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

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

Politico [1/22/2026 5:05 PM, Katherine Tully-McManus, 13586K] reports the House passed funding for the Department of Homeland Security Thursday by a narrow margin amid a Democratic uproar over President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. The 220-207 vote puts Congress on track to clear the last annual spending bills ahead of the Jan. 30 deadline, avoiding a partial government shutdown. The DHS measure funds the Coast Guard, ICE, CBP, FEMA, TSA and other agencies through the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30. Lawmakers later voted 341-88 to pass a larger, more bipartisan measure funding the Pentagon and departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education, also through Sept. 30. It was a victory for House GOP leaders, who overcame attendance issues and concerns about the overall size of the spending package within their ranks. The chamber has now passed all 12 annual appropriations bills. Democrats demanded a standalone vote on the DHS funding bill so that their caucus could voice their objection to the Trump administration’s harsh enforcement tactics — a concern that has been amplified by recent ICE and CBP operations in Minnesota. The bills passed Thursday rejected many of the steep funding cuts to major domestic agencies that the Trump administration sought in the White House budget request earlier this year, but neither do they offer significant funding boosts. The Department of Housing and Urban Development would see a 9 percent boost over current funding levels, totaling $84.3 billion for HUD. The Education Department would receive $79 billion, a slight increase of $217 million above current funding. The Department of Health and Human Services would be funded at nearly $117 billion, a $210 million increase, while the Department of Labor would get $13.7 billion, a $65 million hike. As recently as Tuesday morning, it was not clear that the two parties would be able to strike a compromise on funding DHS. “That was really negotiated right to the end,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democratic appropriator in the House, told reporters. “And I believe that portion of the negotiation had to go to the White House, where you had Stephen Miller and somebody who was really making a determination on it.” NewsMax [1/22/2026 7:10 PM, Jim Thomas, 4109K] reports that the legislation includes a $115 million reduction for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, a 5,500-bed decrease in ICE detention beds, and a $1.8 billion cut to Border Patrol funding. It also strengthens oversight through the Office of the Inspector General and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, voted against the DHS bill while saying she welcomed some of its changes but that "it’s clear that more must be done.” "ICE believes it can act with impunity and is behaving accordingly," DeLauro said. Only seven Democrats voted with Republicans to support the DHS measure, which would allow billions of dollars to continue flowing to the department. The Washington Post [1/22/2026 4:42 PM, Riley Beggin, 24149K] reports that Democratic negotiators on the House Appropriations Committee unsuccessfully pushed to include additional measures in the Homeland Security bill to ensure ICE does not deport U.S. citizens, to force ICE agents to use body cameras and to bar ICE agents from shooting at moving vehicles. The bill does reduce funding for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations by $115 million, decrease the number of detention beds by 5,500, set aside funding for body cameras for agents, and reduce funding for Border Patrol. A few Democrats shared their colleagues’ outrage over ICE’s actions but argued that denying Homeland Security funding would also affect other key agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration. The Hill [1/22/2026 6:21 PM, Sophie Brams, 12595K] reports that all but one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), voted for the measure. The seven Democrats who sided with Republicans were Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Laura Gillen (N.Y.), Don Davis (N.C.), Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) and Vicente Gonzalez (Texas). The bill also provides billions of dollars in funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the U.S. Secret Service, the Disaster Relief Fund and other programs and agencies. Suozzi explained his vote earlier Thursday, writing that the measure was the product of “bipartisan negotiations and responsible governing,” framing the vote as necessary to avert a potential government shutdown. “I am voting for the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, not to expand ICE enforcement or add more agents, but to fund the core operations Americans rely on every day, FEMA disaster response, TSA security, Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard, passport processing, and other essential services,” Suozzi wrote on the social platform X. “I strongly oppose allowing another shutdown to disrupt the lives of working families. We saw the damage of a shutdown last year: millions of Americans lost pay and access to essential services,” he added. “Congress has a responsibility to govern, not to lurch from one manufactured crisis to the next.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [1/22/2026 6:20 PM, Catie Edmondson, 135475K]
The Hill [1/22/2026 5:00 PM, Emily Brooks and Sudiksha Kochi, 12595K]
NPR [1/22/2026 5:15 PM, Sam Gringlas, 28013K]
Axios [1/22/2026 5:00 PM, Andrew Solender, 12972K]
NBC News [1/22/2026 5:50 PM, Scott Wong, Sahil Kapur and Kyle Stewart, 34509K]
FOX News [1/22/2026 5:04 PM, Leo Briceno, Alex Miller, Elizabeth Elkind, 40621K]

San Francisco Chronicle [1/22/2026 7:06 PM, Alexei Koseff, 4722K] reports that, further escalating their push to rein in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, House Democrats on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to oppose funding for the federal agency, ramping up pressure on the Senate ahead of a critical deadline next week. The appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, narrowly passed the House 220-207, with seven Democrats joining all but one Republican to support it. But it faces a higher threshold in the Senate, where a three-fifths majority is needed to overcome a filibuster and begin debate. That means at least seven Democrats must cross the aisle to help keep the department funded past Jan. 30, as outrage grows over ICE’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics. The Republican leadership of the Senate could bundle the bill with several other remaining budget measures to squeeze Democrats into avoiding another partial government shutdown. All 43 California House Democrats voted Thursday against the homeland security funding, reflecting a public sentiment that has turned sharply against ICE during President Donald Trump’s second term. “ICE serves no purpose right now other than to terrorize, intimidate and silence Americans,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, where a mass deportation campaign last summer sparked major protests and a controversial National Guard deployment by Trump. “It is one thing to say that you support the original mandate and intent. But it’s another to say you support what’s happening now.” Congressional Democrats are searching for a way to assert more control over ICE, which has faced widespread criticism for an increasingly combative approach under Trump that has swept up citizens and legal residents alongside undocumented immigrants. The fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman as she tried to drive away from an enforcement operation earlier this month rejuvenated the movement to abolish the agency, and even many Democrats from moderate districts and states are deeply discomfited by ongoing revelations, such as ICE eschewing judicial warrants. The homeland security appropriations include about $10 billion for ICE, keeping base funding for the agency steady despite a push by Trump to increase its budget. Bipartisan negotiations in recent weeks also produced a compromise on modest provisions to shift some enforcement money to body cameras, deescalation training and oversight of detention facilities. But Democratic leaders in the House said it was not nearly enough and urged their members to oppose the bill because Republicans refused to include more stringent accountability measures, such as requiring judicial warrants, restricting use of force and banning agents from wearing masks. “We’re supposed to say yes to a dilapidated oversight provision and resources? That’s crazy,” said Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Oakland, who raised concerns about ICE sending detainees to facilities with unsafe conditions and denying them access to attorneys. “The law and order that is expounded by this administration is lawlessness in its essence. We can’t fund that.”

Reported similarly:
Axios [1/22/2026 2:03 PM, Andrew Solender, 12972K]

ABC News [1/22/2026 7:13 PM, Ivan Pereira and Hannah Demissie, 30493K] reports Vice President JD Vance, visiting Minneapolis on Thursday amid growing clashes between federal agents and anti-ICE protesters, said President Donald Trump had given him a "directive" to "meet these guys halfway" on reducing tensions, referring to local officials. He said Trump had told him "work with them so that we can make these immigration enforcement operations successful without endangering our ICE officers, and so that we can turn down the chaos a little bit, at least, I think a lot, actually.” Local and state officials have strongly opposed how the immigration enforcement surge in the city was being carried out. While he repeated calls to all involved to "turn down the temperature" -- even conceding that federal agents had made "mistakes" -- Vance appeared to blame local and state leaders for not doing enough and called on city police to work with federal officials on immigration policy enforcement. Speaking in front of federal agents, Vance said, "That’s what would work in any normal situation that’s what happens in nearly every jurisdiction, red or blue, in the United States of America. The reason it hasn’t happened here is because the local authorities have been told stand down, do not help ICE, promote the agitation but don’t do anything to lower the temperature and lower the chaos. That’s a problem.” "If the ICE officer is being assaulted by a far left agitators, you should help them," Vance said. "And there are a lot of things all of us could do better to lower the temperature but the number one thing I learned today is that the best way to facilitate reasonable enforcement of the law, but also to lower the chaos in Minneapolis, would be for state and local officials to cooperate," he added. "One of the things that I want to send a message to is, yes, come out and protest. Protest me, protest our immigration policy, but do it peacefully," Vance added. "If you assault a law-enforcement officer, the Trump administration and the Department of Justice is going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. And I wanted to show some support for these guys who frankly are operating in a very very tough environment," he added. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The AP [1/22/2026 6:27 PM, Michelle L. Price, Julie Carr Smyth and Steve Peoples, 31753K] reports insisting that he was in Minnesota to calm tensions, Vice President JD Vance on Thursday blamed “far-left people” and state and local law enforcement officials for the chaos that has unfolded during the White House’s aggressive deportation campaign. The Republican vice president said, “We’re doing everything that we can to lower the temperature,” adding that Minnesota leaders should “meet us halfway.” The Justice Department is investigating top Democrats in the state, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, over whether they have obstructed or impeded immigration enforcement through their public criticism of the administration. Walz and Frey have described the investigation as an attempt to bully the political opposition. Federal officers stood in a row behind Vance as he spoke, and there were two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles emblazoned with the slogan “Defend the Homeland.”

Reported similarly:
The Hill [1/22/2026 2:40 PM, Staff, 12595K]
FOX News [1/22/2026 10:42 AM, Paul Steinhauser and Greg Norman-Diamond, 40621K] Video: HERE

Washington Post [1/22/2026 5:42 PM, Natalie Allison and Lauren Kaori Gurley, 24149K] reports two weeks after Vice President JD Vance took over a White House press briefing to excoriate anti-ICE protesters and the news media — and to issue a blanket defense of federal immigration officers — he tried a different tactic. Walking out of a roundtable with immigration enforcement officials Thursday in Minneapolis, where a woman was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier this month, the vice president said his goal was to help lower the temperature in a city roiled by chaos in recent weeks. The vice president’s comments were in tonal contrast with his declaration earlier this month that the officer who fatally shot 37-year-old Renée Good — a woman protesting ICE from inside her vehicle, which federal authorities say struck the officer — was “protected by absolute immunity.” He said Thursday that federal agents who “violate the law” are “going to face disciplinary action,” but that they would not be “judged in the court of public opinion.” Vance’s visit coincided with a tumultuous week in a city that has become ground zero for the Trump administration’s clash with Democratic officials and activists. Vance conceded that he understood the public’s pushback on some of what they have seen unfold during immigration operations in the city. But he called for city and state leaders to allow police to better cooperate with federal agents to keep enforcement efforts more targeted to violent criminals, and he blamed local officials for making the situation more chaotic.

Daily Wire [1/22/2026 12:10 PM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports Vice President JD Vance doesn’t believe there’s a need to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota for the time being, he told The Daily Wire on Thursday. Vance touched down in Minneapolis, meeting with federal immigration officers to assess the chaos on the ground. For weeks following the fatal shooting of an ICE watch activist, left-wing agitators have followed federal agents arresting illegal immigrants across the Twin Cities trying to thwart their actions. "I’ve tried to understand this as well as I possibly could, and my understanding is what invoking the Insurrection Act would allow the federal government to use the military for local law enforcement operations," he told The Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan. "Right now, we don’t think that we need that. Now, the president could change his mind, of course, things could get worse, but right now, we think that federal law enforcement officers can do the job of federal law enforcement. Now, what I do worry about … is if the chaos gets worse, if more and more ICE agents start getting assaulted, if other law enforcement officers start getting assaulted, that would be a real problem," Vance said. In response to the rising tensions, President Donald Trump floated using the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy the military and federalize the National Guard, to stop "professional agitators and insurrectionists" from attacking federal agents. Talk of invoking the Insurrection Act came after a federal agent shot an illegal immigrant who hit the agent with a snow shovel and broom handle as he tried to evade arrest. Vance said the onus is on the Minneapolis Police Department, which he said has stand-down orders preventing local officers from assisting federal immigration agents. "But, again, we have so much federal law enforcement resources here right now, we have so many people here that we do not wanna have here. I do not want so many ICE officers in Minneapolis right now. I mean, good lord, it’s really freaking cold outside, but they’re here not even to enforce immigration laws, but to protect the people from the rioters. That’s an absurd state of affairs and we wouldn’t need it if we had a little bit more cooperation from the Minneapolis Police Department," he said.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [1/22/2026 5:21 PM, Zac Anderson, Corey Schmidt, 67103K]

CBS News [1/22/2026 11:08 PM, Nicole Sganga, 39474K] reports in his visit to Minnesota Thursday, Vice President JD Vance appeared to acknowledge that the Minnesota Department of Corrections, overseen by Gov. Tim Walz, was cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Look, if I was going to list the five agencies locally and statewide I’m most worried about, I wouldn’t put the Department of Corrections on that list," Vance said in a news conference when asked by CBS News if the state was cooperating. "I think that while there are certain things we’d like to see more from them, they’ve hardly been the worst offenders." His acknowledgement came after he implored state leaders to help deescalate the situation in Minneapolis. "What I do think that we can do is working with state and local officials, we can make the worst moments of chaos, much less common, and all they’ve got to do is meet us halfway," Vance said in a news conference. A top Homeland Security official echoed Vance’s appeal – asking local authorities to turn over dangerous criminals. "Please honor our immigration detainers that we’ve lodged against criminal illegal aliens in Minnesota in the state’s jails in prison," Marcus Charles, the head of ICE’s deportation branch, said Thursday in a separate news conference. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [1/22/2026 6:18 PM, Nick Gilbertson, 2416K] reports Vice President JD Vance said during a speech in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Thursday that much of the media lies about the work that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents do. Vance, standing in front of ICE agents, said the agents on hand "are doing an incredible job" and called out media near the top of his remarks. "One of the things I learned is that the guys behind me are doing an incredible job, and frankly, a lot of the media is lying about the job that they do every single day," he said, adding: Now it doesn’t mean that there aren’t occasionally stories out there, there aren’t occasionally videos out there that suggest that these guys, or at least some of the people who work for them are not doing everything right, but very often, if you look at the context of what’s going on, you understand that these people are under an incredible amount of duress, an incredible amount of chaos, and because of a few very far left agitators, a lot of these guys are unable to do their jobs without being harassed, without being doxxed, and sometimes without being assaulted, that’s totally unacceptable. Vance welcomed protests against himself and the administration’s immigration policies, but warned that assaulting law enforcement officers would result in a full-scale prosecution. "Protest me. Protest our immigration policy, but do it peacefully. If you assault a law enforcement officer, the Trump administration and the Department of Justice is going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law," he said.

The Washington Examiner [1/22/2026 1:40 PM, Christian Datoc, 1394K] reports that Vice President JD Vance told the Washington Examiner that the Trump administration will take disciplinary action "when justified" against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who make "mistakes" effectuating President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda. Vance’s comments mark a significant departure from what he told reporters in a White House briefing the day after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. At the time, Vance, like other senior administration officials, suggested that ICE officers have "absolute immunity" while carrying out federal law enforcement proceedings. Vance sat with the Washington Examiner for a half-hour interview while flying from Toledo, Ohio, to Minneapolis on Thursday morning. In Toledo, Vance likened ICE officers to local law enforcement officers, the overwhelming majority of whom he characterized as good actors, but conceded that sometimes "mistakes" are made on the job. In the interview, the Washington Examiner posed to Vance that "law enforcement takes accountability for their mistakes" and that officers face "repercussions" for their actions. The Washington Examiner asked Vance directly if the Trump administration will hand down repercussions to ICE officers over misuses of force or the accidental arrests of American citizens in an effort to "limit" those mistakes or "eliminate them entirely." Bloomberg [1/22/2026 4:27 PM, Jennifer A. Dlouhy, 18207K] reports Vance visited Minneapolis on Thursday, where he sought to defend the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation raids, which have set off street confrontations between demonstrators and immigration agents. The vice president repeatedly insisted that state and local officials have exacerbated problems by directing authorities not to cooperate with ICE, such as by not handing over recent address histories for people suspected of being in the US illegally. Vance said he was seeking to turn down the temperature in Minneapolis but his visit — and the arrests he defended Thursday — risked intensifying frictions instead. CNN [1/22/2026 6:48 PM, Aaron Blake, 606K] reports that Vance, quite notably, has argued that ICE agents have been put in a difficult spot due to a lack of assistance from local law enforcement, whom he specifically blamed for "chaos" in Minneapolis. But it’s looking increasingly like some in the administration have decided they can’t defend ICE too hard. And that’s a very notable shift. Trump got the ball rolling Tuesday. Even the same afternoon that Bovino spoke, the president sounded a different tone during a lengthy briefing at the White House. He brought up ICE making "mistakes" on his own, in the midst of a very lengthy monologue. "You know, they’re going to make mistakes sometimes," Trump volunteered. "ICE is going to be too rough with somebody or – you know, they’re dealing with rough people – or they’re going to make a mistake sometimes. It can happen. We feel terribly.” Trump then quickly pivoted to talking about Good’s death, calling it a "horrible thing" and citing her Trump-supporting father. The president didn’t directly call her killing a "mistake," but it was certainly a softer approach than before. Two weeks ago, he had baselessly accused her of trying to run over the ICE agent, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Good’s actions "domestic terrorism.”

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [1/22/2026 2:49 PM, Staff, 4109K]

NewsMax [1/22/2026 6:40 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K] reports Vice President JD Vance told Newsmax on Thursday that protesters who interrupt church services or assault law enforcement officers "ought to get arrested" and "ought to go to prison," as federal authorities announced charges tied to a disruptive protest in the Twin Cities area. Vance spoke to "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE" during a visit to Minnesota, hours after the Department of Justice announced three arrests connected to a group of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters who interrupted a Jan. 18 service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Demonstrators have claimed a pastor at the church has ties to federal immigration enforcement. "Well, first of all, if you interrupt a church service, you ought to get arrested. You ought to go to prison," Vance said. "And I think we wanted to send a very clear signal at the Department of Justice that you cannot interrupt people’s rightful worship without expecting there to be any consequences," he continued. "In the same token, you can’t assault a law enforcement officer without expecting to get arrested, either.”

NewsMax [1/22/2026 6:52 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports insisting that he was in Minnesota to calm tensions, Vice President JD Vance on Thursday blamed "far-left people" and state and local law enforcement officials for the chaos that has unfolded during the White House’s deportation campaign. The vice president said, "We’re doing everything that we can to lower the temperature," adding that Minnesota leaders should "meet us halfway.” The Justice Department is investigating top Democrats in the state, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, over whether they have obstructed or impeded immigration enforcement through their public criticism of the administration. Walz and Frey have described the investigation as an attempt to bully the political opposition. Federal officers stood in a row behind Vance as he spoke, and there were two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles emblazoned with the slogan "Defend the Homeland.” His visit follows weeks of aggressive rhetoric from the White House, including President Donald Trump, who has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act — and send in military forces — to crack down on unrest. Asked about that option, Vance said, "Right now, we don’t think that we need that.” Trump dispatched thousands of federal agents to Minnesota earlier this month after reports of child care fraud by Somali immigrants. Minneapolis-area officials, including Frey, as well as the police, religious leaders and the business community, have pushed back. And outrage grew after an agent fatally shot Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, during a confrontation this month. Walz said the federal government was to blame for the turmoil.

NBC News [1/22/2026 6:04 PM, Staff, 34509K] reports Vice President JD Vance spoke in Minneapolis where he conceded that federal law enforcement officers have not been perfect in their handling of demonstrations in the Twin Cities. His speech came after the arrest of three protestors who had interrupted a church service to call out a pastor who they said also works for ICE. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/22/2026 4:41 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin highlights Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Minnesota amid unrest in the state and the mainstream media ignoring the criminals Homeland Security is apprehending on ‘America Reports.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The New York Times [1/23/2026 3:35 AM, Jacey Fortin and Lauren McCarthy, 330K] reports the Justice Department said on Thursday that it had arrested three of the demonstrators involved in interrupting a church service in St. Paul, Minn., to protest a pastor’s apparent work as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. Attorney General Pam Bondi, citing the need to protect houses of worship, said on social media that federal agents had arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly in connection with a protest on Sunday at Cities Church that brought service to a stop and prompted some congregants to leave. The demonstration was one of many furious protests across the state after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good two weeks ago in Minneapolis amid a surge of federal agents in the state. Several protest organizers called for the resignation of a pastor at the church, David Easterwood, believing he is also the acting director of ICE’s field office in St. Paul. An ICE official with that name is listed as a defendant in a lawsuit challenging what it says are the agency’s abusive enforcement tactics. Videos of the protest showed dozens of demonstrators chanting “ICE out!” and “David Easterwood, out now!” as they marched through the building. Ms. Levy Armstrong is a lawyer and a former president of the Minneapolis branch of the N.A.A.C.P. Ms. Allen is a member of the St. Paul School Board. William Kelly is an anti-ICE demonstrator who was at the protest and shared footage of it on social media. Efforts to reach all three on Thursday were unsuccessful. According to Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, they were each charged with conspiracy to deprive rights, a federal felony. The move was a rare instance of administration officials directing the arrests of nonviolent protesters, but it was not unexpected. The officials had been broadcasting for days their intention to prosecute demonstrators. “They’re certainly aggressively threatening to prosecute all sorts of people that are perceived as enemies of the administration,” said Rachel Moran, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, before her arrest, Ms. Levy Armstrong, an organizer of the demonstration, said that the Trump administration was “trying to turn a peaceful nonviolent demonstration into a crime.” Mr. Kelly, who spoke to New York Times on Saturday while attending an anti-ICE demonstration outside Minneapolis, said that he was an Army veteran who had served in Iraq. “So I use that angle to tell them, ‘You’re not serving your country. You’re betraying your country,’” he said of immigration enforcement agents. NewsMax [1/22/2026 9:58 AM, Staff, 4109K] reports “Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP," Bondi wrote on X. "WE WILL PROTECT OUR HOUSES OF WORSHIP," Bondi wrote in a second post announcing the arrest of Allen. Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and prominent local activist, had called for the pastor affiliated with ICE to resign, saying his dual role poses a "fundamental moral conflict." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said posted a photo on X of Levy Armstrong with her arms behind her back next to a person wearing a badge. Noem said she faced a charge under a statute that bars threatening or intimidating someone exercising a right. It wasn’t immediately clear what charge Allen would face. Justice Department officials have said in recent days they were considering charging the protesters under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. It’s unclear who Allen’s attorney is. A message to her was not immediately returned.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [1/22/2026 3:41 PM, Jacey Fortin and Lauren McCarthy, 135475K]
Los Angeles Times [1/22/2026 11:40 AM, Alanna Durkin Richer and Giovanna Dell’Orto, 14862K]
Breitbart [1/22/2026 12:02 PM, Amy Furr, 2416K]
The Hill [1/22/2026 11:15 AM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K]
AP [1/22/2026 2:28 PM, Alanna Durkin Richer and Giovanna Dell’orto, 31753K]
NBC News [1/22/2026 2:31 PM, Nicole Acevedo and Ryan J. Reilly, 34509K]
CNN [1/23/2026 4:01 AM, Taylor Romine, 18595K]
Federalist [1/22/2026 12:13 PM, Shawn Fleetwood, 785K]

Axios [1/22/2026 11:25 AM, Nick Halter, 12972K] reports federal agents arrested former NAACP Minneapolis chapter leader Nekima Levy Armstrong and St. Paul School Board member Chauntyll Allen after they protested the church of a pastor who they said runs a local ICE field office, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced. The arrests mark a new front in the administration’s showdown in Minnesota where thousands of federal agents have blanketed the streets prompting widespread protest. In a post on X, Bondi accused Levy Armstrong of playing a "key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul" on Sunday. "Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP," she wrote, adding that there was "more to come." Protestors disrupted service at a church in the affluent neighborhood on historic Summit Avenue after learning one of its pastors is the acting director of St. Paul’s ICE field office. Levy Armstrong has defended the protest, telling MPR News, "You expect someone to align with the teachings of Christianity. Loving thy neighbor, showing care for each other and spreading the Good News. However, when you are also serving as the director of the ICE office in St Paul … that’s a problem." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X that Armstrong was being charged with conspiracy against rights. Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s civil rights office, has said officials are looking at using the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act.

Politico [1/22/2026 5:40 PM, Josh Gerstein, 13586K] reports federal prosecutors sought to charge former CNN journalist Don Lemon in connection with an anti-immigration-enforcement protest that disrupted services at a Minnesota church Sunday, but a magistrate judge declined to approve the charge, two people familiar with the development said. Lemon’s name appeared among eight defendants in a federal court docket reviewed by POLITICO Thursday afternoon. However, a short time later the case disappeared altogether from the public docket. In social media posts, Attorney General Pam Bondi did not mention Lemon, but named three other people arrested Thursday over the protest at Cities Church in St. Paul: Nekima Levy Armstrong, William Kelly and Chauntyll Allen, a member of the St. Paul School Board. “Our nation was settled and founded by people fleeing religious persecution,” Bondi wrote in an X post quickly reposted by the White House. “Religious freedom is the bedrock of this country. We will protect our pastors. We will protect our churches. We will protect Americans of faith.” The people who described the rejected prosecution of Lemon were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. One said Bondi is “enraged at the magistrate judge’s decision.” A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment or to detail the charges against those arrested. A spokesperson for the U.S. District Court in Minnesota said Levy Armstrong and Allen appeared in court Thursday afternoon. Federal courts don’t typically release the names of proposed defendants when prosecutors fail to win approval for a criminal complaint. “The magistrate’s reported actions confirm the nature of Don’s First Amendment protected work this weekend in Minnesota as a reporter,” Lemon’s attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement. “It was no different than what he has done for more than 30 years, reporting and covering newsworthy events on the ground and engaging in constitutionally protected activity as a journalist.” In one video he posted online from the protest, Lemon said: “We’re not part of the activists, but we’re here just reporting on them.” Conservatives have called for criminal charges against the activists who entered the Southern Baptist church on Sunday. Videos posted online by Lemon and others show confusion and chaos during the protest, which organizers said was aimed at Immigration and Customs Enforcement field director David Easterwood, who appears to be one of the pastors there. In one of her social media posts Thursday, Bondi called the church protest an “attack.” On Tuesday night, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said arrests related to the disruption could be expected within hours. The arrests Thursday came shortly before Vice President JD Vance arrived in the Minneapolis area for a planned meeting with ICE agents.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [1/22/2026 11:25 AM, Jeremy Roebuck, Perry Stein, and Praveena Somasundaram, 24149K]
USA Today [1/22/2026 9:34 PM, James Powel and Greta Cross, 67103K]

Reuters [1/22/2026 7:14 PM, Rich Matthews and Aaron Mcnicholas, 36480K] reports U.S. immigration authorities detained at least four children including a 5-year-old from a Minneapolis-area school district this month as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, school district and city officials said on Thursday. The Republican administration has deployed about 3,000 officers around Minnesota’s largest city, where residents have been on edge since an immigration officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen this month. Democrats and local leaders have accused federal agents of aggressive and unnecessary tactics that have left many immigrant communities afraid. The child, Liam Conejo Ramos, aged 5, watched as masked agents took his father from the driveway of their home after the two returned from preschool on Tuesday, according to Rachel James, a Columbia Heights city council member who saw several vehicles blocking half the road near the home. The agents then took the boy, wearing a blue hat and a Spider-Man backpack, and pointed to the back door of the house and motioned for him to knock, she said. "I can’t imagine what was going through Liam’s mind, but I can tell you what I saw on his face. He was frozen and paralyzed," James told Reuters on Thursday. "He was not crying, but he looked so scared." The Department of Homeland Security said that Liam’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, was in the country illegally but did not provide details or mention any criminal history. Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said parents targeted in ICE operations are asked if they want their children taken with them or have them placed with a person designated by the parents. "ICE did NOT target a child," she said, adding that Conejo Arias fled the scene as agents approached, leaving his child behind. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] NBC News [1/22/2026 3:53 PM, Rebecca Cohen and Caroline Radnofsky, 34509K] reports a public school district north of Minneapolis said ICE agents detained four of its students in recent weeks, including a 5-year-old. Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, said in a Wednesday news conference that four of the district’s students had been "taken" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in recent weeks. Two of the students were on their way to school, she said. On Tuesday afternoon, 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were taken into custody by ICE agents in their driveway, just after the child returned home from preschool that day, Stenvik said. She added that another adult who lived in the home and was present at the time of the incident "begged" the agents to let him take care of the kid, but the agents refused. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that "ICE did NOT target a child." McLaughlin said that ICE agents were targeting the boy’s father, and that during the arrest, Conejo Arias "fled on foot — abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child" while agents apprehended the father. "Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates," McLaughlin said in a statement. "This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.” Marc Prokosch, an immigration attorney representing the family, said he believed both father and son are being held in Texas currently. Additionally, on Tuesday, Stenvik said a 17-year-old student was removed from their car and "taken by armed, masked agents alone." Stenvik said no parents were present. Two weeks ago, a 10-year-old student was "taken by ICE agents" while she was on her way to school with her mom, Stenvik said. She called her dad during the arrest to let him know what was happening, and by the end of the school day, both the student and her mother were in a detention center in Texas, where they remain, the superintendent added. And last week, agents "pushed their way into an apartment" and detained a 17-year-old student and her mother, Stenvik said. NBC News has asked DHS for comment on the additional three students Stenvik said were detained by ICE but did not immediately receive a reply. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] FOX News [1/22/2026 3:00 PM, Greg Norman-Diamond, Alex Nitzberg, 40621K] reports White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson condemned what the Trump administration views as the mainstream media working "hand-in-glove with Democrats to spread malicious lies about ICE operations." The comments come as a photo is circulating online purportedly showing a young boy wearing a bunny-shaped winter hat standing next to a black vehicle, with an adult’s hand placed on his backpack. Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik said the boy had been taken by federal agents from a running car while it had been in the family’s driveway Tuesday afternoon. The child, who at the time was arriving home from preschool, was later sent with his father to a detention facility in Texas, The Associated Press reported, citing school officials and the family’s lawyer. The boy and his father were being held in a family holding cell in Texas, Marc Prokosch, the family’s lawyer, said during a news conference Wednesday, according to the AP. The boy is the fourth student from Columbia Heights Public Schools who has been detained by ICE in recent weeks, according to Stenvik.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [1/22/2026 10:40 AM, Neil Munro, 2416K]
ABC News [1/22/2026 11:45 AM, Laura Romero, 30493K]
Houston Chronicle [1/22/2026 4:03 PM, Hallie Golden and Sarah Raza, 31753K]

Washington Examiner [1/22/2026 10:34 AM, Emily Hallas, 1394K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement is receiving backlash over its move to detain children in Minnesota operations. Tensions in the state have escalated, with protests denouncing the killing of Renee Good by an ICE officer she hit with her SUV earlier this month. The agency’s detention of four children in the Columbia Heights Public School District has further fueled anger against ICE officers. Superintendent Zena Stenvik told reporters Wednesday that nearly a third of students in her district have stayed home in recent weeks out of fear of the operations. School officials said two children were taken on Tuesday, including a 17-year-old boy on his way to classes. Later that afternoon, Liam Ramos was also taken. Critics say ICE used the 5-year-old as "bait" to enter his parents’ house. The Department of Homeland Security responded to the backlash in a post on X, asserting that, "ICE did NOT target a child. The child was ABANDONED." "On January 20, ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias an illegal alien from Ecuador who was RELEASED into the U.S. by the Biden administration. As agents approached the driver Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, fled on foot—abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias," DHS said. "Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement. Parents can take control of their departure and receive a free flight and $2,600 with the CBP Home app. By using the CBP Home app illegal aliens reserve the chance to come back the right legal way," the agency added. The Washington Examiner reached out to ICE for comment.

CNN [1/22/2026 2:18 PM, Priscilla Alvarez, Chris Boyette, and Amanda Musa, 606K] reports that a 5-year-old who was taken by federal agents from the driveway of his metro Minneapolis home Tuesday after returning from preschool is being detained with his father at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas, a source familiar with the situation said. The preschooler, Liam Conejo Ramos, was removed from the family’s running car, said Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the school district in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb. ICE posted on X Thursday the agency "did not, and has never, ‘used a child as bait.’ The child was ABANDONED." The Department of Homeland Security said the father, who is from Ecuador, was the intended target of the operation. The two were eventually taken into custody together. According to a source familiar with Tuesday’s situation, the father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, and his young son are being held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, an ICE facility for families. In a statement to CNN, DHS said ICE was conducting an operation to arrest the child’s father when he "fled on foot — abandoning his child.” "For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended" the father, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement to CNN. "We conduct legal, ethical and moral law enforcement missions here in Minneapolis," Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino said Thursday at a news conference. "… I didn’t detain a 5-year-old, and we’re going to continue with that law enforcement mission." The department said the father was released into the US under the Biden administration. The Houston Chronicle [1/22/2026 1:38 PM, Benjamin Wermund, 2983K] reports that the agency claimed the father fled on foot as officers tried to arrest him and agents “remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias.” “Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the agency, in a public statement. “This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement. Parents can take control of their departure and receive a free flight and $2,600 with the CBP Home app.”

CNN [1/23/2026 12:01 AM, Audrey Romjue, 18595K] reports Pastor Sergio Amezcua, a family friend of a 5-year-old detained by ICE, says agents used the child to draw his pregnant mother out of the house so they could arrest her. He denounces the tactic, drawing comparisons between ICE’s actions in Minnesota and cartels in Mexico. “Cartels don’t target kids or pregnant women,” Amezcua says. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [1/22/2026 6:24 PM, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Sonia A. Rao, 135475K] reports that a 5-year-old boy wearing a Spider-Man backpack and an oversized hat was detained with his father by immigration authorities on Tuesday, one of four students recently apprehended in a suburban Minneapolis school district, school officials said. The prekindergarten pupil, Liam Conejo Ramos, is pictured in a photo released by the school system as he stands next to a vehicle with an adult’s hand on his backpack. His father is not in sight. The image prompted outrage in the Twin Cities area, where many people have been angered since mid-December by the Trump administration’s surge in deportation operations. “Why detain a 5-year-old?” Zena Stenvik, the superintendent of schools in Columbia Heights, Minn., asked at a news conference about the episode on Wednesday. Exactly what happened during the arrest, on a snow-covered block in Columbia Heights, is in dispute. The small school district and the federal government have given conflicting accounts. The boy and his father were taken to Dilley, Texas, outside San Antonio, where they are being held at an immigration detention center, according to Marc Prokosch, a lawyer working with the family. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that when the agents sought to detain the father, he fled on foot and left Liam behind in the vehicle. Ms. McLaughlin did not suggest that Mr. Conejo Arias had any criminal record, and he does not appear in any Minnesota criminal court records.

Washington Post [1/22/2026 6:56 PM, Philip Kennicott, 24149K] reports a viral image of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos shows the boy in a blue knit hat with white bunny ears and pompoms, standing with a blank look on his face, staring at the back of a truck. Liam and his father were captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minnesota on Tuesday, and both are now detained in San Antonio, more than 1,200 miles from Liam’s home, his school, his friends and most of his family. School officials in Minnesota say that the prekindergarten student was used “as bait” by ICE, in an apparent attempt to gain access to the adults inside the private house where he once lived. That act, the use of a boy too young to understand the political game in which he became a pawn, mirrors in a perverse and deeply disturbing way the power of the photograph. The photograph stirs empathy and compassion, the same emotions that ICE agents apparently used to entice adults into making themselves vulnerable to capture. In the photograph, the hat functions the way toys or pets function in classic portraits of children, such as Dirck Santvoort’s portrait of a small girl with a goldfinch in London’s National Gallery or the tiny lapdog in Mary Cassatt’s “Little Girl in a Blue Arm Chair” in Washington’s National Gallery of Art. It underscores his tender years and innocence, while reminding us that childhood isn’t just about age. It is a condition of existence created, sustained and protected by adults. The hat tells us not only that there is someone close to him who loves and cares for him, but also that all of us, as adults, owe to children the right to live free from the suffering and meanness that so often define the world of adulthood. We must certainly never co-opt them into our guile or cruelty. Much of what we know about the image must be surmised: that he is bewildered and terrified. What is the evidence for these suppositions? A basic sense of human empathy. It is not a strongly constructed photograph and was probably never meant to be. It is evidence, forensic data, snatched from the slipstream of human barbarity, probably by a cellphone camera. But its accidental composition accentuates the boy’s helplessness, and by extension, our own compassion for children standing in the bitter cold, torn from the protection of their parents, subject to the brutal treatment of adults. The boy stares at the truck, as we might stare at a wall if brought to the point of complete moral despair, complete loss of faith in too many of our fellow citizens.

Univision [1/22/2026 3:54 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, taken into custody by ICE in Minneapolis, may have been transferred to San Antonio, Texas, according to social media reports. In a statement, Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro said the minor might be in San Antonio and that his team is trying to locate him in the state’s detention centers. Castro said he has already requested information from the ICE office in San Antonio, but they have not provided any information or confirmed that the child is in San Antonio or in any other detention center in another city in Texas. When asked why he didn’t immediately go to the detention centers, Castro said, in a video posted to his X account, that the Trump administration is taking seven days to authorize a review of any federal facility. Liam Conejo Ramos, 5 years old, is a child who was allegedly detained by ICE when he was returning home from school. The child was allegedly used by ICE as "bait" to arrest his father, Adrián Alexander Conejo Arias, an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador. The alleged “detention” caused controversy on social media, and it wasn’t until Thursday, January 22, that the Department of Homeland Security clarified that ICE did not detain the child, but rather that the minor was abandoned after his father tried to evade federal agents. As of Thursday, the whereabouts of the minor were still unknown, but it had been reported that he might be in a detention center in Texas.

Reuters [1/23/2026 2:50 AM, Ryan Brooks, 36480K] reports U.S. immigration authorities detained at least four children including a five-year-old from a Minneapolis-area school district this month as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, school district and city officials said on Thursday. In a visit to the city, Vice President JD Vance defended the enforcement actions of thousands of federal agents there. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] Breitbart [1/22/2026 4:31 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports Vice President JD Vance is debunking an establishment media claim, circulated repeatedly by Democrats online, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a five-year-old boy in Minnesota this week. The claim went viral after Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) posted a local news article wherein Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik suggested ICE took custody of a five-year-old boy who was being driven to school by his illegal alien father. In reality, ICE agents said they had no choice but to stay with the five-year-old boy, identified as Liam Ramos, after his illegal alien father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, took off without him when agents approached Arias’s vehicle.

FOX News [1/22/2026 3:00 PM, Anders Hagstrom, Matt Finn, 40621K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued detainers Thursday against three alleged MS-13 members accused of murdering a 14-year-old boy in Maryland, Fox News has learned. ICE says the three suspects — Alan Josai Garcia Padilla, Jose Vladimir Merlos-Majano and William Ariel Cuellar Guiterrez — are all illegal immigrants from El Salvador. Authorities in College Park, Maryland, say the victim, Jefferson Amaya-Ayala, was lured to a public park and murdered Aug. 2. "This heinous murder of a child by MS-13 gang members is reprehensible. This murder was completely preventable. All three of these gang members had prior run-ins with law enforcement. ICE should have been notified following their arrests," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Two of the migrants, Garcia-Padilla and Guiterrez, had previously been arrested and released under former President Joe Biden’s administration. Both had been brought up on gun-related charges. Merlos-Majano also had previous arrests for defacing public property and possession of a prohibited weapon.

NewsMax [1/22/2026 12:07 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K] reports that the Pentagon is moving to send dozens of military lawyers to Minneapolis to help with federal prosecutions amid an immigration enforcement crackdown, CBS News reported. "Ideally have significant experience in criminal prosecution, civil litigation, administrative law, immigration law, general litigation, or other related fields," the request said, according to CNN. The assignment would begin in March. The Justice Department is "laser focused on rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, and has already charged dozens of defendants from Minnesota who’ve defrauded the American people," a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. "Ensuring fraudsters, including refugees laundering American tax dollars, are held accountable is a top priority for this Administration, and this whole of government approach will continue until justice is served," the statement continued. Minneapolis has remained on edge as heavily armed federal officers roam the streets, rounding up suspects they assert are dangerous criminal immigration violators while sometimes ensnaring law-abiding U.S. citizens. Officers have been met with throngs of demonstrators conducting their own patrols, blowing warning whistles and chanting at the agents.

NewsMax [1/22/2026 3:44 PM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4109K] reports federal immigration agents working in Minneapolis are facing escalating confrontations with protesters, but local police are not responding when agents call for help as situations intensify, Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino said on Thursday. Bovino pointed to an encounter on Wednesday in which he said a large group of demonstrators confronted him, and he threw a tear gas canister into the crowd after issuing a warning. He also described an incident involving two off-duty agents who he said were confronted by "agitators" inside a restaurant for about 40 minutes. Bovino said the agents attempted to call Minneapolis Police for help, but "they never showed up," and a tactical team ultimately had to extract them.

AP [1/22/2026 12:33 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports Gregory Bovino urged more cooperation from local and state officials and blamed protests on an “influx of anarchists.” When asked if there was a number of arrests agents were hoping to target, he said: “There is a number and it’s called all of them.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [1/22/2026 10:54 AM, Sophie Garnett, 18595K] reports video from Minneapolis shows a clash between federal agents and protesters on Wednesday. Border Patrol Commander at Large Gregory Bovino was filmed throwing a canister into a crowd. According to a DHS statement, agents “had to use crowd control measures to disperse the hostile crowd.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
AP [1/22/2026 2:07 PM, Staff, 31753K]

AP [1/22/2026 6:25 PM, Sophia Tareen, 852K] reports a man accused of offering a $10,000 bounty over Snapchat for the life of a top Border Patrol leader was found not guilty on Thursday in the first criminal trial stemming from the Chicago-area immigration crackdown that started last year. Jurors deliberated less than 4 hours before returning the favorable verdict for 37-year-old Juan Espinoza Martinez. He faced one count of murder-for-hire and up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Testimony lasted mere hours in the federal trial that was the latest test of the Trump administration’s credibility on federal surges that have played out from Minnesota to Maine. Espinoza Martinez, who wore a suit and tie, listened intently with his arms crossed near his stomach. He hugged his attorneys and shook their hands after court adjourned. Attorneys for the defense declined comment. Prosecutors did not address reporters waiting in the lobby of the federal court in downtown Chicago. Neither did jurors. At the heart of the government’s case were Snapchat messages sent from Espinoza Martinez to his younger brother and a friend who turned out to be a government informant. One read in part “10k if u take him down,” along with a picture of Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who has led aggressive crackdowns nationwide, including in the Chicago area. “Those words do not indicate that this was a joke,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Yonan told jurors during Thursday’s closing arguments. “Those words have meaning. They are not innocent and harmless words.” But defense attorneys said the government didn’t show any evidence against Espinoza Martinez who sent the messages as “neighborhood gossip” after coming home from work and unwinding with beers. He didn’t follow up on the exchanges and had only a few dollars in his bank account. “Sending a message about gossip that you heard in the neighborhood, it’s not murder for hire,” his defense attorney Dena Singer told jurors. “It’s not a federal crime.” Her office did not return a message seeking comment after the verdict. Neither did the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago or the Department of Homeland Security.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [1/22/2026 5:45 PM, Joe Barrett and Mariah Timms, 646K]
NewsNation [1/22/2026 6:26 PM, Staff, 8017K]

FOX News [1/22/2026 8:02 AM, Rachel Wolf, 40621K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed on Wednesday that anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agitators in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area had escalated to blocking Border Patrol agents attempting to do mundane tasks, including using the bathroom. As the agents took bathroom breaks at gas stations, "hostile crowds" reportedly "repeatedly harassed and blocked" them, according to DHS. "At each gas station where the agents stopped to use the restroom, groups of agitators appeared, yelled at them, stalked them and even tried to prevent law enforcement vehicles from leaving, creating unsafe conditions," DHS said in a post on X. "At one stop, individuals in the crowd threw food at the agents. At their final gas station stop, someone spit on an agent," the department added. "When an agent moved to detain the person who spit on him, the crowd tackled and attacked the agents while surrounding them." The department said that the agents were forced to use crowd control measures to disperse the agitators.

New York Times [1/22/2026 11:20 PM, Tiffany Hsu, Alan Feuer, and Stuart A. Thompson, 135475K] reports the White House posted a digitally altered image showing a demonstrator involved in interrupting a church service in Minnesota last weekend crying as she was arrested on Thursday. A previous version of the image, also posted by an official government account, showed her looking forward calmly. When asked about its post, the White House pointed to a message on X from Kaelan Dorr, the deputy communications director, who wrote, “Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.” The Justice Department said on Thursday morning that it had taken the demonstrator, Nekima Levy Armstrong, a lawyer, into custody, accusing her of helping to interrupt a church service in St. Paul, Minn., on Sunday. Demonstrators had gathered on Sunday to protest a pastor’s apparent connection to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Less than an hour after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest on X on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted an image of the arrest on the same social media platform. In Ms. Noem’s image, Ms. Levy Armstrong appears composed, walking in front of a law enforcement agent whose face is blurred out. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, shared Ms. Noem’s post. Roughly a half-hour after Ms. Noem sent her message, the White House posted its own version of the arrest image, in which Ms. Levy Armstrong appears to be sobbing. Her skin appears to have been darkened. The arresting agent in Ms. Noem’s image is in exactly the same position. The New York Times ran the image used by Ms. Noem as well as the one posted by the White House through Resemble.AI, an A.I. detection system. It concluded that Ms. Noem’s image was real but that the White House’s version showed signs of manipulation on Ms. Levy Armstrong’s face. The Times was able to create images nearly identical to the White House’s version by asking Gemini and Grok — generative A.I. tools from Google and Elon Musk’s xAI start-up — to alter Ms. Noem’s original image. President Trump and his circle are enthusiastic distributors of A.I.-generated content, having shared dozens of synthetic images in recent years. Often, the visuals are obviously artificial, including posts in the past year showing Mr. Trump as a king and as a fighter pilot dropping excrement on demonstrators. The doctored photograph could end up hindering the Justice Department’s nascent prosecution of Ms. Levy Armstrong.

AP [1/23/2026 2:57 AM, Giovanna Dell’Orto, 31753K] reports a vast network of labor unions, progressive organizations and clergy has been urging Minnesotans to stay away from work, school and stores Friday to protest against immigration enforcement in the state. “We really, really want I.C.E. to leave Minnesota, and they’re not going to leave Minnesota unless there’s a ton of pressure on them,” said Kate Havelin of Indivisible Twin Cities, one of the more than 100 groups that is mobilizing. “They shouldn’t be roaming any streets in our country just the way they are now.” The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have seen daily protests since Renee Good was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during an operation on Jan. 7. Federal law enforcement officers have surged in the area for weeks and have repeatedly squared off with community members and activists who track their movements online and in streets. On Thursday, a prominent civil rights attorney and at least two other people involved in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a Sunday service at a Minnesota church were arrested. Vice President JD Vance visited Minneapolis to meet with ICE officials. He said repeatedly that he believed the fraught situation in Minneapolis would improve upon better cooperation from state and local officials, and he encouraged protests to remain peaceful. Friday’s mobilization was planned as the largest coordinated protest action to date, including a march in downtown Minneapolis despite dangerously cold temperatures that the National Weather Service forecast in the single to double digits below zero (-20 to -30 degrees Celsius). While organizations have asked participants to prepare for the cold, Havelin compared the presence of immigration enforcement to just such winter weather warnings. “Minnesotans understand that when we’re in a snow emergency … we all have to respond and it makes us do things differently,” she said. “And what’s happening with ICE in our community, in our state, means that we can’t respond as business as usual.” More than a hundred small businesses in the Twin Cities, largely coffee shops and restaurants, said they would close in solidarity or donate part of their profits, organizers said. Ethnic businesses especially have lost sales during enforcement surges as both workers and customers stay away fearing they would be detained. But some are deciding to close anyway, preferring to take a stance in solidarity rather than the “unscheduled interruption” of having agents apprehend staff, said Luis Argueta of Unidos MN, a civil rights group. Many schools were planning to be closed for a variety of reasons. The University of Minnesota, which has about 50,000 students enrolled, said there would be no in-person classes because of the extreme cold warning, and the St. Paul public school district said there would no classes for the same reason. Minneapolis Public Schools were also scheduled to be closed Friday “for a teacher record keeping day.”

Washington Post [1/22/2026 6:27 PM, Frances Vinall, Arelis R. Hernández, and Maria Sacchetti, 24149K] reports an Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo instructs agents and officers that they can enter a person’s home to arrest them without a judicial warrant, a move that immigration lawyers and advocates say violates the Constitution. The memo was included in a disclosure to senators by Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit legal organization, based on information provided by two of their clients, government employees who are not named in the document. It requests that lawmakers investigate its claims. The memo was separately shared with The Washington Post and was first reported by the Associated Press. Several people with direct knowledge confirmed the directive existed but said they did not know whether it was widely shared within the agency. The policy was issued in May and has been carried out in places such as Texas, the disclosure alleges. The Post could not independently confirm where it has been put into practice. The memo, signed by Todd M. Lyons, acting director of ICE, gives the agency broad authority to enter homes to arrest immigrants. Officers are instructed that they can use a Form I-205 to force entry into a private residence. A Form I-205 is signed by an immigration enforcement official and authorizes an arrest following a final order of removal. The memo advises ICE officers and agents to “use only a necessary and reasonable amount of force” to enter the home of someone who has a removal order and does not grant them permission to enter. In an emailed statement, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin did not dispute the authenticity of the memo and said that every person subject to a Form I-205 has “had full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge.” “For decades, the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized the propriety of administrative warrants in cases of immigration enforcement,” she added.

AP [1/23/2026 1:02 AM, Julie Watson and Amy Taxin, 19051K] reports that, since coming to the United States 30 years ago from Mexico, Fernando Perez said U.S. immigration officers have stopped by his home numerous times, but he has never once answered the door. "There are rules and I know them," said Perez, speaking in a mix of English and Spanish in a Home Depot parking lot where he has routinely sought work as a day laborer from contractors and people renovating their homes. Over the decades it has become common knowledge in immigrant communities across the country to not open the door for federal immigration officers unless they show a warrant signed by a judge. The Supreme Court has long held that the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure prohibits the government’s forced entry into someone’s home. As a result, immigration officers have been forced to adapt by making arrests in public, which often requires long hours of surveillance outside homes as they wait to nab someone walking to the street. But an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press states immigration officers can forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, marking a dramatic shift that could upend the legal advice given to immigrants for decades. The shift comes as President Donald Trump’s administration dramatically expands immigration arrests nationwide under a mass deportation campaign that is already reshaping enforcement tactics in cities such as Minneapolis. Perez said officers in the past would knock, wait and then move on. "But if they are going to start coming into my home, where I am paying the rent — they are not paying the rent — that’s the last straw," he said. Most immigration arrests have been carried out under administrative warrants, documents issued by immigration authorities that authorize an arrest. Traditionally they do not permit officers to enter private spaces without consent. Only warrants signed by independent judges have carried that authority. It is unclear how broadly the memo’s directive has been applied in immigration enforcement operations. AP witnessed ICE officers ramming through the front door of a Liberian man’s home in Minneapolis on Jan. 11 with only an administrative warrant, wearing heavy tactical gear and with their rifles drawn. Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut is demanding congressional hearings on the ICE memo and calling on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for an explanation. "Every American should be terrified by this secret ICE policy authorizing its agents to kick down your door and storm into your home," Blumenthal said in a news release.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [1/22/2026 10:35 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12595K]

NBC News [1/22/2026 11:29 AM, Staff, 34509K] reports an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement document in May shows that ICE told officers and agents they can forcibly enter homes of people subject to deportation without warrants signed by judges. The memo was shared with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., by two whistleblowers. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [1/22/2026 7:19 PM, Michael Williams, 606K] reports that, with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo that allows officers to enter homes without a judicial warrant, the Trump administration is seeking to usurp guardrails that are enshrined in the Fourth Amendment and have protected Americans’ civil liberties for centuries, experts in constitutional law and immigration policy told CNN. Even in an administration that has always pushed an expansive vision of its law enforcement authority, the directive is notable for the way it tosses aside longstanding prohibitions against warrantless searches on private property — a legal concept that predates the creation of the United States and is among the country’s most foundational principles. "The Bill of Rights, we thought, were the first 10 amendments," said Mark Graber, a constitutional law scholar and University of Maryland professor. With the newly discovered memo, he said: "I guess now we’re down to nine.” Immigration officials had typically sought the arrests of undocumented people through two means: a judicial warrant, which is signed and authorized by a judge, or an administrative warrant, which is signed by people who work in the executive branch and fall under the purview of the president. A critical difference between the two is that judicial warrants allow law enforcement to enter and search a person’s home or a non-public area of a business, while administrative warrants do not. Most immigration arrests are carried out under administrative warrants because they require a lower bar to issue, and Trump administration officials have long harbored frustrations over limitations on officers pursuing targets on private property. The internal memo, which was issued in May 2025 but revealed by a whistleblower complaint and first reported by the Associated Press on Wednesday, authorizes ICE officers to forcefully enter homes using only administrative warrants, essentially bypassing the neutral, third-party arbiters who would have reviewed evidence before signing a judicial warrant. Administrative warrants are signed by ICE officers after an immigration judge orders the removal of an undocumented immigrant. But these immigration judges work for the Department of Justice at the pleasure of the attorney general, and the Trump administration refers to them as "deportation judges.” The history of the Fourth Amendment is rife with examples of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies seeking to challenge or whittle away its protections. But this memo, Mauleón said, is "not the sort of incremental wearing down that we’ve seen over time.” "It is what you might think of as crossing the Rubicon," he said. "It is declaring that the fundamental protections that every court has recognized up to this point just don’t apply to DHS and to immigration stops.” The Department of Homeland Security defended the directive in a statement in which spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said people who are served administrative warrants already had "full due process and a final order of removal.”

Breitbart [1/22/2026 6:08 PM, Neil Munro, 2416K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is debunking media claims that deportation officers are violating the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment when they enter houses to arrest foreigners who have their due process and "Final Order" of deportation from federal judges. "What the Department of Homeland Security really has proposed to the Department of Justice, is that we can get administrative warrants to enforce administrative immigration law," under constitutional terms, Vice President JD Vance told reporters at a press conference in Minnesota.

(B) Local 10 News at 9AM [1/22/2026 9:12 AM, Staff]
Democratic Senator Blumenthal wants Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to appear before Congress in a letter sent to the Senate Homeland Security Committee and Judiciary Committee. Blumenthal says that Noem and acting ICE chief Todd Lyons need to testify regarding an internal memo that authorized ICE officers to go into people’s homes even without a warrant from a judge. In Washington, House Democrats are trying to use ICE’s budget to force new restrictions on the agency. The new funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security includes tens of millions of dollars for new training and body cameras for ICE. However, Democratic leaders plan to vote against the measure, saying it does not do enough to rein in the agency’s aggressive tactics. Even with the growing Democratic opposition, Republicans will likely have enough support to pass the bill on their own.

New York Post [1/22/2026 4:50 PM, Ryan King, 42219K] reports a staggering 2.2 million illegal immigrants "voluntarily self-deported" since January of last year, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said. "To celebrate one year of this administration, the U.S. taxpayer is generously increasing the incentive to leave voluntarily for those in this country illegally — offering a $2,600 exit bonus," Noem announced. "Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return." Nearly 3 million illegal immigrants have been deported overall during President Trump’s first year in office, the Department of Homeland Security said. The 2.2 million voluntary exits dwarf the 675,000 deportations through more aggressive means, such as being forced out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Noem claimed that "tens of thousands" have since used that reworked program. "In the last year, fentanyl trafficking at the southern border has also been cut by more than half compared to the same period in 2024," Noem crowed earlier this week. "The U.S. Coast Guard alone seized enough cocaine to kill more than 177 million Americans."

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [1/22/2026 12:29 PM, Staff, 4109K]

New York Times [1/22/2026 5:15 PM, Mattathias Schwartz, 135475K] reports a federal appeals court on Thursday considered whether the United States was in fact suffering an “invasion” by the “hybrid criminal state” of Venezuela, as President Trump argued in March when he invoked an 18th century war power to deport migrants. In what is known as an “en banc” hearing, all 17 active-status judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard roughly an hour of arguments about whether the administration could lawfully use Mr. Trump’s proclamation to summarily deport immigrants it accused of having ties to a violent Venezuelan gang under the Alien Enemies Act, a 227-year-old wartime law. In September, a three-judge panel of the court ruled 2 to 1 that Mr. Trump’s proclamation had wrongly declared an “invasion or predatory incursion,” but the full court agreed to rehear the matter this week. On Thursday, the government argued that Mr. Trump’s proclamation was “conclusive” and that the judges would be overstepping their role to second-guess its findings about what constituted an invasion.

Washington Post [1/22/2026 11:50 AM, Tim Craig, John D. Harden, and Carson TerBush, 24149K] reports the United States remains in a multiyear trend of falling rates of homicides and other crimes in cities nationwide, ushering in a period of relative safety that rivals the years before the pandemic, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from more than 100 police departments. The drop in both violent and property crime has extended throughout the country. Rates of aggravated assault and burglary hit their lowest point last year since the start of the pandemic in 2020, when a surge of public safety issues rattled elected officials, law enforcement and the public. The most striking changes are seen in homicide data. Homicides tumbled by about 38 percent since 2020 in 52 of the largest cities, some of which are now recording the fewest murders in half a century. Mass shootings, defined as incidents in which four or more victims die, are at their lowest level since The Washington Post began tracking such cases in 2006. Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami, called the declining crime rates an "everywhere and all-crime phenomena" that suggests the trajectory will be sustained into future years. "This is a real trend that we are seeing, and I have no reason to think, barring another pandemic, that we are not going to continue to see the declines going forward," said Piquero, who is a former director of the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Daily Caller [1/22/2026 12:22 PM, Ireland Owens, 835K] reports the U.S. murder rate in 2025 plunged to its lowest level in over a century, according to a report released Thursday. The average reported homicide rate declined 21% in 35 major U.S. cities in 2025, marking the largest one-year drop of all time and likely the lowest level since 1900, according to data compiled by the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ). Meanwhile, 11 of 13 tracked offenses were lower in 2025 compared to in 2024, while nine of the offenses declined by 10% or more, according to the report. The newly released report found that there were 9% fewer aggravated assaults, 22% fewer gun assaults and 2% fewer domestic violence incidents reported in 2025 compared to in 2024. Meanwhile, total robberies declined by 23% last year, while carjackings dropped by 43%, according to the report. Drug-related crimes were up 7% in 2025, marking the sole category which increased, the CCJ’s report found. "President Trump campaigned on Making America Safe Again and he is delivering," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Thursday in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. "Whether it be deporting criminal illegal aliens, supporting law enforcement officers, or finally being tough on criminals, the Trump Administration has employed a whole-of-government approach to drive down crime and make communities safer.”

Reported similarly:
FOX News [1/22/2026 12:35 PM, Michael Ruiz and Julia Bonavita, 40621K]

Bloomberg News [1/22/2026 4:15 PM, Jacqueline Thomsen, 91K] reports conservative members of the Fifth Circuit signaled they might defer to President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, as they wrestled with what else the court would have to rule on if they declined to examine the facts behind his proclamation. Judge James Ho, a Trump appointee to the court, said the political branches may be better suited to question the use of the wartime law to remove alleged Venezuelan gang members. "The judiciary is not the only solution to the woes of America," he said. Judge Cory Wilson, another Trump appointee, focused on what role the circuit has in considering the law, if the judges don’t examine the facts behind Trump’s declaration. He and other judges pressed Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign to lay out where the line is on deference to the executive in the case. Ensign said the court should take the president at his word, and any factual review of the law’s invocation should be "highly deferential." Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, a George W. Bush appointee, raised the "British invasion" of bands like The Beatles as a "fanciful" example of when a president might invoke the law. American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt warned the court against giving the executive unlimited deference on a law he said can only be invoked during times of war, and wasn’t intended for this scenario. The case, which the Fifth Circuit heard en banc Thursday, is one of many legal efforts to rein in Trump’s hardline immigration agenda. A divided three-judge panel in September found the Trump administration couldn’t use the wartime law to justify the removal of alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. The Fifth Circuit began considering the legality of the action after the Supreme Court said in May that the appeals court was wrong to have dismissed an appeal from Venezuelans seeking to block their apparent imminent deportation. "We recognize the significance of the Government’s national security interests as well as the necessity that such interests be pursued in a manner consistent with the Constitution," the high court said in an unsigned order. "In light of the foregoing, lower courts should address AEA cases expeditiously.”

Chicago Tribune [1/22/2026 7:02 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports a federal judge in Chicago on Thursday officially dismissed a lawsuit that led to her landmark injunction limiting the use of force by immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz. Though U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis agreed to dismiss the case “without prejudice,” which leaves open the possibility that the claims could be reinstated, it marked an anticlimactic end to a case that made national headlines as one of the first to challenge the tactics of immigration officials on the ground. Ellis’ granting of the plaintiffs’ request to drop the case was largely a foregone conclusion. The judge did, however, press the pause button on making a decision after the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Ellis told the parties at that time she still had concerns over her obligation to protect the class of journalists, clergy and other protesters certified in the lawsuit, noting “if I dismiss this case the preliminary injunction ceases to exist.” On Thursday, in addition to dismissing the suit, Ellis also decertified the class. The case brought by the Chicago Headline Club and other media groups led to a sweeping preliminary injunction by Ellis in November limiting the use of tear gas and other chemical munitions against members of the media and protesters and also requiring agents to wear body cameras and clear identification. The plaintiffs moved to drop the suit last month, however, following ominous signs from the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which called Ellis’ order overbroad and a potential infringement on the separation of powers. In the request, the plaintiffs claimed victory, saying Bovino and his surge of agents left town soon after Ellis’ injunction was entered on Nov. 8 and that there had been no reports of any unconstitutional behavior by agents in the weeks that followed.

Breitbart [1/22/2026 6:44 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on four funding bills Thursday to avert another government shutdown ahead of the Jan. 30 deadline. It voted 214-213 on the rule, which allows debate and two separate votes on their passage later Thursday. One will include funding of the Departments of Defense, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor and other agencies. A Department of Homeland Security funding bill will have a separate vote. The Homeland Security bill would give billions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Transportation Security Administration, the Secret Service and more. The Homeland Security appropriations bill has seen opposition from Democrats since the deadly shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Democrats are demanding ICE reforms. The bill reduces funding for ICE enforcement and removal operations by $115 million, while keeping the overall budget for the agency flat, House Democrats said in a press release Tuesday. There are new restrictions on the department’s ability to allocate funds if it doesn’t comply with reporting rules as well as new training requirements and $20 million for body cameras for ICE agents. But many said they would oppose it despite concessions. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said Wednesday he and other leaders would vote against the bill "unless there were substantive changes," CBS News reported. "We shared our feelings with the [House Democratic] caucus," Aguilar said. "But ultimately I imagine that members will vote their districts and they will judge the bill on the substance.” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said he believes the Homeland Security funding bill will pass because Democrats on the Appropriations Committee support it.

FOX News [1/22/2026 8:28 AM, Taylor Penley, 40621K] reports Video: HERE grieving Illinois father blasted sanctuary city "chaos" on Thursday as protests rage in Minnesota, arguing that lax immigration enforcement cost his 20-year-old daughter her life. "There’s no consideration for families like ours — just an innocent young girl killed in the streets of JB Pritzker’s Urbana, Illinois," Joe Abraham told "Fox & Friends First.” "When you nullify, as he did, federal immigration law, and then you don’t put in any process or guardrails, any common sense… basically what you’ve done is created your own immigration policy," he said. "That’s very disheartening." Abraham’s daughter, Katie, was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Jan. 2025 after a drunk-driving illegal alien slammed into the vehicle she was riding in with friends — a case that later prompted the Trump administration to launch "Operation Midway Blitz" in her honor. A second young woman, 21-year-old Chloe Polzin of Deerfield, Illinois, died from her injuries the following day. The driver, Julio Cucul-Bol, was a Guatemalan national using a Mexican alias, Abraham previously told Fox News Digital. He is serving a 30-year prison sentence after reaching a plea deal with the Champaign County State’s Attorney.

Free Beacon [1/22/2026 2:49 PM, Meghan Blonder, 411K] reports DHS plans to rearrest Columbia University encampment leader Mahmoud Khalil and deport him to Algeria, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said on Wednesday. "Are there plans now to rearrest [Khalil] and continue with deportation proceedings?" NewsNation host Katie Pavlich asked McLaughlin. "There are," McLaughlin replied. "And it looks like he’ll go to Algeria. That’s what the thought is right now.” "It’s a reminder for those who are in this country on a visa or on a green card," she added. "You are a guest in this country. Act like it. It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study. And if you’re pushing propaganda that relishes the killings of Americans or promotes terrorists, door’s that way.” McLaughlin’s announcement comes less than a week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit threw out a district court order that released Khalil from detention, ruling he could be rearrested and deported. That decision could also provide the Trump administration with new legal justifications against other foreign nationals it’s aiming to deport over anti-Semitic activities.

Reported similarly:
Daily Caller [1/22/2026 10:20 AM, Jason Hopkins, 835K]
Daily Wire [1/22/2026 1:42 PM, Jennie Taer, 2494K]

New York Times [1/23/2026 12:06 AM, Zach Montague, 135475K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally approved the deportation of five student activists last year after receiving memos largely describing their participation in pro-Palestinian protests and their writings about the war in Gaza, according to internal government documents unsealed by a federal judge on Thursday. The documents reveal new details about how the Trump administration decided to target the activists, who were all foreign students visible in campus protests. They had been in the United States legally but were arrested and threatened with deportation last spring. The several hundred pages were submitted as evidence in a trial held in Massachusetts in July over noncitizen students’ freedom of expression. After hearing testimony and examining the documents, Judge William G. Young, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, ruled last year that the Trump administration had illegally targeted the students for deportation based on their speech — in particular their opposition to the Israeli government and its military operations in Gaza. Judge Young had acceded to requests from the government to seal the documents because of details they contained about federal investigations. But last week he agreed to a request from The New York Times and other media outlets that they be released as a matter of public interest. The documents include several batches of memos, prepared by the Department of Homeland Security and sent to the State Department, which contained the formal recommendations that five students — Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, Mohsen Mahdawi, Badar Khan Suri and Yunseo Chung — be deported. The documents indicate that in nearly all instances, the arrests of the students were recommended based on their involvement in campus protests and public writings, activities that the Trump administration routinely equated to antisemitic hate speech and support for terrorist organizations. They also show that officials privately anticipated the possibility that the deportations might not hold up in court because much of the conduct highlighted could be seen as protected speech. “Given the potential that a court may consider his actions inextricably tied to speech protected under the First Amendment, it is likely that courts will scrutinize the basis for this determination,” read one memo describing the effort to deport Mr. Madhawi, who had a green card and was an undergraduate at Columbia University at the time of his arrest.

New York Times [1/22/2026 10:37 AM, Vanessa Friedman, 135475K] reports first the masks, then the coat. Ever since ICE agents began to spread out across American cities, their uniforms have been points of contention. Clothes have become symbols of the battle over Trump administration immigration and deportation policies, their enforcement and the debate over whether those policies are a tool of authoritarianism or a justified reaction to an untenable situation. The face masks (or buffs or gaiters or scarfs) worn by agents that hide them from the eyes of the public, or protect them, depending on the point of view, were the initial point of contention. Now, as the situation in Minneapolis escalates and more and more images emerge of protesters pitted against ICE agents, another one has re-emerged: the overcoat worn by Gregory Bovino, the official in charge of President Trump’s Border Patrol operations. Known as a greatcoat, the long, double-breasted Army-green coat with wide lapels, big metallic buttons, epaulets and insignia on the arms stands out amid the sea of bomber jackets and tactical vests worn by the ICE agents around Mr. Bovino. It is impossible to ignore. And it has become a flashpoint in the online conversation about ICE, in part because its historical antecedents are also impossible to ignore. It was, after all, part of the classic military costume in World War I and II. For anyone who has seen pictures of those wars, which is pretty much anyone who has taken a history class in school, the connection is almost Pavlovian in its immediacy and intensity. And while the greatcoat was worn by officers on both sides of the world wars, including Gen. Douglas MacArthur, it is closely associated with the German military under Hitler. And thus it did not take long for Mr. Bovino’s coat to become, for many viewers, a sign not just of militarization but also of tyranny — as various commentators have been quick to point out.

Breitbart [1/22/2026 2:16 PM, Sean Moran, 2416K] reports that a Virginia state Democrat introduced a bill that would bar the state from verifying eligibility to receive federal taxpayer benefits. "No state agency responsible for the administration of federal funds shall impose a requirement on a nonprofit charitable organization providing a federal public benefit to determine, verify, or otherwise require proof of eligibility of any applicant for such benefits," the one-page bill stated, which was proposed by state Delegate Jessica Anderson. The Dominion State Democrat’s bill was introduced as the nation has increasingly scrutinized the misuse of taxpayer funds. The Trump administration has moved to clamp down on fraud across many federal benefit programs. Billions of dollars of taxpayer funds have been lost due to fraud related to Minnesota’s Somali community. The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged at least 78 people as part of the "Feeding our Future" scandal, named for a Somali-linked nonprofit that bilked taxpayers of $250 million. Those accused reportedly faked invoices, attendance records, and the distribution of meals in low-income and other areas in Minnesota. "Temporary means temporary. Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status," Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. "Further, allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests. We are putting Americans first," she added.

FOX News [1/22/2026 1:33 PM, Madison Colombo, 40621K] reports that independent journalist Nick Shirley says exposing government fraud has made him a target, and now he’s turning his focus to California. Shirley gained national attention after releasing videos he says expose fraud in Minnesota. He testified before House lawmakers earlier this week during a hearing investigating the state’s fraud scandals. Shirley said the work has been dangerous, but California is his next target. "Fraud will be exposed in California. It’ll be exposed all across the United States, because we’re learning that there’s so much fraud that’s taking place," Shirley said Wednesday on "The Ingraham Angle." "Whether it be through daycares or these projects like that high-speed light rail that Newsom’s been trying to build for years," he added. Critics have accused Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state of California of allowing fraud to prosper under a lack of oversight. First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli launched a task force in April to investigate corruption in the state, with a focus on programs for the homeless. "California has spent $24 billion in the last five years on homelessness, and no one can account for where that money has really gone," Essayli said on "Fox & Friends" in early January. Shirley warned that investigating government fraud has become increasingly dangerous, with the backlash extending beyond online harassment into real-world threats. He said he was forced to hire 24-hour security after his home address was doxxed, and his family members received calls from the public. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Caller [1/22/2026 12:43 PM, Hudson Crozier, 835K] reports that Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino held Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom "responsible" for violence against immigration agents on Thursday after he compared Bovino to a Nazi. Newsom said Bovino looks like "he literally went on eBay and purchased SS garb" during a Wednesday interview at Davos, Switzerland’s World Economic Forum, mocking his Border Patrol uniform. He described Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations as "secret police, private army, masked men, people disappearing quite literally, no due process." "Governor Newsom’s had a long record of lying, and again, those are … lies," Bovino told the Daily Caller News Foundation at a Thursday press conference when addressing the comments. "I don’t shop on eBay. This ‘garb,’ as he quite uneloquently puts it, is a standard Border Patrol issue, has been since May the 28th, 1924. Bovino highlighted rising violence against immigration officials around the country, including in Newsom’s California. He also blamed rhetoric from Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who have called ICE President Donald Trump’s "Gestapo" and told agents to "get the fuck out of Minneapolis," respectively. "He’s enjoying Davos and whatever he’s enjoying over there," Bovino said about Newsom.

AP [1/22/2026 2:04 PM, Fatima Hussein, 31753K] reports that the U.S. imposed sanctions on five Costa Ricans and five Costa Rican entities for allegedly helping to transport tons of cocaine from Colombia, storing the drugs in Costa Rica, then shipping them to the U.S. and Europe. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control alleges that Costa Rican national Luis Manuel Picado Grijalba, sanctioned Thursday, is the leader of the network and one of the most prolific international drug dealers in the Caribbean, along with his brother Jordie Kevin Picado Grijalba. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said "the entire drug trafficking supply chain — from shipping facilitators to money launderers — bears responsibility for American addictions and deaths," in announcing the sanctions. The latest sanctions also target Grijalba’s wife and mother-in-law, and family-operated companies, including a beauty salon, linked to alleged drug trafficking and money laundering. A taskforce between Homeland Security and Drug Enforcement Administration field offices as well as Costa Rica’s Office of the Attorney General, and others worked to track down the sanctioned people and firms. Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. and prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them.

Washington Post [1/22/2026 2:12 PM, George F. Will, 24149K] reports that the Constitution’s protections for individual rights keep getting in the way of the Trump administration’s immigration methods. A whistleblower’s organization representing anonymous government employees alleged this week that the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a memo in May instructing officers that they can enter a person’s home without a judicial warrant. The memo contends that officers can instead rely on a document prepared by ICE — known as an administrative warrant — after a final deportation order has been signed, typically by an immigration judge in the executive branch. The Department of Homeland Security effectively confirmed this policy on Thursday, saying those being targeted already “had full due process” and that such warrants “have been used for decades.” Administrative warrants are issued by the executive branch itself, not by an independent judge. They can be used to arrest immigrants in public locations. But any legal novice knows that, except in extreme circumstances, forcibly entering a person’s home without a warrant issued by a judge violates the Fourth Amendment, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled. The whistleblower report alleges that ICE agents in Texas have already started to rely on administrative warrants to arrest people in their homes, though this remains unconfirmed. If true, this represents yet another example of the administration treating constitutional rights as mere suggestions when enforcing immigration laws.

Wall Street Journal [1/22/2026 5:38 PM, Jimmy Percival, 646K] reports the Fourth Amendment is an essential safeguard of Americans’ privacy and personal liberty. Its protections must not be eroded. But they also must not be misappropriated by those seeking to subvert legitimate law enforcement. The left has done that for decades, particularly in the area of immigration enforcement. Multiple media outlets report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been using so-called administrative warrants in Minnesota to arrest illegal aliens with final orders of removal in their homes. The Department of Homeland Security welcomes the opportunity to explain this reasonable and lawful approach to the American people and federal courts. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. It also provides that where a warrant is required, it must be supported by probable cause and specifically describe the places to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. Illegal aliens, however, don’t have the same rights as citizens. Under federal immigration law, officers may issue an administrative warrant, which means that the probable-cause finding is made by an executive-branch officer rather than a judicial officer. This is consistent with broad judicial recognition that illegal aliens aren’t entitled to the same Fourth Amendment protections as U.S. citizens. It is also consistent with the Supreme Court’s admonition that the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is whether the search or seizure is “reasonable,” not whether it is supported by a judicial warrant. While administrative warrants may satisfy the Fourth Amendment for any arrest of an illegal alien, ICE currently uses these warrants to enter an illegal alien’s residence only when the alien has received a final order of removal from an immigration judge. That means the alien has already seen a judge, presented his case, received due process, and been ordered removed from the country. Aliens in this context are fugitives from justice, and the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Minnesota, has expressly recognized that administrative warrants may be used to enter a residence to capture a fugitive. Although the law is clear, deep-state actors in the federal government have for decades told ICE officers that they may not enter a fugitive alien’s home even with a final order of removal and administrative warrant. Because Congress hasn’t created a mechanism to obtain a judicial warrant, this meant that under previous presidential administrations, ICE would sit outside the homes of fugitive aliens waiting for them to come outside before arresting them. Congress never intended the immigration laws to operate this way, and the Fourth Amendment doesn’t require it. The previous approach only perpetuated the false narrative that immigration laws are second-tier laws that may be defied without consequence. The American people gave President Trump a mandate to restore law and order, in part by removing criminal illegal aliens from the country. Since January 2025, Secretary Kristi Noem and the DHS have rooted out deep-state subversion within the federal government and realigned ICE’s approach with the law. The Constitution and federal law are on our side.

New York Post [1/22/2026 7:29 PM, John R. Lott Jr, 42219K] reports the media narrative against President Donald Trump’s effort to enforce immigration law was on full display last week at a White House press briefing. "Earlier you were just defending ICE agents . . . that they were doing everything correctly," Niall Stanage of The Hill challenged Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. "Thirty-two people died in ICE custody last year; 170 US citizens were detained by ICE. And, uh, Renee Good was shot in the head and killed . . . How does that equate to them doing everything correctly?". Countless news stories have amplified fears that under Trump, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are wildly violating basic rights. NPR, to cite just one example, recently claimed that "many" American citizens "have been mistaken" for illegal immigrants, and that there’s "a long history of immigration agencies not having a good track record.” But the numbers tell a very different story about how ICE is doing under Trump. Let’s set the baseline: Between the president’s Jan. 20, 2025 inauguration and the end of November, Trump’s administration arrested an extraordinary total of 595,000 illegal aliens and deported 605,000. The 170 ICE-detained US citizens cited in Stanage’s diatribe included about 130 arrested for interfering with or assaulting officers, according to the left-leaning ProPublica — justifiable under any reading of the law. Only about 40 or so of those who were detained claimed to be US citizens accidentally or erroneously arrested by ICE, and just half of those people were held for more than a day; most were released in a few hours. Any error is serious, but 40 mistakes out of 595,000 arrests amounts to an error rate of just 0.0067% — roughly one wrongful detention for every 14,925 arrests. Compare that with the final two years of President Barack Obama’s administration. In fiscal years 2015 and 2016, ICE recorded 263 mistaken arrests, 54 mistaken detentions (book-ins), and four mistaken removals. During those two years, ICE made a mere 239,645 arrests, meaning the 54 mistaken detentions alone produced an Obama error rate of 0.0225% — about one mistake for every 4,444 arrests. Overall, the error rate under Obama was 3.36 times higher than under Trump. Unfortunately, there’s no comparable public data for other past administrations, or the rest of the Obama years.

Wall Street Journal [1/22/0256 4:50 PM, Angela Stent, 646K] reports when Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia in 2000, a reporter asked what he did as a KGB case officer in Dresden, East Germany. Mr. Putin’s response: “We were interested in any information about ‘the main opponent,’ as we called them, and the main opponent was NATO.” The mission hasn’t changed. In office, Mr. Putin has consistently sought to weaken the Western alliance. Since its founding in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been the Kremlin’s No. 1 enemy. Successive Soviet and Russian leaders sought to undermine the alliance and separate the U.S. from Europe. Mr. Putin and his inner circle can only marvel at the dangerous game President Trump has been playing. His confrontation with the allies over Greenland’s future threatened to damage the world’s most successful alliance in a way that decades of Russian sabotage failed to do. The gap between the U.S. and its allies, on full display this week, can only reinforce Mr. Putin’s conviction that the trans-Atlantic alliance is seriously weakened. The Soviet Union’s answer to NATO was the Warsaw Treaty Organization, created in 1955. Before disbanding in 1991, it was the only such alliance in history whose members invaded each other. Soviet troops invaded Hungary in 1956 and Warsaw Pact troops marched into Czechoslovakia in 1968. These invasions ensured Soviet supremacy in Eastern Europe. Mr. Putin aspires to control the former Warsaw Pact states, as he made clear in the draft treaty he presented to NATO before Russia invaded Ukraine. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, the future of NATO was debated in Russia and the West. Did it still have a purpose? Communism was defeated and Russia wanted to become a democracy. What was the need for this Cold War relic? Why not create an all-European security organization in which Russia and the U.S. would have an equal voice? While Russians and their Western supporters argued for a new Euro-Atlantic security architecture, NATO and its supporters understood that the world’s most successful alliance shouldn’t disband but adapt and admit those former Warsaw Pact states that were clamoring to join. Mr. Putin doesn’t fear NATO because it threatens Russia’s physical security. Rather, he understands that expanding NATO membership to former Soviet states and Warsaw Pact members undermines his goal of re-establishing Russia’s sphere of influence. NATO remains the chief obstacle to Mr. Putin’s imperial ambitions. Had Ukraine been a member of NATO, Russia wouldn’t have dared to invade it.

CBS News [1/22/2026 8:37 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports opponents of the nation’s crackdown on illegal immigration are facing criticism for what’s being called the "ICE List.” It’s an online database posted last week that exposes names and photos of thousands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees, including some here in North Texas. Ongoing violent conflicts continue across the country between ICE agents and those opposed to immigration raids and arrests. Now, anti-ICE activists have a new strategy to expose the men and women who often wear masks. Last week, a social media post appeared under the username "crustnews," which said, "We’ve obtained the largest leak of ICE data since we began tracking them. This data is now under review; all 4,000+ agents will be published upon confirmation.” Those agents are now identified with their names, photos and job titles listed in each state, including Texas. Some say it’s a dangerous move by ICE critics that will put the safety of agents and employees at risk. Criminologist Alex Del Carmen says the ICE list could be illegal if the personal information was obtained as a result of a data breach or hack, which federal authorities have suggested. CBS News Texas contacted the person who compiled the crowdsourced list and they declined to comment. "I think that’s crossing the line," said Carlos Quintanilla. "I think that that becomes a dangerous precedent that we’re setting.” Quintanilla is a long-time Lantino activist and vocal ICE critic. But he criticizes the list and says that doxing low-level ICE agents is the wrong approach. "Well, you know what theICE, anti-ICE movement has to begin to focus on, you know, the midterm elections, changing the control of Congress, making sure that immigrant families have what they need to survive right now," Quintanilla said. The Department of Homeland Security announced last fall that its officers have experienced a 1,000% increase in assaults, and a sniper attack on the Dallas ICE field office in September was believed to be motivated by anti-ICE views.

Blaze [1/22/2026 5:30 PM, Rebeka Zeljko, 1442K] reports Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona is proposing new legislation to crack down on illegal aliens obtaining commercial driver’s licenses. Americans have witnessed many preventable deaths inflicted by illegal alien truck drivers who often obtained CDLs in blue states that seemingly ignore citizenship or work requirements. Biggs believes the VERIFY CDL Act will help prevent similar tragedies in the future. According to the bill text obtained exclusively by Blaze News, the VERIFY CDL Act would require applicants’ employment to be authorized through the E-Verify program before they can be issued a CDL, adding additional safeguards and closing a highly abused loophole. Biggs noted that mass immigration is not limited to the border, but rather it needs to be addressed at every level, including CDLs.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [1/22/2026 3:35 PM, Pedro Pablo Cortés, 10K] reports Democrats in the U.S. Congress are seeking to block funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and replace it with a new agency under the Department of Justice, Congressman Ro Khanna, a progressive from California who is leading the effort, told EFE. Party leaders have announced their vote against funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because "ICE’s budget will literally triple," Khanna says, adding $18 billion annually for four years to its usual resources, which already amount to $10 billion a year. Pressure against ICE has increased this year following the death of Renee Good, a 37-year-old US citizen who was shot by an immigration agent on January 7 during an operation in Minneapolis, which has intensified nationwide protests. Khanna promised that if Democrats regain control of Congress after the midterm elections next November, they will formally investigate these allegations, including the deaths of migrants in ICE custody, such as the three who have already died in January, following the record that exceeds 30 in 2025.

Daily Caller [1/22/2026 6:20 PM, Adam Pack, 835K] reports the House of Representatives narrowly approved a spending bill Thursday funding the Department of Homeland Security — and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — over the vast majority of Democrats’ fierce objections. Lawmakers voted 220-207 to approve the standalone bill with just seven Democrats supporting the measure. House Democrats have largely opposed continuing to fund ICE absent sweeping reforms following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. "[Department of Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem and ICE are out of control," House Democratic leadership said in a statement Thursday. "Taxpayer dollars are being misused to brutalize U.S. citizens, including the tragic killing of Renee Nicole Good. This extremism must end.” Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie — a fiscal hawk facing a primary challenger backed by President Donald Trump — was the lone Republican to vote against the DHS spending bill funding ICE, the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) among other agencies. Republican Reps. Wesley Hunt of Texas and Andy Harris of Maryland did not vote. Hunt, who had been campaigning in Texas, was en route to the Capitol at the time of the vote. House Democratic leadership announced they would oppose the DHS funding bill during a closed-door meeting Wednesday. However, they did not whip against the bill, arguing that members should vote in a way that reflects their districts. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dodged a question from the Daily Caller News Foundation on Thursday probing whether there is room for lawmakers who want to fund ICE in the Democratic Party. Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, the lead Democrat on the Homeland Security subpanel of the Appropriations Committee was one of seven Democrats who supported the measure. Democratic Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Don Davis of North Carolina, Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen of New York also voted for the DHS funding bill. The DHS funding bill also includes $2.2 billion for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Conservatives have sharply criticized the agency for previously collaborating with organizations to suppress online speech, including election integrity and the origins of COVID-19.

The Hill [1/22/2026 10:59 AM, Sarah Davis, 12595K] reports the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) newest immigration crackdown, “Operation Catch of the Day,” is underway in Maine. “We have launched Operation Catch of the Day to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in the state,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a Wednesday statement. “On the first day of operations, we arrested illegal aliens charged and convicted of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child.” Additionally, McLaughlin criticized the state’s Democratic governor, saying Janet Mills and fellow Maine officials “have made it abundantly clear that they would rather stand with criminal illegal aliens than protect law-abiding American citizens.”

AP [1/22/2026 8:30 PM, Patrick Whittle, Rodrique Ngowi, and Leah Willingham, 31753K] reports that Maine’s Democratic governor challenged federal immigration officials Thursday to provide warrants, real-time arrest numbers and basic information about who is being detained in a sweeping enforcement operation in her state, saying residents have been left largely in the dark as fear spreads through immigrant communities. “If they have warrants, show the warrants. In America, we don’t believe in secret arrests or secret police,” Gov. Janet Mills said at a news conference. Mills said that President Donald Trump’s office hasn’t returned her calls regarding the operation launched this week, dubbed “Catch of the Day” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Federal officials have said about 50 arrests were made the first day and that roughly 1,400 people are operational targets in the mostly rural state of 1.4 million residents, 4% of whom are foreign-born. The remarks came as Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce raised concerns about the arrest of one of his corrections officer recruits by immigration agents. Joyce was among more than 100 sheriffs nationwide who met last year with border czar Tom Homan. Joyce said that the plan outlined at the time — prioritizing the removal of people with serious criminal records — was one he could support. This week’s arrest did not align with that message, he said. “The book and the movie don’t add up,” he said.

Univision [1/22/2026 5:51 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports Maine ‘s Democratic Governor Janet Mills asked ICE agents to show arrest warrants during raids that have caused fear and concern in communities. She also attributed the operation in that state to its being Democratic, as is already happening in places like Illinois, California and Minnesota, where arrests and protests continue after the shooting death of 37-year-old Renée Good at the hands of an ICE agent. Mills stated that if anyone has evidence of criminal activity, they want to know about it, and also that she would be "very surprised" if there were 1,400 people with criminal charges in Maine.

ABC 8 Portland [1/22/2026 7:38 PM, Russ Reed and Cate McCusker, 30493K] Video: HERE reports the sheriff of Cumberland County held a news conference Thursday afternoon to address the detainment of a corrections recruit by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and criticize the agency’s tactics. "We’re being told one story, which is totally different than what’s occurring, or what occurred last night," he said. Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed that ICE arrested a corrections recruit with the Cumberland County Jail on Wednesday. The man, whose name has not yet been released, was pulled over by agents just after 5 p.m. in Portland’s Bayside neighborhood. Video obtained by Maine’s Total Coverage shows the arrest. The man can be heard shouting: "I’m a corrections officer, I work in Cumberland County, what’s wrong?" as he was placed in handcuffs. Joyce said the recruit was hired in February 2025 after undergoing a rigorous hiring process. The sheriff also said the recruit’s I-9 suggested that he was able to work in the United States until April 2029. "In this particular case, this is an individual that had permission to be working in the state of Maine. We vetted him," Joyce said. "Every indication we found is that this was a squeaky-clean individual that really hadn’t done anything at all." Based on what he heard from the Border Czar Tom Homan, Joyce said he believed the priorities of this administration’s immigration enforcement was to get criminals off the street, something he thought "everyone could get behind." Now, he says the video of his recruit’s arrest on Wednesday night was hard to watch. "This opened the door for me based on the fact, I mean, this is an individual that was trying to do all the right things," he said. "I guess if you’re not the card-carrying U.S. citizen, then you must be illegal, because that’s what they told me is ‘he’s illegal,’ and he’s definitely not a criminal. So what part of him is illegal? I don’t know." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [1/22/2026 10:32 PM, Anna Young, 42219K] reports members of the Big Apple’s powerful teachers union will don black in a show of solidarity with Minneapolis on Friday, demanding ICE stay out of the city after the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good, the group announced. The United Federation of Teachers urged educators, staff and community members to join a nationwide Day of Action to protest federal immigration operations "targeting" students, teachers and immigrants in and around local schools as turmoil rages on in the Twin Cities, the union charged in a news release. Union members are encouraged to wear black during the school day to show their "solidarity" with union members in Minneapolis, where Good was a substitute teacher. Participants are also asked to take pictures together and post them on social media. The UFT Thursday night sent out a text reminder to members to wear black, according to a screenshot obtained by The Post. "Remember to wear black tomorrow, Jan. 23, in solidarity with union members in Minneapolis," the text to a Bronx teacher said. Following the school day, members can hit the streets and join the "Stand with Minneapolis March" with unions across New York City, according to the release. The demonstration will step off at 4:30 p.m., starting at Union Square’s north end and proceeding to Bryant Park, according to union officials, who also urged members to sign a petition from Minnesota educators demanding ICE "stay out of Minnesota schools.” The UFT passed a resolution Wednesday calling for an "emergency demonstration and day of action" in the Big Apple after Good, a 37-year-old mom and anti-ICE "warrior," was shot dead by an immigration officer clipped by her fleeing SUV during a heated confrontation at a protest on Jan. 7. Mayhem has since rocked Minneapolis with waves of raucous demonstrations and violent, viral clashes between agitators and immigration officers. In response, the Department of Homeland Security deployed thousands of additional ICE agents to the chaos-ridden area.

Washington Examiner [1/22/2026 2:04 PM, Molly Parks, 1394K] reports that New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch is demanding that a Brooklyn hospital retrain all of its staff after emergency room personnel mistreated NYPD officers whom they mistook for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The hospital said it "regret[s]" the conduct. Several NYPD detectives were "met with rudeness, disrespect, and a lack of basic professional courtesy" at the Home Depot Emergency Department at New York University Langone Health—Cobble Hill last week, according to the NYC Detectives’ Endowment Association. The staff initially mistook the officers for federal immigration officers and suggested they go somewhere else for treatment, according to multiple reports. "Reps from the hospital apologized to Commissioner Tisch and the NYPD and said that hospital staff had a misunderstanding of their policy. Commissioner Tisch asked that all hospital staff be retrained to ensure that this type of incident never happens again," a spokesman for the NYPD said. The NYPD spokesman said their officer "put their lives on the line to protect this city, and the very least they deserve in return is attentive medical care and to be treated with respect."

CBS Baltimore [1/22/2026 11:52 AM, J.T. Moodee Lockman, 39474K] reports Immigration activists rallied in Annapolis Thursday to urge Maryland lawmakers to support a bill that would end local law enforcement partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The legislation, which is the subject of a Senate hearing Thursday, targets 287(g) agreements, or partnerships between ICE and local law enforcement agencies. The agreements allow local police officials to be deputized as ICE agents. The proposed bill would end those agreements across Maryland. The bill, SB245, would prohibit state employees, agencies, officers, and county sheriffs from entering into 287(g) agreements and would require that any existing agreements be terminated by July 2026. The bill is being sponsored by Senate President Bill Ferguson along with Sens. William C. Smith, Jr. and Karen Lewis Young. "287(g) agreements are not needed to keep people safe. Ending these agreements will instead increase trust and cooperation between local law enforcement and the residents they serve," a spokesperson for CASA, an immigration advocacy organization, said in a statement.

FOX News [1/22/2026 12:25 PM, Greg Norman-Diamond, 40621K] reports a Democratic lawmaker in Washington state introduced a bill this week called the ICE Out Act of 2026, which would prohibit state law enforcement agencies from hiring anyone that has taken a job as a sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. The legislation was introduced by state Rep. Tarra Simmons, who served time for three felony convictions for possession of controlled substances and retail theft in 2011 before having her criminal record cleared. "In this Washington, we have worked incredibly hard to build trust between law enforcement and community," Simmons said in a press release. "In most Washington agencies, the men and women who step up to serve have developed a culture of holding each other accountable to the highest professional standards. The last thing we need is infiltration of ICE agents trained during the Trump Administration to send us backwards." "Law enforcement recruitment is paramount, we need more officers," she added. "However, we expect those officers to earn the trust and respect of the communities they live in, not act as an occupying force. This bill is designed to prevent those sorts of dangerous tactics from becoming part of the culture of policing in Washington state.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House for a response to the bill but did not immediately hear back.

Breitbart [1/22/2026 3:54 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports an illegal alien in Bulloch County, Georgia, is accused of viciously raping an 11-year-old girl at knifepoint in her home, in front of her 10-year-old sister, whom he also threatened with the knife. Kenneth Moreno Guzman, a 26-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, has been arrested by the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office and charged with rape, statutory rape, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, first-degree cruelty to children, first-degree home invasion, false imprisonment, burglary, aggravated assault with a knife, and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime. Police said Guzman is an illegal alien who crossed the southern border about five years ago. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have lodged a detainer of Guzman, seeking custody of him should he be released from jail. Police said there is no scenario where Guzman gets released before prosecutors secure a conviction against him.

Telemundo51 [1/22/2026 4:14 PM, Staff, 182K] reports a federal judge granted the habeas corpus petition of Javier Giménez Rivero, a Venezuelan from central Florida who spent 18 days behind bars without having been charged with any crime. The federal judge determined that his arrest was illegal and that it also violated his constitutional rights. The lawyer described the ruling as a victory against ICE. On January 7, during a traffic stop in Orange County, the Venezuelan was arrested even though he had a valid driver’s license and a work visa. During the time Giménez Rivero was detained, he was never formally charged, received no ICE summons, and was never granted a bail hearing, according to his lawyer. The lawyer also stated that his client reported being pressured to consider self-deportation.

New York Times [1/22/2026 7:59 PM, Ernesto Londoño, 135475K] reports the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has resulted in more than 3,000 arrests in Minnesota and clashes between federal agents and residents. But swirling beneath the surface of the tense, sometimes chaotic scenes playing out across the state is a political dispute over how local officials handle the cases of immigrants who are being held in state prisons and county jails. Federal officials have suggested that they might wind down their campaign if Democratic leaders like Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey would give them access to the people subject to deportation in Minnesota’s prisons and jails. “Let us in the damn jail,” Tom Homan, the White House’s border czar, said recently. “Frey and Walz could fix this today.” The Department of Homeland Security has asserted that Mr. Walz and Mr. Frey are shielding 1,360 immigrants charged with crimes who are subject to deportation, though it did not explain how it came to that conclusion. But state and local officials dispute the claim. The Minnesota Department of Corrections said the number of incarcerated people that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has identified as being subject to deportation was slightly over 300 as of last Monday. The department also says the Trump administration is misrepresenting how Minnesota jails and prisons assist in immigration matters. In Minnesota, officials say that state prisons have long released inmates subject to deportation to federal immigration officials after their sentences end. Mr. Frey has no authority over Minnesota’s county jails, which have a patchwork of policies on the issue. Some counties explicitly cooperate with federal authorities, and at least one, Hennepin, the state’s most populous county, refrains from assisting ICE agents as a matter of policy. Nationally, the degree to which local law enforcement officials overseeing prisons and jails are willing to cooperate with immigration enforcement has long been a thorny issue. Under Minnesota law, the state’s Department of Corrections must notify ICE officials when an immigrant convicted of a felony is set to be released. The agency, overseen by Governor Walz, says that it has long coordinated with ICE agents to transfer custody of those who are subject to deportation. Last year, prison officials turned over to ICE 84 inmates who had finished sentences and were leaving the state prison system, according to the state agency. Paul Schnell, the commissioner of the state’s Department of Corrections, said he and other state officials had struggled to get clear answers from the administration about the specific steps the White House would like them to take. “We would certainly like to be in a place where we could offer things that may be useful and relevant and serve the interest of ICE,” Mr. Schnell said. He said that some of the people federal officials have publicly highlighted as having been arrested during the crackdown were actually transferred directly from prisons with assistance from the state.

Blaze [1/22/2026 12:53 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1442K] reports anti-ICE activists’ attempts to frustrate federal immigration law enforcement in Minneapolis and elsewhere hit a snag on Wednesday. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and three Minnesota-based law firms filed a lawsuit on Dec. 17 against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging its agents violated the constitutional rights of several anti-ICE activists, including a Minnesota woman and a Somali-American who were both accused of attacking federal agents. A federal judge who was nominated by former President Joe Biden ruled last week in favor of the radicals. U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez prohibited federal agents involved in Operation Metro Surge and related operations in the Gopher State from: "retaliating against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity"; "using pepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity"; and. "stopping or detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles where there is no reasonable articulable suspicion that they are forcibly obstructing or interfering with Covered Federal Agents.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security promptly appealed the Biden judge’s ruling to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. On Wednesday, the appellate court granted the defendants an administrative stay of Menendez’s preliminary injunction. "A liberal judge in Minnesota tried to handcuff ICE agents who are enforcing the Nation’s immigration laws and responding to obstructive and violent interference from agitators," Bondi said in a statement on Wednesday.

(B) CBS Mornings [1/22/2026 8:14 AM, Staff] reports ICE says it has taken hundreds of dangerous migrants off the streets in the Minneapolis region. It also accuses state and local law enforcement officials of interfering with immigration enforcement, even letting some suspects go free. CBS News has reviewed state records that suggest some of those alleged criminals were already in prison or under state law enforcement supervision. The Department of Homeland Security did not address the discrepancy in the numbers but, in a statement, urged all Minnesota-elected leaders to cooperate with ICE.

FOX News [1/22/2026 6:00 AM, Peter Pinedo, 40621K] reports a former immigration judge and policy expert said sanctuary policies, not law enforcement, are preventing treatments in response to reports that Minnesota doctors are concerned their patients are not receiving medical care because of ICE operations in the state. The Minnesota Star Tribune reported on a news conference held by Democratic lawmakers and various doctors who claimed that patients are missing out on critical care due to fear of ICE. Medical providers speaking during the press conference claimed that out of fear, both illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens are skipping out on care, including diabetes treatments, checkups and even giving birth, according to the outlet. In response, the outlet reported that Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that "ICE does not conduct enforcement at hospitals — period." Andrew Arthur, who is a law and policy fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, further backed this up, telling Fox News Digital that, "There have not been any reports that ICE has gone into any medical facility, any hospital, any clinic, any doctor’s office." "Now if the concern is that when somebody is traveling to one of these facilities, there also aren’t any ICE roadblocks being set up to check everybody for their status, so it’s not like they’re going to be looking for them in that context," he went on. Arthur said the only reason the surge of federal law enforcement officers to Minnesota occurred in the first place was because of the state’s unwillingness to cooperate with immigration enforcement. "This situation has been created by the sanctuary policies," he said. "What ICE is doing is targeted operations against specific individuals that they are looking for in Minnesota. And, of course, that is because … [the state] issued an opinion that said that local county jails in Minnesota could not hold people based on immigration detainers. Consequently, they’ve been turned out in the street, and ICE has to go into the communities to find them." "The only reason that ICE is in communities looking for people and potentially finding people that they’re not looking for, collateral arrests, is the fact that Minnesota has these sanctuary policies," he explained. "If Minnesota, if Hennepin County, if Minneapolis and St. Paul simply allowed ICE to take custody of criminal aliens from their jails, ICE wouldn’t be running this operation there at all."

CNN [1/22/2026 12:26 PM, Staff, 18595K] Video: HERE reports doctors in Minnesota say patients fear ICE enforcement in hospitals during the increased presence of federal officers in the state. CNN’s Sara Sidner speaks with Dr. Janna R. Gewirtz O’Brien, who says health practitioners have received reports of unidentified officers following detainees inside hospital grounds during medical treatment.

Washington Post [1/22/2026 2:17 PM, Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, 24149K] reports that the Trump administration’s recent surge of more than 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, is creating ripple effects for students, teachers and parents that go well beyond ongoing protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. These protests escalated after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7, 2026. Some Twin Cities parents are arranging security patrols to look out for ICE agents, while others are keeping their kids home altogether. Several large Minneapolis-St. Paul school districts announced on Jan. 15 that they would offer remote learning so students could stay home. Amy Lieberman, The Conversation U.S. education editor, spoke with Carolyn-Sattin-Bajaj, a scholar of education and immigrant youth, to better understand what regulations restrict ICE’s presence at schools – and how schools can support students and parents concerned about the recent surge of immigrant arrests and deportations in Minnesota. What prevents ICE from walking into a school building? The Obama administration issued a memo in 2011 that said federal officials should not conduct immigration enforcement work near sensitive locations, meaning schools and houses of worship. The Biden administration also had this policy in place. President Donald Trump revoked this memo in January 2025. So now, schools are no longer off-limits to federal immigration agencies, including ICE.

New York Post [1/22/2026 12:02 PM, Ariel Zilber, 42219K] reports employees of Target retail locations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region have reportedly been calling out of work more frequently in recent weeks following the arrest of two of their colleagues who were swept up in immigration raids despite being US citizens. Meanwhile, corporate workers at Target, which is headquartered in the Twin Cities area, have also postponed scheduled in-office work by weeks due to rising tensions in Minneapolis, which has become a flashpoint for recent clashes between federal agents and protesters. Inside the company, frustration has been growing among employees who say Target’s public silence has left them confused and anxious as enforcement activity continues around their workplaces, according to Bloomberg News. Workers have used internal Slack channels to vent anger and fear, according to people familiar with the discussions, while some have circulated a letter to the company’s ethics team asking for clearer guidance on how to handle encounters with federal agents. Target has told employees internally that it does not have cooperative agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and that workers should not interfere with federal agents, people familiar with the guidance told Bloomberg News. At several Twin Cities stores, employees have told managers they were too afraid to come into work, citing the presence of immigration agents in parking lots and inside nearby retail locations, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg News. Not all workers agree on how the company should respond.

Wall Street Journal [1/22/2026 9:00 PM, Chip Cutter and Sarah Nassauer, 646K] reports CEOs have tried their hardest to stay on the political sidelines since President Trump started his second term—and mostly succeeded. Now the pushback against the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis is pulling more of them in. Some of the country’s biggest companies, including 3M, Medtronic, Ecolab, U.S. Bancorp and UnitedHealth, all have headquarters and thousands of employees in the Twin Cities. Though they have kept largely quiet in public, many of their leaders are trying to navigate the charged issue with employees and community members behind the scenes. Target—Minneapolis’s best-known corporate brand—is a case in point. The hometown retailer hasn’t issued any public statements since the detention of two local store workers, both U.S. citizens, earlier this month. But its executives agreed to meet with a group of local clergy who protested in the lobby of the company’s headquarters last week. The company also has circulated updated guidelines for how staff in stores and warehouses should respond to “unannounced immigration-related contacts,” according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Companies’ cautious efforts to handle the political challenge marks a new chapter for some in dealing with the Trump administration. Even before Trump’s second term, many had retreated from reflexively issuing statements on hot-button issues like immigration and LGBT rights because of blowback worries. The sustained backlash against Bud Light after its social-media promotion with a transgender advocate a few years ago especially spooked companies. Now some face the kind of employee pressure to speak out that was common during Trump’s first term. An online letter that circulated this week—signed by hundreds of employees of OpenAI, Amazon, Alphabet’s Google and other technology companies—asks tech CEOs to use their influence with the White House to demand ICE officials leave cities. It points out that tech CEOs successfully used their leverage last year to prevent Trump from sending the National Guard to San Francisco. Americans themselves are all over the place on how businesses should respond. In a survey conducted by Morning Consult this week, about a third of respondents said companies should comply with legal requirements but not assist immigration agents beyond that. Just over 20% said companies should actively resist ICE actions. The same percentage said they were unsure what companies should do.

Daily Caller [1/22/2026 2:12 PM, Hudson Crozier, 835K] reports that an anti-deportation protester who dared Attorney General Pam Bondi to arrest him for crashing a Sunday church in Minnesota is now in custody, Bondi said Thursday. William Kelly was seen on video with a crowd invading and loudly disrupting a service at Cities Church in St. Paul over allegations that the pastor worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Bondi described the protest as an attack on congregants’ religious liberty and announced multiple related arrests, including Kelly’s, in Thursday X posts. Kelly is charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law that criminalizes obstructing houses of worship and other facilities, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X. Her post showed an image of masked federal agents restraining Kelly while he wore a "F*ck Trump" beanie and yellow vest. "As you can see, all these pretend Christians, all these comfortable white people who are living lavish, comfortable lives while children are dragged into concentration camps…" Kelly shouted at churchgoers during the Sunday protest, footage shows. The anti-ICE mob remained in the church after a pastor asked them to leave for disrupting the service. Kelly faces separate disorderly conduct charges over a December incident at the White House, where he was accused of harassing police, pedestrians and families waiting in line for a tour, court records show. He allegedly followed, filmed and heckled the victims, calling them Nazis and yelling obscenities.

FOX News [1/22/2026 7:03 PM, Greg Wehner and Bill Mears, 40621K] reports the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district pleaded guilty Thursday to two federal charges, including falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. Ian Andre Roberts, a native of Guyana in South America, was the leader of Des Moines Public Schools. He also admitted to being an illegal alien in possession of firearms. Federal immigration officers detained Roberts on Sept. 26, 2025, and he resigned from the district’s top post shortly afterward. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Roberts acknowledged possessing four firearms, including a loaded Glock handgun found in his vehicle at the time of his arrest, along with a rifle, a shotgun and another pistol recovered during a search of his residence. Court records state all the firearms had traveled across state lines, giving federal authorities jurisdiction. Roberts has agreed to permanently forfeit the weapons and waived any right to challenge the forfeiture now or in the future. Roberts initially pleaded not guilty and was scheduled to stand trial in March. His guilty plea now exposes him to a combined maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison on the two charges. The agreement also states Roberts understands he could be deported following completion of any sentence. A sentencing date has not yet been set, and prosecutors agreed not to pursue additional charges. The Department of Homeland Security has previously said Roberts has an extensive criminal history involving drug and weapons offenses. "Ian Andre Roberts, a criminal illegal alien with multiple weapons charges and a drug trafficking charge, should have never been able to work around children," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said at the time of his arrest. "When ICE officers arrested this superintendent, he was in possession of an illegal handgun, a hunting knife, and nearly $3,000 in cash.”

Reported similarly:
Washington Times [1/22/2026 4:55 PM, Stephen Dinan, 852K]

The Hill [1/22/2026 10:42 AM, Tara Suter, 12595K] reports a Cuban immigrant’s death in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas has been ruled a homicide, according to The Associated Press. ICE said in a press release earlier this month that on Jan. 3, a Cuban migrant named Geraldo Lunas Campos had died while in custody. The agency said Lunas Campos, who was at a detention facility in El Paso, Texas, had been “disruptive” and “placed in segregation” on the day he died. The agency claimed he was later seen “in distress,” with medical staff intervening and attempting to save his life, but he was eventually found to be dead. However, an autopsy report on Wednesday concluded Lunas Campos’s death had been a homicide, according to the AP. According to the report from the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office, knee and chest abrasions were discovered on Lunas Campos’s body, indications of a struggle, the outlet reported. The medical examiner’s office also said Lunas Campos’s neck had hemorrhages, the AP reported, with the deputy medical examiner finding Lunas Campos to have died from asphyxia as a result of neck and torso compression.

NPR [1/22/2026 4:16 PM, Angela Kocherga, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports the El Paso County medical examiner classified the death of a 55-year-old Cuban ICE detainee as homicide.

Houston Chronicle [1/22/2026 4:39 PM, Julián Aguilar, 2983K] reports the fate of a Texas law that makes it a state crime to enter the country without authorization could hinge on whether an immigrant advocacy center has a right to challenge the legislation, and if border enforcement is solely the federal government’s responsibility. Texas’ Senate Bill 4 was passed in 2023 and makes unauthorized entry into Texas a state crime. The bill also makes unlawful presence in Texas a felony if a person has been denied entry or previously ordered removed. The bill was scheduled to go into effect in March 2024 but has been placed on hold after a federal district judge ruled in February 2024 that it conflicts with federal law and violates the Supremacy Clause of the United States. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday in New Orleans after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the court to reconsider the pause on the legislation. Most of the arguments centered on whether El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, will face harm and has standing to sue. It’s unclear when the court will render a decision, and the law remains blocked while the case is pending.

CBS News [1/22/2026 6:17 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports opponents of the nation’s crackdown on illegal immigration are facing criticism for what’s being called the ICE list. It’s an online database posted last week that exposes names and photos of thousands of ICE employees, including some here in North Texas.

Washington Examiner [1/23/2026 5:05 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K] reports Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) believes he showed other governors the way forward if there is ever another border crisis like the one the country experienced during former President Joe Biden’s administration. “No doubt about it,” Abbott responded when asked during an interview with the Washington Examiner in mid-January if he set a new standard for what a governor of a border state can legally do in response to an influx of illegal immigrants. “Immigration has historically been a federal issue,” Abbott said. “This is federal law that the president and his team are in charge of enforcing. And in an unprecedented way, Joe Biden refused to enforce the immigration laws, and then it turned into a public safety issue.” “As governor of Texas, I cannot have my state and my citizens have their public safety compromised the way that Joe Biden compromised it, and that’s why I jumped in and literally rewrote the rules for what states could do,” Abbott said.

Breitbart [1/22/2026 5:20 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2416K] reports on Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Story Is,” Bernalillo County District Attorney and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sam Bregman discussed his threat to arrest ICE agents in the county and said that “if someone commits a violent felony in our county, we’re going to prosecute them, regardless of their legal status. We’re going to absolutely do everything we can to hold them accountable. At the same token, ICE agents aren’t going to come in and start committing crimes in our county.” Bregman said if an ICE agent detains someone with “no warrant, no reasonable suspicion, no probable cause, therefore, you cannot involuntarily restrain someone, which means you’re committing a crime of false imprisonment. I absolutely will prosecute.” Later, he added, “ICE has some footprint in New Mexico, like they do everywhere, I work with federal law enforcement agencies, state law enforcement agencies, every single day. Many of them, as well as [I], are horrified by what they’re seeing out there. There [are] a lot of great law enforcement agents out there right now. But what ICE is doing, what we’re seeing across the country, is not going to happen in New Mexico.” Host Elex Michaelson then asked, “Do you believe in working with them in the jails and working with them behind bars to turn over people who are criminals who have been convicted?” Bregman answered, “Listen, I will tell you right now that I don’t — if someone commits a violent felony in our county, we’re going to prosecute them, regardless of their legal status. We’re going to absolutely do everything we can to hold them accountable. At the same token, ICE agents aren’t going to come in and start committing crimes in our county.

FOX News [1/22/2026 4:09 PM, Preston Mizell, 40621K] reports Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes emphasized the state’s stand-your-ground laws while criticizing ICE operations, saying that people could shoot agents if they’re wearing masks and can’t be identified as law enforcement. During an interview with 12 News anchor Brahm Resnik on Monday, Mayes explained why ICE agents could be shot at under Arizona law. The host interjected to ensure that the AG wasn’t imploring people to shoot at federal officers. Mayes asserted she wasn’t directly encouraging individuals to shoot officers, but said if law enforcement couldn’t be identified that, under the law, people could fire. The attorney general is also leading an initiative to report ICE behavior, launching a portal on her government website for individuals to report "an incident where ICE engages in assault, or murder, or unlawful imprisonment" that her office will use for investigations. Mayes clarified she is not telling people to take up arms, but noted that stand-your-ground laws would permit someone to shoot an officer if they are not identifiable as law enforcement.

Washington Examiner [1/22/2026 11:30 AM, Jenny Goldsberry, 1394K] reports Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) promised to make U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers "unhirable" in California agencies should he win the governor’s office. Swalwell appeared on MeidasTouch’s Katie Phang Show Tuesday to commit to banning ICE officers and agents from state jobs as part of his gubernatorial campaign. On Wednesday, Swalwell shared a clip from the segment on his social media. "As governor, I’ll use my emergency powers, and I’ll tell every state agency we are not, as a policy, hiring ICE agents because right now these guys doing this work, it’s a decision. No one’s holding a gun and saying you have to work for ICE," Swalwell said. "And so when I’m governor, if you’re still working for ICE and you haven’t got the message that no one’s asking you to do this, you won’t be hired in the state." "If you work for ICE, you will be unhirable in California," Swalwell captioned the clip on X and Instagram.

New York Times [1/23/2026 12:02 AM, Jill Cowan, 135475K] reports the jewel heist that the federal authorities described as the largest in U.S. history felt cinematic in its brazenness: In 2022, thieves followed a Brink’s armored truck from a jewelry show near San Francisco to an isolated mountain rest stop in Lebec, Calif., 300 miles south, and then made off with $100 million worth of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, gold and luxury watches. Now, one of the seven men accused of playing a role in the plot may never face trial. A few weeks ago, the federal immigration authorities deported the man, Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, to Ecuador without prosecutors’ knowledge, according to court filings this month. A lawyer for Mr. Flores has asked the court to dismiss the charges, which carry a potential prison term of up to 15 years, arguing that the government chose to forgo prosecution by deporting him. “The Government cannot now have it both ways,” the lawyer, John D. Robertson, wrote in his motion for dismissal. Mr. Robertson also noted that despite the court’s granting of bail to Mr. Flores last summer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately took him into custody, violating his rights. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said in an email that Mr. Flores had come to the United States from Ecuador in 2001 as a legal permanent resident but that he “became removable” because of a criminal history. He was arrested by immigration enforcement officials on Aug. 29 and was deported on Dec. 28, shortly after a judge issued a final order of removal. “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.,” she said. Ms. McLaughlin did not say whether homeland security officials had coordinated with prosecutors or whether there was a process for doing so.

The Hill [1/22/2026 6:44 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 12595K] reports many of the countries that signed on to join President Trump’s “Board of Peace” to stabilize Gaza are also banned from immigrant visas by the State Department. Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Morocco, Mongolia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan are among the 75 countries the Trump administration has deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from these nations earlier this year. “President Trump has made clear that immigrants must be financially self-sufficient and not be a financial burden to Americans,” the State Department wrote in a release last week. “The Department of State is undergoing a full review of all policies, regulations, and guidance to ensure that immigrants from these high-risk countries do not utilize welfare in the United States or become a public charge,” it added. The 12 countries banned from visa processing are supporting Trump’s mission in the Middle East despite staunch pushback from leaders within the European Union. Some have said the Board of Peace will cancel out the United Nations’s functions, raising concerns among potential member nations. Others have decried the $1 billion cost of a permanent seat on the board. Heads of state solidified their commitment to join the board during a Thursday signing ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, where foreign chiefs gathered for the World Economic Forum. “True leadership doesn’t just talk about peace, it delivers it. That is exactly what @POTUS Trump is doing through this historic initiative,” Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani wrote on social platform X.

FOX News [1/22/2026 12:44 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports House Majority Whip Tom Emmer joins ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss the unrest in Minneapolis and his new legislation to strip citizenship from naturalized immigrants who commit fraud or terrorism. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/22/2026 1:19 PM, Emma Colton and Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports that House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil sent oversight letters to election officials in 10 states, including Minnesota, seeking details on voter roll maintenance and safeguards against noncitizen voting. The move puts Minnesota’s election system under renewed scrutiny as Republicans press states for compliance with federal election law. Steil, R-Wis., wrote to both red and blue states — including Minnesota, Illinois, Maine, Indiana, Tennessee, Kansas, California, Ohio and Florida, noting that his committee has broad oversight of federal elections — and that public confidence in such elections is a "compelling interest of Congress and the states." "When illegal aliens are found on state voter rolls, it significantly undermines Americans’ confidence in our elections," Steil told Fox News Digital Thursday. "I will continue to seek answers on how frequently this happens and what states are doing to address the issue. American elections are for American citizens only." Such concerns made national headlines when illegal immigrant Ian Roberts, serving as a high-paid school superintendent in Iowa, was found to be allegedly fraudulently registered to vote in Maryland. Steil said at the time that Annapolis, Maryland, failed to provide him complete answers on the matter and left serious concerns unresolved, including whether Roberts ever received a live ballot or if the Old Line State drew the line with new protocols to verify citizenship.

Bloomberg [1/23/2026 12:01 AM, Saritha Rai, 18207K] reports that, two decades ago, Kunal Bahl almost achieved the American dream. The India-born engineer earned an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, then an internship at Microsoft Corp. That position led to an invitation to have dinner with Bill Gates at his house, and later to a full-time job at the tech giant. But the dream unraveled in 2007, when Bahl’s H-1B visa application was rejected. At 23 he packed his bags and returned to his home country. “My heart sank when I got word,” he says. “Such decisions are one-sided and irreversible.” At the time, US companies were hungry for talented workers like Bahl, and policymakers were largely inclined to help keep them in the country. A highly qualified, US-educated engineer returning to India was unusual. But times have changed. The Trump administration has pushed a sweeping policy agenda intended to hinder immigration. This has included a move in September to increase the fees on H-1B visa applications to $100,000 apiece, a staggering tenfold hike, along with other changes that have made the program less desirable to employers. Foreign-born residents are facing increasing hostility from Washington, regardless of their legal status. For many, the long-term viability of a career in Silicon Valley seems less certain than ever.

NewsNation [1/22/2026 9:25 AM, Julian Resendiz, 8017K] reports the U.S. Border Patrol has added a non-lethal barrier to prevent smugglers and other offenders from speeding past a checkpoint on Interstate 10 in Texas. It’s a high-tech combination of ground spikes to puncture tires and a net to absorb the momentum of the disabled vehicle. The agency deployed the system on Wednesday at the Sierra Blanca, Texas, highway checkpoint. “Interstate 10 is a major artery connecting communities across the country. When someone attempts to bypass an immigration checkpoint, they are putting innocent motorists and our agents at serious risk,” said Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent Lloyd Easterling. “This system allows us to stop and contain those threats before they become dangerous pursuits on public roadways.” Border Report in the past few years has tracked several cases in which drug and migrant smugglers speed past highway checkpoints in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Those often lead to pursuits and some of those pursuits end with a wrecked vehicle. “From a public safety perspective, the technology is designed to reduce the likelihood of high-speed chases, collisions, injuries and loss of life,” the Border Patrol said in a statement. “From an agent safety standpoint, it increases distance and control during enforcement actions and minimizes the need for close-contact” with checkpoint runners.

Washington Times [1/22/2026 4:17 PM, Stephen Dinan, 852K] reports Customs and Border Protection officers manning a crossing between Mexico and Texas sniffed out more than $1.2 million in illegal drugs in two incidents this weekend, the agency told The Washington Times. On Sunday, officers singled out a Ford sedan that had come across the Anzalduas International Bridge into Mission, Texas, for inspection. When it was physically inspected, officers found 22 packages of suspected cocaine totaling 52 pounds, along with a two-pound package believed to be fentanyl and four pounds of suspected heroin. The day before, officers at the port of entry selected a Ram 1500 for inspection after being flagged by a canine team and nonintrusive inspection equipment. They found 32 pounds of what they believe to be cocaine. In December, the agency reported seizing 3,793 pounds of cocaine, 164 pounds of heroin and 865 pounds of fentanyl.

NewsNation [1/22/2026 12:39 PM, Julian Resendiz, 8017K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection has confirmed that contractors have started using explosives at Mount Cristo Rey as part of border wall construction. The construction along the south side of the mountain at the New Mexico-Mexico border has been ongoing for several weeks but the use of explosives was first reported on Tuesday. “On and off there will be explosions and detonations in order to level the ground in order so they (government contractors) can build the border barrier,” CBP spokesman Landon Hutchens told Border Report. The mountain in the past has been used extensively by smugglers to send migrants into the United States illegally. Its rugged terrain, brush and ravines provide cover for migrants who attempt to reach the vehicles of smugglers waiting below. It also has led to migrants getting injured and to fatalities. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [1/22/2026 9:01 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports a woman who was shot and wounded by a Border Patrol agent during a recent immigration stop in Portland, Oregon, pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally entering the U.S. and was sentenced to one year of probation. Yorlenys Zambrano-Contreras appeared by video from an immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, for the federal court hearing in Portland, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. She won’t face time in prison but will have location monitoring and certain nighttime curfew requirements during probation. She will be able to remain out of custody in Oregon under the negotiated resolution of the case, the news outlet reported. The case was initially filed in Texas, where she was accused of illegally entering the U.S., but she waived her right to appear there for prosecution, the outlet reported. The shooting on Jan. 8, one day after a federal agent shot and killed a driver in Minneapolis, prompted protests over agents’ aggressive tactics during immigration enforcement operations. The FBI said in a court filing that it had found no surveillance or other video of the shooting, in which a Border Patrol agent wounded Zambrano-Contreras and Luis Nino-Moncada while they were in a pickup truck in a medical complex parking lot. According to court filings, the agent opened fire after Nino-Moncada put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed into an unoccupied car Border Patrol agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper. The truck struck the agent, and he fired two rounds out of fear for his life, the filings say. Nino-Moncada has been indicted on charges of aggravated assault on a federal employee and damaging federal property. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody, with a jury trial set for March. The Department of Homeland Security said Zambrano-Contreras and Nino-Moncada entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 and 2022, respectively, and were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/22/2026 5:55 PM, Erika Ritchie, 1538K] reports San Clemente is Orange County’s first city to partner with a federal agency on a surveillance plan to monitor beaches and ocean waters for illegal immigration activity with installed cameras. The City Council on Tuesday agreed to the plan, a year in the making, to partner with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to get a $1 million camera and sensor monitoring system up and running on a hilltop at the Avenida Salvador Reservoir. The camera system will have a view out to the Pacific, from Dana Point Harbor to Camp Pendleton in San Diego County and beyond. The lease with the agency is for up to 30 years, and the camera can be deployed immediately. They are expected to be up by the end of February, officials said. The federal agency has agreed to finance and install the monitoring equipment. As part of the plan, CBP will also pay for the electricity needed to run the system. The system would be able to monitor vessel activity in the ocean off the city’s shoreline. There would also be no access by city staff or local law enforcement, officials said. However, if a vessel is observed in distress, that information could be shared with local law enforcement and first responders.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [1/22/2026 11:16 AM, Zain Khan, 42219K]
Los Angeles Times [1/22/2026 2:18 PM, Gabriel San Román, 14862K]

CyberScoop [1/22/2026 3:40 PM, Derek B. Johnson, 122K] reports a nonprofit is suing the federal government for records surrounding a data sharing agreement between the Transportation Security Administration and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement that saw domestic travel data used for immigration enforcement. Government watchdog group American Oversight filed suit against the agencies Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a day after acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told Congress that it was “absolutely within our authorities” to hand over passenger data to other agencies for immigration enforcement operations. A New York Times report in December revealed that the data sharing partnership included the names and birth dates of passengers. According to the report, TSA sends ICE a list several times a week containing passenger data for upcoming flights, which ICE then checks against its own immigration records. Under the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have dramatically expanded immigration enforcement efforts to areas – like airports and schools – that have not been traditionally targeted by past administrations. The data sharing program between TSA and ICE was reportedly used in the high-profile detention and deportation of 19-year-old college student Any Lucía López Belloza from Boston’s Logan Airport over Thanksgiving 2025. A court later found that Belloza was illegally deported to Honduras. American Oversight filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking to learn what other information was passed along as part of the agreement, claiming “the full scope of the collaboration—including what other pieces of data are being shared, and whether U.S. citizens have been swept up in any enforcement actions—has not been disclosed.” The group claimed that after their initial requests were denied, TSA and ICE stopped responding after the nonprofit filed an appeal under FOIA law.

USA Today [1/22/2026 11:00 AM, Zach Wichter, 67103K] reports thousands of travelers every day could have to pay a $45 fee starting Feb. 1 when the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Transportation Security Administration, starts charging passengers to confirm their identity if they don’t have a REAL ID-compliant document to present at the security checkpoint. According to TSA Deputy Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeil, 6% of travelers still aren’t using REAL ID at airports. Travelers who don’t have compliant documents should use the new ConfirmID process to verify their identity before going to the airport. Those who don’t may not be able to board their flights. The Department of Homeland Security says REAL ID-compliant cards will have a star marking on the top portion of the card. Starting Feb. 1, travelers without REAL ID are encouraged to complete their identity verification before heading to the airport, using the TSA’s new ConfirmID process. It requires a $45 fee and is valid for 10 days after payment. According to the TSA, use of the ConfirmID process is optional for travelers who do not have a REAL ID-compliant document to present, but the agency warns that travelers who do not complete it beforehand are at risk of missing their flights. The TSA also says that enrolling in ConfirmID does not guarantee that an officer will be able to verify your identity, which means you still could be denied boarding your flight.

Chicago Tribune [1/22/2026 4:45 PM, Jack O’Connor, 4829K] reports Illinois is expanding efforts to convince residents without a REAL ID to finally get one before airport travelers face a $45 penalty beginning Feb. 1. The Illinois secretary of state’s office will have its REAL ID supercenter in downtown Chicago at 191 N. Clark St. open for the next two Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to make it easier to obtain the identification before the Transportation Security Administration’s planned $45 fine for all air travelers without one goes into effect. In addition, in partnership with the secretary of state’s office, the Cook County clerk’s office will extend its Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to help Illinoisans get the documents they need to obtain a REAL ID, such as marriage or birth certificates. People can walk in or schedule appointments online with the clerk’s vital records office in downtown Chicago at 118 N. Clark St. The partnership’s first taste of Saturday document and identification distributions resulted in more than 1,100 REAL IDs processed and more than 400 vital documents issued on Jan. 17, the secretary of state’s office said in a Thursday press release. REAL ID compliance has also jumped to 44% from 29% this time last year, with the state having issued more than 5 million REAL IDs.

CNN [1/23/2026 1:59 AM, Gabe Cohen, 606K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency has abruptly halted ongoing terminations of hundreds of disaster workers as the agency prepares for an enormous winter storm expected to pound a large swath of the country in the coming days. In an email Thursday afternoon, obtained by CNN, staff were told that FEMA would "cease offboarding" disaster workers whose employment contracts are expiring in the days ahead — a practice that had been ongoing since the start of January. Two sources familiar with the decision said the looming storm was a significant factor in the sudden pause, though Homeland Security officials have been quietly grappling with the fate of these workers for weeks. It is unclear how long the pause in dismissals will last. So far this month, roughly 300 disaster workers have been let go, with only a handful receiving contract extensions, according to other sources. In response to a request for comment Thursday evening, DHS stressed that the agency’s disaster staffing includes "term-limited positions that are designed to FLUCTUATE based on disaster activity, operational NEED, and available funding.” The pause came just hours after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, visited the agency’s headquarters for a briefing on the incoming winter storm, which forecasters warn could devastate communities and require a significant federal response. Noem, a vocal critic of FEMA throughout President Donald Trump’s second term, has repeatedly called for sweeping reforms — or even the agency’s elimination. The Trump administration is already deep into a FEMA overhaul, with thousands of employees — including many seasoned leaders — lost to layoffs and buyouts over the past 12 months. Even as Noem toured FEMA’s headquarters and met with officials Thursday, managers were escorting staffers out of the building whose contracts were ending, according to a source who witnessed the scene. But then, something shifted, and hours later the cuts were paused. Noem held a call Thursday morning with governors from the states expected to be impacted to address any questions and concerns about preparations and federal resources. In internal documents obtained by CNN on Thursday, agency leaders outlined their winter storm preparations, writing that "FEMA is on the ground and leaning forward, proactively supporting states in the path of this winter storm to ensure a rapid and well-coordinated response. Disasters are best when locally execute, state managed and federally supported, a role we take seriously.” FEMA has activated its National Response Coordination Center, deployed response teams and resources to Texas, Virginia, Georgia and Pennsylvania, and pre-staged 30 generators, 250,000 meals and 400,000 liters of water in Louisiana, according to the documents.

NPR [1/22/2026 12:35 PM, Debbie Elliott, 28013K] reports that a huge swath of the U.S. is bracing for a life-threatening winter storm that will bring frigid temperatures and dump significant amounts of freezing rain, ice, snow and sleet, making travel conditions treacherous, and stressing power systems. Tens of millions of people are under a winter storm and extreme cold watch. "This is a very large storm that’s going to impact a large area of the United States, starting with as far west as eastern New Mexico, and then continuing through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, through the Ohio River Valley, even up into the northeast," says Matt Reagan, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in Nashville, Tenn. While winter storm systems can be difficult to predict, he says western states will start feeling the impacts Friday, and then the system will move easterly through Monday. Heavy snow is forecast for the northeast, with the potential for blinding snow squalls in parts of New England. Farther south, crippling ice and sleet are the biggest risk, even as predictions for severe southern impacts have lessened in the past day. "As far as the freezing rain potential, that looks highest as you get into northern Louisiana, southeast Arkansas, northern Mississippi, and then including southern middle Tennessee as well," Reagan says. "Even for those that are experienced with winter weather, there’s only so much you can do with freezing rain," he says. "You can’t drive in it even if you have four-wheel drive. Widespread power outages are a danger.

AP [1/22/2026 5:49 AM, Jeff Martin, 852K] reports that Millions of Americans from New Mexico to the Carolinas are bracing for a potentially catastrophic ice storm that could crush trees and power lines and knock out power for days, while Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston could see enough snow to make travel very difficult or nearly impossible, forecasters say. About 160 million people — nearly half the population of the United States — were under a variety of watches, warnings and other alerts associated with the winter storm, the National Weather Service announced Thursday afternoon. The alerts stretched from Arizona and Montana in the West to the Carolinas and Maine in the east. The storm, expected to begin Friday and continue through the weekend, is also projected to bring heavy snow and all types of wintry precipitation, including freezing rain and sleet. An atmospheric river of moisture could be in place by the weekend, pulling precipitation across Texas and other states along the Gulf Coast and continuing across Georgia and the Carolinas before heading northeast, forecasters said. “Snow amounts could reach a foot or more in the I-95 major cities from D.C. to Boston,” said weather service forecasters on the East Coast, who are increasingly confident the storm will strike the big cities. In Washington, D.C., “the combination of heavy snow and ice alongside prolonged very cold temperatures presents a unique and significant risk to life and property across virtually the entire region,” forecasters said in the weather service’s Washington/Baltimore office warned.

Univision Austin [1/22/2026 3:46 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports facing the threat of a winter storm that could bring low temperatures, snow, ice, and freezing rain, Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 134 Texas counties as a preventative measure to expedite emergency response across the state. The announcement was made during a press conference this Thursday, where Abbott stressed that, although the phenomenon is not expected to be as severe as the historic winter storm Uri of 2021, the situation should be taken seriously. According to the National Weather Service, an arctic cold front will impact Texas starting Thursday and will intensify over the weekend and into early next week. At the governor’s instruction, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) activated multiple state agencies to respond quickly and in a coordinated manner.

The Hill [1/22/2026 7:29 AM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports President Trump said he has confidence in the Secret Service’s protection regarding his safety after surviving two assassination attempts before his return to the White House last year. The president was asked by NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich on “Katie Pavlich Tonight” if he is ever afraid about his safety given threats that loom, to which he replied, “I don’t worry about it.” “And we have great people, and I feel, I feel that we’re in good shape,” Trump continued. “They’re in good shape. I think the Secret Service has done a great job. The military has done a great job. And one thing I know, if something happens, the person that did it is going to be gone, because we are surrounded. You know, even as we speak, we are surrounded.” “But no, I feel very good,” the president added. “It’s a job that has its dangers. If you think, right, you look at the percentages, it’s probably the most dangerous job in the world. I was telling people, I guess it’s 5 1/2 percent. It’s a bad number, 5 1/2 percent, that’s all.” In the same interview, Trump said Iran would be “blown up” if it carried out threats of assassinating him. A previous alleged plot from the Middle Eastern nation was thwarted in 2024.

New York Times [1/22/2026 6:53 PM, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt, 135475K] reports President Trump could start flying later this year on the 747 Boeing jetliner donated by the government of Qatar, after the Air Force said it expected to deliver the refurbished plane no later than this summer. The Air Force has been working since September on upgrading the luxury jet to accommodate the security needs of transporting the president, who has pressed for it to be ready as soon as possible. Lawmakers and some administration officials have expressed concern about an expedited timeline, fearing the Air Force may not have time to install sufficient security measures. One person familiar with the project, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military program, said the plane would be painted to Mr. Trump’s liking and all the luxury amenities would be installed by the summer but that not all the security measures would be. Still, the official expected Mr. Trump to sign off on the readiness of the plane because he wants to start using it. On Thursday, the Air Force said in a statement that it was “committed to expediting delivery” of the plane, “with an anticipated delivery no later than summer 2026.” Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois, said on Thursday that she was “deeply troubled by how quickly the Air Force is pressing this aircraft into service.” “Air Force One should be the most secure aircraft in the world, and cutting any corners could threaten our national security secrets, the president and our entire country,” she said in a statement. “That’s unacceptable.” The Air Force currently has two planes that are used as presidential aircraft, both of which have been in use for more than 35 years and have had maintenance issues. Just this week, as Mr. Trump was on his way to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum, Air Force One had to return to Washington after experiencing what the White House described as a “minor electrical issue.”

Reuters [1/22/2026 11:54 PM, David Shepardson, 36480K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump is getting new transportation - on the ground and in the sky. This week in Davos, Switzerland, the U.S. Secret Service began transporting Trump in newly delivered Cadillac SUVs, the agency confirmed in a social media post. The vehicles appear to be modified Cadillac Escalades, but the agency did not confirm that. "We were excited to build upon our long-lasting relationship with General Motors as we introduced these vehicles to our protective fleet," Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a statement. In March, following a meeting between Trump and GM (GM.N) CEO Mary Barra, Curran traveled to a GM facility in Warren, Michigan to discuss next-generation armored SUVs. Trump raised the idea of acquiring Cadillac SUVs in the discussion with Barra. GM and the Secret Service on Thursday did not answer questions about the new SUVs. The president traditionally often travels in an armored Chevrolet Suburban when not in the presidential limousine. In September 2024, the Homeland Security Department and Secret Service awarded GM a $14.8 million contract for development of the next-generation presidential limousine nicknamed "The Beast" that could be worth up to $40.8 million through 2029. In August, the contract was modified to exercise an option covering $13.5 million in funding. The Secret Service in March posted a photo from the visit that included a Cadillac Escalade SUV outfitted with the presidential flag next to a large picture of the presidential seal. The vehicle appears similar to the one Trump traveled in this week. The U.S. Air Force separately said on Thursday that Trump is on track to get a new airplane by summer after he was downgraded on Tuesday evening from a Boeing (BA.N) 747 to a smaller 757 for his Davos trip after a "minor electrical issue". In May, Trump accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jetliner from the government of Qatar to temporarily fly as the new Air Force One until two planes arrive from Boeing after lengthy delays. The 13-year-old former Qatari jet, which has a luxurious interior, is getting retrofitted at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. The Air Force said it sees "an anticipated delivery no later than summer 2026" and added it is "closely coordinating with the appropriate government entities to ensure the appropriate security measures and functional mission requirements are met.” Last month, the Air Force said delivery of the first of two new Air Force One jets from Boeing had been delayed by another year to mid-2028, the latest in a series of setbacks.

USA Today [1/22/2026 2:19 PM, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, 67103K] reports that a federal judge will decide the fate of the "beautiful and spectacular" White House ballroom envisioned by President Donald Trump as he considers a lawsuit by a preservationist group aimed at halting the construction of the $400 million project on Jan. 22. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, DC will hold a hearing on a December lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation suing Trump and several federal agencies. The group argues the project did not consult with regulatory bodies, has not completed an adequate environmental assessment or sought congressional authorization. After the White House announced the project in July, the sudden and complete demolition of the East Wing in October to make way for the ballroom took many by surprise, sparking concern from critics, preservationists and a few former residents, including former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. At 90,000 square feet of new construction, Trump’s project "will overwhelm the White House itself," which is 55,000 square feet, said Carol Quillen, the president of National Trust for Preservation, adding: "(The addition) may also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House with its two smaller, and lower, East and West Wings." The Trump administration is asking the court to deny a preliminary injunction, which would halt construction while litigation continues.

Government Executive [1/22/2026 2:08 PM, David DiMolfetta, 652K] reports Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee pressed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s acting director on workforce reductions and internal developments Wednesday as lawmakers examined the agency’s direction under the second Trump administration. Madhu Gottumukkala, CISA’s acting director, testified before the panel alongside top officials from other agencies. He rehashed CISA’s efforts over the past year to better align its work with its statutory authorities and sought to defend major cost-cutting measures that have seen around a third of the cyber agency’s employees leave in the past 12 months. CISA is “executing a mission-first approach” by “prioritizing what works, eliminating duplication and ensuring that every product and service directly advances CISA’s regulatory mission” in a way that aligns with the goals of the Trump administration, Gottumukkala said in his opening remarks. He also hinted at plans to pursue hiring this year, saying the agency would “continue targeted hiring” for key roles. He did not provide a figure for Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member of the panel, when asked how many staffing vacancies are currently in the cyber agency. “I’m just trying to get to a number that you started with and what the president cut," Thompson said. “I mean, it should be easy for you to just come up and say, ‘I lost a third of my people, but I’m able to accomplish the mission.’” Workforce and budget decisions were frequently raised by other committee Democrats. Gottumukkala did not give a “yes” or “no” response to Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., when asked if money recently appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security — which houses CISA — would be enough for the cyber agency to carry out its mission. The nation’s main civilian cyberdefense office has undergone major workforce shifts since early last year, as DHS has sought to refocus the agency back to its “core mission” amid past GOP misgivings about its activities during the Biden administration, namely that the agency engaged in censorship of Americans’ free speech.

CyberScoop [1/22/2026 3:40 PM, Tim Starks, 122K] reports a Russian national pleaded guilty to leading a ransomware conspiracy that targeted at least 50 victims during a four-year period ending in August 2022. Ianis Aleksandrovich Antropenko began participating in ransomware attacks before moving to the United States, but conducted many of his crimes while living in Florida and California, where he’s been out on bond enjoying rare leniency since his arrest in 2024. Antropenko pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas earlier this month to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse. He faces up to 25 years in jail, fines up to $750,000 and is ordered to pay restitution to his victims and forfeit property. Federal prosecutors reached a plea agreement with Antropenko after a years-long investigation, closing one of the more unusual cases against a Russian ransomware operator who committed many of his crimes while living in the U.S.

FOX News [1/22/2026 10:10 AM, Michael Ruiz Fox, 40621K] Video: HERE reports "assassination culture," or public tolerance of politically motivated violence, is increasing in the United States after a year of alarming bloodshed, according to a new national survey — especially among women. Researchers also said they found that high usage of social media and growing pessimism about the country’s future may be eroding basic civility. "I thought we’d be seeing a bunch of guys who were unemployed who’d be endorsing this," said Joel Finkelstein, director of the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which studies emerging threats to national security, civics and American youth online. The NCRI has been studying the topic of assassination culture since before the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who shared an earlier report by the group warning of the rise of the phenomenon months before his own death, in the wake of two failed attacks on President Donald Trump. While support for assassination culture is on the rise on both sides of the political spectrum and across both genders, the study found it is especially pronounced on the left, and among women of any ideology. "It’s still more pronounced on the left in our data," Finkelstein told Fox News Digital. "That’s really clear, but it’s growing on the right." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [1/22/2026 9:36 PM, David Zimmermann, 1394K] reports TikTok is moving to spin off its U.S. operations into a separate entity controlled by a group of primarily American investors backed by President Donald Trump, the company announced Thursday. The social media app, known for its short-form video content, will now be owned in the United States by TikTok U.S. Data Security Joint Venture LLC. The app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, will retain a 19.9% stake in the joint venture, while the majority will be held by American investors. The announcement comes one month after TikTok inked the deal to sell its U.S. entity to the joint venture group. On Thursday, the White House confirmed that the deal had been finalized before TikTok made its public announcement. Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX each own 15% as the three managing investors. Among the other investors is the personal investment firm of Dell CEO Michael Dell, who financially backed the so-called Trump Accounts reserved for U.S. children born between 2025 and 2028. Larry Ellison, another Trump ally, leads Oracle. The newly announced TikTok-U.S. joint venture will be led by Adam Presser, CEO, and Will Farrell, Chief Security Officer, both of whom previously held positions at TikTok. Filling the joint venture’s seven-member, majority-American board of directors are: TikTok CEO Shou Chew, TPG Global senior adviser Timothy Dattels, Susquehanna International Group managing director Mark Dooley, Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban, DXC Technology CEO Raul Fernandez, Oracle Executive Vice President Kenneth Glueck, and MGX chief strategy and safety officer David Scott. In September, Trump signed an executive order to keep TikTok operating in the United States, as the app faced a deadline to divest from ByteDance. Trump repeatedly pushed the deadline back via executive action. Given the platform’s national security implications of being owned by a Chinese company, it has been a particular concern to the federal government for years. Congress passed a bipartisan bill to ban TikTok in the U.S. if ByteDance didn’t sell it off to an American company. The law caused the app to briefly shut down last January, but Trump issued an executive order to temporarily delay the ban on his first day back in office. The new deal is unlikely to change the average TikTok user’s experience, but it does mean more data security and less foreign manipulation for U.S. users. Oracle is providing much of the data security, while the two other managing investors are taking key leadership roles in the joint operation.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [1/22/2026 10:23 PM, Amrith Ramkumar, 646K]

AP [1/22/2026 9:11 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 2416K] reports a Pentagon contractor was indicted Thursday on charges that he illegally removed and shared classified national defense information with a journalist, a case that has drawn national attention after federal agents searched a reporter’s home as part of the investigation. Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones was charged with five counts of unlawfully transmitting and one count of unlawfully retaining classified national defense information, the Justice Department said Thursday. The case, which has been linked to last week’s search of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home in Virginia, has drawn scrutiny from press freedom advocates who say it reflects a more aggressive posture by the Justice Department toward leak investigations involving journalists. Perez-Lugones is accused of taking home printouts of classified documents from his workplace and later passing them to a reporter, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. A Justice Department news release doesn’t name the reporter or the reporter’s employer, and the indictment itself wasn’t immediately made public. The reporter co-wrote and contributed to at least five articles that contained classified information provided by Perez-Lugones, authorities said. Investigators found phone messages between Perez-Lugones and the reporter in which they discussed the information that he provided, authorities said. “I’m going quiet for a bit ... just to see if anyone starts asking questions,” Perez-Lugones said after sending one of the documents, according to the news release. “Illegally disclosing classified defense information is a grave crime against America that puts both our national security and the lives of our military heroes at risk,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. Attorneys for Perez-Lugones didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Perez-Lugones, 61, of Laurel, Maryland, has remained jailed since his Jan. 8 arrest. He held a top secret security clearance and is accused of printing out classified and sensitive reports from where he works as a systems engineer and information technology specialist for a government contractor. In October, Perez-Lugones took a screenshot of a classified intelligence report involving an unspecified foreign country and pasted the image into a Microsoft Word document that he printed out, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Authorities found documents marked “SECRET,” including one in a lunchbox, when they searched his home and car this month, according to court papers. On Wednesday, Washington Post asked for a court order requiring authorities to return electronic devices that they seized from reporter Natanson’s home last week. Federal agents seized a phone, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive and a Garmin smartwatch, according to a court filing. A federal magistrate judge in Alexandria, Virginia, temporarily barred the government from reviewing any material from the seized devices. The judge also scheduled a Feb. 6 hearing on the newspaper’s request.

Breitbart [1/22/2026 1:25 PM, Lucas Nolan, 2416K] reports a recent federal case against a worker at a government contractor for allegedly leaking classified information to the Washington Post has brought attention to the extensive surveillance capabilities of modern workplace printers, which can archive full copies of every document they process. According to an FBI document, the leaker was caught by his employer thanks to an office printer. The Intercept reports that federal prosecutors charged Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, an IT specialist working for an unnamed government contractor, with unlawful retention of national defense information on January 9, according to an FBI affidavit. While the case initially gained media attention due to federal agents searching the home of a Washington Post journalist, a less publicized aspect of the investigation has revealed how office printers can serve as comprehensive surveillance tools that retain complete copies of printed materials. The investigation became publicly known after the Washington Post reported that investigators had seized equipment belonging to journalist Hannah Natanson, including her work laptop, personal laptop, phone, and smartwatch. As Breitbart News previously reported: Bondi wrote, "This past week, at the request of the Department of War, the Department of Justice and FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post journalist who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor. The leaker is currently behind bars. I am proud to work alongside Secretary Hegseth on this effort. The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country.”

New York Times [1/23/202612:04 AM, Chris Cameron and Matina Stevis-Gridneff, 135475K] reports President Trump rescinded on Thursday his invitation for Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada to join his “Board of Peace,” an organization that he had founded to oversee a peace deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza but that he has now tried to broaden into an institution to rival the United Nations. In a high-profile speech at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, Mr. Carney had urged leaders of smaller nations to band together to resist Mr. Trump’s America First doctrine and his efforts to dismantle the post-World War II international order. On Thursday, hours before Mr. Trump’s announcement, Mr. Carney went further, denouncing “authoritarianism and exclusion” in a speech that appeared to be referencing the president. Though Mr. Trump did not explain why he was rescinding the invitation, Mr. Trump, who often lashes out against leaders who publicly defy him, appeared to be reacting to Mr. Carney’s candid remarks. In a similar episode months earlier, Mr. Trump sought to punish Canada with additional tariffs because of a Canadian television ad that quoted former President Ronald Reagan denouncing tariffs. “Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post framed as a letter to Mr. Carney. The Canadian leader had received an invitation to the Board of Peace last week, and his staff had said he was planning to accept. But he quickly distanced himself from the offer after it emerged that Mr. Trump would charge members more than $1 billion in exchange for a permanent seat in the organization, and that other Western leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron, had declined to join.

AP [1/22/2026 7:06 PM, Stephen Groves, 2218K] reports the House rejected a Democratic-backed resolution Thursday that would have prevented President Donald Trump from sending U.S. military forces to Venezuela after a tied vote on the legislation fell just short of the majority needed for passage. The tied vote was the latest sign of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s tenuous hold on the majority, as well as some of the growing pushback in the GOP-controlled Congress to Trump’s aggressions in the Western Hemisphere. A Senate vote on a similar resolution was also tied last week until Vice President JD Vance broke the deadlock. To defeat the resolution Thursday, Republican leaders had to hold the vote open for more than 20 minutes while Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt, who had been out of Washington all week campaigning for a Senate seat in Texas, rushed back to Capitol Hill to cast the decisive vote. On the House floor, Democrats responded with shouts that Republican leaders were violating the chamber’s procedural rules. Two Republicans — Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — voted with all Democrats for the legislation. The war powers resolution would have directed Trump to remove U.S. troops from Venezuela. The Trump administration told senators last week that there are no U.S. troops on the ground in the South American nation and committed to getting congressional approval before launching major military operations there. But Democrats argued that the resolution is necessary after the U.S. raid to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and since Trump has stated plans to control the country’s oil industry for years to come.

Washington Examiner [1/22/2026 6:53 PM, Jack Birle, 1394K] reports the Justice Department laid out its case on Thursday for why President Donald Trump believes the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua has made a "predatory incursion" into the United States, which the DOJ says allowed Trump to invoke the Alien Enemies Act. The full panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit heard arguments in a challenge to Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, grilling DOJ lawyer Drew Ensign on the president’s basis for doing so, and at times appearing skeptical of the reasoning.The judges questioned Ensign on what the difference between a full invasion and a "predatory incursion" is. The Justice Department lawyer disagreed with a previous appeals court panel’s ruling that rejected the finding of an incursion, saying a "country’s encouraging its residents and citizens to enter this country illegally is not the modern-day equivalent of `States.” "I think we can start with what everyone agrees with: predatory incursion is less than that invasion," Ensign said. "I think one aspect we take issue with [in] the panel opinion is, they thought that a predatory incursion was simply a failed attempted invasion," he said. Ensign detailed the criminal actions of Tren de Aragua, including murder, kidnapping, and rape, along with occupying apartment buildings, arguing these actions make the incursion by foreign nationals predatory. The DOJ lawyer also noted the close ties between the gang and the Maduro regime in Venezuela, which he said satisfies the Alien Enemies Act requirements. "TdA has engaged in alleged crimes, but realistically, the evidence here is it engaged in quite a number of activities that regularly satisfy the predatory requirement," Ensign said. "I think the occupation of entire apartment buildings is not the sort of ordinary crime.”

Bloomberg [1/22/2026 7:50 AM, Ari Natter and Jonathan Ferro, 18207K] reports the Trump administration has no plans to directly provide security to oil producers in Venezuela, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday, dismissing the notion US troops will be used to address companies’ concerns about safety in the troubled nation. “We are not going to get involved in providing on-the-ground security,” Wright said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The US involvement right now in controlling the flow of funds in Venezuela gives us huge leverage to reduce the criminality in that country, reestablish peace and better business conditions.” Oil executives and industry leaders have stressed companies need political and legal reforms, contract certainty and security guarantees before investing in Venezuela following the apprehension of former President Nicolás Maduro. While US President Donald Trump has vowed to provide “total safety” to companies operating there, it remains unclear how the US would accomplish that. During the interview Thursday, Wright said the steps the US has taken in Venezuela have already made the nation a more secure place to work and that oil companies are well versed in operating in challenging environments around the world. Ultimately, he said, Venezuela will need a representative government, new laws and changes to its constitution.

Breitbart [1/22/2026 6:43 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports securing mineral rights in Greenland could be part of a future deal being negotiated regarding Greenland and the entire Arctic region, President Donald Trump said. The president told a CNBC on Wednesday that he met with NATO Secretary Gen. Mark Rutte, who helped to draft the framework of a potential deal involving Greenland, while both were attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Mineral rights and a Golden Dome aerial defense system in Greenland were among issues being discussed that could become part of a future agreement, he said. "This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America and all NATO nations," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "Additional discussions are being held concerning the Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland," the president added. "Further information will be made available as discussions progress.” He also said he will not move forward with tariffs on European nations that oppose Trump’s proposed U.S. annexation of Greenland, which remains a territory of Denmark. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Danish officials "cannot negotiate on our sovereignty," which Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen seconded, the BBC reported.

Daily Wire [1/22/2026 11:58 AM, Zach Jewell, 2494K] reports President Donald Trump said on Thursday that under the framework of a plan currently being negotiated between his administration and NATO, the United States would be given "total access" to Greenland "at no cost.” Trump told Fox Business that under the proposal, the United States is "getting everything we want at no cost." The president said that Greenland is vital for U.S. national security and will be used for "a piece" of his "Golden Dome" missile defense system. "Everything comes over Greenland. If the bad guys start shooting, it comes over Greenland," he said, adding, "It’s pretty invaluable.” "So what are we talking about, an acquisition of Greenland? Are you going to pay for it?" asked Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. "It’s really being negotiated now, the details of it," Trump replied. "But, essentially, it’s total access. There’s no end. There’s no time limit.” Trump spoke to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Davos on Wednesday and announced shortly after the meeting that they worked out a "framework" for a deal on Greenland. Rutte confirmed that the United States and NATO have made significant progress toward securing an agreement covering the large territory that Denmark oversees. Rutte said on Thursday that, as part of the deal, NATO allies will have to increase their military presence in the Arctic region. It remains unclear if Greenland and Denmark support the deal currently under negotiation. Danish leaders have strongly opposed Trump’s push to acquire the territory, while Greenlandic leaders have said they don’t want to become part of the United States. Trump has been pushing for the United States to acquire Greenland since returning to the White House last January, and he has increased pressure on Greenland, Denmark, and other European nations over the issue in recent weeks. The president believes that Greenland is essential for U.S. national security, arguing that China and Russia will take over the territory if the United States doesn’t. Trump told Bartiromo on Thursday that it’s still possible that the United States will end up controlling Greenland. During his speech at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, Trump said he would not use military force to annex the territory.

The Hill [1/22/2026 8:04 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12595K] reports NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said early Thursday that the military alliance will need to increase its security in the Arctic under President Trump’s plan for Greenland. “When it comes to the protection of the Arctic, with a priority on Greenland, we have to spend more energy, more time, more focus on this because we know the sea lanes are opening up,” he said in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Rutte added that Denmark is “completely open” to an increased U.S. footprint, though he said that prospect was not discussed. “We will come together in NATO with our senior commanders to work out what is necessary,” the alliance chief said. “I have no doubt we can do this quite fast,” Rutte added. “Certainly, I would hope for 2026, I hope even early in 2026.”

NewsMax [1/22/2026 10:39 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Vice President JD Vance said European leaders are far more receptive to President Donald Trump’s Greenland strategy in private discussions than their public statements suggest, describing much of the criticism as political posturing. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Vance said European officials routinely voice strong objections to Trump’s approach in public but take a more pragmatic tone behind closed doors, acknowledging Greenland’s strategic importance to NATO and Western security. Vance said he, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other administration officials have held private talks in which European counterparts conceded that the United States would be expected to respond if Russia or China expanded their presence in the Arctic. "Behind the scenes, they’re much more reasonable," Vance told the outlet. The remarks come as debate intensifies over Trump’s push to strengthen U.S. influence in Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory the administration views as vital to American national security and Arctic defense. The Trump administration maintains that Greenland’s strategic location makes it essential for missile defense, early warning systems, and countering adversaries seeking to expand their footprint in the Arctic.

AP [1/22/2026 2:27 PM, Geir Moulson, Emma Burrows and James Brooks, 31753K] reports leaders of Denmark and its territory Greenland insisted Thursday that the island’s sovereignty was non-negotiable after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had agreed on a framework with the NATO chief that Trump said would grant the U.S. "total access" to the island. Much about the potential deal remained unclear, though Trump said in a Fox Business interview that "we’re going to have total access to Greenland" as part of what he has said is needed to ensure the island does not come under control of Russia or China. He added that "we’re going to have all the military access we want.” NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said the alliance’s Secretary General Mark Rutte did not propose any "compromise to sovereignty" in discussions with Trump, and Danish officials have noted that, in any case, NATO doesn’t have a mandate to negotiate a deal on behalf of Denmark and Greenland. Trump on Wednesday abruptly scrapped the tariffs he had threatened to impose on eight European nations to press for U.S. control over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. It was a dramatic reversal hours after he insisted he wanted to get the island "including right, title and ownership" — though he also said he would not use force. Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen voiced guarded relief, but he said he knew no concrete details of the agreement Trump cited. "‘I don’t know what there is in the agreement, or the deal about my country," he told reporters. Trump called it a "framework of a future deal" that, if completed, would also allow the United States to install an element of his "Golden Dome," part of a multibillion dollar missile defense system, in Greenland. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said security in the Arctic is a matter for all of NATO, and it is "good and natural" that it be discussed between the U.S. president and Rutte. She said in a statement that she had spoken with Rutte "on an ongoing basis," including before and after he met Trump in Davos. She wrote that "we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty" and added: "I have been informed that this has not been the case.”

Reported similarly:
FOX News [1/22/2026 8:43 AM, Alex Nitzberg, 40621K]

Daily Wire [1/22/2026 9:34 AM, Zach Jewell, 2494K] reports NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that European nations will have to increase their military presence in the Arctic region as part of a Greenland deal being negotiated by President Donald Trump. Rutte told Reuters at the World Economic Forum that, following his Wednesday meeting with Trump, NATO must work through a plan to increase security around Greenland. "I have no doubt we can do this quite fast. Certainly I would hope for 2026, I hope even early in 2026," Rutte said. Trump said on Wednesday that NATO and the United States "formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland" after a "very productive meeting" with Rutte. The president added that he would suspend the additional tariffs he planned to impose on European countries that opposed his push to acquire Greenland. "It’s a long-term deal. It’s the ultimate long-term deal," Trump told reporters. "And I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security and minerals and everything else." He added that there would be "no time limit" on the deal, saying, "It’s forever.” Greenland’s rare earth minerals were also part of the framework agreement, the president said. Trump said on Wednesday, however, that rare earth minerals aren’t the main reason he wants the territory. "Everyone talks about the minerals. There’s so many," Trump said in Davos. "There’s no such thing as rare earth. There’s rare processing. But there’s so much rare earth. And to get to this rare earth, you got to go through hundreds of feet of ice. That’s not the reason we need it. We need it for strategic national security and international security.” Trump has argued that the United States needs to take control of Greenland before China or Russia invades the territory. During his speech in Davos on Wednesday, Trump said he would not use military force to acquire Greenland, but added that he wanted negotiations to begin immediately. Asked if NATO allies could trust Trump, Rutte replied, "You can always take Donald Trump at his word.” The framework deal agreed upon by Trump and Rutte is not a finalized agreement and will only kickstart serious negotiations on Greenland, according to Trump. The president did not say whether Greenland or Denmark, which oversees the semi-autonomous territory, agreed to the framework deal.

Bloomberg [1/22/2026 1:23 PM, Christian Wienberg, 18207K] reports Greenland’s prime minister says he’s willing to go further in increasing the defense of the Arctic island coveted by President Donald Trump, including agreeing on the establishment of a permanent NATO mission. “We are ready to discuss more, we are also ready to do more and do it more permanently,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Thursday, speaking to international media in the territory’s capital, Nuuk. What happens on the polar island is at the center of global speculation after Trump announced he’d agreed to a “framework” with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, offering scant detail. According to a European official briefed on the talks, the pact entails the stationing of US missiles, mining rights aimed at keeping Chinese interests out and a bolstered NATO presence. Nielsen said he wasn’t aware of the any details of a Trump-Rutte deal and stressed that Greenland would have to take part in any talks about its future. But he also said he was open to cooperate more on mineral resources. Denmark has long pushed for stronger NATO presence in Greenland, a message that “has now been heard, and hopefully we will seriously begin to take action on it,” said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen late on Thursday. Speaking to reporters ahead of a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels, she said both Denmark and Greenland are also open to expanding a defense treaty with the US. The agreement from 1951, updated in 2004, allows the US to freely establish bases in the territory but requires it to consult Denmark and Greenland first.

CBS News [1/22/2026 10:38 AM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports the U.S. is moving ISIS detainees in the Middle East after a prison break. CBS News’ Charlie D’Agata reports.

Free Beacon [1/22/2026 6:50 PM, Adam Kredo, 411K] reports Iran claimed this week to have successfully tested its first long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a capability that would enable Tehran to strike the eastern seaboard of the United States, according to regime-controlled outlets. The regime purportedly conducted its missile launch from an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base in the city of Semnan, firing toward Serbia with the approval of the Russian government. The missile would have traveled up to 3,700 miles to reach its target, though video of the supposed launch only shows an airborne projectile soaring through the clouds. The footage was initially posted on social media on Monday by an Iranian professor and subsequently amplified by the regime’s press organs, which claimed the missile is capable of traveling up to 6,200 miles. Even an unsuccessful test—like the failed ICBM launch in September 2025—is likely to advance Iran’s technical knowledge, and the timing of this particular test suggests the Islamic Republic’s leaders are attempting to stave off a U.S. strike that President Donald Trump indicates is still on the table. Trump issued his strongest statement to date against the Iranian regime last weekend, saying, "It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran." In the meantime, the United States has begun positioning an array of military assets in the region—including the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group—as Trump considers "decisive" action against the regime, according to the Wall Street Journal. The president reportedly called off a strike last week after Israel and other regional allies warned about the Islamic Republic’s ability to respond with missile fire. Iran has in the past sought to aggressively publicize its missile tests, and the largely quiet nature of the Monday launch outside regime news sources means the Islamic Republic may be serious about refining its ICBM technology and eventually using the missiles on the battlefield. "There’s no shortage of attempts by Tehran’s theocrats to engage in hyperbole and bluster to bolster their deterrence, but usually these displays are public," said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Iran Program. "Yet when the regime shores up and tries to bolster its military prowess without media spotlight and braggadocio, that’s when there is room for real concern.” The missile shown in this week’s footage appears to be a version of the domestically produced Sejjil MRBM, an advanced solid-fuel medium-range projectile that Iran used against Israel during the 12-day war. A successful test at the distances Iran claimed, Ben Taleblu said, "should be taken with more than just a grain of salt," but would be "historic if true" and "constitute a veiled threat against the U.S. homeland.” The U.S. intelligence community’s current assessment holds that Iran has not yet deployed any functional ICBMs, but "the Iranian regime has been using its satellite launch vehicle program as cover towards developing an ICBM development capability, as both incorporate similar technologies," Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against a Nuclear Iran, told the Washington Free Beacon.

Daily Wire [1/22/2026 8:45 PM, Tim Pearce, 2494K] reports President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his administration is closely watching Iran for signs that it’s killing protesters, and has sent a “big flotilla” toward the region “just in case.” The president said that he hopes the U.S. fleet is unnecessary. Trump talked about U.S. troop movements regarding Iran while on board Air Force One, with his orders suggesting that tensions between Washington and Tehran are still high amid Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protests. “We’re watching Iran. You know, we have a lot of ships going that direction just in case. We have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters. The president said that he stopped Tehran from following through on hundreds of public executions. “I said, ‘If you hang those people, you’re gonna be hit harder than you’ve ever been hit. It’ll make what we did to your Iran nuclear look like peanuts.’ And an hour before this horrible thing (the executions) was going to take place, they canceled it,” the president said. “But we have an armada. We have a massive fleet heading in that direction. And maybe we won’t have to use it. We’ll see.” Trump threatened Iran with another attack if the regime used deadly force, as anti-government protests have swept the Middle Eastern country in recent weeks. Tehran has maintained an internet blackout over the entire country for two weeks, as reports suggest that the regime has killed thousands. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency says it has confirmed the deaths of over 5,000 people since mass protests erupted in Iran in late December. The human rights group says it is investigating nearly 10,000 more deaths. It says nearly 27,000 people have been arrested by the regime since the protests started. Trump and Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have traded strong words while Washington and Tehran negotiate and threaten each other over the fate of Iranian protesters and a potential U.S. strike. “Anything ever happens [to me], we’re going to blow the whole — the whole country’s going to get blown up,” Trump said on Tuesday in response to the Iranian regime’s threats on his life.

Washington Examiner [1/22/2026 5:00 AM, Ramsey Touchberry, 1394K] reports Congress is laying the groundwork for what a key Republican hopes will foster bipartisan legislation this year to combat foreign threats facing American drivers. Federal lawmakers have found consensus in combating China’s ability to collect and weaponize data through U.S. transportation systems like toll roads and traffic cameras, despite being in opposing lanes on the root causes and solutions. Former senior cybersecurity officials and experts on China and the long-haul trucking industry warned lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday of the sweeping Chinese ties to technology systems used in the U.S. transportation industry. "There’s two things I always say that inspire politicians," Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), who led the hearing, later told the Washington Examiner. "One of them is money. This has nothing directly to do with money. But the second thing is votes. And I think when people hear about this, they’re going to expect their elected representatives at every level to be doing more to get this under control." The Department of Homeland Security estimated last year that there were 12,000 Chinese-made internet-connected cameras used in the United States that could be used by China to "conduct espionage or disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure." And beyond traffic cameras and toll systems used by states and localities across the country, growing technologies like autonomous vehicles and EV chargers also pose risks. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the committee’s top Democrat, deemed the topic a "valid and meaningful subject of inquiry, and I’d salute the chairman for this initiative.”

Wall Street Journal [1/23/26 12L21 AM, Heather Somerville and Amrith Ramkumar, 646K] reports the Trump administration pushed out two officials focused on neutralizing technological threats from China, people familiar with the matter said, in the latest dismissals of key personnel working on national-security issues tied to Beijing. The departures, from an office within the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, alarmed some U.S. officials and security hawks already concerned with what they described as the Trump administration’s softening stance toward China as trade talks between the two sides continue. President Trump recently agreed to sell Nvidia artificial-intelligence chips to Chinese customers. He dismissed several members of the National Security Council last year, and officials within BIS working on China-related matters also departed. The latest losses were within the bureau’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services. Set up by the first Trump administration, it has been described by many Republicans and Democrats as showing promise in limiting China’s technological and economic advances that could harm U.S. national security. The OICTS is broadly charged with securing U.S. technology supply chains and communications infrastructure, and protecting Americans’ data from adversaries. On Wednesday, Liz Cannon, the executive director of the OICTS, submitted her resignation, the culmination of a pressure campaign by senior officials to get her to leave, people familiar with the matter said. Her announced departure follows the exit of one of her deputies, who was put on administrative leave last week, the people said. Both OICTS officials were integral in establishing a rule last year that widely restricts the import and sale of internet-connected passenger vehicles and related hardware and software with links to China or Russia. The rule was enacted after the office had established that the potential to share data from the cars posed a national-security risk. A senior Commerce Department official said new leadership has been selected and will be announced within a week.

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