible on eliminating these narcoterrorist networks."

NBC News [1/16/2026 12:10 PM, Rebecca Shabad, 34509K] reports President Donald Trump said Friday that he could impose tariffs on countries that don’t accept his goal of having the U.S. take control of Greenland. "I may do that for Greenland, too," Trump said during a White House roundtable on rural health care after discussing his tariff policies. "I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security.” The president didn’t elaborate further, including which countries he could target. U.S. tariffs imposed on European Union exports are currently capped at 15%. The E.U. is America’s largest trading partner and largest source of imports. During the event, Trump also referred to the Supreme Court case on tariffs that the justices haven’t yet ruled on. The president said if the high court doesn’t rule in the administration’s favor, "It’d be a shame for our country.” A bipartisan congressional delegation held a series of meetings late this week with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland in Copenhagen to discuss the president’s efforts to acquire the Arctic island. Officials from Greenland and Denmark, which controls the semi-autonomous territory, as well as a host of major U.S. allies, have rejected Trump’s push. Troops from a slew of major European countries, including major U.S. allies, have arrived in Greenland in recent days. Trump has intensified his threats to take control of the island in recent weeks, arguing that it’s necessary for U.S. national security as American adversaries have built up their presence in the Arctic and as the Trump administration develops its "Golden Dome" defense system. "We really need it," the president said Wednesday. "If we don’t go in, Russia is going to go in, and China is going to go in. And there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it, but we can do everything.” Trump hasn’t ruled out military action to take control of Greenland, though he said earlier this week that it would be easier to do so through diplomatic efforts. "But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland," he said. The Washington Examiner [1/16/2026 12:46 PM, Mabinty Quarshie, 1394K] reports that Trump, notably, neither confirmed nor denied whether he intends to use force to make Greenland a U.S. territory, which would likely blow up NATO, of which the U.S. and Denmark are members, when talking to reporters Wednesday. The president’s threats to enact more tariffs came during an event touting the Rural Health Transformation Program. The program is a provision included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law last summer as an effort to win over skeptical Republicans worried about rural hospital closures. The $50 billion initiative provides grants to all 50 states to invest in healthcare in rural areas over five years, with $10 billion of funding available each fiscal year. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced allocations of the first $10 billion to states in late December, with each state receiving $100 million.

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AP [1/1/1726 6:57 AM, Daniel Niemann, 31753K] reports a bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation on Saturday sought to reassure Denmark and Greenland of their support following President Donald Trump’s threat to punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. taking over the strategic Arctic island. Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said the current rhetoric around Greenland is causing concern across the Danish kingdom. He said he wants to de-escalate the situation. “I hope that the people of the Kingdom of Denmark do not abandon their faith in the American people,” Coons said in Copenhagen, adding that the U.S. has respect for Denmark and NATO “for all we’ve done together.” Coons gave a news conference Saturday ahead of rallies planned in Copenhagen and Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital, in support of the self-governing island. His comments contrasted with that emanating from the White House. Trump has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals. The White House hasn’t ruled out taking the territory by force. “There are no current security threats to Greenland,” Coons said. Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.” During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals. “I may do that for Greenland, too,” Trump said. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” he said. He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.

FOX News [1/17/2026 6:00 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports Ambassador Matthew Whitaker argues that melting Arctic ice and rising global competition make Greenland central to U.S. and NATO defense. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/16/2026 10:02 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller discusses President Donald Trump’s maneuvering to take control of Greenland on ‘Hannity.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [1/16/2026 11:25 AM, Jasmyn Jordan, 2416K] reports in an appearance on Breitbart News Daily, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum made the case for Greenland’s strategic value to American national security and Venezuela’s potential to re-anchor U.S. energy dominance in the Western Hemisphere, casting both regions as crucial to President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and economic agenda. Burgum likened the acquisition of Greenland to historic U.S. territorial expansions. "President Trump understands that the same way that Thomas Jefferson understood the Louisiana Purchase was going to change the course of our country," Burgum said, drawing another direct parallel to Seward’s purchase of Alaska, which he described as "a resource that is for us today." While Greenland remains a self-governing territory of Denmark, Burgum questioned the intensity of Danish attachment to the island, noting, "I’m guessing that the vast majority of people in Denmark have never been to Greenland and have no plans to go." He suggested that Danish reluctance might be tied to "a holdover of colonial pride." Burgum highlighted Greenland’s military significance. "I grew up in North Dakota. We had missile silos practically everywhere because we were the front line in defense of a Russian attack. The shortest distance would have come over the poles. And in an era of the Golden Dome, having our ability to defend our country, early detection is key and Greenland will be just as important as Alaska." Burgum also clarified that the Department of the Interior, which he leads, would be the federal agency responsible for Greenland if it became a U.S. territory. "All the territories are part of Interior," he explained, adding that Greenland is actually "closer to Washington, DC than Anchorage is.”

New York Post [1/16/2026 11:55 AM, Ariel Zilber, 42219K] reports work on a major offshore wind project in New York can continue after a federal judge temporarily lifted the Trump administration’s suspension of the undertaking — finding that the project faced serious harm if the halt remained in place. US District Judge Carl Nichols issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of a Dec. 22 stop-work order from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which had cited national security concerns in halting construction of the offshore wind farm, known as Empire Wind. The Thursday ruling clears the way for Equinor, the Norwegian energy company behind the project, to restart offshore construction after work was halted amid a broader administration review of five East Coast wind developments. Nichols said Empire Wind had showed an injunction risked sinking the project completely. The project’s backers "established on this record that losing access to specialized vessels that cannot be replaced in time to meet binding deadlines, will not just cause substantial financial loss, but it will threaten Empire Wind’s entire existence," the judge stated. "Damocles’s sword does not have to actually fall on the movant before the court will issue an injunction" in order to prevent irreparable harm," he added. President Trump, a Republican, has long blasted wind as "the worst form of energy," seeking to slam the brakes on the sector while prioritizing oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy and more.

Reuters [1/16/2026 1:33 PM, Blake Brittain and Nichola Groom, 36480K] reports a federal judge on Friday cleared U.S. power company Dominion Energy (D.N), opens new tab to resume work on its Virginia offshore wind project, the third legal blow this week to President Donald Trump’s anti-offshore wind agenda. Judge Jamar Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued an order that allows Dominion to restart construction on the $11.2 billion project while its lawsuit against Trump’s Interior Department proceeds. Earlier this week, offshore wind developers Orsted (ORSTED.CO) and Equinor (EQNR.OL), won similar rulings from a U.S. court in Washington in their litigation over Interior’s December 22 suspension of five projects under construction in federal waters. The government paused the projects due to what it said was new, classified information on risks to national security from radar interference. At the hearing in Norfolk, Virginia, Walker said Interior’s stop-work order was too broad to address Dominion’s specific project and noted that the risks cited by the government pertained to wind farm operations and not construction. The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. Dominion has already spent nearly $9 billion on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is expected to provide enough energy to power 600,000 homes.

AP [1/16/2026 12:11 PM, Andrea Rodríguez, 14862K] reports tens of thousands of Cubans demonstrated Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in Havana to decry the killing of 32 Cuban officers in Venezuela and demand that the U.S. government release former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. They crowded into the open-air "José Martí Anti-Imperialist" plaza across from the embassy in a rally organized by the Cuban government as tensions between Cuba and the U.S. spike following the U.S. attack Jan. 3 on Venezuela. The 32 Cuban officers were part of Maduro’s security detail killed during the raid on his residence in Caracas to seize the former leader and bring him to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges. "Humanity is experiencing something very complex, and (the US) is governed by a president who considers himself an emperor," said René González, 64, one of the protesters. "We must show him that ideas are worth more than weapons," he said. "This march is a message of our unity. Independence is sacred, and we will defend it tooth and nail if necessary.” Cuba’s national hymn rang out at Friday’s demonstration as large Cuban flags waved in the chilly wind and big waves broke nearby along Havana’s famed pier. President Miguel Díaz-Canel shook hands with members of the crowd clad in jackets and scarves before speaking to them. "The current U.S. administration has opened the door to an era of barbarism, plunder and neo-fascism," he said. The demonstration was a show of popular strength after President Trump recently demanded that Cuba make a deal with him before it is "too late." He did not explain what kind of deal.

The AP [1/16/2026 2:10 PM, David Klepper, 4722K] reports CIA Director John Ratcliffe has traveled to Venezuela to meet with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, becoming the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit the South American country after the U.S. raid that captured former leader Nicolás Maduro. The meeting Thursday in Caracas, the capital, lasted two hours, according to a U.S. government official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke Friday on condition of anonymity. The official said the meeting came at the urging of President Donald Trump and was meant to demonstrate the desire by the U.S. for a better relationship with Venezuela. It occurred the same day Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump at the White House even as he has effectively sidelined her. Ratcliffe’s visit is likely to be seen as another sign of Trump’s willingness to work with Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s second in command until the audacious U.S. military operation two weeks ago that spirited him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. Ratcliffe discussed potential economic collaboration between the two countries and warned that Venezuela can never again allow the presence of American adversaries, including drug traffickers, the official said. The CIA played a key role in the operation to apprehend Maduro, providing critical intelligence support, as well as mounting an earlier drone strike on a dock used by cartels, U.S. officials have said. A day after Ratcliffe’s visit to Caracas, Machado told reporters in Washington that she was “profoundly, profoundly confident that we will have an orderly transition” to democracy in her country. The Wall Street Journal [1/16/2026 2:02 PM, Dustin Volz, Vera Bergengruen, and Kejal Vyas, 646K] reports that in the two-hour-long meeting, Ratcliffe told Rodríguez that the Trump administration wants to strengthen its working relationship with the government and discussed potential opportunities for economic collaboration, a U.S. official said. He also conveyed that Venezuela couldn’t serve as a haven for drug gangs, the official said. Ratcliffe singled out Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization. Venezuela’s Information Ministry didn’t immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment on the CIA visit. Representatives of Rodríguez’s government were also in Washington this week to meet with U.S. officials, including at the State Department, to work on reopening the Venezuelan Embassy, a person familiar with the talks said. The New York Times earlier reported on Ratcliffe’s visit to Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. Ratcliffe visited Caracas on the same day that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado—whose ally Edmundo González is widely acknowledged to have won the 2024 election against Maduro—was in Washington to meet with President Trump. In that meeting, she presented him with the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded for her pro-democracy work in Venezuela. “Delcy Rodríguez is a communist,” Machado said at a press conference in Washington on Friday, adding that Rodriguez was cooperating because she was “terrified” of Trump. “She is the representative of China, Iran and Russia in Venezuela. But she does not represent the Venezuelan people,” Machado said. Machado said Rodriguez will be forced to yield to some U.S. demands. “But this is not sustainable, and she knows it,” she said.

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NewsMax [1/16/2026 6:29 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports President Donald Trump has unveiled key members of the Board of Peace, an international body he will lead to guide the second phase of his peace plan in the Gaza Strip. The move marked a major step in the administration’s push to stabilize the war-torn territory. Trump named seven members of the Board of Peace’s executive board: Secretary of State Marco Rubio; U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff; Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; financier Marc Rowan; World Bank President Ajay Banga; and deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel. Each executive board member will oversee a specific area aimed at stabilizing Gaza and supporting its long-term future, including forming governing institutions, handling regional ties, directing reconstruction, attracting investment, and securing funding, according to the White House. Trump also appointed Aryeh Lightstone and Josh Gruenbaum as senior advisers tasked with managing day-to-day strategy and operations and putting the board’s priorities into action. The White House said executive board member Nickolay Mladenov will serve as high representative for Gaza, serving as the primary link between the Board of Peace and Gaza’s transitional administration. Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers was appointed commander of the International Stabilization Force and will be responsible for security operations, disarmament efforts, and ensuring the safe flow of humanitarian aid and rebuilding materials, according to the White House.

Reuters [1/16/2026 8:25 AM, Andrew Osborn and Mark Trevelyan, 36480K] reports President Vladimir Putin is mediating in the Iran situation to try to quickly de-escalate tensions, the Kremlin said on Friday, after the Russian leader spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Moscow, an ally of Tehran, has condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of new military strikes after Iran cracked down on protests that broke out late last month. Israel and the U.S. last year both bombed Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran fought a 12-day war with Israel. Russia has pursued closer ties with Iran since the start of its war in Ukraine, and Putin last year signed a 20-year strategic partnership pact with Pezeshkian. Moscow also has a long-established working relationship with Israel. Putin in his call with Netanyahu expressed Russia’s willingness to "continue its mediation efforts and to promote constructive dialogue with the participation of all interested states," the Kremlin said, adding he had set out his ideas for boosting stability in the Middle East. No further details were given on Putin’s mediation attempt.

Reuters [1/16/2026 3:18 PM, Joey Roulette and Cassell Bryan-Low, 36480K] reports Iran’s crackdown on dissidents is shaping up as one of the toughest security tests yet for Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has served as a lifeline against state-imposed internet blackouts since its deployment during the war in Ukraine. SpaceX, which owns Starlink, made the satellite service free for Iranians earlier this week, placing Musk’s space company at the center of another geopolitical hot spot and pitting a team of U.S.-based engineers against a regional power armed with satellite jammers and signal-spoofing tactics, according to activists, analysts and researchers. How SpaceX withstands Iranian attacks on its most lucrative line of business is expected to be closely watched by U.S. military forces and intelligence agencies that use Starlink and its military-grade variant Starshield, as well as China, whose own nascent satellite internet constellations are set to rival Starlink in the coming years. With SpaceX weighing a public listing this year, the situation in Iran also represents a high-profile showcase for Starlink to investors. "We’re in this weird early part of the history of space-delivered communications where SpaceX is the only true provider at this scale," said John Plumb, the former Pentagon space policy chief under President Joe Biden. "And these repressive regimes think they can still turn off communications, but I think the day is coming where that’s just not possible," he said.

Bloomberg [1/17/2026 6:14 AM, Arsalan Shahla, 18207K] reports Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “several thousand people” died in this month’s anti-government demonstrations, his first acknowledgment of the deadly scale of the unrest. Some of those were killed “brutally and inhumanely,” Khamenei said without offering detail in a public meeting broadcast on state TV. He accused the US and Israel of aiding the killings and said the Islamic Republic has evidence to support the claim. Iran doesn’t intend to push the country toward war, but won’t allow either domestic or international criminals to go unpunished, he said. He said US President Donald Trump was culpable for “deaths, damage, and accusations he has inflicted on the Iranian people,” and that Washington’s broader policy goal was to place Iran under military, political, and economic domination. The toll suggested was in line with estimates from human rights groups and others that some 3,500 people had perished. The groups estimate that more than 22,000 people have been detained. The protests have taken place during a record long internet blackout for Iran’s population of about 92 million people.

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