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 Post [1/19/2026 11:46 AM, Chris Nesi, 42219K] reports that more than 10,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested in Minneapolis since the start of the second Trump administration, with 3,000 cuffed in the last six weeks alone, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday. "PEACE AND PUBLIC SAFETY IN MINNEAPOLIS!" DHS Secretary Kristi Noem proclaimed in a post on X. Those arrested, Noem said, "were killing Americans, hurting children and reigning terror in Minneapolis because Tim Walz and Jacob Frey refuse to protect their own people and instead protect criminals." Frey raised eyebrows on Sunday when he compared ICE’s immigration crackdown in his city to an "invasion" by the federal government on CNN’s "State of the Union." Starting just after Thanksgiving, DHS has launched what it frequently calls the largest immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis history in recent weeks, deploying around 3,000 agents from various agencies including ICE, Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations and others. "In the last 6 weeks, our brave DHS law enforcement have arrested 3,000 criminal illegal aliens including vicious murders, rapists, child pedophiles and incredibly dangerous individuals. A HUGE victory for public safety," Noem said, before pivoting to the multibillion-dollar fraud scandal unfolding in Minnesota. "There is MASSIVE Fraud in Minneapolis, at least $19 billion and that’s just the tip of iceberg. Our Homeland Security Investigators are on the ground in Minneapolis conducting wide scale investigations to get justice for the American people who have been robbed blind," she wrote. NewsMax [1/19/2026 12:42 PM, Theodore Bunker, 4109K] reports [Noem] added that investigators have opened what she described as sweeping fraud probes totaling at least $19 billion, sharpening her criticism of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for what she called a failure to protect public safety. Noem also alleged "massive fraud" in Minneapolis totaling at least $19 billion and said Homeland Security Investigations agents were conducting large-scale investigations aimed at recovering money and holding those responsible accountable. Noem did not provide documentation supporting the $19 billion figure or identify which programs or cases it covered. The Hill [1/19/2026 7:27 PM, Julia Mueller, 12595K] reports that a DHS release shared some of the names of those arrested, though additional details about the nature of the arrests weren’t included. However, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the nonprofit American Immigration Council, raised doubt about Noem’s Monday announcement in a response on X, suggesting the Minneapolis arrest figures could be “HIGHLY inflated.” “These numbers VERY likely false. Do not trust them unless independently verified,” Reichlin-Melnick wrote. Minneapolis has become a major focus of the national fight over immigration after an ICE officer fatally shot Minnesota woman Renee Good, sparking protests across the country. Administration officials have defended the ICE officer, alleging Good was impeding law enforcement. Noem has labeled Good’s actions during the incident as “domestic terrorism.”

NewsMax [1/18/2026 11:28 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4109K] reports federal immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota will continue with no fixed end date until all of the "dangerous people" have been detained, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Sunday. "Every day we get a murderer off the streets of Minneapolis, the public is safer," Noem said in an interview with CBS News’ "Face the Nation." "We won’t stop until we are sure that all the dangerous people are picked up, brought to justice, and then deported.” When asked if she had a "number or a date" about when that would happen, Noem said that she does not. She added that President Donald Trump is "keeping his promise to the American people" on immigration, and blamed former President Joe Biden for the current situation in Minnesota. "We have no idea how many dangerous people are here," Noem argued, while insisting that those being targeted include serious offenders. "Every single individual has committed a crime," said Noem, adding that "70% of them have committed or have charges against them on violent crimes.” When host Margaret Brennan cited a lower figure based on agency numbers, Noem pushed back: "Which means you’re wrong again. Absolutely. We’ll get you the correct numbers so you can use them in the future.” The interview also focused on the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, and public skepticism about ICE tactics. Noem said Good threatened an officer’s life. "The facts are that this individual weaponized her car and threatened the life of a law enforcement officer and those around him," Noem said. "Everybody can watch the videos and see that.”

The Washington Times [1/18/2026 1:56 PM, Seth McLaughlin, 852K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is trying to set the record straight on the number of migrants detained by ICE who have committed a criminal offense. Ms. Noem said Sunday that 70% of the detainees have been convicted or charged with a violent crime, or have criminal histories in their home country. “They need to be brought to justice, and we’re going to keep doing that, no matter how much you guys keep lying and don’t tell the public the truth,” she said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Critics of the Trump immigration enforcement efforts claim the president promised to target violent criminals, but that nonviolent immigrants have been swept up in the raids. The New York Times reported last month that more than half of the people swept up in the raids in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts through Oct. 15 did not have criminal records. A recent CBS News analysis of Department of Homeland Security data found that about 47% of detainees had criminal charges or convictions in the U.S., while the rest were neither convicted of a crime nor facing criminal charges and were instead being held on civil immigration violations. The Daily Wire [1/19/2026 1:59 PM, Amanda Prestigiacomo, 2494K] reports Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said last month that the Department of Homeland Security law enforcement had arrested more than 600,000 illegals, 70% of whom had been charged or convicted of a crime in the United States. Additionally, as stressed by McLaughlin, that statistic pertains to charges or convictions only in the U.S., not other nations. Meaning, the percentage of criminals being targeted is likely even higher. "DHS is targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens — including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists," McLaughlin said in a statement published in November. "[Seventy percent] of illegal aliens ICE arrested across the country have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges just in the U.S.” "This statistic doesn’t account for those wanted for violent crimes in their home country or another country, INTERPOL notices, human rights abusers, gang members, terrorists, etc.," the assistant secretary explained. "The list goes on.” McLaughlin said that the U.S. is a "nation of laws," and DHS is "committed to enforcing those laws, all of which are just.” This past week, a law enforcement agent went viral for addressing protesters and members of the media while agents were on duty. In this particular case, the agent said authorities were picking up a child sex offender, underscoring the absurdity of the protesters. "We’re here to arrest a child sex offender, and you guys are out here honking," the agent says in the now-viral video. "That vehicle has been honking and impeding our investigation while we’re trying to arrest a child sex offender. That’s who you guys are protecting. Insane.” God bless the men & women of @ICEgov @CBP who risk their lives to arrest these criminals. pic.twitter.com/eDJQLCrjZh. Moreover, DHS reports a massive 1,300% jump in assaults against ICE agents. Still, coordinated obstruction, protests, and riots against ICE agents have raged in liberal cities across the nation, most notably in Minneapolis. Liberal politicians and their counterparts in the legacy media have only emboldened such behavior, too, by dehumanizing ICE agents and ignoring or even supporting violence and obstruction efforts from anti-ICE activists.

Breitbart [1/19/2026 4:23 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is continuing arrests across Minnesota thanks to Operation Metro Surge, recently nabbing illegal aliens convicted of murder, domestic abuse, and drunk driving, among other crimes. "As our law enforcement are facing rampant violence against them, they arrested murderers, drug traffickers, and an illegal with 24 criminal convictions in Minneapolis yesterday," the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Indeed, among those arrested by ICE agents is Hien Quoc Thai, an illegal alien from Vietnam, convicted of murder, as well as Brian Anjain, an illegal alien from the Marshall islands, who has 24 prior convictions for crimes such as assault causing bodily injury, domestic abuse, public nudity, theft, interference with official acts, public intoxication, and trespassing. "These are the criminals Governor Walz and Mayor Frey are protecting," McLaughlin said. "No American wants these criminals for neighbors.” DHS officials have revealed that some 2,500 illegal aliens, either with convictions or pending criminal charges, have been arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota. DHS officials are also demanding that Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) turn nearly 1,400 illegal aliens, who have active detainers against them, over to ICE agents. Already, almost 500 illegal aliens have been released back onto the streets in Minnesota as state officials refuse to cooperate with ICE detainers.

The Hill [1/18/2026 1:21 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12595K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed Sunday that the agency is conducting an internal review of the actions taken by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good, saying he was placed on a three-day administrative leave after the incident, as protocol dictates. “We are following the exact same investigative and review process that we always have under ICE and under the Department of Homeland Security and within the administration,” Noem said in an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” “The exact same policy that the Biden administration used, the exact same review, so we haven’t changed any of that,” she continued. Noem pushed back on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) statement that “The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.” “I would not listen to Gov. Walz,” Noem said in response. “He has a very bad track record.” “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan read from part of the agency’s handbook. She asked whether the Office of Professional Responsibility is conducting its own probe to determine whether the ICE agent violated protocol and was on three days of administrative leave, as is stated in the handbook. “The protocol and the advice and the guidance within that handbook and within our policies is being followed exactly like it has been for years,” Noem said.

FOX News [1/18/2026 3:10 PM, Hanna Panreck, 40621K] reports Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem chided CBS News host Margaret Brennan on Sunday for naming the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good earlier this month during an interview. Brennan asked Noem about Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot Good in Minneapolis, and his injuries. Federal officials have said that when Good pulled forward in her vehicle toward the ICE officer, he acted in self-defense. "Don’t say his name. I mean, for heaven’s sakes, we shouldn’t have people continue to dox law enforcement when they have an 8,000-percent increase in death threats against them," Noem told Brennan. Brennan pushed back and said, "his name is public.” "I know, but that doesn’t mean it should continue to be said. He got attacked with a car that was trying to take his life, and then people have attacked him and his family, and they are in jeopardy. And we have law enforcement officers every day who are getting death threats and getting attacked at their hotels, and they’re getting ice thrown at them," Noem said. Brennen asked the DHS secretary if she could elaborate on the ICE agent’s status after the injury. The Daily Caller [1/18/2026 2:03 PM, Timothy Sekerak, 835K] reports Noem also talked about how this particular incident was a tragedy, but how grateful she was that the officer involved protected himself and those around him. "This officer relied on his training to defend his life and to defend those around him, and we’re grateful that we’re in a situation where we hope that more people don’t weaponize their vehicles like this. We’re seeing it happen over and over again. We’ve seen over a hundred different vehicles weaponized and attacking law enforcement officers," Noem continued. Noem also said she hoped that Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey would work with President Trump’s administration to bring safety to the streets and a way for protestors to express their First Amendment rights in a way that wouldn’t impede ICE operations.

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Washington Examiner [1/18/2026 1:26 PM, Jenny Goldsberry, 1394K]

FOX News [1/19/2026 8:13 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin says I.C.E. agents on the ground are removing public safety threats on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’[Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX Business [1/19/2026 8:25 PM, Staff, 10085K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin discusses responding to threats against federal law enforcement officers on ‘The Bottom Line.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [1/18/2026 4:42 PM, Minho Kim, 135475K] reports Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, denied in a televised interview on Sunday that her department had used pepper spray and similar tactics curtailed by a judicial order issued last week, then backtracked and blamed protesters after being confronted with a video of federal agents deploying such measures against crowds in Minnesota. “That federal order was a little ridiculous, because that federal judge came down and told us we couldn’t do what we already aren’t doing,” Ms. Noem said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” But after being pressed on a video that backed up the accounts provided to the court, she changed course. Protesters were to blame for the use of force, she said, adding that federal officers “only use those chemical agents when there’s violence happening and perpetuating.” The ruling on Friday by Judge Kate M. Menendez of the Federal District Court in Minnesota said that chemical agents had been used against protesters on at least four separate occasions and called the evidence of their use “uncontroverted.” “Federal agents used chemical irritants” to punish protesters for exercising “protected First Amendment rights to assemble and to observe and protest ICE operations,” the judge wrote in issuing her injunction, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In response to an inquiry about Ms. Noem’s comments, Tricia McLaughlin, a homeland security spokeswoman, did not comment on Ms. Noem’s initial denial and backtracking of immigration agents’ use of force. Instead, she emphasized that assaulting and obstructing law enforcement is a felony, and accused protesters of tampering with agents’ vehicles and attacking officers with fireworks and automobiles. Judge Menendez had dismissed the government’s claims that all use of pepper spray and other chemical irritants had happened after agents were “attacked,” finding that “protected conduct,” including protesting and observing the operations, had “motivated” the agents’ “adverse actions.” The injunction issued last week stemmed from a lawsuit filed by activists who have protested the crackdown or observed the department’s operations in Minnesota. The suit was filed in December, before an immigration agent shot and killed an unarmed U.S. citizen, Renee Good, in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, prompting increased protests against the crackdown.

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New York Times [1/19/2026 4:00 PM, Mitch Smith., 135475K] reports lawyers for the Trump administration said on Monday that they were appealing a judge’s injunction that imposed limits on immigration agents’ interactions with protesters in Minnesota. In a short notice filed on Monday with the judge who issued the preliminary injunction last week, Justice Department lawyers said they would challenge those limits at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The lawsuit that led to the injunction claimed that federal law enforcement officers had repeatedly violated the rights of protesters who observed or recorded immigration enforcement actions or voiced opposition to those actions. In her injunction, handed down on Friday, Judge Kate M. Menendez of the U.S. District Court in Minnesota 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. Judge Menendez, who was nominated to the bench by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., did not give the plaintiffs everything they had sought in the injunction. She did not include specific protection for the recording of agents, nor did she impose rules about how agents issue dispersal orders. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the appeal. Though a notice of appeal was filed with the district court, the full text of the appeal was not immediately available from the Eighth Circuit. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said on Friday in a statement responding to Judge Menendez’s 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 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.” A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, which backed the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the appeal. The lawsuit described a “federal campaign to besiege cities across the United States in an unprecedented attack on civil liberties,” and described the case as an effort “to ensure that Minnesotans can assemble, observe, document, and criticize defendants’ activities, safely and unburdened by the fear of retaliation.”

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Reuters [1/19/2026 4:34 PM, Jason Lange, 36480K]

CBS News [1/18/2026 12:02 PM, Kaia Hubbard, 39474K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration operations in Minnesota on Sunday, while saying that a federal judge’s order limiting the tactics federal agents can use "didn’t change anything.” "These law enforcement officers are out there every day doing the work to protect the American people, and they will keep doing that because they believe in enforcing the law, which is exactly what President Trump has charged them with," Noem said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” A federal judge on Friday blocked federal law enforcement from using pepper spray or nonlethal munitions on peaceful protesters as demonstrations continue. The judge also barred federal agents from stopping or detaining drivers and passengers when there is "no reasonable articulable suspicion" that people driving near protests are forcibly interfering with law enforcement operations. On Sunday, Noem called the order "a little ridiculous." "We only use those chemical agents when there’s violence happening and perpetuating and you need to be able to establish law and order to keep people safe," Noem said. "So that judge’s order didn’t change anything for how we’re operating on the ground, because it’s basically telling us to do what we’ve already been doing." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/19/2026 8:39 PM, Greg Wehner, 40621K] reports President Donald Trump says there is too much media attention on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota and not enough scrutiny of what he calls widespread corruption and stolen taxpayer money in state government. Trump argued on Truth Social that the imbalance in coverage reflects misplaced priorities, saying the focus on immigration enforcement distracts from what he described as more consequential allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds by Minnesota officials. "In Minnesota, there is too much media attention on ICE, who have removed some of the worst murderers and criminals in the World, people let into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden’s horrendous Open Border Policy, and not enough attention paid to the staggering sums of money stolen from the State by corrupt Minnesota politicians," Trump said in the post. Trump did not cite specific cases or dollar figures, though his comments come as Minnesota Democrats have faced scrutiny in recent years over spending programs and ethics questions, while ICE enforcement actions have drawn protests and legal challenges in the state. Federal prosecutors have accused Minnesota of losing potentially billions of dollars to fraud across multiple government programs, including child care subsidies, food assistance and autism services. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison have disputed the scale of the alleged losses. They’ve accused Republicans in the federal government of exaggerating the figures for political purposes, while acknowledging the state is reviewing how funds were improperly obtained and distributed. The political fallout from the fraud allegations led Walz earlier this month to drop a bid for a third term as governor. Congress has also opened an investigation through the House Oversight Committee. Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, told Fox News Digital earlier this month the probe could serve as a blueprint for examining similar cases in other states.

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The AP [1/18/2026 6:10 PM, Konstantin Toropin, 19051K] reports the Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active duty soldiers to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation, two defense officials said Sunday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans, said two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders. The unit is based in Alaska and specializes in operating in arctic conditions. One defense official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th century law that would allow him to employ active duty troops as law enforcement. The move comes just days after Trump threatened to do just that to quell protests against his administration’s immigration crackdown. In an emailed statement, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell did not deny the orders were issued and said the military "is always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.” ABC News was the first to report the development. On Thursday, Trump said in a social media post that he would invoke the 1807 law "if the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job.” He appeared to walk back the threat a day later, telling reporters at the White House that there wasn’t a reason to use it "right now.” "If I needed it, I’d use it," Trump said. "It’s very powerful.” CBS News [1/18/2026 12:14 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports that no decision has been made on whether to deploy the soldiers. Asked about the preparations, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, "The Department of War is always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.” ABC News was first to report that the soldiers were on standby. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also mobilized the state’s National Guard on Saturday, although guard members had not yet been deployed to city streets, CBS News Minnesota reported. Walz had issued a warning order earlier this month to prepare guard members for mobilization, after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good on Jan. 7. "We are doing the work to keep people safe in our city, and, specifically, it is our local police officers, it is the state of Minnesota and our governor," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sunday. "We are doing everything possible to keep the peace, notwithstanding this occupying force that has quite literally invaded our city.” In addition to the recent surge of immigration agents, Mr. Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a law dating back to the 1790s that would allow him to send federal troops into Minneapolis. The president said he would invoke the act if Minnesota politicians "don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job.” NBC News [1/19/2026 2:07 PM, Patrick Smith and Courtney Kube, 34509K] reports that there is no indication the president will use the Insurrection Act beyond his public comments, and he told reporters Friday that he doesn’t think he needs to use it any more. The news came as the Justice Department promised to investigate and bring possible federal charges against protesters who disrupted a service Sunday at a church in St. Paul, where the group believes a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office director is a pastor. Footage from inside the Cities Church showed a group shouting "ICE out!" and chanting the name of Good, the woman shot dead by an ICE officer while in her car on a Minneapolis street Jan. 7. David Easterwood is listed as a pastor and the director of discipleship on the church’s website, although he did not appear to be in the church at the time of the protest. The same David Easterwood also identified himself as acting field office director for enforcement and removal operations in St. Paul during a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in October. ICE and the Justice Department have neither confirmed nor publicly commented on Easterwood’s role at the church. NBC News approached both agencies and the church for comment and had not received responses by the time of publication.

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The AP [1/18/2026 6:45 PM, Jack Brook and Sarah Raza, 14862K] reports the mayor of Minneapolis said Sunday that sending active duty soldiers into Minnesota to help with an immigration crackdown is a ridiculous and unconstitutional idea as he urged protesters to remain peaceful so the president won’t see a need to send in the U.S. military. Daily protests have been ongoing throughout January since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers. Three hotels where protesters have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were staying in the area stopped taking reservations Sunday. In a diverse neighborhood where immigration officers have been seen frequently, U.S. postal workers marched through on Sunday, chanting: “Protect our routes. Get ICE out.” The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers based in Alaska who specialize in operating in arctic conditions to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, two defense officials said Sunday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans, said two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders. One defense official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act. The Washington Examiner [1/18/2026 11:12 AM, Asher Notheis, 1394K] reports that the move comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are active in the state and Minneapolis. Frey deemed it "ridiculous" to have these troops at the ready, saying the city has "about 600 police officers," as well as about 3,000 ICE officers and Border Patrol agents. He added the city won’t be intimidated by the federal government. "And at the same time, the message is very clear that we are not going to take the bait. We will not counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos here, and we’re not going to give them an excuse to do the thing that clearly they’re trying to set up to do right now, which is these 1,500 troops," Frey said on CNN’s State of the Union. The mayor also said he "never thought in a million years" that Minneapolis would be "invaded" by its own federal government and said he and others need to be "standing up for these American values.” The Department of Justice has subpoenaed both Frey and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as part of an investigation, with both accused of impeding federal law enforcement’s ability to do its job in the state. However, Frey said he hasn’t received any notice, nor is he aware of any specific allegations. Border czar Tom Homan said Thursday that Frey and Walz’s demands for federal agents to leave their communities could be resolved "real quick" under the condition that Minneapolis agrees to let ICE into its jails, allowing it to take custody of illegal immigrants with criminal records.

NBC News [1/18/2026 8:29 PM, Michael Kosnar, Tom Winter and Marlene Lenthang, 34509K] reports the FBI has asked agents from field offices across the United States to voluntarily travel to Minneapolis for temporary assignments as the city reels from anti-ICE protests and the fatal shooting of Renee Good, according to two sources. The request was first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by a law enforcement official familiar with the messages and another source familiar with the requests who has seen the messages. The messages sent to agents and field offices were not clear about what the exact assignment would be for volunteers who do relocate. The second source told NBC News that the agents will investigate "AFO" cases — an FBI designation to identify and charge suspects accused of assault on a federal officer. Agents are also needed to investigate vandalism and theft of property from FBI vehicles, the second source added. There has been a surge of federal immigration personnel in Minnesota, and protests have rocked the state in outrage over the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Good in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. At the moment, the request call is voluntary, and there’s not a mass surge of FBI agents to Minneapolis, the sources said. And so far, one source said, the response has been minimal.

Washington Post [1/19/2026 5:54 PM, Perry Stein, 24149K] repots in the immediate aftermath of the death of Renée Good in Minneapolis, FBI agents launched a civil rights investigation into the actions of the immigration officer who shot her, according to three people familiar with the investigation. An agent in Minnesota conducted an initial review of the shooting and determined that sufficient grounds existed to open a civil rights probe into the actions of Jonathan Ross, the officer who shot Good, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The existence of the civil rights investigation stands in sharp contrast to public statements made by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said on “Fox News Sunday” that the shooting of Good does not warrant a federal investigation. “There are over 1,000 shootings every year where law enforcement are put in danger by individuals, and they have to protect themselves, and they have a lawful right to do so,” Blanche said. “The Department of Justice doesn’t just stand up and investigate because some congressmen thinks we should, because some governor thinks that we should.” “We investigate when it’s appropriate to investigate,” Blanche added. “And that is not the case here. It was not the case when it happened and is not the case today.” Instead of a civil rights investigation, Justice Department leaders have tried to pursue a probe against Good’s partner, multiple people familiar with the probe said. Legal experts said there is a low threshold for the FBI to open a civil rights investigation, and that prosecutors and FBI agents occasionally disagree about when criminal investigations should be pursued. But soon after the shooting, law enforcement applied for a warrant to search Good’s car under a civil rights statute, according to an FBI official familiar with the probe, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The official said a magistrate judge approved that warrant, though agents did not execute it after it was granted. Instead, the FBI official said that as new facts emerged in the case, law enforcement applied for a warrant under an assault statute. A magistrate judge rejected that warrant, the FBI official said, determining that it was not an appropriate statute since Good was deceased and could not be charged with assault.

Breitbart [1/18/2026 12:56 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2416K] reports federal authorities have launched an investigation to determine whether or not Renee Nicole Good’s widow "impeded a federal officer" moments before he shot and killed Good during their confrontation in Minneapolis, sources familiar with the probe told NBC News. The federal probe into the fatal shooting by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Jonathan Ross is focusing on Becca Good, including her "possible ties to activist groups," and "less on Ross’s actions" when he fired into Renee Good’s SUV during an immigration operation January 7, unnamed officials told the network. However, Antonio Romanucci, Becca Good’s lawyer, said in a statement to the network Saturday that "there has been no contact from the FBI or federal officials indicating Becca Good is the subject of an investigation.” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authorities, as well as Vice President JD Vance, have said Ross had no choice but to use fatal force, saying the 37-year-old Good "weaponized" her plum-colored Honda against the officer and hit him. In a now widely circulated video, Good’s wife Becca can be seen heckling Ross and other officers outside the car. Renee Good remains behind the wheel, her car parked at an angle so as to apparently block traffic in what authorities have said was done to interfere with ICE enforcement in the city. Becca Good, in an arrogant tone, dismisses the ICE agents who apparently were trying to get the couple to move the SUV, telling Ross, "You want to come at us. I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy.” Meanwhile, another agent pulls on Good’s driver’s door, ordering her to get out of the car. Instead, as multiple outlets have reported, Becca Good allegedly shouts, "Drive, baby, drive!". Others, however, claim Becca Good’s words are not clearly heard at all, and she may have been yelling, "Don’t drive.” Whatever she said, Renee Good accelerates into Ross, who is in front of the driver’s side hood, and Ross opens fire. Another video taken in the aftermath of the shooting reportedly showed Rebecca sobbing as she cried, "It’s my fault.” Good was shot four times with wounds in the chest, arm, and head, according to an incident report from the Minneapolis Fire Department, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The investigation into Becca Good is focused on a section of the U.S. Code on "assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers," sources told NBC. Following the shooting, President Donald Trump described Renee and Becca Good as "professional agitators." The Department of Homeland Security said the assault on the ICE officer was "domestic terrorism" and that Ross acted in accordance with his training. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Tuesday that "there is currently no basis" for a Civil Rights Division investigation into the shooting.

NewsMax [1/19/2026 5:43 PM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4109K] reports Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara raised questions about the conduct of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who shot and killed protester Renee Good this month, saying the officer appeared to ignore "basic steps" law enforcement are trained to follow when approaching a vehicle. O’Hara made the remarks during an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News’ "60 Minutes," during which correspondent Cecilia Vega said the shooting has become something of a national "Rorschach test," with some Americans viewing it as a "senseless killing" and others seeing an "officer defending his life.” After reviewing video clips of the incident, O’Hara said he was left wondering why the officer was standing in front of Good’s SUV just before shots were fired. "It’s not clear to me why he appears to be in the path of the vehicle more than once," O’Hara said. "When you approach someone in a vehicle in a law enforcement encounter, there are very basic steps you take to ensure the officer’s safety and de-escalate the situation." Vega said Department of Homeland Security officials accused Good of "stalking" immigration enforcement officers, though she did not mention that DHS shared a 3 1/2-minute video on Jan. 11 showing Good blocking traffic with her vehicle before agents approached her. It was reported last week that the ICE agent — identified as Jonathan Ross — suffered internal bleeding after being struck by Good’s vehicle moments before he opened fire. O’Hara told "60 Minutes" that he supports "targeted, precise, preplanned operations on violent offenders," calling those efforts a "good thing." "But I’m concerned that people in the [Trump] administration don’t understand the reality of what is happening on the street," he said.

FOX News [1/19/2026 6:00 AM, Lindsay Kornick, 40621K] reports a New York Times opinion piece omitted several details while describing the fatal shooting of Minnesota woman Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer after claiming Good was "summarily executed.” "We have become a country where a person can be summarily executed in public for protesting that paramilitary force," New York Times columnist M. Gessen wrote on Sunday. Gessen continued, "After an ICE agent killed Renee Good by shooting her three times at point-blank range in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other federal officials said the shooting was justified as an act of self-defense (the video shows otherwise) and pointed to Good’s ostensible affiliation with left-wing groups — apparently affirming that protest is now punishable by death in America.” Gessen also referred to Good’s death on Jan. 7 as an "execution" later in the article while lamenting limits to pushing back against the Trump administration. "And the execution of Renee Good has surely affected every potential protester’s mental calculus," Gessen wrote. Gessen’s article, however, did not include any additional context on the shooting, such as Good driving a Honda Pilot SUV in the direction of ICE officers after allegedly ignoring demands to step out of the vehicle. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also reported that the ICE officer who shot Good suffered internal bleeding to his torso when he was struck by her vehicle, though the extent of the bleeding was not made immediately clear. These details were not available in Gessen’s article. Gessen instead praised Minnesota residents for "speaking, writing, publishing, protesting, voting" against the administration’s ICE operations, claiming that they are hunting people. "We have become a country where people are disappeared by a paramilitary force that hunts them down in their apartments, on city streets and country roads, and even in the courts. Less than a year ago, videos of ICE arrests would go viral and social media posts about ICE sightings would send chills down our spines. Now even the most high-profile detentions have faded from view: Who has been released? Who has been deported? Who is still missing?" Gessen wrote. New York Times declined to comment to Fox News Digital, instead pointing to its past visual investigations piece on the shooting from last week. Fox News Digital also reached out to DHS and ICE for comment. DHS has said the officer fired in self-defense and that video showed Good interfering with ICE officers by parking her vehicle in the roadway in an apparent attempt to block federal vehicles.

CBS News [1/19/2026 7:55 PM, Will Croxton, 39474K] reports that, on Oct. 4, Marimar Martinez was driving to her church when she noticed an unusual vehicle on the road. It had no plates, a light under the windshield with a "Lyft" logo, and a driver that was wearing green camouflage. Martinez, an American citizen, honked her horn and shouted "la migra," a Spanish word used among members of the Latino community to identify immigration officers. "I feel like it was my responsibility as a first generation Mexican-American to let my community know that ICE agents are nearby," she told correspondent Cecilia Vega. She said she followed the car for about 20 minutes, alerting nearby residents by honking and shouting while livestreaming on Facebook. That’s when things took a dramatic turn. Martinez said the agents, driving a Chevrolet SUV, "rammed" into her car. Department of Homeland Security officials dispute this, saying Martinez "rammed" them. Both vehicles came to a stop. Martinez said she feared for her safety at that moment and decided she should drive "somewhere safe.” "I was like, ‘I can’t stay here. Like, they’re gonna kill me. Who knows what they’re going to do,’" she told Vega. U.S. Border Patrol agent Charles Exum fired five shots at Martinez’s vehicle, according to court records. The Department of Homeland Security says he fired in self defense when he saw the car driving toward him. Bullets pierced Martinez’s car and windshield. Martinez said minutes passed before she realized she had been shot. "I looked at my hand. It was full of blood… I saw, like, blood gushing out like a fountain," she told Vega. "I pulled out my phone and I was trying to type in 911, but I couldn’t because my phone was covered in blood.” Martinez showed Vega the gunshot wounds, rolling up her sleeves and pants to show the scars on her right thigh, right arm and left leg. "I want people to see, like, what’s going on, like the type of stuff they’re doing," Martinez said. After pulling into an auto repair shop and asking for help, Martinez was rushed to a hospital. Later, still bandaged and bleeding, Martinez was arrested by the FBI on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers. The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement the same day calling Martinez a "domestic terrorist.” "They were making it seem like I was, like, [Osama] Bin Laden’s daughter… I had, like, these wounds. I was all bandaged up. And I just couldn’t process it," Martinez said. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement on X the same day Martinez was shot: "Our brave law enforcement officers were rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars. Agents were unable to move their vehicles and exited the car… law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [1/18/2026 7:00 PM, Cecilia Vega, Michael Rey, Aliza Chasan, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Andy Court, and Annabelle Hanflig, 39474K] reports top Immigration and Customs Enforcement official Marcos Charles is pushing back against people who say they don’t trust the federal investigation into the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Good. "The rhetoric that’s coming out from a lot of our politicians is to not trust us, which is very odd to me, when a lot of Americans would rather believe what they see on TikTok compared to a government agency," Charles said. State investigators were blocked from participating in the investigation into the shooting, and sources told CBS News several top federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned, in part, because they were told to investigate the actions of Good and her wife, rather than ICE officer Jonathan Ross. The Minneapolis area has been flooded by ICE and Border Patrol agents as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Operation Metro Surge, the largest deployment of federal immigration officers in the Department of Homeland Security’s history, has sparked tense standoffs with protesters. ICE officers are conducting "targeted enforcement looking for the worst of the worst," Charles said. But he added that, "if they encounter anybody in the area of which they’re operating, they are OK to talk to those people. They’ve been authorized to talk to anybody that’s around there and establish citizenship.”

FOX News [1/19/2026 2:29 PM, Anders Hagstrom, 40621K] reports the Department of Homeland Security blasted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for refusing to cooperate with law enforcement on Monday. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem says federal agents have arrested 10,000 illegal aliens in Minneapolis in recent months, but she accused Walz and Frey of trying to "protect criminals." Minneapolis is a sanctuary jurisdiction where local law enforcement do not honor federal detainers for illegal immigrants. "We have arrested over 10,000 criminal illegal aliens who were killing Americans, hurting children and reigning terror in Minneapolis because Tim Walz and Jacob Frey refuse to protect their own people and instead protect criminals," Noem wrote on X. The DHS urged state and city leaders to start honoring arrest detainers. "We are calling on [Walz] and [Frey] to stop releasing criminal illegal aliens from Minnesota’s jails to re-perpetuate their crimes. ICE has more than 1,360 arrest detainers for the criminal illegal aliens in their custody," the DHS wrote. Breitbart [1/19/2026 12:52 PM, Bob Price, 2416K] reports Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin intensified the pressure on local leaders, demanding that Mayor Jacob Frey immediately surrender the 1,360 additional criminal aliens currently sitting in city jails under ICE detainers rather than releasing them back into Minneapolis neighborhoods. McLaughlin appeared on Fox News on Monday to demand that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Frey stop releasing criminal aliens onto the streets where they can continue committing crimes against American citizens. She also demanded that the city honor the more than 1,360 immigration detainers against criminal aliens being held in their custody and turn them over to ICE officers. "It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans," McLaughlin told Fox News. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem added that her agency arrested more than 10,000 criminal illegal aliens who were "killing Americans, hurting children, and reigning terror in Minneapolis.” "Tim Walz and Jacob Frey refuse to protect their own people and instead protect criminals. In the last 6 weeks, our brave DHS law enforcement have arrested 3,000 criminal illegal aliens including vicious murderers, rapists, child pedophiles and incredibly dangerous individuals," Noem added. "A HUGE victory for public safety.”

New York Post [1/18/2026 9:04 AM, Staff, 42219K] reports a swarm of anti-ICE protesters burst into a St. Paul, Minnesota, church in the middle of Sunday service and accused a pastor of working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The demonstrators with the Racial Justice Network stormed into the Cities Church and called out resident pastor David Eastwood, who they accused of moonlighting as the acting field office director for ICE in Minnesota. A David Eastwood is listed as an employee with the field office, but it’s still unclear if that is the same man as the Cities Church pastor. The service disrupters chanted slogans heard at the dozens of other protests that have wreaked havoc around Minneapolis, including some invoking slain anti-ICE activist and mom of three Renee Nicole Good’s name. Others specifically slandered Eastwood for misrepresenting the ideals of his faith through his support for ICE. "This cannot be a house of God while harboring someone directing ICE agents to wreak havoc on our community. I am a reverend on top of being a lawyer and an activist, so I come here in the power of the almighty God," one protester, Nekima Levy-Armstrong, told ousted CNN host Don Lemon during his livestream. Eastwood was not at the Sunday service. The congregation’s lead pastor, Jonathan Parnell, said the bombardment was "shameful" and asked anyone who wasn’t intending to worship to leave. The Department of Justice is probing the demonstration at the church for potential violations of civil rights laws specifically for "interfering with Christian worshippers," according to a post on X. The Department of Homeland Security reposted one of the videos of the church protest on X. "Agitators aren’t just targeting our officers. Now they’re targeting churches, too. They’re going from hotel to hotel, church to church, hunting for federal law enforcement who are risking their lives to protect Americans," DHS wrote.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [1/19/2026 4:39 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K]

The AP [1/19/2026 1:20 AM, Jack Brook, 31753K] reports the U.S. Department of Justice said Sunday it is investigating a group of protesters in Minnesota who disrupted services at a church where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apparently serves as a pastor. A livestreamed video posted on the Facebook page of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, one of the protest’s organizers, shows a group of people interrupting services at the Cities Church in St. Paul by chanting "ICE out" and "Justice for Renee Good." The 37-year-old mother of three was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month amid a surge in federal immigration enforcement activities. The protesters allege that one of the church’s pastors — David Easterwood — also leads the local ICE field office overseeing the operations that have involved violent tactics and illegal arrests. U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said her agency is investigating federal civil rights violations "by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.” "A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws!" she said on social media. Attorney General Pam Bondi also weighed in on social media, saying that any violations of federal law would be prosecuted. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Nekima Levy Armstrong, who participated in the protest and leads the local grassroots civil rights organization Racial Justice Network, dismissed the potential DOJ investigation as a sham and a distraction from federal agents’ actions in Minneapolis-St. Paul. "When you think about the federal government unleashing barbaric ICE agents upon our community and all the harm that they have caused, to have someone serving as a pastor who oversees these ICE agents, is almost unfathomable to me," said Armstrong, who added she is an ordained reverend. "If people are more concerned about someone coming to a church on a Sunday and disrupting business as usual than they are about the atrocities that we are experiencing in our community, then they need to check their theology and the need to check their hearts.” The website of St. Paul-based Cities Church lists David Easterwood as a pastor, and his personal information appears to match that of the David Easterwood identified in court filings as the acting director of the ICE St. Paul field office. Easterwood appeared alongside DHS Secretary Kristi Noem at a Minneapolis press conference last October. Cities Church did not respond to a phone call or emailed request for comment Sunday evening, and Easterwood’s personal contact information could not immediately be located. Easterwood did not lead the part of the service that was livestreamed, and it was unclear if he was present at the church Sunday. CNN [1/19/2026 2:03 PM, Andy Rose and Elise Hammond, 18595K] reports "DHS will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.” "Agitators aren’t just targeting our officers. Now they’re targeting churches, too," Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN. She also blamed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey "for whipping these mobs into a frenzy and then allowing them to run rampant.” The Daily Wire [1/19/2026 9:27 AM, Cameron Arcand, 2494K] reports United States Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon told The Daily Wire in an interview Monday morning that she’s working closely with Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate for "federal offenses," including breaking the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act, which Dhillon noted "criminalizes blocking, interfering with, disrupting a house of worship." The protest was sparked over one of the pastors’ employment with ICE, according to the Associated Press. "That’s exactly what these people did. Clearly. So, the only question really is who they are and what other offenses there may be," she said, later adding that "we don’t prejudge a situation, but we’d like to make the strongest case possible." During the interview, the DOJ official noted that were two prosecutors flying to Minnesota as of Monday morning to dive into the case. "I find the silence of the Attorney General of Minnesota, the District Attorney Mary Moriarty of Hennepin County, and the Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz, shocking. They’re the governor, District Attorney, and Attorney General of these people, too. And where’s the reassurance to them?" Dhillon asked. The Daily Wire reached out to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. Gov. Tim Walz’s office told Fox News, "The Governor has repeatedly and unequivocally urged protesters to do so peacefully. While people have a right to speak out, he in no way supports interrupting a place of worship.” Dhillon also empathized with churchgoers who may be concerned about protests when attending a service in the coming weeks. "I feel like I have to give a First Amendment 101 primer to people, including journalists like Don Lemon, because you don’t have a First Amendment right to trespass and invade a house of worship. It’s literally illegal to do that. And it’s not protected by the First Amendment on top of that," she said. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon live-streamed the protest inside the church, and Dhillon suggested in other interviews on Monday that it could potentially open the door for charges against the liberal commentator.

Reported similarly:
NBC News [1/19/2026 4:11 AM, Staff, 34509K]
CNN [1/20/2026 2:43 AM, Hanna Park, Zoe Sottile, 606K]
FOX News [1/18/2026 7:47 PM, Greg Wehner, 40621K]
NewsMax [1/19/2026 8:49 AM, Jack Brook, 4109K]
Washington Examiner [1/18/2026 10:24 PM, Zach LaChance, 1394K] r

FOX News [1/19/2026 11:30 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin discusses anti-ICE agitators storming a church in Minnesota and calls out Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for his response to the illegal immigration crackdown. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/19/2026 3:06 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino discusses protesters disrupting a church service in Minnesota on ‘America Reports.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Washington Post [1/19/2026 8:54 PM, Kim Bellware and Aaron Gregg, 24149K] reports that, when Nekima Levy Armstrong took a seat in church Sunday, it wasn’t at her usual congregation. She had come to Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s local field office, she had learned, was also one of the pastors. Roughly two dozen protesters had joined her to confront church leaders about pastor David Easterwood and his role with the ICE operation that has flooded the Twin Cities with federal agents, who for weeks have dragged people from their cars, stopped U.S. citizens, broken down doors and shot two people, killing one. The roughly 25-minute protest, much of it captured in cellphone video, has become the latest flash point in a nationwide debate over the meaning of “sanctuary,” and what freedom, justice and civility look like as Americans confront a new reality in which armed federal agents are increasingly training their focus — and their force — on U.S. cities. Levy Armstrong said her group’s demonstration, now the subject of a Justice Department investigation, was nonviolent, lawful and morally necessary. Easterwood, she said in an interview Monday, came to her attention as a defendant in a December lawsuit that accuses him and other ICE officials of having “pepper sprayed, violently subdued, and aimed assault rifles at protesters and observers, and even followed observers home to scare them in a tactic lifted straight from the mafia,” court documents say. Levy Armstrong, a lawyer, ordained reverend and longtime Twin Cities civil rights activist, said she was shocked when she saw videos of him preaching. “I don’t understand how as a pastor, he thinks that that’s acceptable,” Levy Armstrong said. In a sworn declaration filed in response to the lawsuit, Easterwood denied many of the plaintiffs’ claims. “I did not witness, nor am I aware of, any ICE employee knowingly targeting or retaliating against peaceful protesters or legal observers with less lethal munitions and/or crowd control devices for exercising their First Amendment rights,” Easterwood wrote. Attempts to reach Easterwood were unsuccessful, and calls to Cities Church went unanswered Monday. In announcing the Justice Department’s investigation of Sunday’s events at Cities Church, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the Trump administration’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, on X characterized the protest’s participants as “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.” The New York Times [1/19/2026 2:17 PM, Lauren McCarthy, Maia Coleman, Emily Cochrane., 135475K] reports that videos posted on social media show protesters chanting at the Cities Church — including calls for “ICE out” — and bringing the service to a halt. Congregants are seen moving to leave the church as the chants continue and worship music begins to play. Hundreds of people across Minnesota continued throughout the holiday weekend to protest the surge of immigration agents to their state, at rallies and marches and at annual celebrations honoring the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “We need to show up for our community and neighbors, because no one is coming to save us,” said Vivian Stroh, 38, who joined a caravan of cars driving to an event at Saint Paul College. “We will keep each other safe.” At the event, hosted by Black Lives Matter Minnesota and other local organizations, cheers went up when the incident at Cities Church was mentioned. The church protest over the weekend was organized by Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer. She said she wanted to draw attention to a church leader, David Easterwood, who also appears to be the acting director of ICE’s field office for enforcement and removal operations in St. Paul, and who is named in a lawsuit challenging aggressive enforcement tactics. The church, Mr. Easterwood and Jonathan Parnell, the lead pastor leading service on Sunday, did not immediately respond to calls or requests for comment. It was unclear whether Mr. Easterwood was present in the church during the protest on Sunday. The Justice Department said it was investigating the event, with officials pointing to a 1994 law that bars using or threatening force and physical obstruction to interfere or intimidate someone worshiping at a religious institution. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said she spoke with a pastor at the church late Sunday, said “attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.”

Breitbart [1/19/2026 4:48 PM, Neil Munro, 2416K] reports oo apologies are coming from one of the loudest Democratic radicals who invaded a Minnesota church on Sunday, despite the rapid intervention of President Donald Trump’s civil rights officials. "F*ck those f*cking Nazis, come and get me, Pam Bondi, you f*cking traitorous b*tch," said a Monday video from William Kelly, a D.C.-based street protestor against Trump’s 2024 mandate. Kelly’s church invasion allegedly broke at least one federal law, leaving him facing a significant prison sentence. In contrast, Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor who accompanied Kelly on the church invasion, is trying to reduce his legal exposure by claiming he did not know the group would break into the church. Media allies are also working to downplay the church invasion, which was organized by a self-claimed civil rights lawyer, Nekima Armstrong. For example, the New York Times’ headline — "Protest at Minnesota Church Service Adds to Tensions Over ICE Tactics" — suggests ICE was responsible for the church invasion.

New York Post [1/19/2026 10:09 AM, Chris Nesi, 42219K] reports that frequently fired independent news commentator Don Lemon has been warned by the Justice Department over allegations he joined a mob of anti-ICE protesters who stormed a Sunday church service in St. Paul. "A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service," Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, chided Lemon on X. "You are on notice!" she wrote, noting in a follow-up post that the FBI has been "activated" and accusing the protesters of "desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers." Lemon, who has been documenting the increasingly violent protests following the shooting of Renee Good, entered the church with the agitators as the protest broke out and began filming the uproar. He dismissed calls for him to be prosecuted for joining in with the group and defended his actions as protected under the First Amendment. "The MAGA administration and the fake news MAGAs are losing their mind over something that’s not even true," Lemon said, claiming he had "no affiliations" with the organization, defending his actions as "an act of journalism." Several dozen agitators burst into Cities Church on Sunday morning and began chanting "ICE out," reportedly under the impression that the house of worship’s pastor, David Easterwood, is a member of the federal immigration enforcement agency — a notion that Lemon perpetuated in a post on left-wing echo chamber social network Bluesky.

FOX News [1/19/2026 12:08 PM, Hanna Panreck, 40621K] reports ex-CNN host Don Lemon followed a crowd of agitators into Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, as they interrupted a service to protest Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a video the former anchor posted on Sunday, and spoke to a pastor at the church who called the actions "shameful.” Lemon spoke to members of the anti-ICE crowd, as well as members of the church. The former CNN host asked the pastor what he thought of the interruption. Lemon appeared to be speaking to Cities Church lead pastor Jonathan Parnell, as per an image on the church’s website. "This is unacceptable, it’s shameful. It’s shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship," the pastor responded. "I have to take care of my flock.” Lemon replied that there is a constitutional right to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest. "We’re here to worship, we’re here to worship Jesus, because that’s the hope of these cities, that’s the hope of the world, is Jesus Christ," the pastor responded. "We’re here to worship Jesus. That’s why we’re here, that’s what we’re about.” Lemon asked the pastor if he tried to talk to the anti-ICE agitators, and the pastor said no one had been willing to speak to him. The pastor then asked Lemon to leave the church. Cities Church did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice, posted on X that the DOJ was "investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.” The FACE Act makes it a federal crime, with potentially steep fines and jail time, to use or threaten to use force to "injure, intimidate, or interfere" with a person seeking reproductive health services, or with a person lawfully trying to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship. It also prohibits intentional property damage to a facility providing reproductive health services or a place of religious worship. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she spoke to the pastor at Cities Church. "I just spoke to the pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law," Bondi said in a statement. Lemon responded to Dhillon’s post on Instagram, saying he had no affiliation with the protest and was "just practicing journalism.” "So, I have no affiliation to that organization. I didn’t even know they were going to this church until we followed them there. We were there chronicling protests. Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was report on it and talk to the people who were involved, which included a pastor and members of the church and members of the organization. That’s it. It’s called journalism. First Amendment, all that stuff, for all of you people who believe in the First Amendment, absolutists, there you go," he said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [1/19/2026 6:44 PM, Giovanna Dell’Orto, 31753K] reports several faith leaders called urgently for protecting the rights of worshippers while also expressing compassion for migrants after anti-immigration enforcement protesters disrupted a service at a Southern Baptist church in Minnesota. About three dozen protesters entered the Cities Church in St. Paul during Sunday service, some walking right up to the pulpit, others loudly chanting "ICE out" and "Renee Good," referring to a woman who was fatally shot on Jan. 7 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis. One of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, leads the local ICE field office, and one of the leaders of the protest and prominent local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong said she’s also an ordained pastor. The Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention called what happened "an unacceptable trauma," saying the service was "forced to end prematurely" as protesters shouted "insults and accusations at youth, children, and families.” "I believe we must be resolute in two areas: encouraging our churches to provide compassionate pastoral care to these (migrant) families and standing firm for the sanctity of our houses of worship," Trey Turner, who leads the convention, told The Associated Press on Monday. Cities Church belongs to the convention. The U.S. Department of Justice said it has opened a civil rights investigation. The recent surge in operations in Minnesota has pitted more than 2,000 federal immigration officers against community activists and protesters. The Trump administration and Minnesota officials have traded blame for the heightened tensions. "No cause — political or otherwise — justifies the desecration of a sacred space or the intimidation and trauma inflicted on families gathered peacefully in the house of God," Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, said in a statement. "What occurred was not protest; it was lawless harassment.” Jonathan Parnell, the pastor who led the disrupted service, is a missionary with Ezell’s group and serves dozens of Southern Baptist churches in the area. Cities Church, housed in a Gothic-style, century-old stone building next to a college campus on one of the Twin Cities’ landmark boulevards, has not returned AP requests for comment. Christians in the United States are divided on the moral and legal dilemmas raised by immigration, including the presence of an estimated 11 million people who are in the country illegally and the spike in illegal border crossings and asylum requests during the Biden administration.

FOX News [1/19/2026 5:20 PM, Peter Pinedo, 40621K] reports prominent Catholic Bishop Robert Barron is speaking out against a mob of agitators who stormed a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday to protest ICE. Barron, who leads the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, just southeast of St. Paul, and is the founder of "Word on Fire" Ministries, called the disruption "unacceptable.” "I don’t care what is animating or annoying you, I don’t care what your political persuasion might be, invading a church is unacceptable and is a violation of religious liberty," Barron wrote in an X post on Monday. This comes after dozens of anti-ICE agitators disrupted a service at Cities Church, a Baptist congregation, chanting "Justice for Renee Good" and "Who needs justice, we need justice," as they stood inside the church. Barron addressed the widespread anti-ICE unrest in Minnesota in a separate X post on Sunday. He wrote, "As a resident of Minnesota and as bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, my heart is breaking over the situation in my home state.” "Violence, retribution, threats, protests, deep suspicion of one another, political unrest, fear—all of it swirling around all the time," Barron lamented. "May I make a modest proposal for exiting this unbearable state of affairs? The Trump Administration and ICE should limit themselves, at least for the time being, to rounding up undocumented people who have committed serious crimes. Political leaders should stop stirring up resentment against officers who are endeavoring to enforce the laws of the country. And protestors should cease interfering with the work of ICE," he suggested. Department of Justice officials vowed Sunday to open an investigation into the disruption, specifically probing for federal civil rights violations "by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshipers," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said. Attorney General Pam Bondi added in a statement Sunday that "attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson also slammed the agitators, saying, "There is no low these radical leftists won’t stoop to.” Jackson accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of having "whipped these rioters into a frenzy and turned them loose to wreak havoc on Minneapolis.”

NewsMax [1/19/2026 8:33 AM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4109K] reports that Ron Vitiello, a senior adviser to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said a federal investigation is underway to determine who is organizing and funding recent anti-immigration enforcement protests in Minnesota, including the disruption of a Sunday worship service at a Christian church in St. Paul. Appearing Monday morning on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America," Vitiello said investigators are focused on identifying the people and money behind what he described as increasingly aggressive activism aimed at blocking immigration enforcement operations. "That’s what the investigation will be all about," Vitiello said. "We really need to understand who funds this bad behavior. Who are the people that are advocating for getting in the way of law enforcement operations?" Vitiello said recent protests have gone far beyond lawful dissent, citing actions such as blocking officers with vehicles, putting hands on agents, and attempting to break into an ICE facility in Minneapolis. Understanding who is behind those efforts is critical to restoring order, he said. "We need to find out who’s funding that," he said. "And this investigation could help get to the root of who organized this mob, why they decided to do what they do, and who’s paying for all of it." He then raised the example of the disruption of a church service in St. Paul over the weekend, which he said showed how far activists are willing to go to make their point, calling the incident "reprehensible."

FOX News [1/19/2026 1:40 PM, Max Bacall, 40621K] reports Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., accused Minnesota Democrats of deliberately stoking unrest against immigration enforcement as federal agents face escalating confrontations in and around Minneapolis. Donalds called Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey "a fool and a clown," arguing that if state leaders wanted to uphold the rule of law, they would enroll in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 287(g) program. The initiative allows state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce certain aspects of immigration law, expanding their authority to identify, process and detain removable noncitizens under ICE supervision, according to ICE’s website. "But he doesn’t want to do that. You see, Mayor Frey and Gov. Walz, they want the crazy," Donalds said Monday on "Fox & Friends.” "That’s what they’re looking for. They want the AstroTurf protesters... They’re trying to stand up to President Trump, because their party has no ideas, and they choose this route.” Donalds believes the protesters were paid to cause a "mess" and accused them of hypocrisy over free speech in the wake of an anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul church on Sunday. Protesters interrupted a worship service, believing a pastor inside was affiliated with ICE. "These are the people who will say they have a First Amendment right to speak, but they just trampled on the First Amendment right of that church to be able to worship," Donalds said.

FOX News [1/19/2026 12:18 PM, Emma Colton, 40621K] reports the White House slammed a mob of anti-ICE agitators who reportedly stormed into a Twin Cities church Sunday, accusing local left-wing leaders — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — of inciting the chaos. "There is no low these radical leftists won’t stoop to," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital Monday morning. "Jacob Frey and Tim Walz have whipped these rioters into a frenzy and turned them loose to wreak havoc on Minneapolis.” "Frey and Walz should be ashamed for inciting such chaos, but the Trump Administration will continue enforcing the law," she added. Jackson was reacting to a mob comprised of dozens of agitators allegedly storming into the Cities Church sanctuary in St. Paul on Sunday midway through church services, throwing worship into chaos, Fox Digital previously reported. Protesters claimed the pastor was a local ICE official. Department of Justice officials vowed Sunday to open an investigation into the disruption, specifically probing for federal civil rights violations "by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshipers," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said. Attorney General Pam Bondi added in a statement Sunday that "attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.” Video footage of the church protests spreading on social media does not show local police on the scene deterring the chaos. Fox News Digital reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department Monday for comment on the matter, and was redirected to the St. Paul Police Department as the church is located within that department’s jurisdiction. Fox Digital reached out to the St. Paul police department Monday morning and has yet to receive a reply. Chaos has broken out in Minneapolis in recent weeks as agitators take to the streets to protest federal law enforcement officials. Federal officers converged on the state in early January as a sweeping fraud case came to light, which has led to dozens of arrests, mostly including members of Minneapolis’ large Somali population. Protests and criticisms against ICE heightened Jan. 7, when a federal officer fatally shot protester Renee Good. Federal officials say Good used her car as a weapon against the agent, arguing he acted in self-defense when he fired his weapon. Democrats and administration officials have called the shooting a "murder" as they speak out against the administration’s deportation efforts of illegal immigrants. Frey rejected the Trump administration’s characterization of the immigration crackdown in Minnesota during a Sunday appearance on CBS’ "Face the Nation," claiming the surge of federal agents has made residents feel targeted rather than protected. "This is not about safety. What this is about is coming into our city by the thousands and terrorizing people simply because they’re Latino or Somali," Frey said. "People in Minneapolis are speaking up. They’re speaking up peacefully. They’re standing up for their neighbors. And this is not just about resisting Trump. This is about loving and caring for the people that call this city home. And it’s been inspiring.”

FOX News [1/19/2026 5:35 PM, Stephanie Samsel, 40621K] reports an angel mom of a police officer killed by an illegal migrant spoke out against the "hate and unrest" ICE agents are facing on "The Faulkner Focus" Monday. "These people don’t know what their illegal neighbors have done," Mary Ann Mendoza told Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner. "These illegals move across the country to avoid crimes that they’ve committed.” Mendoza’s son, Officer Brandon Mendoza, was killed in 2014 by an intoxicated driver who was in the U.S. illegally and had a long criminal record. According to Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, 70% of illegal immigrants who have been arrested under the Trump administration either have prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges against them. Mendoza’s defense of law enforcement comes as anti-ICE protests nationwide have intensified since the shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7. On Thursday, DHS reported a 1,300% increase in assaults against federal law enforcement officers. Mendoza criticized Minnesota leaders’ "warped view" of police to explain why she empathizes with the Minneapolis Police Department. "What a lot of people don’t understand is, it is the mayor [Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey] and the city council who absolutely direct a police department of a city of what they can and cannot do," Mendoza said. "I’m assuming, more than likely, the majority of the city council members [in Minneapolis] are Somalians or illegals because they are a sanctuary state, liberals who have, you know, just a warped view of what law enforcement and protecting the community is about.” The angel mom accused Minnesota politicians of making local police officers sit on their hands. "So these are the people that are saying to the law enforcement, the police officers, ‘Sorry, you can’t do your job.’ It’s exactly what [former DHS Secretary] Mayorkas did to Border Patrol, right, handcuffed them, didn’t let them do their jobs, turned them into babysitters," she explained.

Breitbart [1/20/2026 1:50 AM, Jasmyn Jordan, 2416K] reports elected Democrats in Minnesota have not issued public statements regarding multiple killings committed by illegal immigrants in the state over the years, even as they quickly reacted to the recent death of a woman who interfered with an ICE operation and was fatally shot after allegedly driving her vehicle toward a federal officer. On January 7, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were conducting targeted immigration enforcement in Minneapolis when a woman, later identified as Renee Good, drove her vehicle toward an officer. According to officials, she "weaponized" her SUV in an attempt to harm agents conducting their duties. An ICE officer, positioned in front of the vehicle, discharged his weapon in what federal authorities have deemed a defensive use of force. Video footage shows Good accelerating toward the officer, and she was later pronounced dead after sustaining gunshot wounds to the chest, arm, and head. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described the act as "domestic terrorism.” Despite the circumstances surrounding the shooting, Democratic leaders in Minnesota have focused their criticism on ICE. No such attention has been directed toward victims of crimes committed by individuals unlawfully present in the country. An examination of public records and official government websites confirms there have been no documented public statements via government sites or verified social media accounts from Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, or Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey regarding several deadly incidents involving illegal immigrants. ICE operations in Minnesota have led to the removal of 2,500 criminal aliens tied to violent crimes. DHS reports that another 1,360 remain in city custody under ICE detainers but are at risk of being released due to local non-cooperation. In one recent enforcement action, ICE agents arrested individuals with histories of murder, domestic abuse, drug trafficking, and identity theft. Among those arrested were Hien Quoc Thai, convicted of murder, and Brian Anjain, who had 24 convictions, including assault, public intoxication, and domestic abuse. Minnesota leaders have reiterated their commitment to sanctuary city policies. The Minneapolis City Council in December 2025 expanded protections for illegal immigrants by prohibiting city employees from assisting in federal immigration enforcement or permitting ICE to use city facilities during operations. Meanwhile, federal officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, continue to press Minnesota leaders to cooperate with federal enforcement. McLaughlin has publicly demanded that Mayor Jacob Frey and Gov. Tim Walz "stop releasing criminal aliens onto the streets where they can continue committing crimes against American citizens," calling it a matter of "common sense.” President Donald Trump has also weighed in, warning that obstruction of immigration enforcement could lead to the deployment of U.S. military personnel under federal authority. "If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E.," Trump wrote on Truth Social, "I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT … and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.” At the same time, the Department of Justice has launched a federal investigation into Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey for their alleged efforts to block immigration operations.

NBC News [1/18/2026 9:35 AM, Megan Lebowitz, Courtney Kube and Melanie Zanona, 34509K] reports Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told NBC News’ "Meet the Press" on Sunday that it "would be a shocking step" if President Donald Trump were to deploy the military to Minnesota under the Insurrection Act. Frey noted crime statistics were down across multiple categories, according to city data, saying, "We don’t need more federal agents to keep people safe. We are safe.” "In Minneapolis, we’re not going to be intimidated. We’re not backing down," he told "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker. "We’re going to grin down this bear and do so again with peace.” Crime in Minneapolis is down across several categories including vandalism, theft and weapons violations over the last 28 days, according to city data. In that same period, though, the city has seen a rise in certain crime categories such as assault offenses and motor vehicle theft. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded to Frey’s interview, accusing him in a statement of "putting criminal illegal aliens before law-abiding Americans." She also criticized what she referred to as "his smears against law enforcement officers that incite violence.” Last week, Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to respond to protesters, whom he referred to as "professional agitators and insurrectionists.” The Pentagon has placed about 1,500 active-duty troops on prepare-to-deploy orders in case Trump seeks to send them to Minnesota, according to two U.S. officials. The troops are part of two battalions of the 11th Airborne Division. The notification was described as part of "prudent planning" for the possibility that Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, said the officials, who had no knowledge of whether Trump plans to do so. The units that were notified are part of a domestic response force out of Northern Command, the officials said. A White House official said, "It’s typical for the Department of War to be prepared for any decision the president may or may not make.”

ABC News [1/18/2026 10:15 AM, Quinn Scanlan, 30493K] reports Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey defended himself and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday, insisting they’ve "done nothing wrong" amid what sources say is a new federal investigation targeting the two Democratic officials. "If the rumors are true, this is deeply concerning, because this is way more important than just me. This is a very serious matter, and this whole investigation would ultimately be the product of one of the most basic foundational responsibilities that I have as mayor, which is to speak on behalf of my constituents," Frey told "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl. "There are other countries where you get put away for the things that you say. There are other countries where you get investigated for saying something that runs counter to what the federal government states. But in this country, it’s not that way." Frey said his office has not received a subpoena from the Department of Justice. He said he intends to comply with the investigation. "Look, we have done nothing wrong, so of course we will comply in it, but at the same time, we need to be understanding how wild this is. We are doing everything possible right now to keep people safe in our city. We have spoken out to make sure that our residents are protected and people’s constitutional rights are upheld. Speaking out in that way is not illegality," Frey said. ABC News reported Friday night that the Justice Department was investigating whether Frey and Walz have been obstructing federal law enforcement activities in the state, according to multiple U.S. officials. In response, Walz accused the administration of "weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents." Without directly confirming the investigation, shortly after news broke Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X, "A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law." In a separate interview on "This Week," Rep. Michael McCaul -- a Republican member and former chair of the House Homeland Security Committee -- said that investigating political leaders like this is "uncommon." "It’s a federal offense to impede a federal investigation like we’re seeing in the streets right now. I think that is very uncommon to go after political figures like that. I think it may be more of a statement more than anything else. But you know, we’ll see," the Texas lawmaker said. Frey and Walz have clashed with the Trump administration in recent weeks. Up to 3,000 federal agents have been surged to Minnesota to conduct immigration enforcement operations and investigate fraud allegations. Those agents have been met by protesters demanding they cease operations and leave the state. On Jan. 7, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good, a mother of three. The deadly altercation prompted outrage from residents, local officials and Democratic lawmakers, as well as continued protests, which have been mostly peaceful. The Trump administration has defended the officer, asserting he was acting in self defense because it says the shooting victim was attempting to run him over with her vehicle. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said there are no plans to pull federal agents from the city. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
USA Today [1/18/2026 4:32 PM, James Powel, 67103K]

Breitbart [1/18/2026 10:28 AM, Pam Key, 2416K] reports that, Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the Trump administration is investigating him for “having a different opinion.” Frey said, “I never thought in a million years that we would be invaded by our own federal government. Of course, there’s different perspectives when a different party gets sworn into the White House. Of course, there are different ideologies throughout America. That’s part of what makes our country great. But you don’t get investigated for having a different opinion. You don’t have militarized troops deployed to a city for having a different perspective, or because a city happened to vote for the opposite party. That may be what happens in other countries, but it doesn’t happen here. Here. This is America, and we’ve got to be standing up for these American values.” Host Jake Tapper said, “So you just alluded to the fact that the Justice Department said it’s investigating you and Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota over alleged obstruction of federal law enforcement. Have you received any sort of official notice or subpoena? Are you even aware of what the specific allegations against you might be?” Frey said, “No, we have not received anything. I’m not aware of specific allegations, but, if it were true, the targeting would be the product of performing one of the most basic responsibilities and obligations that I have as mayor, which is to speak on behalf of our great city, speak on behalf of our constituents, and that the federal government would be going after me because of that speech should be deeply concerning, not just for people in Minneapolis, but for anybody throughout the country. And of course, we’ve seen this before, whether it’s me, Governor Walz, Senator Slotkin or Senator Kelly. This is happening on the regular, and it’s happening because people speak, speak up. The First Amendment speech is not something that we negotiate away in this country. First Amendment speech is something that we stand up for, whether you agree with it or not, whether you find it abhorrent or not. It’s one of the most basic and foundational rights that we have. And thankfully, in Minneapolis, we stand up and value First Amendment, speech that’s just kind of baked into who we are.”

The Hill [1/18/2026 1:58 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12595K] reports Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) rejected Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s suggestion Sunday to create a safe zone for protests, saying free speech, when peaceful, should not be stifled. “First Amendment speech is not limited to one park or one section of the city. You are allowed to protest, so long as you’re doing it peacefully. And by the way, we’ve got tens of thousands of people in Minneapolis that are grinning down the bear, that are peacefully expressing their First Amendment rights,” Frey said in an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” “So no, you can’t have just one section of a city. That’s not the way First Amendment works,” he continued. Frey was asked to respond directly to Noem’s suggestion, earlier on the program, that Frey “set up a peaceful protest zone so that these individuals can exercise their First Amendment rights and do so peacefully.”

FOX News [1/19/2026 10:14 AM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson drew sharp criticism from the Department of Homeland Security after suggesting that a federal immigration operation under Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino disrupted what he said had been the city’s safest summer in decades. Johnson has been touting recent analysis that 2025 was Chicago’s safest summer in 60 years in terms of violent crime, as the city’s NPR affiliate found a total of 123 murders occurred between June and August last year. The University of Chicago’s Crime Lab found that violent crime declined across the country, including in the city throughout 2025, but it still had elevated figures versus other major cities globally. Johnson said last week that those figures were true before DHS kicked off "Operation Midway Blitz" around the first week of September. Johnson said that once ICE and the Border Patrol showed up, crime increased again. "Chicago had the safest summer since 1965 before Bovino stepped foot in our city," Johnson said. "Where ICE was most active, crime went up.” When asked for a response, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Johnson is continuing to "demonize our law enforcement, who are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them.” "The danger and violence our law enforcement has faced in sanctuary cities like Chicago, compared to jurisdictions like Florida, is night and day," she said, after video surfaced of a woman being promptly detained and arrested after allegedly interfering in a Jacksonville immigration enforcement operation. "He should turn down the rhetoric and work with DHS to prevent more innocent American deaths at the hands of gang members, murderers, drug traffickers, and rapists who have no right to be in this country," McLaughlin said, noting that DHS arrested more than 4,500 illegal immigrants with criminal records, many of them violent; during the Midway Blitz operation. Johnson had countered that the statistics and timing showed his administration "reduced violence in Chicago in spite of ICE.” Johnson pointed to the case of Mexican national Silverio Gonzalez, who was shot and killed by agents last year. An account from the Chicago Sun-Times reported that ICE determined Gonzalez had allegedly resisted arrest and drove his car toward officers, injuring one. Rep. Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., who represents the area, later called for a federal investigation. Johnson himself had been responding on X to comments from Bovino, who in turn was disputing an assertion from Obama confidant David Axelrod. "In Chicago, the trail of misrepresentations by DHS was so long, an exasperated federal judge declared ‘it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to believe almost anything’ they represent as fact. That pattern continues in Minneapolis," Axelrod wrote, citing and linking to a New York Times report of a man shot and injured by a federal agent in Minneapolis days after Renee Good’s death. In response, Bovino said that "double-digit decreases in violent crime in Chicago speak the truth you’r[e] after.” "Taking violent illegal aliens off the streets by the thousands seems to bother those who choose illegal aliens over American citizens.” That comment led Johnson to cite the 1965 versus 2025 violent crime figures. "Abolish ICE," Johnson later wrote on Facebook, posting the contents of his prior comments. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [1/18/2026 12:05 PM, Stephanie Saul, 135475K] reports a protester detained, her bra removed and wedding ring cut off, and some of her clothes never returned. The “gratuitous deployment” of pepper spray. A couple’s car surrounded by agents, who pointed semiautomatic weapons at them at close range. A federal judge in Minneapolis cited the episodes in an unusually detailed ruling on Friday that found a pattern of misconduct by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and ordered them and other immigration agents to stop using excessive force against protesters while conducting their operations in the city. In some ways, legal experts said, the judge’s order was fairly mundane because it merely ordered the federal agents to follow established constitutional law, permitting peaceful protests. In other ways, it stood out. “Extraordinary,” Michele Goodwin, a law professor at Georgetown University, said of the decision. The judge, she said, reviewed dozens of witness declarations and video evidence and found conduct “alarming enough, dangerous enough that the court has imposed a preliminary injunction.” Protesters and state officials have for weeks been calling on the federal government to withdraw its immigration agents from Minneapolis, a movement that has only intensified since Renee Good was shot and killed on Jan. 7 by Jonathan Ross, an ICE officer. In late December, the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of several protesters, filed a complaint against the federal government and its agents, seeking to protect the protesters’ rights to free speech and assembly and against unlawful search and seizure. The court order was based on earlier interactions that immigration agents had with protesters that did not gain as much attention as the killing of Ms. Good. The accounts described in the order were submitted to the court from declarations and video submissions from both parties. Ms. Goodwin was one of several legal scholars and criminal justice experts who said the conduct of ICE agents during Operation Metro Surge, the government’s name for its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, evoked the attacks by police officers in Birmingham, Ala., on civil rights protesters in 1963. David Rudovsky, a University of Pennsylvania law professor, also noted the similarities. “I think about the civil rights movement in the South and how Southern law enforcement reacted with hoses, dogs and lynchings,” he said. Images of Birmingham’s police dogs sinking their teeth into protesters shocked the world. The aggressive conduct of federal agents in Minneapolis has also raised alarm, particularly following the shooting death of Ms. Good. The constitutional principles at risk are the same. Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, called the judge’s findings “ridiculous” on Sunday in an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation and then blamed the protesters. “We only use those chemical agents when there’s violence happening and perpetuating and you need to be able to establish law in order to keep people safe,” she said, adding that the judge’s order will not change the agency’s operations on the ground. “It’s basically telling us to do what we’ve already been doing,” she said. Her agency was expected to appeal the ruling.

Daily Caller [1/19/2026 7:27 PM, Mariane Angela, 835K] reports Democrat Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Monday defended immigration protests after being pressed about demonstrators interrupting a church service. Left-wing rioters interrupted an evangelical church service during a Sunday livestream after claiming a pastor had ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Asked whether crossing into a place of worship goes too far, Jayapal said on "The Arena with Kasie Hunt" that she had not reviewed the full video but maintained that nearly all demonstrators act peacefully. "I haven’t reviewed the entire video for that, but I will just say that the vast majority of protesters, like 99.9%, have been engaging in peaceful protest," Jayapal said. Jayapal said the court reaffirmed that people have a constitutional right to protest peacefully. "A court decision on Friday reaffirmed that. And actually said that it’s the tactics of ICE agents and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] agents that are the problem here that are violating constitutional protections," Jayapal said. "You do have the right to peacefully say that you disagree, to follow ICE agents and record what they are doing at a safe distance. And the reality is, it’s been ICE and CBP that’s been really inflaming tensions.”

CBS News [1/18/2026 7:00 PM, Cecilia Vega, Andy Court, Annabelle Hanflig, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, and Michael Rey, 39474K] reports by now, you have no doubt seen many of the scenes from Minneapolis: immigration agents demanding proof of citizenship -- even from some American citizens, protesters swarming as agents make arrests, the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer. This past week, we went to Minneapolis and spoke with two men at the center of the crisis: the chief of police and the head of ICE’s deportation operation, both veteran law enforcement officers, with two very different views of what is unfolding. Tonight, there are 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents in the Minneapolis area – that’s nearly five times the number of police on the city’s force, making it the largest ever deployment of federal immigration officers to an American city. One week after an ICE officer shot Renee Good, this was the scene on the streets of Minneapolis: federal immigration agents, facing off against angry protesters. It is exactly what Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara feared. He’s been tasked with rebuilding trust between the community and police in the wake of George Floyd’s murder nearly six years ago. MPD Chief Brian O’Hara: We’re in this 2020 moment where all these tensions have been building, and I’m afraid we’re gonna have another moment where it all explodes. MPD Chief Brian O’Hara: People have a right to say disrespectful things. As a professional, I have an obligation not to take that personally and not to retaliate. However, they cannot physically obstruct law enforcement from performing a function. Those are-- those things are illegal. This past week the Department of Homeland Security posted a message from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller telling ICE agents, "you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties".

CBS News [1/18/2026 7:00 PM, Cecilia Vega, Michael Rey, Aliza Chasan, Andy Court, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, and Annabelle Hanflig, 39474K] reports Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara shook as he watched video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers pulling a woman — a U.S. citizen on her way to a medical appointment — from her car. The woman, Aliya Rahman, can be heard on video telling ICE officers she’s disabled. Rahman’s lawyer said she was overwhelmed by conflicting commands from the federal officers. "Obviously, I don’t know why law enforcement officers initially approached the vehicle," O’Hara said. "It pisses me off to see that, to see men doing that to a woman who’s disabled. It pisses me off. If those cops worked for me, they’d have a problem right now.” The video is one of several emerging from Minneapolis, where President Trump’s immigration crackdown has sparked standoffs with protesters and escalating tensions between local officials and the federal government. Marcos Charles, the head of ICE’s deportation branch, known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, had a different take on Rahman’s arrest. He said she was given repeated warnings before she was taken into custody. "Our officers are told that they give one warning to follow the lawful instruction, to stop impeding," Charles said. "If she did not obey that lawful order, then she was going to get arrested." The Department of Homeland Security said Rahman was arrested for obstructing federal officers. Her lawyer said she has not been charged. No ICE officers have been disciplined during the operation in Minneapolis, Charles said. The agency’s tactics have come under scrutiny after ICE officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Good on Jan. 7. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Caller [1/19/2026 2:47 PM, Hailey Gomez, 835K] reports Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Anne Kealing allegedly offered her assistance to activists in an anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) group chat, according to an X account on Saturday. Leftist-groups ramped up their activities after the shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7. According to CrimeWatchMpls, an X user who obtained alleged photos from one of the anti-ICE Signal chat groups, Kealing made contact through a person in the group notifying them of her position in the department and asked for assistance. "Direct contact here if helpful – Anne helped with 2 friends from pizza Luce who got detained yesterday," the first portion of the alleged text states. "Hi all. My day job is Minnesota Assistant Attorney General (I work for Keith Ellison). We have heard your (Minnesotans) concerns through our consumer hotline. We are seeking detailed information from the public right now to help us. If you or someone you know has information to share with us along these lines, and they want – " the text states before cutting off in the photo. It is unclear what "detailed" information Kealing sought from the group, or if she privately aided activists who were detained during the protests. A second screenshot shows Kealing distributing her work email before stating she was "fine" with direct messages on Signal. Kealing allegedly stated she believed the group "might have some direct access to a good amount of this based on" their "networks.” " … feel this is the right group to ask, but I know many of us are well connected to it at the center center of this. Though we may not ask people to go on record in every case, please do not reach out if you or your person needs to remain fully anonymous (not because we won’t honor it but because reaching out creates data)," the alleged text continues. After the federal government implemented "Operation Metro Surge," increasing ICE raids in Minneapolis, Ellison filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other related agencies on Jan. 12. "The unlawful deployment of thousands of armed, masked, and poorly trained federal agents is hurting Minnesota," Ellison said in his press release. "People are being racially profiled, harassed, terrorized, and assaulted.” "Schools have gone into lockdown. Businesses have been forced to close. Minnesota police are spending countless hours dealing with the chaos ICE is causing," Ellison added. "This federal invasion of the Twin Cities has to stop, so today I am suing DHS to bring it to an end.”

Breitbart [1/18/2026 5:46 PM, Randy Clark, 2416K] reports Congressman Tony Gonzales (R-TX) hosted a telephone town hall featuring commentary from Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar and former acting ICE director. Homan offered Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey a quick fix to the current ICE protests: "Stop being a sanctuary state, a sanctuary city.” During Thursday’s town hall session, Homan offered advice to Minnesota officials after an introduction and comments from Congressman Gonzalez, who called Homan, "a patriot to our wonderful country who has spent his entire adult life protecting our borders. We’re all very grateful to have him as our border czar." In addition to a wide range of topics related to immigration, Homan touched upon the violence and unrest in Minneapolis that led to multiple arrests and the death of one anti-ICE agitator who was shot after refusing orders to stop and driving her vehicle toward an ICE Agent. Homan gave listeners in the town hall his quick answer to the unrest, "The mayor and other local officials could fix this overnight by ending their sanctuary policies. Let us into the jails," later adding, "Give us access in the jails so we can take custody of criminals in a controlled environment. Then we don’t have to go into neighborhoods to find them."

NBC News [1/18/2026 4:24 PM, Jon Schuppe and Erik Ortiz, 57K] reports that 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. The shootings “are not one-offs,” said Jim Bueermann, the former police chief in Redlands, California, who now runs the Future Policing Institute, a research group. “This is clearly developing into a pattern and practice of how they deal with people in the enforcement of immigration laws, and to me that’s the most alarming thing we’re seeing.” 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. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [1/19/2026 8:43 AM, Jazmine Ulloa, 135475K] reports the arrival of thousands of federal immigration agents has altered life in Minneapolis and St. Paul in ways large and small, including in the corridors of hospitals serving the Twin Cities. The sheer presence of the agents, sometimes in uniform, sometimes in plainclothes, has been enough to unnerve health care workers, who were already straining under conditions some have compared with those of the coronavirus pandemic. In interviews, nurses, doctors and other health care workers said the crisis conditions brought on by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown are wearing down overworked and understaffed medical institutions, and deteriorating patients’ trust in what are supposed to be safe havens. Officials with the Homeland Security Department said that they do not conduct operations in hospitals. “We go in if there is an active danger to public safety,” said Tricia McLaughlin, an agency spokeswoman. Health care workers, however, describe a different reality, saying agents have broken hospital protocol, refused to provide documentation and, in some cases, gotten into shouting matches with doctors and nurses.

Daily Caller [1/18/2026 3:35 PM, Hailey Gomez, 835K] reports the St. Paul Downtown DoubleTree by Hilton canceled the rooms of multiple U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, citing concerns over growing protests in Minneapolis following the shooting of Renee Good. Protests broke out in Minneapolis shortly after Good was shot Jan. 7, with anti-ICE demonstrators and Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey calling for the agency to "get the fuck out" of the city. As protesters continued to pressure ICE, multiple agents with rooms booked at the DoubleTree by Hilton received notice Sunday their reservations were canceled. The hotel was temporarily closed "due to heightened public safety concerns in St. Paul," according to Fox News’s Bill Melugin. "Please know that your safety and well-being will always be our top priority. Due to heightened public safety concerns in St. Paul, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily close our hotel, and your reservation will be canceled effective Sunday, January 18, 2026 by 12PM," the letter reads. "We are taking this step out of care for you, our team members, and the surrounding community," the letter continues. "Due to your unexpected departure, our team can assist you with alternate accommodations if needed. To support you during this difficult transition and as a gesture of goodwill, we can either refund your last night’s stay or pay your first night’s stay at your new hotel at the same rate as your canceled reservation with us." Jorge Ventura, reporting for the Daily Caller News Foundation, confirmed on the ground the hotel is closing, recording a truck leaving out of the garage. Notably, guests besides the federal agents are allowed to stay and finish out their reservations.

NewsMax [1/19/2026 8:26 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports several hotels in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area have temporarily shut down operations or halted reservations, citing growing safety and security concerns tied to ongoing anti-ICE protests in the region. In downtown St. Paul, the DoubleTree Hotel and the InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront both posted notices over the weekend informing the public they are suspending operations until further notice. Signs placed on hotel doors cited safety concerns, while the hotels’ owner, Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, said the decision was made to protect guests, employees, and the surrounding community. "Please know that your safety and well-being will always be our top priority," the company said in a written statement, adding that the closures were taken out of care for staff and the broader community. Similar concerns have emerged in downtown Minneapolis. The Canopy by Hilton temporarily stopped accepting reservations earlier this month after becoming a focal point for protests. Demonstrators gathered after reports circulated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were staying at area hotels during stepped-up federal enforcement operations. The hotel closures come amid sustained protests near the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, located roughly two miles from downtown St. Paul. That facility has been a central staging area for ICE operations and a frequent target of demonstrators opposed to immigration enforcement. Anti-ICE protesters have used disruptive tactics, including whistles, drums, loudspeakers, and brass instruments, often late into the night. Protesters have also banged on windows in an effort to prevent federal agents from sleeping — a tactic previously used during unrest elsewhere in the Twin Cities. Local authorities have reported repeated clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement as crowds attempted to block streets and surround buildings believed to house federal personnel. Arrests have been made during several demonstrations. The unrest follows heightened tensions over ICE activity in Minnesota and criticism from President Donald Trump, who has argued that excessive attention is being placed on immigration enforcement while large-scale fraud cases in the state receive insufficient scrutiny.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [1/19/2026 3:41 PM, Emily Hallas, 1394K]

New York Times [1/18/2026 9:43 AM, Hamed Aleaziz, 135475K] reports in November 2002, President George W. Bush signed a bill creating a federal agency devoted to protecting the United States. The country was still reeling from the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and the threat of international terrorism permeated public life. Among the agencies that would be included in the Department of Homeland Security, as it would be called, would be Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — the parts of the government most responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws. “The new department will analyze threats, will guard our borders and airports, protect our critical infrastructure, and coordinate the response of our nation for future emergencies,” Mr. Bush said at the time, adding that the department would “focus the full resources of the American government on the safety of the American people.” But more than two decades later, as thousands of ICE and Border Patrol officers flood Minneapolis, some Democratic leaders say the department’s role appears to have strayed far from its original purpose, turning its tools of enforcement away from external threats and toward President Trump’s domestic critics. They say enforcement has looked more like an occupation, as officers in helmets and tactical gear have faced off against hostile residents and left-wing protesters in Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago and Washington. The interactions, broadcast to the world through social media videos filmed by protesters and federal agents alike, have given the impression of a government at war with the country’s own cities. The Department of Homeland Security “was designed to protect Americans from threats, and what we’ve essentially done is, in some cases, we’ve turned that agency on Americans,” said Mayor Keith Wilson of Portland, Ore., a Democrat. “It’s deeply unsettling.” “We would love to have the cooperation of these politicians to remove the worst of the worst from their cities,” Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said in a statement. “Instead, they refuse to protect their own citizens and let these criminals roam free on their streets.”

New York Times [1/19/2026 6:57 PM, Patricia Mazzei., 135475K] reports Heidy Sánchez took her 17-month-old daughter to a routine check-in last April with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Tampa, Fla. During the appointment, federal authorities told her that she was being detained and that her husband should pick up their daughter, who was still breastfeeding. Two days later, Ms. Sánchez, 44, who worked as a home health aide, was deported. Ms. Sánchez’s story quickly spread across social media, in part because she is Cuban, a group that had long been treated differently than other immigrants, even when they entered the country illegally. That has changed under President Trump. He has repatriated more than 1,600 Cubans in 2025, according to the Cuban government. That is about double the number of Cubans who were repatriated in 2024. And in the years that Mr. Trump has been president, he has sent more Cubans back than his three predecessors. Those numbers are greater for Cubans who were deported by land into Mexico. Some of them had been in the United States for decades and built families and businesses, but were removed because of an old criminal conviction — say, from Miami’s infamous cocaine cowboys days in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Nowhere has the shock of treating Cubans like other migrants been felt more than in Florida, which was shaped in modern times by exiles of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Families, businesses and communities that once felt removed from or immune to immigration enforcement now must face it head-on. Some Floridians worry that these deportations could stain the state’s proud Cuban identity, turning older immigrants against newer ones. Under Mr. Trump, many other countries saw similar increases in repatriation. The difference is that Cubans had not previously been targeted as aggressively for removal. Regular deportation flights to Cuba began in 2017, under President Barack Obama, paused during the coronavirus pandemic and restarted in 2023. Many Cubans have also been detained for weeks or months in a facility in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” At another nearby detention facility, Cuban detainees protested last June by writing “SOS Cuba” on their shirts and spelling out “SOS” with their bodies in the recreation yard. Legal immigration has also been all but cut out. Mr. Trump enacted a travel ban on 19 countries, including Cuba, and ended a family reunification program. U.S. officials are rejecting visa applications, which can take years to complete. Last month, the Trump administration paused all Cuban immigration cases, including pending naturalization, residency and asylum applications. “It’s the most sweeping rollback of Cuban migration channels since the Cold War,” said María José Espinosa, the executive director of the Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas, a nonprofit strategy organization based in Washington.

FOX News [1/19/2026 4:58 PM, Morgan Phillips, 40621K] reports investigative author Peter Schweizer alleges the Mexican government is operating a coordinated influence effort inside the United States, using diplomatic missions, education programs and migrant outreach initiatives in ways he argues go far beyond traditional diplomacy. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Schweizer said his forthcoming book, "The Invisible Coup," available Tuesday, documents what he describes as "weaponized immigration," a strategy he claims Mexican officials view as a means to exert political leverage inside the U.S. "Foreign powers are using migration as a weapon to undermine American sovereignty," Schweizer said. "Mexico is a clear example of this.” Schweizer pointed to Mexico’s expansive diplomatic footprint in the United States, noting that the country operates 53 consulates nationwide — far more than most U.S. allies. "Those consular officials have been tied up in organizing political activity in the United States, which is a clear violation of their diplomatic status," said Schweizer, investigative journalist and co-founder, alongside former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, of the conservative think tank Government Accountability Institute (GAI). Schweizer alleged that Mexican consular officials have supported or encouraged anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests in the U.S., pointing to what he described as instances in which officials praised or took credit for community mobilization following immigration enforcement actions. Mexican consulates routinely provide legal assistance and outreach to migrant communities after ICE raids, which Mexican officials characterize as consular protection duties, though critics argue the efforts blur the line between assistance and political activism. Schweizer also cited the role of Mexico’s so-called "migrant legislators" — elected Mexican officials who reside in the United States and represent Mexicans living abroad — as evidence of cross-border political engagement. While those officials do not hold U.S. office, some have participated in advocacy events in the United States, raising questions among critics about the scope of foreign political activity on American soil. Schweizer further claimed the Mexican government is actively discouraging assimilation among migrants living in the U.S., pointing to government-produced Spanish-language textbooks distributed to American school districts. "The Mexican government gives textbooks to school districts in the United States from Los Angeles to Orlando," Schweizer said. "Those textbooks are designed to make sure that migrant children view themselves as Mexican first, not as Mexican–American.”

Daily Signal [1/18/2026 4:30 PM, George Caldwell, 549K] reports Republicans have a problem. With just two weeks before a deadline to avert a partial government shutdown, how do they get Democrats to fund deportation efforts? In the wake of Renee Good’s death in a shooting involving ICE officers in Minnesota, Democrats are slamming deportation efforts, possibly putting the annual homeland security bill in jeopardy. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, likened ICE agents to a "gestapo rounding up individuals," in reference to Nazi Germany’s secret police force, on Jan. 13. Aguilar explained Democrats are seeking policy riders on the homeland security bill in order to rein in ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. "We like passing appropriations bills, but the appropriations bills have to be fair," he said of the DHS funding bill. There are four bills left for the House of Representatives to pass: one funding labor, health and education; a second funding transportation, housing, and urban development; a third funding defense, and a fourth funding homeland security. The homeland security bill was originally meant to be attached to a package funding national security and the state department, as well as financial regulatory institutions. The House subsequently excluded homeland from the package, which passed on Jan. 14. "Democrats put additional language forward to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. It’s not language that [Republicans] could support. And so ultimately, the homeland bill fell out of the package… House Democrats want accountability and oversight," Aguilar said of the homeland security bill’s exclusion. Aguilar added that DHS "should have to continue to testify to Congress as to what they are doing to look out for the American people.” "It’s a politically very sensitive topic," top House Republican Tom Cole, R-Okla., said of the DHS bill on Jan. 13. "That’s why we decided not to push ahead with a Homeland bill this week.” On Monday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., an appropriator, called for "no more money for DHS [Department of Homeland Security] without accountability.” Fellow appropriator Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., similarly said, "I think it is reasonable for Democrats speaking on behalf of the majority of the American public who don’t approve of what ICE is doing to say, ‘If you want to fund the Department of Homeland Security, I want to fund a Department of Homeland Security that is operating in a safe and legal manner.’".

FOX News [1/18/2026 7:51 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., discusses Democrats’ push to cut I.C.E. funding and criticism of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on ‘The Big Weekend Show.’

Reported similarly:
FOX News [1/19/2026 7:05 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE

CBS News [1/19/2026 11:34 PM, Nick Lentz, Riley Moser, 39474K] reports the U.S. Department of Justice says claims made in a lawsuit seeking an immediate stop to the surge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota are "legally frivolous.” The federal agency made the remark in a memorandum filed with the U.S. District Court in Minnesota on Monday, which argued against a motion made by the state of Minnesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul for a temporary injunction. While Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday, the judge said the issue was too important to wait. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez is considering whether to grant an immediate temporary restraining order limiting ICE activities. She said last week she would not issue the temporary restraining order until she heard a response from the federal government. The lawsuit, filed late last week, argues the unprecedented surge of an estimated 3,000 federal agents is endangering citizens. It accuses ICE of violating the First and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. According to the memorandum, the DOJ argues the plaintiffs’ "Tenth Amendment and related claims have not a shred of legal support" and that their "motion should therefore be denied.” "The Tenth Amendment at the heart of Plaintiffs’ claims is far different from the Tenth Amendment in the Constitution, which states only a ‘truism that all is retained which has not been surrendered,’" the memorandum said. "Among the powers the States did not retain at ratification is the power to veto federal action justified under one of the federal government’s enumerated powers.” The lawsuit alleges that federal law enforcement officers have "engaged in unlawful conduct" that harms residents and "infringes" on state and local police powers. The Justice Department pushed back, saying, "Defendants are in Minnesota to enforce federal immigration law, not to run (or close) schools or enforce Minnesota state law.” The lawsuit also alleges that DHS agents have conducted warrantless arrests, citing an instance on Dec. 5 when a federal agent entered a south Minneapolis restaurant without a warrant. When the general manager of the restaurant asked for it, the agent said, "We don’t need one.” Menendez is the same judge who blocked the use of pepper spray, nonlethal munitions. The notice of appeal comes days after Menendez blocked federal agents deployed to Minnesota, as part of the Trump administration’s immigration operations, from using pepper spray or nonlethal munitions on, or arresting, peaceful protesters in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota. The order also bars federal law enforcement from stopping or detaining drivers and passengers when there is "no reasonable articulable suspicion" that people driving near protests are forcibly interfering with law enforcement operations. On Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the order "a little ridiculous.” "We only use those chemical agents when there’s violence happening and perpetuating and you need to be able to establish law and order to keep people safe," Noem said. "So that judge’s order didn’t change anything for how we’re operating on the ground, because it’s basically telling us to do what we’ve already been doing.”

NewsMax [1/19/2026 8:24 AM, Brian Freeman, 4109K] reports that Rep. Randy Fine sharply criticized Democrats on Newsmax Monday, accusing them of undermining U.S. border enforcement and national sovereignty as protests and legislative efforts target Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Florida Republican told "Wake Up America" that Democrat opposition to ICE and CBP goes beyond policy disagreement and reflects a broader effort to weaken immigration enforcement despite what he described as a clear mandate from voters. "For Democrats to get in the way just shows how much many of them hate the United States of America," Fine said, adding that enforcement agencies are being unfairly vilified for carrying out federal law. Fine said ICE and CBP are simply performing their assigned duties by removing individuals who entered the country illegally and enforcing border security. "All ICE and CBP are doing is keeping out foreigners," he said. "That is their job. We should be supporting them in doing that." The comments come amid renewed demonstrations against ICE facilities and Democrats’ calls to rein in enforcement operations or reduce funding. Supporters of those efforts argue the agencies’ practices are overly aggressive, while Republicans contend that limiting enforcement amounts to de facto open borders. Fine rejected the criticism, framing immigration enforcement as a public safety issue rather than an ideological one.

Breitbart [1/18/2026 3:45 PM, Pam Key, 2416K] reports Sunday on MS NOW’s “Alex Witt Reports,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was a “dangerous cocktail of authority, bigotry and incompetence.” Pressley said, “what is undeniable is ICE is a rogue agency that is terrorizing our communities. It is killing our neighbors. I want to extend my sympathies to, Renee Good’s family, a loving mother and artist, a concern, community member, who was a US citizen and a residential community that was murdered in broad daylight with shots fired at close range into her vehicle. What is happening now is, you know, neighbors that are saying we are going to send you the humanity of all of our neighbors and defend our neighbors and our community in the face of the rogue and racist actions of ICE.” She added, “I want to say about Kristi Noem, you know, what a dangerous cocktail of authority, bigotry and incompetence. She should resign or needs to be impeached. But she is she is a danger. And ICE is a threat and a danger to every person who calls this country home. And finally, this is why I’ve introduced the qualified immunity abolition Act. Because these federal officers must be held accountable.”

Politico [1/18/2026 11:00 AM, Lisa Kashinsky, Nicholas Wu, Shia Kapos, Madison Fernandez, and Andrew Howard, 13586K] reports that an ICE agent’s killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis has pushed the fight over immigration enforcement to the center of the midterm campaign trail — opening new fault lines in some of Democrats’ most competitive congressional primaries. Across the country, Democratic candidates are expressing horror at Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s tactics and ratcheting up calls to restrict the agency’s reach in the wake of Good’s killing and other dramatic ICE escalations. But even as public outcry has Democrats shifting out of the defensive crouch on immigration they took following President Donald Trump’s 2024 victory, old intraparty fissures about whether to rein in, defund or abolish ICE have roared back to the fore in key Democratic primaries. Nowhere is that more true than in Minnesota, the epicenter of ICE’s current operations and the widespread protests against them. Both of the Democrats vying to be the state’s next senator have sharp words for ICE, the Trump administration — and for each other: Progressive Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is attacking moderate Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) for pulling a “politically expedient” about-face after taking “pro-Trump” immigration votes last year but now pushing to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Craig was one of 46 House Democrats who crossed party lines two days after Trump’s inauguration to pass the Laken Riley Act, which allows for the detention of undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes.

New York Post [1/19/2026 9:10 AM, Carl Campanile, 42219K] reports that immigration enforcement is emerging as a burning issue in the race for governor. Presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman accused Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul Sunday of issuing commercial truck driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Blakeman said that under Hochul’s watch, more than half of New York’s commercial trucking licenses have gone to drivers who are in the country illegally, with some licenses issued listing drivers as "No Name Given" or "non-domiciled." Hochul’s Department of Motor Vehicles is issuing CDLs without verifying legal status or permanent residence, conflicting with federal safety standards, he said. "Governor Hochul is knowingly putting New Yorkers in danger. She is handing out commercial licenses to people who should never be behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound truck, and the consequences have been deadly," said Blakeman, the Nassau County executive. In fact, the New York DMV did actually issue CDLs with "no name given," which The Post reported on last fall. New York has a separate law enabling illegal aliens to obtain a regular driver’s license. Meanwhile, Hochul is supporting sanctuary or anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies.

Los Angeles Times [1/18/2026 9:43 PM, Staff, 14862K] reports a New Hampshire Episcopal bishop is attracting national attention after warning his clergy to finalize their wills and get their affairs in order to prepare for a "new era of martyrdom," invoking the nonviolent resistance of the civil rights era. Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire made his comments this month at a vigil honoring Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot on Jan. 7 behind the wheel of her vehicle by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. The Trump administration has defended the ICE officer’s actions, saying he fired in self-defense while standing near the front of Good’s vehicle as it began to move forward. That explanation has been panned by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation, which show the officer shot Good several times. Hirschfeld’s speech cited several historical clergy members who had risked their lives to protect others, including New Hampshire seminary student Jonathan Daniels, who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy in Alabama while shielding a young Black civil rights activist in 1965. "I have told the clergy of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness," Hirschfeld said. "And I’ve asked them to get their affairs in order, to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies, to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.” Hirschfeld said people of Christian faith should not fear death. "Those of us who are ready to build a new world, we also have to be prepared," he said. "If we truly want to live without fear, we cannot fear even death itself, my friends.” Other religious leaders, including the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, have also called on Christians to protect the vulnerable amid the rise in aggressive and sometimes violent immigration enforcement actions under the Trump administration. "We keep resisting, advocating, bearing witness and repairing the breach," Rowe said during a prayer last week. "We keep sheltering and caring for those among us who are immigrants and refugees because they are beloved by God, and without them, we cannot fully be the church.”

Reported similarly:
NBC News [1/19/2026 3:49 PM, Corky Siemaszko, 34509K]

CBS News [1/18/2026 7:00 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports Nicolás Maduro, the former president of Venezuela, now sits in a federal jail in New York awaiting trial. After a high stakes raid, the White House touted Maduro’s capture as a blow to narco-terrorists who it says flooded U.S. streets with drugs. The repression of the Maduro regime over more than a decade forced eight million Venezuelans to flee— nearly a million of them to the United States. Last year, in the biggest U.S. immigration crackdown in recent history, hundreds of those Venezuelans were deported to El Salvador – a country most had no connection to. The White House claimed they were part of a violent gang and designated them as terrorists. The administration invoked a centuries-old wartime power, the Alien Enemies Act, to rapidly deport some of the men. Between March and April of last year, the U.S. sent 252 Venezuelan men to a brutal maximum-security prison in El Salvador known as "CECOT". You will hear from two of those men. They describe torture, sexual and physical abuse inside the prison. Since November, 60 Minutes has made several attempts to interview key Trump administration officials on camera about our story. They declined our requests. Tonight, our report from inside CECOT. It began as soon as the planes landed. The deportees thought they were headed back to Venezuela, but then saw hundreds of Salvadoran police waiting for them on the tarmac. Shackled, they were paraded in front of cameras, pushed on to buses, and delivered to CECOT, El Salvador’s notorious maximum security prison. Luis Muñoz Pinto (speaking in Spanish/translated in English): When we got there, the CECOT director was talking to us. The first thing he told us was that we would never see the light of day or night again. He said, "Welcome to hell. I’ll make sure you never leave.” Sharyn Alfonsi: Did you think you were gonna die there? Luis Muñoz Pinto (speaking in Spanish/translated in English): We thought we were already the living dead, honestly. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [1/18/2026 4:04 PM, David Bauder, 34509K] reports "60 Minutes" on Sunday aired its story about Trump administration deportations that was abruptly pulled from the newsmagazine’s lineup a month ago, a move that had triggered an internal battle about political pressure that spilled out into the open. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi made no reference to her dispute with CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss in the story about deportees who had been sent to El Salvador’s notoriously harsh CECOT prison. When the segment was struck from the Dec. 21 episode on Weiss’ orders, Alfonsi told her "60 Minutes" colleagues that it "was not an editorial decision, it was a political one.” Weiss had argued that the story did not sufficiently reflect the administration’s viewpoint or advance reporting that had been done by other news organizations earlier. The story shown Sunday included no on-camera interviews with Trump administration officials. But it did include statements from the White House and Department of Homeland Security that were not part of what Alfonsi had used before her story was pulled. Some of statements, which were carried in full on the "60 Minutes" website, were dated prior to Dec. 21. "Since November, ‘60 Minutes’ has made several attempts to interview key Trump administration officials on camera about our story," Alfonsi said. "They declined our requests.” Alfonsi did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press on Sunday. She said in her email that the administration’s refusal to consent to on-camera interviews was a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story. CBS News, in a statement said, that its "leadership has always been committed to airing the "60 Minutes" CECOT piece as soon as it was ready. Tonight, viewers get to see it, along with other important stories, all of which speak to CBS News’ independence and the power of our storytelling.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [1/18/2026 9:31 PM, Michael M. Grynbaum, 135475K]
Los Angeles Times [1/18/2026 7:23 PM, Stephen Battaglio, 14862K]
Washington Post [1/18/2026 8:46 PM, Liam Scott and Scott Nover, 24149K]
FOX News [1/18/2026 9:03 PM, Lindsay Kornick Fox, 40621K]
Washington Examiner [1/19/2026 10:29 AM, Emily Hallas, 1394K]

CBS News [1/18/2026 7:00 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports prior to 60 Minutes’ Jan. 18, 2026 broadcast, which featured correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi’s report on CECOT, we reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment on our story, "Inside CECOT." Officials responded to 60 Minutes with the following statements: Department of Homeland Security, first statement to 60 Minutes: Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin: "At President Trump’s direction, DHS deported nearly 300 Tren de Aragua and MS-13 terrorists to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) Prison in El Salvador, where they no longer pose a threat to the American people. Tren de Aragua and MS-13 are some of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet earth. They rape, maim, and murder for sport. President Trump and Secretary Noem will not allow criminal gangs to terrorize American citizens. "Once again the media is falling all over themselves to defend criminal illegal gang members. Many of the individuals that are counted as ‘non-criminals’ are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more; they just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S. Further, every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally. It is not an accurate description to say they are ‘non-criminals.’ This deceptive categorization is devoid of reality and misleads the American public. We hear far too much about gang members and criminals’ false sob stories and not enough about their victims. "For your questions on conditions and treatment at CECOT we refer you to the El Salvador government as they are not U.S. citizens and were not under U.S. jurisdiction. "If you come to our country illegally, you could end up in CECOT or a country you didn’t even know existed. President Trump and Secretary Noem are using every tool available to get criminal illegal aliens out of American communities and out of our country. Our message is clear: Criminals are not welcome in the United States. "These third country agreements, which ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution, are essential to the safety of our homeland and the American people. If you break our laws and come to our country illegally, you could end up in any number of third countries. President Trump and Secretary Noem are using every tool available to get criminal illegal aliens out of American communities and out of our country. Our message is clear: Criminals are not welcome in the United States. These third country agreements, which ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution, are essential to the safety of our homeland and the American people."

CBS News [1/18/2026 7:00 PM, Sharyn Alfonsi, Oriana Zill de Granados, Mirella Brussani, Erin DuCharme, and Emily Gordon, 39474K] reports the repression of the Maduro regime over more than a decade forced eight million Venezuelans to flee, nearly a million of them to the United States. Last year, as part of the biggest U.S. immigration crackdown in recent history, hundreds of those Venezuelans were deported to El Salvador – a country most had no connection to. President Trump, who campaigned on dismantling the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua, brokered a $4.7 million deal with El Salvador’s government that allows the U.S. to send Venezuelan deportees to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT. Two Venezuelans 60 Minutes spoke with say they were both detained in the U.S. after trying to enter the U.S. and request asylum. Luis Muñoz Pinto says he did not enter illegally, but rather entered for an appointment with Customs and Border Protection as part of the CBP One program. He was detained by Customs from that appointment and was later among those deported by the U.S. and sent to CECOT. The Venezuelans said that once at CECOT, they were beaten, forced into cramped cells and made to perch on their knees for hours on end. They say lights were on in the cells 24/7, food and medicine were withheld and the same water they had for bathing and going to the bathroom had to be used for drinking. "There was blood everywhere, screams, people crying, people who couldn’t take it and were urinating and vomiting on themselves," said Munoz Pinto, a 27-year-old college student who spent four months in CECOT. "When you get there, you already know you’re in hell. You don’t need anyone else to tell you." New research and records are backing up many of their claims. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [1/18/2026 1:13 PM, Ethan Beck, 24149K] reports for this season of “Saturday Night Live,” James Austin Johnson has dominated the cold open segments, more often than not kicking off the show with a dose of his President Donald Trump impression. The first SNL episode of 2026, hosted by “Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard, saw Johnson’s Trump cede a bit of the spotlight to his Cabinet in a recap of all of the “legal-ish things,” as Johnson put it, that Trump did during the winter break. In introducing various high-ranking officials, Johnson called them “little freaks, various monsters and nightmares from the mind of Guillermo Del Trump.” Speaking from a set of the White House, Johnson described the toppling of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as pulling a “reverse Santa on him: We came down the chimney with a bag and took him away.” To elaborate on the situation, he brought Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Marcello Hernández) and Vice President JD Vance (Jeremy Culhane). But when Hernández, asked to address the people of Cuba, started off in Spanish, Johnson interrupted him: “Not in here, big guy. No, no, no, I didn’t like that at all.” In the first Vance sketch since Bowen Yang left the cast, Culhane stepped into the role. After allowing Culhane to share a few words with the country, Johnson wandered around the White House set, looking out the windows and commenting on birds in the distance. “I came here to do two things: kick bubblegum and chew a--,” Culhane said, inverting the famous “They Live” quote. “And I’m all out of bubblegum.” He was followed by Ashley Padilla, who appeared as Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi L. Noem. In a cowboy hat and hoop earrings, Padilla rattled off a series of questions for potential ICE recruits. “Is your neck wider than your head? Are you currently wearing a Punisher T-shirt? Have you ever punched a hole in the wall because your son took a dance class?” Padilla asked. “If the answer is yes, then grab a gun — any gun — and saddle up, big boy.”

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NBC.com [1/18/2026 10:46 AM, Staff, 5684K]

New York Times [1/18/2026 2:29 PM, Derrick Bryson Taylor, 135475K] reports Bruce Springsteen denounced the Trump administration’s deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in cities across the United States and dedicated a song to Renee Good, the woman recently killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, at a surprise performance in New Jersey on Saturday. Appearing at the Light of Day Winterfest in Red Bank, N.J., Mr. Springsteen told the crowd: “We are living through incredibly critical times. The United States, the ideals and the values for which it stood for the past 250 years is being tested as it has never been in modern times,” according to videos that circulated online. He added: “If you believe in the power of the law and that no one stands above it, if you stand against heavily armed mass federal troops invading an American city using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens, if you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest, then send a message to this president.” Mr. Springsteen went on to quote Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis, who had used an expletive to tell ICE to leave the city. He then dedicated his song “The Promised Land,” which tells of a young working-class man striving for a brighter future, to Ms. Good. “This one is for you, and the memory of mother of three and American citizen Renee Good,” he told the crowd. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement on Sunday that no one cared about Mr. Springsteen’s “bad political opinions.” “If he actually believed in the power of the law,” she said, “he would understand that criminal illegal aliens should be deported, that impeding federal law enforcement operations is a crime and that officers have a right to act in self-defense if an individual is using their car as a deadly weapon.” In response, Mr. Trump wrote on social media that Mr. Springsteen “ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT.” He also called for a “major investigation” into Mr. Springsteen and other celebrities, including Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey.

Reported similarly:
NBC News [1/18/2026 11:22 PM, Dennis Romero and Nollaig O’Connor, 34509K]
FOX News [1/19/2026 8:31 AM, Hanna Panreck, 40621K]
USA Today [1/18/2026 1:58 PM, Chris Jordan, 67103K]

Washington Post [1/19/2026 3:45 PM, Staff, 24149K] reports Geraldo Lunas Campos died at a Texas detention center on Jan. 3 while pleading for air as guards choked him, according to a fellow detainee. The local medical examiner’s office is considering classifying his death as a homicide, The Post reports. Yet a spokesperson for the administration tells a different story, contending that Campos attempted to take his own life and died while “violently” resisting staff. This is exactly the sort of case that the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) at the Department of Homeland Security should investigate, so that the public can trust the government’s version of events. Unfortunately, the administration has hobbled that office. Before President Donald Trump took office, CRCL had a staff of about 150 people and was investigating more than 500 allegations of civil rights violations by the department. Today, that office, which Congress established when it created DHS, has just a handful of employees. The administration attempted to shutter CRCL entirely, alongside two ombudsman offices at DHS, but backed off that plan after advocacy groups sued. DHS officials have repeatedly insisted that CRCL remains “fully operational,” despite its slashed workforce. The need for independent oversight of the administration’s immigration enforcement agencies has become irrefutable in the past few weeks. The killing of Renée Good in Minneapolis is just the most high-profile incident of a confrontation getting out of hand. Officers have also been accused of using chokeholds while making arrests and pointing their guns at bystanders. At least 10 people have been shot by officers during DHS operations over the last year, including two people this month in Portland, Oregon. The administration’s recruitment strategy for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers is clearly designed to attract people who are ideologically aligned with its goal of mass deportation. The administration is even rewarding officers for the number of arrests they make, even if those detainees are later released without charges. Just as concerning is the state of detention centers, which are not supposed to be punitive yet have received complaints of overcrowding, lack of food and limited access to health care. The administration has long denied claims of poor conditions, yet troubling accounts from detainees persist. The American Immigration Council reported last week that some facilities have rationed toilet paper to four squares per person. Already, six people have died in ICE custody in 2026. Last year’s count reached 32, the highest number in more than two decades. That includes one person being held at an Arizona facility who succumbed to tuberculosis. Multiple detention facilities have reported outbreaks of the disease, which is often associated with poor living conditions.

Washington Post [1/19/2026 6:15 AM, Kate Andrews, 24149K] reports nine days before Renée Good was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Hennepin County, Minnesota, an ICE operation took place in the same county 20 minutes away. More than two dozen officers, masked and wearing bulletproof vests, were recorded on video escorting a solitary man wearing a white T-shirt out of the Ridgedale Service Center. No gunfire occurred during his arrest. Violence did not break out at the service center, which is home to both a courthouse and a library. Still, it was a show, a theatrical operation — basically a platoon arresting a single person — almost certainly designed to attract as much attention as possible. Heavy-handed displays of ICE’s power are the point. Vivid examples of such overreach abound online.

Blaze [1/18/2026 9:30 AM, Alexander Riley, 1442K] reports the alternate reality Democrats have constructed is falling apart in real time. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said the following when asked to comment on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shooting a woman in Minneapolis who was attempting to run over the agent with her car: "What we saw today was a criminal, a criminal, murder a woman and shoot her in the head while she was trying to escape and flee for her life.” She then called "disgusting" the "editorializing" of those who argue that the ICE agent was in front of the car as it was accelerating, just before he fired. "Watch it for yourself, watch it for yourself," she concluded, with supreme confidence that any viewer would see with the same skew of her own lens. A significant portion of the American media and popular culture has normalized the idea that totalitarians have taken over the government. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) went even harder over the rhetorical cliff in responding to the shooting. He classified interpretations of the ICE officer’s action as self-defense as "bull***t" and demanded that ICE "get the f**k out of Minneapolis." Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) in New York followed suit, calling the event a "murder" and a "horror.” It is a stark bit of evidence of how American society has been warped by the twisted rhetoric of the radical left regarding political conflict in our country. The video from the officer who fired at the vehicle indicates clearly, however, that it was accelerating in his direction, with him close enough to touch the hood. How is it possible to watch video footage and see it as the "murder" of someone "flee[ing] for her life"? The vehicle was illegally blocking a law enforcement vehicle. Instead of complying with the demand to exit the vehicle as any sane person would do, the driver hit the gas, making contact with the law enforcement officer before being shot. Are we to believe that ICE agents came there precisely to kill her? New York Times published a video analysis that supposedly debunks the claim that the agent fired in self-defense. How? Well, the wheels of the SUV turned to the right just in time to avoid hitting the agent. Never mind that the agent was standing just in front of the vehicle when it started to move forward quickly, and he moved to avoid it. By the Times’ logic, the agent would apparently have been justified to use force only after the SUV had hit him. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said he doubts an FBI investigation of the shooting could reach a "fair outcome." He’s given no reason why he believes this. But of course, if your view is that all sides not directly aligned with you ideologically are Nazis, this is a logical conclusion. One might first hypothesize that Ocasio-Cortez, Frey, Walz, Mamdani, and others who share their bizarre interpretation of the evidence are cognitively challenged in some way. We do not wholly discount this possibility. But the more likely answer is that such things become possible when a significant portion of the American media and popular culture has normalized the idea that totalitarians have taken over the government and are actively looking to kill their opponents. In such a scenario, attempting to run over the totalitarians with your car might not only be an acceptable choice — it might be the most moral one. The Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin connected the event to the language the far left has been using to describe ICE: "This is the direct consequence of constant attacks and demonization of our officers by sanctuary politicians who fuel and encourage rampant assaults on our law enforcement who are facing [a] 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats.”

Washington Examiner [1/19/2026 3:39 PM, Zachary Faria, 1394K] reports what is a more glaring sign of budding fascism in the United States: Federal immigration authorities enforcing immigration laws passed by Congress, or mobs of activists harassing random people on the streets or in their places of worship for not adhering to the platform of their political movement? Both are playing out in Minneapolis right now, and it is clear which one is making things worse. Videos on social media show anti-ICE (functionally, pro-open borders) activists harassing a random man and interrogating him about being an ICE agent because he was driving an SUV. That man was hounded, on camera, into professing his admiration and respect for the activists who were actively harassing him. More videos show a group of engineers who were swarmed at a deli by delusional left-wing activists, blowing their whistles to signal a group of people that they had deemed to be unacceptable. The mob demanded that those men show identification because, in their words, "Yeah, you look like a f****** ICE agent.” This culminated in a mob shutting down a church service, heckling the churchgoers (including children) with their protest messages. That mob claimed that a pastor at the church worked for ICE. (He has the same name as the acting field director for ICE in Minnesota). Former CNN personality Don Lemon was there with the mob, claiming that they had a First Amendment right to shut down the church service and that children being traumatized by being yelled at by lunatic protesters during church is "what protesting is about.” What you have with ICE agents in Minneapolis is people exercising the lawful authority to detain illegal immigrants and, on the other end of that, anyone interfering with federal law enforcement actions. Democrats and their activists call that fascism, comparing federal law enforcement to Nazis and calling them President Donald Trump’s personal Gestapo. On the other hand, you have mobs with no authority demanding that random citizens turn over identification and show themselves to be part of the right political movement, lest they be heckled, harassed, and hounded out of restaurants or churches. These people are demanding conformity and enforcing it by swarming people in large numbers, carrying an implicit threat of violence if they do not comply with the mob’s demands. All the while, Democratic politicians in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and across the country shrug their shoulders and, in fact, encourage these mob tactics. Which one of these sounds like a precursor to fascism to you? These mob tactics are dangerous, and Democrats are encouraging them through their deranged rhetoric and their sanctuary policies that make it necessary for ICE to conduct these large-scale raids in the first place. Democrats are fine with the fact that their activist base is trying to harass people into supporting their political movement, which is far, far closer to bringing in fascism than law enforcement officials tasked with deporting illegal immigrants doing their jobs.

Wall Street Journal [1/19/2006 5:06 PM, William McGurn, 646K] reports in a better time, few outside Minneapolis would be able to name its mayor. This isn’t a better time. The tragic shooting of Renee Good while she was using her SUV to thwart Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from enforcing the law saw to that. Along the way, Mayor Jacob Frey has been on the nation’s TV screens. Far from urging the people of Minneapolis—a sanctuary city—to let ICE agents do their job, he asks local police to “fight ICE agents on the street.” Renee Good wasn’t a career criminal. She was an instantly recognizable type: a liberal do-gooder who seemed to believe that her political positions rendered her immune from the consequences of refusing an order from a duly authorized agent of law enforcement. Now she’s dead; her three children have lost a parent; and her name has become a slogan for the anti-ICE protestors. Amid all the coverage of this sad story, seldom is the most pertinent fact even mentioned. If Renee Good had simply obeyed an ICE agent’s command to get out of the car instead of continuing to drive, she would still be alive. That too is a tragedy, and not only for her loved ones. It doesn’t matter whether you support ICE, what your stance on deportations is, or whether officers might have handled the arrest differently. The clear fact is that Good placed herself in grave danger by refusing to get out of her car as ordered. You would never know that from the coverage. It’s breaking down as expected as each side retreats to its own camp. The Trump administration has backed the ICE agent who shot Good. The Justice Department is investigating Mr. Frey and Gov. Tim Walz to see whether either impeded law enforcement with public statements disparaging ICE. The president also says he may invoke the Insurrection Act. Messrs. Frey and Walz give as good as they get. Shortly after Ms. Good was shot in the altercation with ICE, Mr. Frey said this: “To ICE, get the f— out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here.” This weekend, Mr. Frey stuck to that line. When ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked whether he regretted his statement, he shifted blame to the homeland security secretary: “I don’t regret it at all. In the moments before I went out there to do that press conference, I learned that Kristi Noem had already jumped to a conclusion as to the ICE agent’s conduct, saying that it was purely self-defense. Minutes or hours later you had her saying that Renee Good was a domestic terrorist. If I seemed like I was angry and frustrated, I was.”

Wall Street Journal [1/19/2026 5:03 PM, Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, 646K] reports when President Trump returned to office, I joined an immigration law firm to represent Cuban refugees seeking asylum. Mr. Trump has secured the border but has made it near impossible for refugees to seek relief from persecution. Application fees and detentions have skyrocketed, asylum hearings are being rushed to clear the backlog, and many immigration judges—who can be fired by the attorney general—are rejecting 90% to 100% of applications. In the case of Cubans, there is a specific issue being litigated in the federal courts that Mr. Trump could resolve with the stroke of a pen. Doing so would end the litigation, ease the immigration courts, and spare Cubans a life under communism. In 2019 the Border Patrol started arbitrarily issuing some migrants “humanitarian parole.” Some of those who weren’t issued humanitarian parole but released into the U.S.—including more than 500,000 Cubans, according to advocacy groups—were issued a form, the I-220A. In 2023 the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that an I-220A was merely “conditional parole.” Under Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the only way a migrant can avoid mandatory detention is if he receives “humanitarian parole.” Petitioners in the Second and 11th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals argue that since I-220 recipients were released, by definition they received humanitarian parole. This distinction is significant for Cubans, since those who receive humanitarian parole can seek a green card under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. The overwhelming majority of Cubans who were issued an I-220A tried to come into the U.S. lawfully. The president doesn’t have to wait for the courts to rescue these poor souls. He could use his executive authority to recognize the I-220A as humanitarian parole, making the 2023 rule moot. In doing so, Mr. Trump would save hundreds of thousands of Cubans from a life under communist oppression and keep many families together. It would also relieve the immigration system so it can focus on applicants from other countries who weren’t living under totalitarian rule. This change would affect only Cubans. For all other migrants, humanitarian parole entails no right to residency and is revocable at the government’s discretion. Congress passed the Cuban Adjustment Act because the U.S. recognizes the cruel oppression taking place on the communist island. Mr. Trump has echoed these sentiments when visiting Miami and often depicts himself as a champion of those who risked their lives to seek freedom in the U.S. Giving those Cubans with an I-220A a fair chance to adjust under the 1966 law would be a heroic gesture—and send an unmistakable message that this administration stands against communism and with the exile community, where America belongs.

CBS’ Face The Nation [1/18/2026 11:52 AM, Staff, 1292K] reports DHS has sent nearly 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis, calling it the largest operation in it’s history. Madam Secretary is asked if the deployment is open-ended or if there is a metric for success that ends it. "I think every day we get a murderer off the streets of Minneapolis, the public is safer. And President Trump is keeping his promise to the American people. And we literally have arrested and detained thousands of illegal criminals in Minnesota since President Trump came back into the White House. And I have never met a family that ever said, oh, I wish you would have left that rapist free. I wish you would have left that murderer on the street. So we’re just so thankful that we have a president that’s upholding the law and is determined to make sure that the laws are applied equally to everyone." Noem states. According to Pew, Minnesota’s population of immigrants here illegally stands at 2.2 percent. What is the determining factor in order for the mission is said to be accomplished? Nomen says she won’t stop until they are sure all dangerous people are picked up and brought to justice. "We wouldn’t be in this situation if Joe Biden hadn’t allowed our open-border policies to be in place and allowed up to 20 million people unvetted into this country. We have no idea how many dangerous people are here. When you have millions of people coming in that are terrorists, suspected terrorists, criminals, come from countries in the mass migration that the Biden administration facilitated, I can’t tell the people of Minnesota exactly how many dangerous criminals they have." Noem states.

CBS’ Face The Nation [1/18/2026 11:52 AM, Staff, 1292K] reports CBS hostess brings up the ICE officer Jonathan Ross, Secretary Noem interrupts to chastise her for continuing to dox law enforcement. Marget pushes back saying his name is already public, "I know, but that doesn’t mean it should continue to be said. He got attacked with a car that was trying to take his life. And then people have attacked him and his family, and they are in jeopardy. And we have law enforcement officers every day who are getting death threats and getting attacked at their hotels." Noem comments. Margret tries asking about his condition since CBS reported he was hospitalized with eternal bleeding but then released, will he go back on Duty? Noem would not give any information on him other than saying "he’s healing".

CBS’ Face The Nation [1/18/2026 11:52 AM, Staff, 1292K] reports Secretary Noem specifically called upon Jacob Frey Democratic Mayor of Minneapolis to set up a safe zone where protests would be contained. Is that something he is willing to work with? "First Amendment speech is not limited to one park or one section of the city. You are allowed to protest, so long as you’re doing it peacefully. And, by the way, we’ve got tens of thousands of people in Minneapolis that are grinning down the bear, that are peacefully expressing their First Amendment rights. So, no, you can’t have just one section of a city. That’s not the way First Amendment works." Frey stated.

ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos [1/18/2026 11:53 AM, Staff, 1824K] reports Jacob Frey, Democratic Mayor of Minnesota is asked if he’s been subpoenaed yet, he said not yet. "We have not received a subpoena. And, at the same time, if the rumors are true, this is deeply concerning because this is way more important than just me. This is a very serious matter. And this whole investigation, it would ultimately be the product of one of the most basic foundational responsibilities that I have as mayor, which is to speak on behalf of my constituents. You know, there are other countries where you get put away for the things that you say. There are other countries where you get investigated for saying something that runs counter to what the federal government states. But in this country, it’s not that way. Here we have freedom of speech. And we do not negotiate those rights away." Frey stated. Mayor Frey is asked when the subpoena come, and the investigation launches, will he comply with the Justice Departments demands? "Look, we have done nothing wrong. So, of course, we will comply in it. But at the same time, we need to be understanding how wild this is. And whether it’s Senator Slotkin or Governor Walz or myself, this is not the way that we conduct ourselves in America." Frey comments.

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [1/18/2026 12:49 PM, Staff, 437K] reports Mayor Frey reacts to the breaking news that there are 1,500 active duty U.S. soldiers on standby to deploy to Minnesota. "This act was clearly designed to intimidate the people of Minneapolis. And here’s the thing. We’re not going to be intimidated. If the goal here is safety, we have got many mechanisms to achieve safety. And the best way to get safety is not to have an influx of even more agents, and, in this case, military, in Minneapolis. Right now, we have about 600 police officers, and they have got 3,000 or so ICE agents and border control. That they are now talking about deploying 1,500 military, this is, well, it’s ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government." Frey stated.

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [1/18/2026 12:49 PM, Staff, 437K] reports Mayor Frey alluded to the fact that the Justice Department said, it’s investigating him and Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota over alleged obstruction of federal law enforcement. Has he received any sort of official notice or subpoena and is he even aware of what the specific allegations being brought against him. "No, we have not received anything. I’m not aware of specific allegations. But, if it were true, the targeting would be the product of performing one of the most basic responsibilities and obligations that I have as mayor, which is to speak on behalf of our great city, speak on behalf of our constituents. And that the federal government would be going after me because of that speech should be deeply concerning, not just for people in Minneapolis, but for anybody throughout the country. And, of course, we have seen this before, whether it’s me or Governor Walz or Senator Slotkin or Senator Kelly. This is happening on the regular, and it’s happening because people speak, speak up. But First Amendment speech is not something that we negotiate away in this country. First Amendment speech is something that we stand up for, whether you agree with it or not, whether you find it abhorrent or not. It’s one of the most basic and foundational rights that we have. And, thankfully, in Minneapolis, we stand up and value First Amendment speech. That’s just kind of baked into who we are." Frey states.

ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos [1/18/2026 11:53 AM, Staff, 1824K] reports Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, the chair emeritus of both the Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees in the House, is asked if the DOJ is acting appropriately to open a criminal investigation into the mayor and governor of Minneapolis. Representative McCaul says it’s a federal offense to impede a federal investigation like people are witnessing in Minneapolis. McCaul also says that he thinks its very uncommon to go after political figures and he thinks its more of a statement than anything else. Trump has so far held off on invoking the Insurrection Act, McCaul says he’s glad he hasn’t but there is still the threat of doing so. McCaul agrees that doesn’t turn the political temperature down.

FOX News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo [1/18/2026 12:12 PM, Staff] reports Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons discusses the anti-ICE agitators in Minneapolis and the threat federal agents face on ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’

FOX News [1/18/2026 12:50 PM, Max Bacall, 40621K] reports acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons said Sunday that local governments’ sanctuary policies and refusals to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement are forcing agents into communities, increasing risks for officers and straining law enforcement operations nationwide. "You would not see this many ICE agents and special agents on the street [in sanctuary jurisdictions] focused on the criminal illegal-alien mission if they would just turn people over to us. That’s the key," Lyons said on "Sunday Morning Futures.” Lyons said 70% of illegal immigrants that ICE arrested last year have criminal convictions, pending criminal charges or criminal histories in their countries of origin, and claimed the agency focused its efforts on people with outstanding deportation orders issued by an immigration judge who have failed to leave the country. "These local law enforcement agencies have already deemed these individuals a public safety threat and arrested them. Why not work with federal partners, turn them over to us, and let us get them out of our communities?" he asked. Lyons criticized local officials for invoking dangerous rhetoric about ICE. He said many of the federal agents deployed to Minneapolis, where tensions have been heightened following the death of Renee Good, are there to protect the personnel who are trying to make arrests, claiming that team sizes have increased significantly as they are forced to deploy additional personnel. "In my 30 years of law enforcement, I never thought we would have to send law enforcement to protect law enforcement. But I don’t think you’d see as many of the issues if political leaders would allow their local and state law enforcement to work with us," he said.

FOX News [1/18/2026 11:46 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports acting ICE Director Todd Lyons discusses the anti-ICE agitators in Minneapolis and the threat federal agents face on ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [1/19/2026 6:37 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 2416K] reports a federal judge refused Monday to temporarily block the Trump administration from enforcing a new policy requiring a week’s notice before members of Congress can visit immigration detention facilities. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, D.C., concluded that the Department of Homeland Security didn’t violate an earlier court order when it reimposed a seven-day notice requirement for congressional oversight visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. Cobb stressed that she wasn’t ruling on whether the new policy passes legal muster. Rather, she said, plaintiffs’ attorneys representing several Democratic members of Congress used the wrong "procedural vehicle" to challenge it. The judge also concluded that the Jan. 8 policy is a new agency action that isn’t subject to her prior order in the plaintiffs’ favor. Plaintiffs’ lawyers asked Cobb to intervene after three Democratic members of Congress from Minnesota were blocked from visiting an ICE facility near Minneapolis earlier this month — three days after an ICE officer shot and killed U.S. citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis. Last month, Cobb temporarily blocked an administration oversight visit policy. She ruled Dec. 17 that it is likely illegal for ICE to demand a week’s notice from members of Congress seeking to visit and observe conditions in ICE facilities. A day after Good’s death, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem secretly signed a new memorandum reinstating another seven-day notice requirement. Plaintiffs’ lawyers from the Democracy Forward legal advocacy group said DHS didn’t disclose the latest policy until after U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig initially were turned away from an ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [1/19/2026 8:25 PM, Zach Montague, 135475K]

ABC News [1/18/2026 8:22 PM, Matt Rivers, Janice McDonald, and Armando Garcia, 30493K] reports thousands of people have been arrested during ICE operations in Minneapolis over the past two weeks. Multiple attorneys allege that for some of those detained, including at least one U.S. citizen, the Department of Homeland Security is denying their constitutional right to see an attorney. Four attorneys told ABC News they have been denied access to their clients at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, where they are being held, which they say would violate 5th and 6th Amendment rights to due process and the right to consult with counsel. “ICE agents were physically restricting me from seeing them,” said one immigration attorney, who asked not to be identified. “I stood outside the attorney visitation room for about four hours on Thursday, trying to see one of my clients who had been there for multiple days. I kept saying, you got to let me see my client. And they just kept repeating, we don’t do attorney visitation.” The Department of Homeland Security denied that any constitutional violations are taking place at the Whipple Federal Building. In a statement, a spokesperson for DHS denied the attorneys’ claims, adding that all detainees “have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.” “The facts are illegal aliens in detention have access to phones they can use to contact their families and lawyers. Additionally, ICE gives all illegal aliens arrested a court-approved list of free or low-cost attorneys. All detainees receive full due process,” the spokesperson said in part. The immigration attorney told ABC News they have visited clients held on similar immigration charges at the Whipple building for the last decade without issue. The visitation denials of the past week, they said, are new and unprecedented. The Whipple building has been a primary facility where people detained during DHS’ “Operation Metro Surge” are being temporarily held. Most are eventually processed and sent to detention facilities across the country. The building has also been the epicenter of clashes between anti-ICE protesters and federal agents since an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7. The attorneys who spoke to ABC News work independently of one another. ABC News is withholding the identity of three of them due to fears that federal agents could retaliate against their clients still in custody. Attorneys say they have received a variety of explanations for why they cannot see their clients, including claims that they did not have appointments, that their clients did not ask for them by name, and that the Whipple building cannot accommodate attorney-client visits. None of those reasons is legally valid, according to the attorneys. “There’s nothing in the Constitution that talks about accommodating the government,” said Attorney Robert Sicoli, who told ABC News he was denied access to his client at the building last Wednesday. “It is a violation of constitutional rights.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [1/18/2026 6:01 PM, Tara Suter, 12595K] reports Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sunday, saying it needs “dramatic reform” after recent turmoil surrounding the agency. The recent fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by an ICE officer has further inflamed tensions surrounding the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, which have been present throughout President Trump’s second term. Trump on Thursday warned he may use the Insurrection Act following demonstrations in Minneapolis, but said a day later there was no reason to invoke the law immediately. On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed her agency is working on an internal review of the actions of the ICE officer who killed Renee Good. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz) also said Sunday that he believes “ICE needs to be totally torn down.”

Daily Caller [1/18/2026 1:37 PM, Hailey Gomez, 835K] reports CNN host Jake Tapper confronted Democratic Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego on Sunday over his past support for funding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since he presently opposes law enforcement actions by the agency. Democrats ramped up their pushback against ICE and its operations following the Jan. 7 shooting of Renee Good, during which she abruptly accelerated her vehicle during a confrontation. While speaking with Gallego on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Tapper noted Gallego previously voted to expand ICE funding and pressed him on his current position as other Democrats, including Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, have urged the party to not support the budget increase. “He’s 100 percent right, and I’m talking to him [Murphy]. We cannot vote for anything that actually adds more money and doesn’t constrain ICE. It’s not what we want out of ICE. Again, we want a security force that is focused on targeting and deporting criminals,” Gallego said. “What they’re doing right now is none of that. What they’re doing right now is actually suppressing U.S. citizens, racially profiling in all parts of our country, bringing violence to areas that you don’t need. You have men with very little training shooting U.S. citizens,” Gallego claimed. “This is not at all what we need. I’m certainly not going to fund something of that nature if it’s only going to cause more and more problems and more harm and less security for Americans and everyday people that are just trying to live their lives.”

NewsMax [1/19/2026 10:24 AM, Eric Mack, 4109K] reports that the Justice Department investigation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross opened briefly as a civil rights probe of an officer-involved shooting, but it reportedly moved quickly to investigate the facts of a car-ramming assault on Ross. The investigation is now centered on the actions of the Renee Good and other anti-ICE "professional agitators and insurrectionists," as President Donald Trump called them, at the scene, including her partner, rather than the agent, sources told CNN. Additionally, anti-policing and anti-ICE rhetoric by Democrats in Minnesota have left them subject to investigation, too, in lieu of the shooter. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, run by Harmeet Dhillon, typically reviews law enforcement shootings to assess potential rights violations, but the facts of the ICE-involved shooting led to a quick change of policy in this case, according to the Trump administration officials. The state and city’s radical leftist, anti-policing leaders – Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Gov. Tim Walz, and Attorney General Keith Ellison – threatened the Trump administration right after the car-ramming shooting, which the Department of Homeland Security and DOJ referred to as a "self-defense" case. The rhetoric could have forced the federal officials’ hand and might be the reason for a lack of coordination under the reality of biased local and state officials. Some officials viewed the handling of the investigation as politically motivated, according to CNN.

Federalist [1/19/2026 7:44 AM, Ben Weingarten, 785K] reports that, in the wake of the shooting of reported Minnesota ICE Watch "warrior" Renee Nicole Good, Democrats and leftist activists immediately rushed to her defense, dubbing her a "legal observer.” By invoking this title, Trump administration critics cast Good not only as an innocent bystander, but one enjoying specially protected status, wantonly murdered by the very anti-immigrant army whose presumed misconduct she was there to record. They persistently pursue this narrative rather than acknowledge Good’s role as an instigator who impeded a federal law enforcement operation and disobeyed officers’ commands, before threatening to run one over with her SUV while fleeing, and tragically lost her life for it. This deception has a purpose that transcends cynical attempts to spark a George Floyd 2.0 conflagration and delegitimize nationwide surges of ICE officers — surges compelled by Democrats’ sanctuary policies. It has the effect of covering up the fact that Good needlessly died, in effect, as a pawn of a revolutionary anti-American movement. This movement not only fuels an insurrection against authorities laboring to reverse the effects of President Biden’s open border policies; it also seeks to eviscerate our sovereignty and bring the republic to its knees. In truth, a "legal observer" is not the equivalent of a poll watcher for protests. Observers need not have obtained formal certification, let alone a J.D. More saliently, they are not neutral. Nor are they necessarily opposed to breaking the law. Observation is a practice consistently and historically used to advance the causes of the radical left. The networks that observers serve promote incendiary actions against authorities. And, unsurprisingly, there has been a dramatic increase in threats to and crimes committed against said authorities as those networks have mushroomed during the second Trump administration. The "legal observer" designation, in turn, may be used as a sword and shield against an unsuspecting and unknowing public by those rebelling against a government they revile. The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), historically identified as the legal battering ram for the Communist Party in the U.S., and long a defender of left-wing revolutionary causes and individuals, is most closely associated with legal observation. It notes on its website that related practices originated in the Black Panthers’ organizing of "armed citizens’ patrols … to monitor the behavior of law enforcement officers" in Oakland during the 1960s. The Guild adopted parts of these "copwatch" activities to standardize a legal observer program, training like-minded leftists to monitor and report alleged police misconduct during protests, and to deter police actions they oppose. To the extent all that legal observers affiliated with NLG or otherwise are doing is chronicling ICE enforcement actions, they may be serving a reprehensible cause, supporting agitators engaging in despicable acts, and backing illegal aliens over American citizens — to our great detriment. But their conduct is arguably legal provided they are not materially supporting criminals.

FOX News [1/18/2026 1:14 PM, Ashley Carnahan, 40621K] reports New York City’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is organizing a large-scale effort to mobilize thousands of activists to respond to anticipated federal immigration enforcement actions, The New York Post reported. The Post said DSA leaders outlined plans at a recent meeting to train roughly 4,000 volunteers, both members and non-members, to participate in what they describe as "rapid response" actions aimed at monitoring and, in some cases, disrupting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations across the city. "This has been in the past in New York specifically enough to deter ICE detentions," said a DSA leader who only went by the name Marina, according to the outlet. Organizers also pointed to protests and confrontations involving ICE agents in Minnesota as a model for the tactics they hope to bring to New York. Those tactics include using whistles and other noise-making tools to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity and quickly draw activists to the scene. "The whistles carry far and wide," said Marina, according to the Post. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Protests in Minnesota have erupted since the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent during an immigration enforcement operation. Across the state, protests against ICE have drawn demonstrators holding signs reading, "ICE out for good," "Quit your job," and "Resist," while federal law enforcement officers have deployed tear gas to disperse crowds outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in St. Paul.

Breitbart [1/18/2026 2:35 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2416K] reports New York City socialists are marshaling an army of more than 4,000 activists to form "rapid response" brigades to disrupt federal immigration enforcement in an expected crackdown on illegal aliens in America’s largest city. According to a report Sunday in the New York Post, "Mayor Mamdani’s comrades" with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) revealed their disruptive mission against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity during a monthly meeting earlier in the week of the "Chinese Communist Party-linked" People’s Forum. "‘As we’ve seen in other cities, we still do anticipate a big wave of federal immigration enforcement,’ a DSA leader who only identified herself as Marina told the crowd of more than 100 members," according to the Post. She added, "It can be confusing, it can be scary, it can be kind of uncertain what’s happening in New York right now…But we want to be on our front foot if and when it does.” The New York City chapter is training 2,000 DSA members and another 2,000 non-members, along with activating 50 additional trainers, according to the Post. The group is also beefing up staffing of its ICE hotline to operate it around the clock. The group apparently is looking for multilingual volunteers as well to deal with migrants who have arrived illegally from distant countries and settled in New York. "If you speak Pular, if you speak Creole, if you speak Fulani – come find us," urged a leader. "We really want you on the team.” The group did not estimate what the operation will cost, but the "member-funded" organization asked for donations several times during the two-hour meeting, according to the report. The majority of the crowd of mostly white, Gen Z socialists said they were first timers galvanized by the death of Renee Good, the 37-year-old Minneapolis mom fatally shot by an ICE agent during a confrontation earlier this month. The anti-ICE group Good was part of was trained to "resist" immigration crackdowns – and a model for the combative Minnesota tactics they hope to bring to Gotham. Like operations by agitators in Minneapolis, DSA plans include showing up en masse at reported ICE sites, employing loud whistles, and impeding immigration agents trying to enforce federal law. The DSA reportedly has been recruiting protesters by canvassing immigrant neighborhoods that include Chinatown, Bushwick, and Jackson Heights. It has not been revealed if and when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would launch a massive immigration enforcement sweep with thousands of agents in New York City as it has in Minneapolis. As part of a nationwide effort, ICE has been announcing the arrest of the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal aliens from across the country, including those convicted of homicides, rape, child sexual assaults, and other crimes.

CBS Pittsburgh [1/19/2026 12:27 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports a man is in custody after Pittsburgh police say he attempted to impersonate an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a burglary.

Breitbart [1/18/2026 7:00 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2416K] reports a Maryland Democrat has introduced legislation that would prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from being hired in state or local law enforcement roles. The legislation, which is called the "ICE Breaker Act of 2026" is sponsored by Maryland State Del. Adrian Boafo (D). Under the proposed legislation, ICE agents hired under President Donald Trump’s presidency would be barred from working as police officers, according to Fox45 News. "This year, I introduced legislation to ensure ICE officers can never serve in any of Maryland’s police forces," Boafo wrote in a post on X. "Why? Because they are not trained, they are not qualified, and Marylanders deserve people who will protect them. I’ll introduce similar legislation in Congress.” Betsy Smith, a spokesperson for the National Police Association, criticized Boafo’s bill and pointed out that it seems like he "wants people to believe that an ICE agent can just come in their town" and be a police officer as quickly as "tomorrow.” "It sounds as though this politician wants people to believe that an ICE agent can just come into their town and tomorrow be a patrol officer in their town… it’s simply ridiculous," Smith stated. Smith also pointed out that there are "rigorous hiring process for local law enforcement.” Boafo claimed that "everywhere" he goes in Maryland’s District 23 — which he represents — he is asked what is going to be done "about ICE," according to NBC4 Washington. "There’s only so much the state can do, but you know what I could do?" Boafo said in a statement. "Make sure that those ICE officers never have a job here in the state of Maryland. You want to work for any other industry in Maryland, sure.” Boafo also clarified that "anyone who joined ICE" before Trump was inaugurated in January 2025 is "not affected" by the legislation, according to the outlet: "What we’re saying in Maryland is that any ICE officer, sworn agent who saw the horrific violence that’s been happening over the last year and said, ‘You know what, I want to join that work,’ we don’t want you to work at any point in time as police officers, law enforcement officers," Boafo said. Boafo says this legislation would prevent anyone who chose to join ICE after Jan. 20, 2025 — the date of Trump’s return to the White House — from serving in law enforcement positions within the Maryland State Government. The bill would not prohibit ICE officers and agents from working in other areas of state government. "Anyone who joined ICE before the inauguration of Donald Trump, anyone who actually swore the oath to try and protect the border, and actually go after violent offenders is not affected," Baofo said. "You are welcome to Maryland with open arms.” Maryland State Del. Matt Morgan (R) responded to the news about the "ICE Breaker Act of 2026" by describing it as "an unserious" and "stupid bill for the purpose of political pandering.” "What about ICE agents hired under Biden or Obama?" Morgan questioned.

FOX News [1/18/2026 5:50 PM, Emma Bussey Fox, 40621K] reports a year after his daughter was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Urbana, Illinois, Joe Abraham has confronted the human cost of the state’s failed border and immigration policies and demanded Illinois lawmakers acknowledge her death for the first time. While Operation Midway Blitz, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration enforcement operation targeting criminal illegal immigrants, was launched in honor of Katie Abraham’s death, Abraham also warned illegal immigrants to "do things the right way.” "If you want to really be part of America and come in here, then you have got to do things the right way," said Abraham, who is featured in a video for The American Border Story, a national initiative exposing the human impact of America’s border crisis. "There has got to be an orderly process where people have to understand how to behave here," he told Fox News Digital, before describing the silence he experienced from state leadership that compounded the pain of his loss even further. "I received utter silence and indifference from my governor," said Abraham. "Katie got disrespect and silence." Abraham said neither Pritzker, Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Tammy Duckworth nor his state or local representatives have reached out to him since she was killed.

The AP [1/20/2026 2:18 AM, Jack Brook, 30493K] reports federal immigration agents forced open a door and detained a U.S. citizen in his Minnesota home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him out onto the streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions, according to his family and videos reviewed by The Associated Press. ChongLy "Scott" Thao told the AP that his daughter-in-law woke him up from a nap Sunday afternoon and said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were banging at the door of his residence in St. Paul. He told her not to open it. Masked agents then forced their way in and pointed guns at the family, yelling at them, Thao recalled. "I was shaking," he said. "They didn’t show any warrant; they just broke down the door.” Amid a massive surge of federal agents into the Twin Cities, immigration authorities are facing backlash from residents and the local leaders for warrantless arrests, aggressive clashes with protestors and the fatal shooting of mother of three Renee Good. "ICE is not doing what they say they’re doing," St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, a Hmong American, said in a statement about Thao’s arrest. "They’re not going after hardened criminals. They’re going after anyone and everyone in their path. It is unacceptable and un-American.” Thao, who has been a U.S. citizen for decades, said that as he was being detained he asked his daughter-in-law to find his identification but the agents told him they didn’t want to see it. Instead, as his 4-year-old grandson watched and cried, Thao was led out in handcuffs wearing only sandals and underwear with just a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Videos captured the scene, which included people blowing whistles and horns and neighbors screaming at the more than a dozen gun-toting agents to leave Thao’s family alone. Thao said agents drove him "to the middle of nowhere" and made him get out of the car in the frigid weather so they could photograph him. He said he feared they would beat him. He was asked for his ID, which agents earlier prevented him from retrieving. Agents eventually realized that he was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, Thao said, and an hour or two later, they brought him back to his house. There they made him show his ID and then left without apologizing for detaining him or breaking his door, Thao said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security described the ICE operation at Thao’s home as a "targeted operation" seeking two convicted sex offenders. "The US citizen lives with these two convicted sex offenders at the site of the operation," DHS said. "The individual refused to be fingerprinted or facially ID’d. He matched the description of the targets.” Reuters [1/20/2026 1:29 AM, Maria Cardona, 36480K] reports a Minnesota man told Reuters on Monday he felt fear, shame and desperation a day after ICE officers broke down his door with guns drawn, handcuffed him and dragged him into the snow wearing shorts and Crocs. ChongLy Thao, 56, a naturalized U.S. citizen who goes by the name Scott, was returned home later on Sunday without explanation or apology, he said. "I was praying. I was like, God, please help me, I didn’t do anything wrong. Why do they do this to me? Without my clothes on," Thao, a Hmong man born in Laos, told Reuters from his home on Monday, while neighbors were at work fixing the broken door. Pictures of the incident showing Thao barely clothed and covered in a blanket taken by a Reuters photographer and bystanders spread on social media, further fueling concern that federal law enforcement officers were exceeding their authority as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has seen some 3,000 officers deployed in the Minneapolis area. A statement published by the family called the incident "unnecessary, degrading, and deeply traumatizing." The highest temperature in Saint Paul on Sunday was 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius). The Department of Homeland Security said officers were investigating two convicted sex offenders at the address and that a U.S. citizen living there refused to be fingerprinted or facially identified, so he was detained. "He matched the description of the targets. As with any law enforcement agency, it is standard protocol to hold all individuals in a house of an operation for safety of the public and law enforcement," DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [1/20/2026 2:21 AM, Ram Nabong, 36480K]

Blaze [1/19/2026 4:40 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1442K] reports critics of President Donald Trump’s administration accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers of dragging an American citizen with no criminal history from his home over the weekend. Videos circulated on social media of a raid in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday, appearing to show federal agents escorting an elderly man from his home, through the snow, and into a federal vehicle. The handcuffed man was wearing only shorts and Crocs, with a blanket draped over his shoulders. Reuters reported that his family requested a Hmong interpreter. "Marching half-naked elderly people out into the snow, your tax dollars at work," columnist Jill Filipovic wrote. Political commentator Ed Krassenstein called the Trump administration "disgusting," adding that the man detained by federal agents was a "U.S. citizen with no criminal record.” "Armed ICE agents broke down the door without presenting a valid warrant, entered with guns drawn, and handcuffed him in front of his 5-year-old grandson, who was left crying and traumatized," Krassenstein said. "ICE then drove him around for nearly an hour, questioned and fingerprinted him, confirmed he was a citizen and not the person they were looking for… and dropped him back at home. No apology. No explanation. No accountability.” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin described Krassenstein’s post as "fear mongering," explaining that ICE was attempting to arrest two convicted sex offenders. "One of the criminal targets had convictions for sex with a minor and sexual assault. The other target had convictions for sex assault with penetration in the first degree, domestic violence, and violating a protective order. Both also have convictions for failure to register as sex offenders. They both have final orders of removal from an immigration judge," McLaughlin wrote.

CBS News [1/19/2026 7:12 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports Federal immigration officers have arrested more than 3,000 people in the Minneapolis area as tensions continue to rise between ICE and protesters. CBS News’ Ian Lee and Camilo Montoya-Galvez have more on the ongoing operations and the public backlash.

FOX Business [1/19/2026 6:49 PM, Staff, 10085K] Video: HERE reports Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., discusses the protests in Minnesota following two I.C.E.-involved shootings and DHS’ crackdown on criminal illegal aliens on ‘The Evening Edit.’

Reuters [1/18/2026 8:04 PM, Staff, 36480K] Video: HERE reports protesters, including postal workers, gathered outside a U.S. post office in Minneapolis on Sunday (January 18), holding signs reading "Return ICE to sender" and chanting against federal immigration enforcement, as letter carriers demanded that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stop using postal property to stage operations. This video contains language that some people may consider offensive.

FOX News [1/19/2026 7:31 PM, Greg Wehner, 40621K] reports a Maryland Democrat is pushing to strip anonymity from ICE agents accused of violent or unconstitutional misconduct, proposing a new "digital unmasking" process that he says would preserve identifying data, so victims can pursue accountability in court. The bill is being introduced by Maryland State Delegate David Moon, a Democrat and longtime Judiciary Committee leader, who says the measure is designed to ensure victims can identify federal agents accused of serious misconduct while limiting access to court-ordered civil rights or criminal cases. "I’m introducing a bill to ‘digitally unmask’ anonymous ICE agents involved in violent or unconstitutional misconduct," Moon said in a post on X. "Maryland would use widely available technology to preserve identifying data so victims can seek justice in court for serious, credible cases.” The legislation would establish a process allowing courts to order the preservation and disclosure of digital information that could identify federal agents accused of violent or unconstitutional misconduct, targeting cases in which agents operate without visible identification during enforcement actions. It defines "identifying digital data" broadly to include license plate information, cell tower and cell phone data, GPS and location data, image search results, StingRay records, facial recognition data and any other recoverable digital information that could help confirm an agent’s identity. The bill limits access to that data to serious cases, requiring a court order issued in a civil lawsuit alleging violations of constitutional rights or in a criminal proceeding involving the alleged misconduct. Under the proposal, the law would take effect Oct. 1, 2026, giving state agencies and courts time to establish procedures for preserving and handling the covered digital records.

FOX News [1/18/2026 9:49 PM, Landon Mion, 40621K] reports two people were arrested in Minnesota for allegedly assaulting federal officers and ignoring officers’ orders to stay out of traffic, ICE said on Sunday. The arrests came as federal law enforcement worked to secure the Whipple Building, which houses ICE and other government agencies, while around 200 people protested against the agency. "Two agitators were arrested after assaulting officers and repeatedly refusing orders to stay out of traffic," ICE wrote on X. "REMINDER: If you assault federal law enforcement, you will face the consequences like these two agitators," the agency added. The agency reported several other arrests last week in connection with the demonstrations. The protests were sparked by a recent incident in Minneapolis, where Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who fired into the driver’s windshield and open window from the side of the vehicle and subsequently exclaimed "f---ing b----" as the car crashed into another parked vehicle. Democrats and local residents have condemned the shooting as a murder and called for Ross’ prosecution, while the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have defended the incident by arguing that it was a justified shooting. A week after that shooting, an ICE agent shot an alleged illegal immigrant in the leg during an arrest attempt. The Department of Homeland Security claimed the agent fired at the suspect because he was "fearing for his life and safety" after the individual resisted arrest and "violently assaulted the officer.”

CNN [1/19/2026 4:08 PM, Madeleine Stix, 18595K] reports CNN’s Isabel Rosales went on a ride-a-long with residents who are monitoring federal agents in real time. They are part of a network of five thousand civilians called "legal observers" who are responding to tips that immigration enforcement is around. With the increase of federal agents in Minnesota, they say they are responding to more activity everyday. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/18/2026 10:34 PM, Sophia Compton, 40621K] reports a viral video circulating on social media Sunday appeared to show agitators interfering with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation targeting an alleged child sex offender in Minnesota. The video, posted to X and viewed more than 750,000 times within hours, shows an ICE agent confronting people in St. Paul who he said were honking their car horns and disrupting federal officers as they attempted to take a suspect into custody. "We’re here to arrest a child sex offender and you guys are out here honking," the agent says in the video. "No, we’re press," someone off-camera responds. "We’re not honking.” The agent then points to a nearby vehicle. "That vehicle right there is honking and impeding our investigations while we’re trying to arrest a child sex offender. That’s who you guys are protecting. Insane.” The video then cuts to the agent standing in the snow beside a vehicle repeatedly honking. "Trust me, I understand," the agent tells someone inside the car before they slam on the horn. In another moment, the agent is seen speaking with occupants of a different vehicle who appear to question the legitimacy of the arrest and attempt to usher him away. At one point, a woman standing behind the agent’s vehicle can be heard saying, "Just go. They’re lying. Don’t listen to them," while waving the car onward. Responding to the video on X, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin on Sunday praised federal law enforcement officers for continuing their work amid increasing resistance. "God bless the men & women of [ICE] and [Customs and Border Protection] who risk their lives to arrest these criminals," McLaughlin wrote. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also weighed in, posting, "God Bless ICE" — a message that was later reposted by the official White House X account. Breitbart [1/19/2026 12:29 PM, Amy Furr, 2416K] reports Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Tricia McLaughlin slammed the state’s Democrat leaders in regard to the operations. She said, "Every single day our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from American communities. We will not let rioters slow us down from making Minnesota safe again — something Governor Walz and Mayor Frey refused to do.”

Reported similarly:
New York Post [1/19/2026 8:21 AM, Caitlin McCormack, 42219K]
NewsMax [1/19/2026 2:45 PM, Eric Mack, 4109K]

FOX News [1/18/2026 9:44 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports viral video appears to show an ICE agent calling out individuals he says were disrupting an arrest of a child sex offender in St. Paul, Minnesota. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/19/2026 4:22 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports anti-ICE protesters staged a sit-in inside and occupied a Target store in Minnesota on Monday, demanding that the retailer take a stand against federal immigration authorities. A group of protesters occupied the store, claiming Target was allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to operate in its parking lot. "Target parking lots have been a meeting place for ICE agents," one protester holding an "Abolish ICE" sign said at the retailer’s St. Paul location. "ICE agents are using the toilets at Target, so they’re facilitating this invasion.” Target is serving as a "staging ground" for ICE, he said. "They’re not at all participating in challenging this ethnic cleansing we’re seeing in this country," he said. Another protester said she was calling on Target to stand with the community to "protect our tiny children from losing their parents.” "We don’t just want your tiny baby clothes. We want your protection for our families," she said. The protesters were seen sitting in the middle of the store chanting and speaking out against ICE. One woman called for better treatment of immigrants and their right to decent housing and opportunities.

CNN [1/18/2026 6:36 PM, Diego Mendoza, Caroll Alvarado, and Alaa Elassar, 18595K] reports newly obtained videos of the moments right after the Wednesday incident in which an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot a Venezuelan man in the leg in Minneapolis appear to contradict at least some of ICE’s claims about events leading up to the shooting. In a statement Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said the agent targeted, chased and then shot the man in self-defense as the agent was being "ambushed" by three people. But accounts in the videos contradict the identity of the person DHS says federal agents chased, and the details of the shooting itself. According to DHS, federal agents were conducting a "targeted traffic stop" when, they say, Julio Sosa-Celis, an undocumented Venezuelan national, resisted arrest and started to "violently assault" one of its officers. During the struggle, DHS said in the statement, two additional people came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the officer using a snow shovel and a broom handle. According to DHS, Sosa-Celis "got loose" and began striking an agent "with a shovel or broom stick." DHS says the agent then "fired a defensive shot," which hit Sosa-Celis in the leg. But videos from Sosa-Celis’ family appear to tell a different story. One of them shows a video call made by Sosa-Celis’ partner and reviewed by CNN, frantically describing to family members what she says happened, according to Alicia Celis, the mother of Sosa-Celis, who spoke to CNN. The call appears to contradict ICE’s claims in DHS’ Thursday statement. There, ICE said it was Sosa-Celis who was driving a vehicle that crashed, and Sosa-Celis who fled on foot before agents struggled with him on the ground. The incident marks the second time in a week an immigration agent shot someone while on the job, sparking heated clashes in Minnesota and prompting President Donald Trump to threaten to use the Insurrection Act. Exactly one week earlier, an ICE agent in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Good, a mother of three, in her vehicle.

CNN [1/20/2026 1:58 AM, Cara Westra, 18595K] reports Aliya Rahman speaks out for the first time after being dragged from her car by ICE agents in Minneapolis while trying to get to a doctor’s appointment. She says she was confused by conflicting commands from officers, struggled to get medical help while in custody and describes what she calls “dehumanizing treatment” after her arrest. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [1/18/2026 11:23 AM, Conor Wight, 39474K] reports Hani Duglof and his brother Mohamad Duklef arrived in Minnesota looking for help in 2014. They’d left Libya, unable to find relief for a rare condition that threatens to leave their skin torn and blistered at even the slightest provocation. After spending more than a decade studying, working and participating in clinical trials, Duglof found himself detained by ICE, unable to access the kind of food and care he needs. The brothers say that it happened on Jan. 10 of this year. Duglof was driving in Wisconsin when he said that two ICE vehicles pulled him over. Duklef was on the phone with him, expecting a call back soon, assuming he had been pulled over for some kind of driving infraction. Instead, Duglof found himself being taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling. He said that he was confused when ICE agents said that he no longer had legal status, given that he had been in the asylum process for the better part of a decade after first entering the country on a visitor visa. "Since they handcuffed me, I felt like (I was) being treated like a criminal," Duglof said. "They tried to take my fingerprints, but because of my condition, I don’t have fingerprints." Duglof and his brother have Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB. Their skin is extremely fragile, causing it to tear easily. The condition also affects the esophagus, meaning Duglof can only eat soft foods. He said that the cramped concrete rooms of the Whipple building immediately caused his skin to blister. Medical documents he says came from M Health Fairview Southdale’s emergency department show that officials at the Whipple eventually believed he needed additional care, taking him to the hospital after Duglof said he was at the Whipple building for about 13 hours. Doctors in the documents seem to note that Duglof was not in need of emergency medical attention, but recorded the fact that the agents who brought him to the hospital were concerned that they could not provide food that he could actually eat. Duglof soon found himself back at the Whipple building regardless. He said that, at one point, he was placed in a room with standing water in the corner. Often, he said, his pleas for soft food were ignored. "‘I’m sorry, this isn’t a five-star hotel,’" Duglof said one official told him. Duklef said he had been working from the get-go with Duglof’s lawyer, the same lawyer who had been working on his asylum case for years, to get him released. He was freed on bond on Jan. 15, with a court case pending in February related to his asylum case. Duklef said that he often hears, or late, that people want immigrants to come in the right way; he said his brother was doing just that. "Hani followed every single process legally," Duklef said. Duglof works as an IT specialist after studying at Saint Paul College, and was featured in school promotional material on a billboard and other advertisements. He said he’s nervous about returning to Libya, first applying for asylum after the country descended into civil war. Duglof is one of the reported 2,500 people ICE said the agency has detained since the start of Operation Metro Surge in early December. The Department of Homeland Security and its leadership have repeatedly stated that the operation is targeting criminals who are in the country illegally. While the agency has listed dozens of names of people convicted of past crimes, hundreds of people are not publicly listed, nor are their alleged offenses.

ABC News [1/19/2026 1:33 PM, Staff, 30493K] Video: HERE reports Patty O’Keefe, who is a U.S. Citizen, said she was held in a detention center in Minneapolis for over nine hours without a phone call, food, water or a bathroom break.

Washington Examiner [1/18/2026 1:12 PM, Asher Notheis, 1394K] reports Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) said Sunday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not delivering on what the public wants, saying it’s serving as a "goon squad" for the Trump administration. The Pentagon has ordered around 1,500 troops to prepare for deployment to Minnesota, according to multiple outlets citing defense officials. The city of Minneapolis is receiving national attention after the shooting death of Renee Good amid ICE’s deportation efforts. Gallego said President Donald Trump views the military as his "toy" and wants "nothing more" than to intimidate "blue cities." He also argued that ICE needs to be "totally torn down" from its current duties. "From my experience running in Arizona, in a very hard, hard state when it comes to immigration and immigration issues, people want immigration enforcement that goes after criminals, right? And focuses on criminals. And immigration enforcement is actually focused on security and not the goon squad that has come from Stephen Miller and Donald Trump. One that issues warrants, one that doesn’t have people mask and acting like we’re a third-world police force," Gallego said on CNN’s State of the Union. What we’re seeing right now is not what we want from ICE, and we can create and have a force that’s actually focused on immigration and on security, and not this type of intimidation that’s happening right now," Gallego said.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [1/18/2026 10:31 AM, Pam Key, 2416K]
The Hill [1/18/2026 2:44 PM, Tara Suter, 12595K]

FOX News [1/18/2026 3:30 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) likened the US government’s conduct on immigration enforcement to that of countries like Somalia that she left, saying in impassioned remarks Friday that she never thought she’d experience such conduct in the "goddamn" United States. "I don’t want to curse, but those of us who escaped places like that, the one place where we thought we would never experience this is the US [sic] goddamn states," she said at a Democratic field hearing in St. Paul, entitled, "Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Deadly Assault on Minnesota.” "And we should all be ashamed that it is the United States that is allowing for this to take place, and it is being… broadcast to the rest of the world, where people are calling and saying, ‘Are you sure this is America?’ I am ashamed, and we must do everything that we can to bring back the America we all escaped into.” Omar, who was born in Somalia and whose district covers much of Minneapolis, has been outspoken against the Trump administration and its deployment of ICE agents amid crackdowns on illegal immigration and fraud in the city and state. With the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent as a flash point, critics say ICE agents are engaging in strong-arm tactics meant to intimidate the populace. Minneapolis and St. Paul are already hosting some 3,000 federal agents deployed there after a massive fraud scandal rocked the state late last year. President Donald Trump has floated invoking the Insurrection Act to quell unrest in the state, although he appeared to back off the idea on Friday. Omar’s comments sparked ire from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and other conservative figures online. Lee posted on X, "No member of Congress should *ever* refer to our country as the ‘U.S. Goddamn States.’ What should be the consequence of saying that?".

Reported similarly:
Daily Caller [1/19/2026 10:57 AM, Staff, 835K]

AP [1/18/2026 5:30 PM, Sarah Raza, 14862K] Video: HERE reports rows of businesses stood shuttered inside a sprawling complex of Somali businesses on a recent afternoon. Karmel Mall in south Minneapolis contains more than 100 small businesses in suites offering clothing and food, insurance and accounting services, and much more. One day last week, the noisy hallways inside lay quiet, save for occasional chatter between neighboring vendors. The smell of fried food still wafted from the bakeries, the central heating hummed, and the sound of Quran recitation flowed quietly from some shops. But many sellers sat alone in their clothing stores, waiting for the occasional customer to walk by. Everyone is afraid of federal immigration agents, business owners said. Sellers and customers, citizens and noncitizens. Some don’t bother opening shop because they aren’t expecting any customers. "It’s been like this for three weeks now," said Abdi Wahid, who works at his mother’s convenience store in the mall. "Everywhere it’s all been closed up, all the stores.” Karmel Mall is an economic hub for the area’s Somali population, the largest in the United States. It also features housing, a mosque and Quran classes, serving as a robust community center for the area. The economic impact of the Trump administration’s so-called Operation Metro Surge stretches beyond the Somali community: Many immigrants are on edge, afraid to go to work or leave their homes amid the immigration crackdown. President Trump has made the Somali community a special target of his deportation rhetoric after a recent government fraud case in Minnesota included some Somali defendants. Since December, Trump has repeatedly insulted members of the community, calling them "garbage" and saying "they contribute nothing.” Wahid is a citizen, but he said the fear extends beyond undocumented immigrants. Citizens are also scared of coming in, especially after the ICE officer killing of Renee Nicole Good and the ICE raid at Roosevelt High School in south Minneapolis. "I think that caused a lot of people to not even want to come," he said, because they could be targeted "just because of their race.” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that law enforcement uses "reasonable suspicion" under the 4th Amendment to make arrests. "A person’s immigration status makes them a target for enforcement, not their skin color, race or ethnicity," she said.

FOX News [1/19/2026 7:36 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports a group of software engineers were showered with insults and accused of being pedophiles after they were mistakenly accused of being U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while trying to eat lunch in Minneapolis. The men – all white males dressed casually in sweatshirts and jackets -- were eating lunch at Clancey’s Deli when one of them got a alert on an anti-Ice Signal chat telling members that plainclothes agents were at the restaurant, Alpha News reported. The person who got the message on the "SW Minneapolis Rapid Response" chat is aligned politically with the anti-ICE cause, one of the engineers who gave his name as Lee told the outlet. "My friend was shocked. He’s on the [anti-ICE] side politically. He lives nearby. He’s eaten there before. And suddenly he’s seeing messages saying we’re ICE," Lee said. After the alert was shared, dozens of anti-ICE agitators flocked to the restaurant and peered into the window, according to a video filmed by one of the men. Once the group left, they were met on the street with derision from the crowd. "You’re a f------ bootlicker b----!" one of the agitators can be heard. One of the men tried explaining that they were software engineers trying to have a meal. "We do custom apps for a whole bunch of companies around Minnesota and the country," he said. Still, the crowd appeared unconvinced.

FOX News [1/18/2026 6:06 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino addresses the ‘inconsistencies’ given to I.C.E. agents and more as anti-I.C.E. agitators continue to protest in Minneapolis on ‘The Big Weekend Show.’[Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Free Beacon [1/19/2026 7:36 PM, Jessica Costescu, 411K] reports a "racial equity" and "restorative justice" nonprofit funded by Minnesota taxpayers is calling for donations to a new bail fund that’s helping free anti-ICE agitators and illegal immigrants detained in Minneapolis. The Legal Rights Center, which Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison led for five years, is promoting the People’s Bail Fund of Minnesota through Know Your Rights MN, a Legal Rights Center project that provides legal information and resources for activists. The project’s website was updated Thursday to include a link to the bail fund, which only secured nonprofit status last week and is actively "accepting requests for ICE protest cases," according to its Instagram account. The Legal Rights Center received nearly $5.7 million—roughly two-thirds of its total revenue—in grants from the government between 2021 and 2024, according to the Minnesota attorney general’s office. It doesn’t indicate whether that’s from federal, state, or local sources, but the nonprofit’s website lists the state among its financial backers. At least $400,000 of that funding came in the form of sub-grants from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. In 2024, for example, the department awarded the Legal Rights Center a $45,000 award for work aimed at "ending racial disparities and improving outcomes in the juvenile justice system." A state agency also promotes the organization. The Legal Rights Center’s move to solicit donations for the People’s Bail Fund of Minnesota came amid escalating protests and riots across Minneapolis in response to a surge of ICE agents in the Twin Cities. The evening before Know Your Rights MN’s website was updated, Minnesota governor Tim Walz (D.) urged residents to resist ICE, accusing the agency of waging a "campaign of organized brutality." In recent weeks, roughly three dozen agitators have been arrested, with charges ranging from assaulting law enforcement to refusing lawful orders to disperse. DHS has taken more than 3,000 criminal illegal aliens—including murderers, rapists, and pedophiles—into custody, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday. Radical groups organizing the anti-ICE protests have received millions of dollars from the Left’s premier foundations and dark money networks, including George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, Tides Foundation, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the Washington Free Beacon reported. The Legal Rights Center itself received nearly $460,000 from the New Venture Fund, a behemoth left-wing dark money charity, between 2021 and 2024. Other funding to the nonprofit includes $30,000 from the Pohlad Family Foundation in 2020 to protect "community during protests," another $30,000 from the Minneapolis Foundation in 2024 to "foster resilience," and $4,000 the same year from the Hennepin County Bar Association.

NewsMax [1/19/2026 4:03 PM, Jim Mishler, 4109K] reports Texas has begun rolling out a new grant program offering up to $140,000 to county sheriffs who deepen cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through participation in the federal 287(g) program. The funding initiative follows the passage of Senate Bill 8 by the Texas Legislature last year and is now moving into the implementation phase, with money becoming available to qualifying counties across the state. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the legislation and funding reflect a public safety priority rather than a political debate. He also pointed out the impact of the administration of President Donald Trump on the issue. "The Biden Administration gutted this program, but the Trump Administration has revamped it," he said. Patrick said he was "prioritizing SB 8 because as Lt. Governor, keeping Texas safe is my number one priority." "It is not a controversial issue," he wrote. "Instead of releasing illegal immigrants, many of whom are dangerous criminals and military-aged men, back onto our streets, our counties should enter 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).” Patrick said that 36 Texas counties already have 287(g) agreements in place and argued the law is designed to expand participation among counties with large jail populations. "Passage of SB 8 into law will bring Texas counties with the largest jail populations into a 287(g) agreement with ICE to prevent illegal immigrants, some of whom are dangerous criminals, from wreaking havoc on Texas communities," he said.

NBC News [1/18/2026 7:00 AM, Alicia Victoria Lozano, 34509K] reports U.S. Army Reserve Black Hawk pilot Chris Busby, 28, and Stephanie Kenny-Velasquez, 25, went to an Austin courthouse to get their marriage certificate on Dec. 3. Roughly 48 hours later, Velasquez entered a Houston Immigration and Customs Enforcement office for a routine check-in and never emerged, Busby said. The uncertainty has left the newlywed questioning whether his time serving the country was worth it, he said. "Stephanie is beautiful, she is smart, she’s amazing," he said. "If it means sacrificing myself or my career to free her, I will do it.” Busby, who enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2015, has spent the last six weeks looking for ways to free his wife from detention. Despite his years of service and their recent nuptials, Velasquez was denied bond on Jan. 9, according to her lawyer. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. The Department of Justice declined to comment on Velasquez’s case. Velasquez came to the United States in 2021 hoping to start a new life far from the violence and political instability of her native Venezuela. She does not have a criminal record and presented herself to immigration officials in Miami when she arrived in the country. In the meantime, Velasquez, 25, settled into life in Austin. She picked up a job at a local car wash and took classes to get her real estate license. The couple met in March and Busby, 28, immediately knew she was the one. "I’ve never met anyone like her," he said. "She came here and just wanted to be the best.” Their families had no idea that the couple planned to marry, and that’s how Busby said he wanted it. Busby said he was saving up money from his glass installation business to pay for a big wedding down the line. Velasquez had an asylum case pending at the time of her detention.

AP [1/19/2026 10:51 AM, Staff, 852K] reports an immigrant from Nicaragua was found dead at a Texas immigration detention facility last week, federal officials said. Victor Manuel Diaz appears to have killed himself Wednesday at the sprawling tent complex at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bill base in El Paso, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. The federal investigation into his death continues. It’s the same facility where ICE said another detainee died earlier this month as staff members tried to keep him from killing himself. But a fellow detainee said at least five officers were restraining the handcuffed inmate and at least one had an arm around his neck. EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. Diaz was swept up on Jan. 6 in the federal crackdown on immigration in Minnesota and sent to Texas, ICE said. Diaz entered the United States in March 2024 and Border Patrol officers took him into custody, He was released on parole pending a court date and a judge ordered him to leave the U.S. in an August hearing that Diaz did not attend, ICE said. Diaz was swept up on Jan. 6 in the federal crackdown on immigration in Minnesota and sent to Texas, ICE said. Diaz entered the United States in March 2024 and Border Patrol officers took him into custody, He was released on parole pending a court date and a judge ordered him to leave the U.S. in an August hearing that Diaz did not attend, ICE said. ICE did not release any other details on Diaz’s death. The agency notifies Congress and releases a statement on its website of all in-custody deaths. Diaz, 36, was being held at Camp Montana East where ICE said another detainee, Geraldo Lunas Campos, died as staff members tried to prevent him from killing himself. But a preliminary investigation by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office found Lunas Campos, 55, died from asphyxia from chest and neck compression and said the death would likely be classified a homicide. A fellow detainee told the AP that Lunas Campos was handcuffed and refused to go back into his cell when at least five guards pinned him to the floor. The detainee said at least one of the guards squeezed an arm around Lunas Campos’ neck. ICE said it is still investigating that death.

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NBC News [1/19/2026 11:58 AM, Laura Strickler and Daniel Arkin, 34509K]
USA Today [1/18/2026 9:40 PM, Jeff Abbott, 67103K]
Univision [1/18/2026 1:15 PM, Staff, 5004K]
Univision [1/19/2026 12:26 PM, Staff, 5004K]

Univision [1/19/2026 8:39 AM, Staff, 5004K] reports a Cuban immigrant died earlier this month at an immigrant detention center in Texas 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, on the other hand, offered a different version of the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, which occurred on January 3, stating that the detainee said that the staff tried to save him when he was trying to commit suicide. A witness told the Associated Press that Lunas Campos died after being handcuffed, tackled by guards, and placed in a chokehold until he lost consciousness. The immigrant’s family was informed Wednesday by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office that a preliminary autopsy report determined the death was a homicide caused by asphyxiation due to compression of the chest and neck, according to a recording of the call reviewed by the AP. This death, and the conflicting accounts surrounding it, have intensified scrutiny of conditions in immigration detention centers, at a time when the government is detaining immigrants in large numbers across the country and holding them in facilities like the one in El Paso, where Lunas Campos died.

Blaze [1/19/2026 4:20 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1442K] reports Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) pledged that if he were elected California governor this November, he would revoke the state driver’s licenses of federal immigration agents. Swalwell attended the Empowerment Congress California Governor Forum on Saturday, during which he gave a speech. He vowed to "always be on offense on behalf of Californians," in part, by taking drastic action against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents who wear masks. "They’re going to lose their immunity. They’re not going to be able to drive. I will take your driver’s license. Good luck walking to work, a**holes," Swalwell stated, referring to ICE officers. "Also I will direct law enforcement to use every power to prosecute them for battery, false imprisonment, and murder.” Swalwell shared a clip of his comments on X, writing, "ICE, do I have your attention yet?". "Rep. Eric Swalwell’s vowing to strip ICE law enforcement officers of their driver’s licenses for wearing masks is disgusting," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "Our officers wear masks to protect themselves from being doxxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers. Not only is ICE law enforcement facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them, but we’ve also seen thugs launch websites to reveal officers’ identity.”

AP [1/19/2026 2:47 AM, Staff, 31753K] reports the U.S. State Department has announced that it will halt the processing and issuance of immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries, citing concerns that applicants from these jurisdictions may rely on public assistance at "unacceptable" levels. This suspension, scheduled to take effect from January 21, affects applicants for permanent residence (immigrant visas), while non‑immigrant categories such as short‑term tourist or business visas are not covered by the current measure. The pause will "remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," according to the State Department. Among the 75 affected countries are key emerging markets and popular migration hubs, including Thailand and several nations in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. The announcement follows a series of prior restrictions and heightened vetting policies, forming part of a broader tightening of the U.S.’ immigration framework.

FOX News [1/19/2026 9:00 AM, Alex Miller Fox, 40621K] reports a Senate Republican wants to dramatically expand the federal government’s ability to denaturalize a citizen with legislation built to withstand challenges in court. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., introduced his Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act to develop a series of wide-ranging legal triggers for the denaturalization process in the wake of the Minnesota fraud scandal. Schmitt’s legislation is designed to bolster the government’s ability to strip a naturalized person of their citizenship, but it does not stop at targeting just fraudsters. The SCAM Act creates a 10-year window, post-naturalization that, if a person were to hit a series of triggers, would lower the threshold for the federal government to strike their citizenship and begin the deportation process. Among the acts that would fall under the scope of Schmitt’s legislation are whether a person defrauded a federal, state, local or tribal government of $10,000 or more, committed espionage, committed an aggravated felony, or is affiliated with a foreign terrorist organization. The lawmaker argued that people who trigger those requisites "must be denaturalized because they have proven they never met the requirements for the great honor of American citizenship in the first place.” "The rampant fraud uncovered in Minnesota must be a wakeup call," Schmitt said. "People who commit felony fraud, serious felonies, or join terrorist organizations like drug cartels shortly after taking their citizenship oaths fail to uphold the basic standards of citizenship.” Schmitt’s legislation specifically targets the "good moral character" factor in the naturalization process, which requires a person to engage in moral and ethical conduct for up to five years before applying for citizenship. The bill would automatically and retroactively undermine that key step in the naturalization process and contends that the aforementioned acts committed post-naturalization act as proof that a person never qualified for citizenship in the first place. It also has a built-in mechanism to deal with challenges to the legislation in court, specifically to automatically switch out the 10-year window — if found unconstitutional — with a five-year window. His legislation also has the backing of the White House and was lauded by Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security advisor. Prosecutors digging into the sprawling Minnesota fraud scandal estimate upward of $9 billion in stolen funds and have charged several native-Somali residents in connection with the boondoggle. "The Somali fraud scandal is one of the greatest financial scandals in American history," Miller said. "All Somali refugees, or any other immigrants, who have committed fraud against the United States must be immediately denaturalized and deported.”

Breitbart [1/18/2026 7:36 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2416K] reports a report claims that the U Visa program has become just another path to citizenship that illegal migrants have mired in fraud and abuse. The program, launched by Congress in the year 2000, was meant as an aid to law enforcement and was thought of as a unique way to solve crimes in the migrant community that would otherwise go unsolved, mostly due to a lack of cooperation among witnesses and victims in that community. The program allowed illegals — both victims and witnesses — to work with police to solve crimes by coming forward with tips and information on serious crimes. After working with police, the program allowed illegals to gain legal standing based on their assistance to law enforcement. But instead of helping police solve crimes, the program has become a burden replete with massive fraud, frivolous applications, and misuse. With its study, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) found that upwards of 416,000 petitions have been filed by migrants and most are simply granted the generous benefits in the program outright whether they actually helped police or not, despite that the program is supposed to only allow 10,000 applications annually. Police agencies across the country have been flooded with hundreds of thousands of often fake applications filled with false information about non-existent crimes. In some cases, these mountains of false applications have forced police to spend a plethora of man hours to investigate the claims in the applications to separate the proper applications from the fraudulent ones. Early in 2024, Breitbart News reported that U Visas were being abused by migrants who had staged fake robberies on migrants so the migrants could file fake U Visa applications. "This is a common practice — mainly among Indians — to qualify for a U Visa," said Jay Palmer, cofounder of The Forced Labor Project and a former immigration adviser to President Donald Trump’s administration. Indeed, the problem of faked crimes has been known for more than a decade, as Breitbart News reported as far back as 2014. The program itself invites fraud by offering very generous benefits that allow applicants up to ten years free of facing immigration implications as well as allowing applicants legal work permits just for applying. These benefits are not just conferred on the applicant, either. They are extended to the applicant’s entire family. The lack of any real requirements to apply and the automatic benefits makes the program rife for abuse and a huge number of illegals have gamed the system to get legal status despite offering no real aid to police on any actual criminal cases. The CIS report has tracked the massive increase in these applications and the hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants who won generous benefits from the government for abusing the system. One problem appears to be that the program has allowed tens of thousands of illegals to gain legal status and work permits for themselves and their entire families without even a background check. CIS adds that many of the applications are granted merely upon filing without even checking to see if the applicant actually participated with police on any investigation at all. Further, records also show that some 35 percent of applicants who have been issued U Visa benefits have criminal records. And many applicants are completely ineligible for legal status under ordinary circumstances or are already under orders for removal.

The Hill [1/19/2026 6:00 AM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12595K] reports President Trump’s decision to suspend naturalization ceremonies is leaving residents across the country in an unusual position, now stuck in limbo after they were on the verge of gaining U.S. citizenship. Critics say the pause is the Trump administration’s latest form of collective punishment for migrants, who have seen their hopes of citizenship dashed following the deadly shooting of a National Guard member in Washington, D.C. On Thanksgiving, Trump said he would “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” in response to the shooting. The next week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended naturalization ceremonies for citizens of the 19 countries covered by the travel ban. It’s a list that’s since grown, as the president in December expanded the list to 39 countries. In some cases, immigrants have already passed the citizenship test, only to be blocked from taking the oath that makes their naturalization official. The Trump administration has said the move is needed to thoroughly vet immigrants before they become U.S. citizens. The Trump administration has been under pressure from Congress to resume the ceremonies.

Washington Times [1/19/2026 1:11 PM, Lindsey McPherson, 852K] reports Sen. Eric Schmitt wants to make it easier for the U.S. to revoke the citizenship of individuals who defraud the government in response to the Somali-led organizations in Minnesota that used a pandemic program to steal hundreds of millions in taxpayer money. The Missouri Republican has introduced a bill, called the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act, that would expand the grounds on which the government can begin denaturalization proceedings against an immigrant who obtains U.S. citizenship. “American citizenship is a privilege, and anyone hoping to be a part of our great nation must demonstrate a sincere attachment to our Constitution, upstanding moral character and a commitment to the happiness and good order of the United States,” Mr. Schmitt said, citing the standards for naturalization. “The rampant fraud uncovered in Minnesota must be a wake-up call.” Dozens of people in Minnesota, mostly Somalians, have been convicted of stealing $300 million in taxpayer funding for a pandemic meals program, and federal authorities suspect similar fraud in Medicaid. The SCAM Act would expand the legal grounds on which the U.S. can seek to revoke a person’s citizenship for violating those standards to include committing substantial welfare fraud, affiliating with a designated foreign terrorist organization or committing an aggravated felony or espionage within 10 years of naturalization. “They must be denaturalized because they have proven they never met the requirements for the great honor of American citizenship in the first place,” Mr. Schmitt said. “We must protect and restore the institution of American citizenship. No more talk. It’s time for action.” President Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, endorsed the bill. “The Somali fraud scandal is one of the greatest financial scandals in American history,” he said. “ All Somali refugees, or any other immigrants, who have committed fraud against the United States must be immediately denaturalized and deported. We applaud Senator Schmitt for his leadership.” Mr. Trump has called for Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, to be deported or imprisoned, saying she “knows everything there is to know” about the fraudulent operations in Minnesota. Ms. Omar, Minnesota Democrat, is a naturalized American citizen who immigrated to the U.S. as a Somalian refugee when she was a child. She has not been linked to any Somali-led cases of fraud in Minnesota.

CBS News [1/19/2026 7:28 PM, Ken Molestina, 39474K] Video: HERE reports the Gordon pastor who was forced to self-deport with his family last year because of an immigration policy will be returning a lot sooner than expected, thanks to an about-face in that policy. Pastor Albert Oliveira said that prayers were definitely answered for him and for thousands of foreign-born religious workers who are caught up in a visa backlog. Oliveira has been back in his home country of Brazil since November, but says thanks to this new rule change, he could be back in Gordon in about a month and a half. Immigration rule change speeds return for religious workers. Oliveira’s R-1 visa, which allowed him and his young family to be in the U.S. as a religious worker, was expiring, and he had to leave the country for a year before re-applying. Now, the change in rule for the thousands of R-1 visa holders like him makes it so they can immediately reapply for a new visa after leaving the U.S., instead of having to wait 12 months out of the country to do so. It was the news Oliveira had been hoping and praying for. "It was a roller coaster of emotions, but in a good way," he said of learning the change in policy. "It was a burst of emotions towards... now we have a direction, now we know what to do. Now we can start making plans.” His current plan is to send an application package to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

New York Times [1/19/2026 6:57 PM, Miriam Jordan and Loren Elliott, 135475K] reports for decades, refugees have been part of the rhythm of Twin Falls, a small city in southern Idaho. Displaced from the world’s most troubled corners — places like Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar — these new residents have worked to rebuild their lives, finding jobs in factories, singing in church choirs and loading up their carts in supermarkets. It’s a story that is as old as the nation itself: A town prospers with the support of newcomers, who are grateful to be there. There have been some ugly tensions in the past, but refugees in Twin Falls have helped turn the area into a dairy industry juggernaut. They have rehabbed homes and filled classrooms. The town’s children play together in parks, schoolyards and sports fields. “No matter where you come from, there is opportunity to achieve the American dream in Twin Falls, clichéd as that may sound,” said Shawn Barigar, the city’s director of economic development. “The refugee population, tiny as it may be, is a component that is important to our prosperity.” But refugee resettlement is now getting an overhaul, as part of the Trump administration’s upending of the immigration system. President Trump, who was elected in part because of his anti-immigration views, has said that refugees pose security risks, strain public coffers and undermine American values. On his first day in the White House, Mr. Trump suspended the U.S. refugee program. A few weeks later, his administration announced it would make an exception and admit just one group: Afrikaners, or white South Africans. In October, the administration established new targets for the refugee program, and said it would allow only 7,500 refugees for the coming year — the lowest number in the program’s history. And an overwhelming majority of them, the administration said, would be Afrikaners. That means Twin Falls, which had typically received 200 to 350 refugees a year, would be in for an adjustment. As it is, since May, a total of 37 refugees, all Afrikaners, have resettled in Twin Falls. What does this mean for the city’s future?

USA Today [1/19/2026 6:37 AM, Sheridan Hendrix, 67103K] reports several campus and community groups are calling on Ohio State University to pull U.S. Customs and Border Protection recruiters from an upcoming career fair. Ohio State’s College of Arts and Sciences will hold its spring career fairs on Jan. 20 at the Ohio Union. Among the 150 public and private sector employers participating in the event is Customs and Border Protection, an agency overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. Columbus 50501, a local chapter of the national advocacy group, posted a statement on its Instagram account Jan. 15 calling on the university to "pull DHS/ICE from their spring job fair. The organization posted a note later in the day clarifying that advocates did not know if ICE will be present on campus but knew that "DHS certainly will be recruiting for multiple disciplines." Ohio State’s Graduate Student Alliance called on its members and other university students to email administrators to "request that they refrain from using ICE on our campus."

New York Times [1/19/2026 6:57 PM, Edgar Sandoval and Gabriel V. Cárdenas, 135475K] reports for as long as Sister Norma Pimentel can remember, the shelter she runs in the border city of McAllen, Texas, has been crowded with thousands of migrants fleeing natural disasters, violence, authoritarian governments and poverty. But ever since President Trump retook the White House and embarked on aggressive immigration enforcement that has all but sealed the U.S. border with Mexico, her shelter, steps away from a bus station, looks quiet. “We have not seen a single migrant in months,” Sister Pimentel said last month. “We are completely empty.” She pointed to a vacant kitchen, a deserted children’s play area and a bare floor that less than two years ago was filled with makeshift beds. At the height of the migrant surge during President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration, shelters along the border quickly became overwhelmed by the flood of migrants, some having received up to 1,000 people a day. At Sister Pimentel’s shelter, the Humanitarian Respite Center, the emptiness was so palpable recently that the voices of the workers and volunteers and a Christmas song echoed throughout the desolate rooms. The migrant slowdown is happening from Texas to California. The number of individuals seeking to cross the Southwest border has dwindled to an average of 245 a day from a peak of about 10,000 to 12,000 encounters a day during Mr. Biden’s administration, according to government data. Sister Pimentel is well known globally for migrant advocacy and was included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2020. Her shelter became an epicenter of the immigration debate, and received some backlash for its work. “The question back then was that some people viewed Catholic Charities as inviting people to come over,” said Javier Villalobos, the mayor of McAllen, a registered Republican. “That’s not necessarily true, but some people viewed it this way.” With no migrants to house, the staff and volunteers at Sister Pimentel’s shelter have pivoted to help residents of McAllen, one of the poorest cities in America, with a population of about 150,000. Mr. Villalobos said that he would rather see local organizations help the local population than take in migrants. “It’s not within our parameters to be dealing with immigration issues,” he said.

New York Times [1/19/2026 5:00 AM, Orlando Mayorquín, Jesus Jiménez, 135475K] reports before the Border Patrol embarked on its high-profile raids in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans and Minneapolis, it tried out its tactics a year ago in Kern County, in California’s agricultural heartland. A lawsuit filed against the federal government over its operations in Bakersfield and other parts of Kern County claimed that in some instances, Border Patrol agents had not identified themselves or presented warrants. In others, people were grabbed with force, and their requests to call a lawyer were denied. And in one case, the lawsuit said, agents stopped a U.S. citizen driving a truck, slashed the tires, blocked the truck with another vehicle, arrested the driver and then released him a few hours later. But the Border Patrol’s actions in Kern County, which it called Operation Return to Sender, can be seen as a blueprint for the broader immigration crackdown that was to come. Similar tactics have become part of the agency’s standard playbook in other places, including Minnesota, where federal immigration agents are making hundreds of arrests amid sustained protests from local leaders and residents. The Border Patrol promoted the Kern County raids as a success, saying that it had arrested 78 undocumented immigrants during the three-day operation, including some with criminal histories. But the agency’s tactics also showed opponents that it could be challenged and even stopped. The A.C.L.U. filed a lawsuit on behalf of United Farm Workers and five Kern County residents that accused the agency of racial profiling and coercing at least 40 arrested immigrants “to accept voluntary departure.” In April, Judge Jennifer L. Thurston of U.S. District Court issued a preliminary injunction barring Border Patrol agents from stopping Kern County residents without a reasonable suspicion of illegal presence, as required by the Fourth Amendment. In the order, she cited evidence that the Border Patrol had violated its own policies by stopping people without reasonable suspicion, and she wrote that its public statements suggested that it would continue with its aggressive practices. She set out specific rules that the Border Patrol would have to follow for future stops. The Department of Homeland Security has appealed Judge Thurston’s ruling.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/18/2026 8:01 AM, Alexandra Mendoza, 1538K] repots tents are still set up inside the Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana, ready to provide migrants with a place to stay. But on a recent Wednesday, the once-busy refuge was quiet. Unlike this time last year, nearly all of the tents are empty. "The difference is clear from the moment you get here," noted José María García, the shelter’s director. Migrant shelters in Tijuana have historically been an indicator of the state of affairs at the U.S.-Mexico border. One year ago, dozens of families, many of them asylum seekers, clung to their last shred of hope as they waited at the same shelter for confirmation to legally come in for vetting at a port of entry through the Biden-era CBP One app’s appointment system. As President Donald Trump’s inauguration date approached, time was running out for many migrants who had waited for months. Trump had campaigned heavily on "closing the border." And so he did. The difference is staggering one year later. Data from the latest monthly report by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows a 92% decrease in migrant apprehensions by Border Patrol along San Diego County’s border with Mexico in December compared to the same period in 2024. Tijuana shelters have seen this significant drop firsthand. Recently, the Juventud 2000 shelter was housing 10 migrants who had fled violence in their hometowns in Mexico. According to García, none of them intended to cross into the U.S.; instead, they were planning to settle in Tijuana. Around this time last year, the shelter had about 80 people "still waiting to see what might happen.”

New York Times [1/18/2026 6:10 PM, Alexandra E. Petri, 135475K] reports a Washington man who was accused of aiming a laser pointer at Marine One, the presidential helicopter, as it was leaving the White House in September with President Trump aboard was acquitted on Tuesday, according to court documents. A jury found the man, Jacob Samuel Winkler, 33, not guilty after just 35 minutes of deliberation, lawyers representing Mr. Winkler said. Alexis Gardner, a federal public defender for Mr. Winkler, called the case “a clear example of misuse of prosecutorial discretion.” According to a criminal complaint, Mr. Winkler was standing on the sidewalk on Constitution Avenue when a uniformed Secret Service officer saw him shine a red laser beam at the president’s helicopter, which was flying at a low altitude during its initial ascent from the South grounds of the White House. The complaint said Mr. Winkler had also pointed the laser at the uniformed Secret Service officer before directing it at the helicopter. Mr. Winkler appeared to have done so in retaliation for the officer pointing his flashlight at him, according to the complaint, which said that the officer was trying to observe him because he was being loud, talking to himself and did not have a shirt on. After the jury’s verdict, Judge Beryl A. Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered Mr. Winkler acquitted, discharged and any bond exonerated, according to court records.

San Francisco Chronicle [1/18/2026 1:13 PM, Michael Barba, 4722K] reports a 22-year-old California man has been arrested and charged on suspicion of threatening to set off pipe bombs while Vice President JD Vance visited Disneyland with his family. Marco Antonio Aguayo of Anaheim is accused of posting three comments on Disney’s Instagram page shortly after 6 p.m. on July 12, the same day Vance was visiting and staying at the “Happiest Place on Earth.” A widely shared video posted to social media that morning showed Vance walking through the theme park’s Bayou Country section with his family. “Pipe bombs have been placed in preparation for J.D. Vance’s arrival,” Aguayo wrote, according to court records. “It’s time for us to rise up and you will be a witness to it.” The final message offered some clues as to a possible motive. “Good luck finding all of them on time,” he wrote, according to a federal complaint. “There will be bloodshed tonight and we will bathe in the blood of corrupt politicians.” The Instagram comments caught the attention of the U.S. Secret Service, which traced the poster’s account to an email address with the prefix “dumblilboi.” The email address belonged to Aguayo, who got a knock at his door that same night, the complaint says. Aguayo lives about a mile from Disneyland. A Secret Service special agent questioned Aguayo outside his apartment. The agent said Aguayo initially reported his account was hacked before changing his story and admitting to making the posts. “He claimed that he intended it merely as a joke to provoke attention and laughter,” the agent wrote in an affidavit against Aguayo. The feds didn’t think it was funny. Aguayo let the agent search his cellphone, bedroom and a laptop that he said he shared with his mother.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/18/2026 5:12 PM, Staff, 1538K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a boat off Black’s Beach in La Jolla that was transporting nine suspected undocumented migrants, authorities said Sunday. Crew members on board the Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward were patrolling about 19 miles off shore shortly after 11:30 a.m. Saturday when the ship encountered a cuddy-cabin vessel moving at a high rate of speed, according to the Coast Guard. The cutter launched a boarding team to intercept the vessel and detained all nine individuals without the use of force. They all claimed Mexican nationality and were transported by the Coast Guard to another U.S. Department of Homeland Security agency at Ballast Point.

Reported similarly:
NBC San Diego [1/18/2026 10:56 PM, Staff]

Daily Caller [1/19/2026 10:11 AM, Caden Olson, 835K] reports an American citizen was convicted by a Russian court on charges of illegally transporting weapons, the Associated Press (AP) first reported Monday. American Charles Wayne Zimmerman was hit with a five year sentence in June while traveling in Russia’s Black Sea coast to meet with a woman he had interacted with online, the Russian regional court reported, according to the AP. Russian officials searched the yacht upon its arrival at the port city of Sochi and discovered a rifle, which Zimmerman claimed was for self-defense. The U.S. Coast Guard first issued a missing person alert for Zimmerman in September 2024, the Moscow Times reported on Monday. Zimmerman began his trip from Fort Macon, N.C., and was originally heading for New Zealand, the Moscow Times said. "Zimmerman was last heard from on July 23. He had informed a family member that he would be departing in his sailing vessel en route to the Mediterranean Sea," the Coast Guard said on Facebook following the 2024 missing person report, according to the Moscow Times. The U.S. citizen allegedly arrived in Russia in June 2025, though his arrest was not reported for some seven months until Monday’s sentencing announcement. Zimmerman’s arrest follows a string of high-profile imprisonments of U.S. citizens in Russia, often on charges of drug or weapon possession, or for support for Ukraine.

TechRepublic [1/19/2026 8:30 AM, Staff] reports America’s cybersecurity backbone is facing a certain amount of strain. The acting head of the country’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Madhu Gottumukkala, took steps last week to remove the agency’s chief information officer, Robert Costello — but was blocked after other political appointees at the department objected, according to three officials with knowledge of the matter. The Jan. 18 report by Politico, reveals this comes at a tense moment for CISA, as the agency works to defend federal networks and critical infrastructure from persistent threats while navigating a wave of internal turnover and heightened scrutiny of leadership decisions. The move also adds to growing concerns inside the agency about decision-making by Gottumukkala, who has already faced internal criticism in recent weeks over other personnel actions. CISA is part of the Department of Homeland Security and plays a central role in coordinating the federal government’s cyber defense posture, including incident response support, threat analysis, and broader coordination with state and local partners as well as the private sector. Leadership turmoil at the top of the agency can have ripple effects across DHS operations, particularly when it involves core operational roles like the CIO.

WebProNews [1/19/2026 5:30 PM, Ava Callegari] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), tasked with safeguarding the nation’s critical infrastructure from digital threats, finds itself mired in internal strife that threatens its core mission. Recent events have spotlighted a contentious push by the acting director to oust the agency’s chief information officer (CIO), a move that has sparked backlash and highlighted deeper fissures within the organization. This leadership upheaval comes at a precarious time, as cyber threats from state actors like China’s Volt Typhoon continue to escalate, demanding unwavering focus and stability from America’s premier cyber defense entity. According to reports, Acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala attempted to remove the agency’s CIO, a decision that drew swift opposition from other senior political appointees. These officials intervened, ultimately reversing the ouster and preserving the CIO’s position. This incident, detailed in a Politico article, underscores the tensions simmering beneath the surface at CISA, where political dynamics appear to be clashing with operational necessities. Insiders describe a climate of uncertainty, exacerbated by the absence of a permanent director, leaving the agency vulnerable to both internal discord and external pressures. The broader context reveals a pattern of instability. Last year, CISA experienced a significant exodus of top officials amid what some have called a “purge” under the previous administration’s downsizing efforts. Publications like Cybersecurity Dive reported that most leaders of the agency’s operating divisions and regional offices departed, creating voids in expertise that have yet to be fully addressed. This turnover has not only depleted institutional knowledge but also strained partnerships with private sector entities essential for infrastructure protection.

Federal News Network [1/19/2026 2:01 PM, Staff, 986K] reports a freshly belligerent China is flexing its muscles in ways not seen since the USSR during the Cold War, forging a new illiberal alliance with Russia and North Korea. But the latent battlefield is farther reaching and more dangerous in the information age. As we now know, over "a years long, coordinated assault," China has stolen personal data from nearly every single American. This data lets them read our text messages, listen to our phone calls, and track our movements anywhere in the United States and around the world — allowing China to build a nearly perfect intelligence picture of the American population, including our armed forces and elected officials. This state of affairs leaves corporate leaders, democracy advocates and other private citizens vulnerable to blackmail, cyber attacks and other harassment. Even our national leaders are not immune. Last year, China targeted the phones of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the course of the presidential campaign, reminding us that vulnerabilities in the network can affect even those at the highest levels of government. The dangers were drawn into stark relief earlier this year when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used his personal phone to pass sensitive war plans to his colleagues, along with a high-profile journalist. That incident underscored what we’ve seen in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb drone attacks on Russia, and on front lines the world over: Modern wars are run on commercial cellular networks, despite their vulnerabilities. Many Americans would be surprised to learn that there is no impenetrable, classified military cellular network guiding the top-flight soldiers and weapons we trust to keep us safe. The cellular networks that Lindsay Lohan and Billy Bob Thornton sell us during NFL games are the same networks our troops and national security professionals use to do their jobs. These carriers have a long, shockingly consistent history of losing our personal data via breaches and hacks — as well as selling it outright, including to foreign governments. So it’s no wonder that, when the Pentagon asked carriers to share their security audits, every single one of them refused.

Bloomberg [1/20/2026 3:20 AM, Lisa Abramowicz, 18207K] reports Canada will increase its presence in the Arctic, according to Foreign Minister Anita Anand, as US President Donald Trump has triggered turmoil in the region by threatening to annex Greenland. Canada will open a consulate in the semi-autonomous Danish territory next month, a move that had been in the works before the current situation, Anand said in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We have no choice but to ensure we’re bolstering our Arctic presence,” she said. “Arctic security is very much on our radar.” Trump over the weekend threatened to impose tariffs on eight European NATO allies for pushing back against the president’s bid to annex Greenland, which effectively rips up last year’s EU-US trade accord leaders hoped would stabilize the transatlantic relationship. “We’re talking about acquiring — not leasing, not having it short-term, we’re talking about acquiring and if we don’t do it, Russia or China will and that’s not going to happen while I’m president,” Trump told reporters over the weekend.

Breitbart [1/18/2026 6:44 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports Guatemala’s president on Sunday declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency to combat criminal gangs after authorities accused the groups of killing eight police officers and holding hostages at three prisons. The killings occurred in the Guatemalan capital and surrounding areas a day after gang-affiliated inmates took 46 people hostage in the three prisons across the country to demand incarcerated gang leaders be moved to lower-security facilities. President Bernardo Arevalo said authorities had retaken control of all three prisons on Sunday. Hours earlier, Guatemala’s police announced the deaths of eight of its officers “in the line of duty at the hands of criminals.” Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda told a news conference that the killings were carried out “by these terrorists, in response to the actions the Guatemalan state is taking against them.” Ten other police officers were wounded in the retaliatory attacks, and one suspected gang member was killed, he said. On Sunday evening, Arevalo decreed the 30-day nationwide state of emergency to combat the gangs, starting immediately. The measure, which must be approved by the opposition-controlled Congress, suspends the right of assembly and permits individuals to be arrested and interrogated without a court order. The president of Congress, opposition leader Luis Contreras, called for unity to face “one of the most painful and challenging moments” in the country’s history. The US Embassy in Guatemala advised its personnel to shelter in place and avoid crowds, while the government said schools would be shut on Monday. At dawn on Sunday, police supported by the army entered the Renovacion I maximum-security prison in Escuintla, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) south of Guatemala City, using armored vehicles and tear gas. After 15 minutes, they managed to regain control of the prison and freed guards being held hostage, an AFP photographer witnessed. “It was an operation that unfolded without casualties on either side, and we managed to rescue the nine hostages that these terrorists had in their power,” Villeda said. The interior ministry published a video on X showing officers handcuffing and leading away the alleged leader in Guatemala of the Barrio 18 gang, whom authorities identified as Aldo Dupie, alias “El Lobo” (The Wolf). He had bloodstained clothing. Barrio 18 and its rival gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) are blamed for much of the drug trafficking and criminal violence that plague the Central American country. Washington has declared both groups to be terrorist organizations.

FOX News [1/18/2026 3:00 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports the wife of a once-detained American citizen was released this week after being held for more than a year in a Venezuelan prison following their arrest while traveling to the South American nation to meet her family. Renzo Humanchumo Castillo, a Peruvian- American who was detained for close to a year by Venezuelan authorities, told Fox News Digital that his Venezuelan wife, Rosa Carolina Chirino Zambrano, as well as her friend and the taxi driver they were with, were released after being imprisoned and charged with espionage due to their contact with him. He spoke with Zambrano following her release, he said, their first contact since December 2024 when they were confronted by Venezuelan authorities near the country’s border with Colombia. "It was surreal," Castillo recalled of the conversation. "She got teary, you know, but she was like… ‘hey baby, I’m out.’ Now my main concern is how do I get her here with me.” Castillo, who lives in Southern California, was detained after crossing the border into Venezuela, along with his wife and her friend, who were in a taxi. After being questioned at length by Venezuelan authorities, he was charged with terrorism and conspiring to kill Nicolas Maduro, then the country’s president, who was recently captured by U.S. forces in a daring military operation. "They got me as a professional hitman sent by the CIA, and (that) I was there to overthrow the government and kill Maduro and Diosdado (Cabello)," Castillo said. Diosdado Cabello, known as the "octopus," runs Venezuela’s security apparatus and is considered one of the country’s most feared government figures. The U.S. has accused him of narco-terrorism and several other crimes. The State Department has issued a $25 million reward for his arrest and conviction.

Daily Wire [1/18/2026 7:03 AM, Frank Camp, 2494K] reports Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that acquiring Greenland is "essential" to U.S. national security and that an impending "fight for the Arctic" is real. During an appearance Sunday on NBC’s "Meet the Press," host Kristen Welker asked Bessent if President Trump was simply using Greenland as a negotiating tactic or if he is truly intent on "annexing" the territory. "President Trump strongly believes that we cannot outsource our security because … let me tell you what will happen. And it might not be next year, might not be in five years, but down the road, this fight for the Arctic is real," Bessent began. The secretary noted that if there were an attack on Greenland, the U.S. would be dragged in anyway due to "NATO guarantees.” "Make it part of the United States, and there will not be a conflict," he said. "Because the United States right now, we are the hottest country in the world; we are the strongest country in the world. Europeans project weakness; U.S. projects strength." After Welker noted that Denmark says "Greenland is not for sale," Bessent responded that "for over a century, American presidents have wanted to acquire Greenland, and what we can see is that Greenland is essential to the U.S. national security.” "We’re building the Golden Dome, the missile system. President Trump is looking — is being strategic. He’s looking beyond this year. He’s looking beyond next year to what could happen for a battle in the Arctic," Bessent added. "We are not going to outsource our national security. We are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to other countries."

FOX News [1/18/2026 7:15 PM, Lindsay Kornick, 40621K] reports U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. needs to protect Greenland because Europe projects "weakness" in defense of the president’s renewed calls to acquire the country. Bessent was asked by Kristen Welker on NBC’s "Meet the Press" Sunday whether President Donald Trump is serious about his effort to take over the Danish territory or whether his remarks were being used as leverage in negotiations with other European nations. Bessent told Welker that presidents have considered acquiring Greenland for "over a century" and that Trump is focused on future threats from countries such as Russia in the Arctic region. "[D]own the road, this fight for the Arctic is real," Bessent said. "We would keep our NATO guarantees. And if there were an attack on Greenland from Russia, from some other area, we would get dragged in.” He added, "So better now, peace through strength, make it part of the United States, and there will not be a conflict because the United States right now, we are the hottest country in the world. We are the strongest country in the world. Europeans project weakness. U.S. projects strength.” "But just very quickly, is this a negotiating tactic, Mr. Secretary?" Welker said. "Is the goal to get a deal to have enhanced security in Greenland, for example?". "The president believes that enhanced security is not possible without Greenland being part of the U.S," Bessent answered. Trump has also said Greenland is vital to U.S. national security because of its vast mineral resources.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [1/18/2026 4:23 PM, Nicholas P. Brown, 36480K]
NewsMax [1/18/2026 11:54 AM, Jim Thomas, 4109K]

Washington Examiner [1/18/2026 11:42 AM, Brady Knox, 1394K] reports Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that President Donald Trump’s planned acquisition of Greenland was part of the preparations for a future "battle in the Arctic.” In an interview on NBC News’s Meet the Press, Bessent laid out the Trump administration’s argument for acquiring Greenland, saying it was an essential part of a wider grand strategic vision from the president to preempt future threats from Russia and China. "What we can see is that Greenland is essential to the U.S. national security. We’re building the Golden Dome, the missile system, and look, President Trump … is being strategic. He’s looking beyond this year. He’s looking beyond next year to what could happen for a battle in the Arctic. We are not going to outsource our national security. We are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to other countries," he said. Bessent argued that while a Russian or Chinese move on Greenland might not come within the next few years, it was a real threat in the near future. "Let me tell you what will happen … and it might not be next year, might not be in five years, but down the road, this fight for the Arctic is real," Bessent said. "If there were an attack on Greenland from Russia, from some other area, we would get dragged in. So better now, peace through strength, make it part of the United States, and there will not be a conflict," he added.

NBC News [1/19/2026 10:35 AM, Peter Nicholas and Alexander Smith, 34509K] reports that as tensions escalate over President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, he was guarded Monday in how far he’ll go to take control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory. Asked if he would use force to seize Greenland, the president said, "No comment," in a brief telephone interview with NBC News. Trump has stepped up his push to take possession of Greenland. He said Saturday he would impose 10% tariffs on Denmark and seven other European nations until a deal is struck for America’s acquisition of Greenland. The president then introduced a new wrinkle to his standoff with longtime European allies, linking Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize last year in a text message Sunday to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The Norwegian leader released his text message exchange with Trump under Norway’s public disclosure laws, his press office said. "Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America," Trump said in the message, which was first reported by PBS and confirmed as accurate in a statement by the Norwegian prime minister.

Reuters [1/19/2026 12:15 PM, Staff, 36480K] reports that Denmark and Greenland have discussed the possibility of having a NATO mission in Greenland and the Arctic, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Monday. He spoke as U.S. President Donald Trump intensified his push to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark, prompting the European Union to weigh hitting back with its own measures. Poulsen made his remarks after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt in Brussels. "We have proposed this. The NATO Secretary General has also taken note of this, and I believe we can now hopefully establish a framework for how this can be achieved," Poulsen said. "This is also in line with what we have discussed with the Greenlandic government."

Reuters [1/19/2026 5:17 AM, Staff, 36480K] reports that National security advisers from a number of countries are due to meet on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday, with Greenland among the subjects on the agenda, diplomatic sources said. A Swiss foreign ministry spokesperson would only confirm that a meeting was due to take place but declined to comment on its content, timing or the participants. One European diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said Greenland had been added to the agenda of the previously scheduled meeting since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose extra tariffs on eight European countries until ownership of the Arctic island had been transferred to the United States. Two other diplomatic sources said some of the security advisers would be represented by lower-level officials. European leaders have called the Trump move wrong and are studying a number of possible trade retaliation measures.

Washington Post [1/18/2026 3:18 PM, Kareem Fahim and Zakaria Zakaria, 24149K] reports Syria’s government said Sunday that it had signed a “ceasefire and full integration” agreement with a powerful Kurdish-led militia that controlled large swaths of territory in the country’s northeast — a critical step, if the agreement is implemented, toward unifying a fractured Syria after years of civil war and the precipitous fall of its dictatorship. There was no immediate statement on the agreement from the Kurdish-led group, the Syrian Democratic Forces, a longtime military ally of the United States in the battle against the extremist Islamic State militant group. In a post on X, Tom Barrack, the U.S. envoy to Syria, hailed the agreement while saying that the “challenging work of finalizing” its details “begins now.” The announcement late Sunday came after a day of stunning battlefield developments, with Syrian state media saying that government forces, allied tribal fighters and locals had captured key cities and towns that had been controlled for years by the SDF. Tensions between the government and the SDF had simmered for more than a year, since rebels led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, now Syria’s interim president, toppled the dictatorship of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Sharaa has long insisted that the SDF, which over the past decade has claimed territory and declared autonomy in a large swath of northern and eastern Syria, integrate with the new Syrian government. But a March agreement between the two sides aimed at that goal was not implemented by its deadline, at the end of last year. The ceasefire agreement Sunday called for the “full and immediate administrative and military” handover by the SDF to the government in three provinces, as well as the surrender of Syria’s border crossings and oil and gas fields, according to a text of the deal posted by the country’s information minister — conditions that seemed to spell the end of a Kurdish proto-state that had sprung up in the chaos of Syria’s 13-year civil war. Before the announcement, clashes between government forces and the SDF pitted two of Syria’s most powerful armed groups against each other in a long-feared confrontation that posed a dilemma for the United States, which is allied with both.

FOX News [1/18/2026 8:29 PM, Emma Bussey Fox, 40621K] reports members of Iran’s ruling elite are said to have moved "tens of millions of dollars" out of the country as the U.S. imposed fresh sanctions over the regime’s violent protest crackdown, according to reports. The regime’s "capital flight" came as the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced on Jan. 15 in a release that it was taking "action against the shadow banking networks that allow Iran’s elite to steal and launder revenue generated by the country’s natural resources.” "There are several reports, some of which are yet to be confirmed, about capital flight in various forms from the Islamic Republic," Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. If confirmed, Ben Taleblu said, the suspected exodus of money underscores the need for U.S. authorities to track and "freeze and seize" assets tied to sanctioned figures. "If capital flight has taken place, then these are accounts that the U.S. government should be looking to monitor, block, freeze and seize," he said. "At the direction of President Trump, the Treasury Department is sanctioning key Iranian leaders involved in the brutal crackdown against the Iranian people. Treasury will use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights," Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent also said in a statement on Jan. 15. Bessent went on to reveal in an interview how his department had tracked the wiring of "tens of millions of dollars" out of Iran by leaders. "We are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship, because we can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country, snuck out of the country by the Iranian leadership," Bessent added. "So they are abandoning ship, and we are seeing it come into banks and financial institutions all over the world," he added.

Breitbart [1/19/2026 2:47 PM, John Hayward, 2416K] reports an unnamed Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that at least 5,000 people were killed during the regime crackdown on protests last week. The Iranian resistance claimed that at least 127 prisoners were executed between January 5 and January 15, including three women. The Iranian official who spoke to Reuters claimed 500 of the deaths were security personnel killed by the protesters, who had supposedly been provided with weapons by "Israel and armed groups abroad.” The regime official further claimed that many of the civilian casualties were "innocent Iranians" killed by "terrorists and armed rioters.” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a speech on Saturday in which he admitted that "thousands" were killed, "some in an inhuman, savage manner" – but he blamed all of the deaths on the United States and Israel. "Those linked to Israel and the U.S. caused massive damage and killed several thousand. We consider the U.S. president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation," Khamenei said. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which has published higher casualty estimates than the regime throughout the uprising, said on Saturday it has confirmed 3,308 deaths and has 4,382 reported fatalities under review. HRANA said this was a higher death toll than any unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Daily Wire [1/19/2026 3:35 AM, Hank Berrien, 2494K] reports the World Economic Forum on Monday abruptly canceled the scheduled appearance of Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, at its annual summit in the Swiss Alps, citing a "tragic loss of lives" following a violent state crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. The decision to disinvite Araghchi, who was slated for a high-profile one-on-one conversation on Tuesday, followed a weekend of intense international pressure and harrowing reports of a massacre on the streets of Iranian cities. Rights groups and activists have described the recent unrest as the deadliest in the Islamic Republic’s history, with some estimates suggesting the death toll could exceed 12,000 people. "Although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year," the Forum said in a statement posted to social media. The move marks a rare, public pivot for an organization that prides itself on being a neutral platform for "the spirit of dialogue." However, the optics of hosting a senior regime official became untenable as evidence of atrocities mounted. Human rights organizations, including United Against Nuclear Iran, had lobbied the Forum’s leadership, arguing that Mr. Araghchi’s presence would "whitewash" a campaign of state-sponsored violence that reportedly included the use of live ammunition against protesters. United Against Nuclear Iran wrote a letter to the WEF, stating: Abbas Araghchi is a long-time member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization responsible for orchestrating acts of terrorism across the globe. The IRGC provides direct support to the military arms of Hezbollah and Hamas—both considered terrorist organizations by the United States and the European Union—and employs brutal methods, including mass executions, beatings, and rape, to crush dissent within Iran and destabilize the Middle East and beyond. Araghchi has proudly and openly admitted his allegiance to the Guards and their efforts, at one point telling other IRGC members that, "the same IRGC commander who dressed you in IRGC uniform and gave you a weapon has also given me a suit and collared shirt and given me a political mission." This is not a man of diplomacy but a loyal operative of a regime that weaponizes terror and wields violence as state policy.

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