NewsFlash

prior post has/will be amended.

Place keeper for Saturday

The Dutch flagship airline KLM has announced that it will be suspending all flights to and from the Middle East until further notice, citing the “geopolitical situation” in the region and following discussions with officials in The Hague. KLM has directed international flights to avoid the airspace over Iraq, Iran, Israel, and several Gulf Nations, while all flights have been canceled to Tel Aviv, Dubai, Dammam, and Riyadh.   Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa, KLM, and several other international airlines have begun to cancel flights tonight and over the weekend to and from Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, citing the “security situation” in the Middle East.  United Airlines, Air Canada, and Swiss International Air Lines have canceled their flights to Israel. - various sources.    Israel estimates that the US will attack Iran and that the buildup will be completed within days - Israeli Channel 12

Yeah, it probably will. What a waste.

Feds murder another citizen in Minneapolis. Alex Jeffrey Pretti has been identified as the 37-year-old male who was shot and killed by agents with Border Patrol and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a scuffle today in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pretti had no extensive criminal record and worked as a nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In footage from the immediate aftermath of the shooting today in Minneapolis, agents with Border Patrol and ICE can be seen searching for a gun, with one clearly stating, “Where’s the gun?” The agent in grey who was seen removing the gun from the waistband of Pretti before the shooting then says that he has it. More evidence suggesting that Pretti was unarmed when shot by agents in Minneapolis. [video] - https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2015172460082081795   

Video Contradicts Trump Administration Account of Minneapolis Killing - The graphic video, which was uploaded by Drop Site News, shows Pretti appearing to direct traffic and film federal agents on his phone. Soon after, he appears to be pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by multiple agents. About a half-dozen agents are on top of Pretti or in his immediate vicinity when he is initially shot. The gunshots continue after Pretti is on the ground. The video, along with others recorded from different angles, refute the more than 150-word account of the shooting that DHS published on social media on Saturday afternoon. In that statement, DHS claimed that “an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.”     https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/video-contradicts-minneapolis-shooting-dhs-trump-alex-pretti/     We’ve placed the available videos of the shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis today into the same synchronised timeline and are continuing to analyse further. - https://bsky.app/profile/bellingcat.com/post/3md733zyf722w  The gun taken by the agent appears to match the general appearance of the firearm shared online by DHS, and which they said was Pretti’s. This agent’s back is turned from the scene with the gun in his hand when the first shot occurs. - https://bsky.app/profile/bellingcat.com/post/3md7banbjks2x

Minneapolis residents barricaded streets. ICE couldn’t get out after shooting today. - https://bsky.app/profile/butterflygirl24.bsky.social/post/3md753spr7c2i

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ‪@governorwalz.mn.gov‬: " I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening.  The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now."

‪Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield‬  ‪@agdanrayfield.bsky.social‬   Read our statement on the shooting today by federal agents in Minnesota.


Statement by NY Senator  Chuck Schumer




I COUNTED SEVEN, MAYBE EIGHT SHOTS.

In case you prefer more traditional media - here's Associated Press with a video of his murder. - https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-protester-alex-pretti-15ade7de6e19cb0291734e85dac763dc

Rachel Sayre, the Director of the Emergency Management Department in Minneapolis: My background is in international humanitarian response in conflict zones in Yemen, Haiti, Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine. What I've seen here is what I've seen there. A powerful entity violently and intentionally terrorizing people... https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/2015162516637163937



Updated: No, I think there were more than seven shots. Two separate volleys, I think. Here is a more coherent news timeline, with video. - https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/white-house-claims-protester-shot-115352091.html     https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/video-shows-shooting-alex-pretti-234643994.html

From this video, taken from inside the car immediately adjacent, it looks like ICE attacked Alex and another woman, and pepper-sprayed them both. It appears Alex is attempting to help/shield the woman from further harm when he's dragged away from her and tackled by several agents, who begin punching him. Then they shoot him.  https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2015269221404467592

ICE/DHS prohibits local police from examining/maintaining crime scene. Court order required - https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/25/2365322/-Minnesota-Police-Accuse-ICE-In-Court-of-Destroying-Shooting-Evidence?pm_campaign=trending&pm_source=sidebar&pm_medium=web  When the feds had scoured the scene, they walked away from it, leaving it completely unsecured.  [Ask any homicide/ law enforcement officer how professional THAT is.]

Alex Pretti murdered by ICE.

Personal Note: I have seen foreign news broadcasts (France 24 comes to mind first) covering this story. The news hosts are doing interviews with some person who claims to have spoken with experts in the USA who state that Alex brandishing a weapon at officers means they were justified in shooting him. There is no mention that he had a legal permit to carry a concealed weapon, which he apparently had not drawn on the officers, who only only cried "gun!" (clearly audible on some recordings) when the weapon was discovered AFTER they had him on the ground. They do not mention that Alex had a cell phone in one hand, recording, and the other hand was empty when he was attacked and shoved backwards by ICE, visible in every video I've seen. And that, in at least one of the videos, as officers were kicking/punching him as he was on the ground,  one of them seems to remove the concealed weapon -  before any shooting begins.  There appear to be two sets of shots fired. Some while he is initially being restrained and the other set after the officers scatter away from him as he lay bleeding on the road, when they fired about a half-dozen (?) more times. 

Video highlighting ICE agents removing concealed weapon from Alex's waistband. - https://bsky.app/profile/dieworkwear.bsky.social/post/3mdbdded2v22g

News coverage like this [framing the victim as the perpetrator] leads me to think that an editorial decision has been made to support the US government - or it's really shoddy investigative reporting. And no, it's not necessarily "illegal" to carry a weapon to a protest. Local and state laws determine that, and also whether the weapon holder has a permit or not.

Federal officers were in a direct conflict situation with local officers as this unwound, having kept the local PD from access to or preserving the crime scene, with numerous civilians nearby. Police in the USA are definitely armed, so it's not like a bunch of bobbies against an Army. It's one armed group vs another armed group - and that's before any civilians with weapons is considered.  This is an explosive scenario. As one commentator put it, it's the kind of situation that ignites events that end up in history books. They're not wrong. 

Trump is now claiming that the government of Minnesota is fomenting insurrection. Fifty thousand people protesting in -15F weather against ICE being in their community is hardly the government of Minnesota fomenting anything - it's all coming from the people who are suffering this oppression and harassment. I would not be surprised to hear Trump invoke the Insurrection Act soon. [It's the first step towards martial law, when elections are suspended. Or, rather, when they try to suspend elections. The individual states run the elections. So the outgoing office holders would lose their seats and any newly elected people from states that did hold them would be the legitimate representatives.  That could get nasty.]

And of course Noem started spouting the party line literally immediately as the news broke - "the heroic ICE officers against the deranged, gun-wielding domestic terrorist intent on a mass murder." 

There's a special place in hell waiting for her.

It's bitterly cold in Minnesota (and many other places in the USA today are dealing with a significant snow/ice storm), which is helping keep this kettle from boiling over. For a few days.


Who Was Alex Pretti? - https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikestunson/2026/01/24/who-was-alex-pretti-man-shot-dead-by-border-patrol-agent-in-minneapolis/

A video of Alex honoring a deceased military serviceman who he cared for at the VA - https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2015295545036652759

Gathering for Alex - https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/video/hundreds-take-to-downtown-minneapolis-streets-to-protest-pretti-good-killings/

Quiet candlelight vigils honoring Alex Pretti light street corners across Twin Cities - https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/quiet-candlelight-vigils-light-street-corners-across-twin-cities-area/?intcid=CNR-01-0623  They did not need to kill my friend - [video] available through the preceding link.

Minneapolis business owners react to another deadly shooting by federal agents: "A neighbor was murdered" - https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-business-owners-react-alex-pretti-shooting/

Minnesota and Minneapolis officials are demanding evidence of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti be preserved. CBS News confirms the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension filed a new lawsuit alleging federal officials mishandled evidence at Saturday's crime scene in south Minneapolis. That comes after they say they were completely blocked from accessing that scene despite having a warrant.  WCCO spoke with Rachel Moran, a University of St. Thomas law professor who has researched law enforcement accountability for decades.  "I don't know of a situation like this. It's unusual and it's really troubling because the state does have the authority to investigate whether a crime occurred. And if we have the federal government actively preventing them from doing that and ignoring a court order, that's a power grab that's deeply concerning," Moran said. - https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-ice-killings-renee-good-alex-pretti-rachel-moran/

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama called the fatal shooting of Pretti a "heartbreaking tragedy" that should serve as a "wake-up call to every American" that the nation's core values are under attack. The Obamas slammed ICE officers and other federal agents for what they called the "unprecedented tactics" that resulted in the deaths of Pretti and Good. "And yet rather than trying to impose some semblance of discipline and accountability over the agents they’ve deployed, the President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren’t informed by any serious investigation – and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence," the Obamas said in a statement. "This has to stop."   Full statement here - https://bsky.app/profile/barackobama.bsky.social/post/3mdbbk4lfpk2b 
Governor of Vermont




A bit of good news:

Minnesota toddler taken into ICE custody with father and flown to Texas is returned to mother next day, lawyer says. The child’s transfer to Texas took place despite a court order requiring her immediate release, according to the affidavit filed by the family attorney. The toddler’s father, identified as Elvis Tipan-Echeverria, remains in custody....  -  https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/24/us/elvis-tipan-echeverria-toddler-ice-arrest-minnesota

5-year-old Liam, taken into custody by ICE, has active immigration case that prevents his deportation for now. He's together with his father in a Texas detention camp. The being with his father is the good news. Conditions at the camp are not. - https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/5-year-old-ice-minneapolis-immigration/


And then

Military conducts 'lethal kinetic strike' on alleged drug boat, leaving one survivor. [At least he survived the initial strike. I believe the "Boat Strike" talley is now about three dozen sunk and well over 100 people dead.] - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/military-conducts-lethal-kinetic-strike-alleged-drug-boat-leaving-one-rcna255681

Minneapolis, Minnesota — The FBI agent who opened the civil rights investigation into the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent has resigned from the FBI, sources tell CNN and the New York Times. Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on the morning of Jan. 7. The Department of Homeland Security claims Good was using her vehicle as a weapon and trying to harm Ross, but video appears to show Ross stepping in front of her vehicle moments before she attempted to drive away. The agent initially was working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension when the shooting happened and opened a civil rights investigation, CNN reports. She was then ordered to reclassify it as an investigation into an assault on the officer and the FBI blocked the Minnesota BCA from the investigation. - https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/ice-in-minnesota/fbi-agent-renee-goods-death-resigns-cnn/89-f877f336-1c18-427a-906d-c14f0ab1d2be

Carrier Strike Group Three (CSG-3), led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), has arrived in the Middle East and is now operating within the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility.

The country’s most popular podcaster, Joe Rogan, says he believes immigration raids and accusations of fraud in Minnesota daycare centers are deliberate distractions from the Epstein files, his latest critique as he becomes increasingly critical of President Trump after endorsing his 2024 campaign. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/01/23/rogan-suggests-trumps-using-ice-raids-to-distract-from-epstein-files/

Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role as Border Patrol “commander at large” and will return to his former job in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon, according to a DHS official and two people with knowledge of the change. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/greg-bovino-demoted-minneapolis-border-patrol/685770/    [He needs to be going to prison.]

Hopkins, Minnesota:  A Hopkins family that was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents the morning of Jan. 22 has returned home following a court order that asked for government compliance by no later than Jan. 26. Luis Fernando Chulca Chiluisa, Maria Velasco Hurtado and their two children were all detained. According to legal documents, Hurtado was first detained on her way to work, and Chiluisa and their two children were detained at their home on Mainstreet afterwards. All four have active asylum applications.... What ICE did to the Velasco family yesterday morning is unconstitutional and immoral. ICE surveilled a pregnant mother, Maria, and waited until she was isolated on her way to work to detain her. ICE then went back to her home to use the fact of Maria’s detention to threaten her husband Luis, their first grade child, and their 7th grade child with an impossible choice – (1) either come outside immediately and be detained to stay with their mother, or (2) stay inside the house in safety and have their mother taken away and flown out of the state away from them," his statement said. [They were sent to Texas in defiance of a court order. ] -  https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_sailor/free/hopkins-family-detained-by-ice-returned-to-minnesota/article_4a7edf99-2df9-43cd-bc36-afdbf2c991ae.html

Reminder that, as of the latest reports, Liam Ramos is still in prison in Texas - now for 6 days.  His parents are legal asylum seekers with no criminal record. As a five year old, Liam obviously isn't a criminal, either.



Seen on Blue - "Pam Bondi just sent a letter to Minnesota officials saying ICE will leave if the state turns over its voter database to Trump.  Guess what? This has never been about safety or immigration. It’s a pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states."   Ok, yeah, a legit post although the conclusion might be a little wobbly. See: Bondi seeks Minnesota voter rolls, welfare data to "help bring back law and order" in wake of shootings - https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/bondi-minnesota-voter-rolls-welfare-data-walz-immigration-shootings/

[Saturday] Minnesota National Guard members have arrived at a federal building and were directed to distribute donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate to anti-ICE protesters. Guard members were issued reflective vests so they would not be mistaken for federal agents. -  https://bsky.app/profile/onestpress.onestnetwork.com/post/3mdbmif4wh224

Several posts seen online stating that TikTok is censoring anti-ICE, anti-government content now. Many TikTok users recently reported problems uploading videos, sudden drops to zero views, or posts getting stuck “under review.” Almost all of those complaints involved videos criticizing ICE or discussing the murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. [As I'm not a subscriber I cannot verify that, but there have been posts of screen caps supporting the claims. Other posts, seeming to be from outside the country, say they can view supposedly banned media.] - https://bsky.app/profile/newseye.bsky.social/post/3mdeajok5hk23

Surprisingly, mainstream media is kicking and screaming:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/journal-editorial-board-trump-administration-spin-on-alex-pretti-simply-isn-t-believable/ar-AA1V18C1

Governor of Minnesota  Walz: "To Americans who are watching this, I've got a question for you: What side do you want to be on? The side of an all powerful federal govt that can kill, injury, menace, & kidnap its citizens off the streets? Or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such govt?" - https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mdbkr7wvcf26

Statement by former President Bill Clinton:
[from two weeks ago, source post -change X to h Xttps://www.instagram.com/p/DTPD3TpDCht/ ]

Houston, Texas [Editorial]: A 5-year-old was detained by ICE. Texas shouldn’t be a part of this.  On Wednesday, a photograph from a Minnesota school district captured our country’s absurd reality: little Liam Conejo Ramos, with his Spider-Man backpack and a blue knit cap with cartoony eyes and floppy white bunny ears, standing in the cold. A hand, presumably belonging to a federal immigration agent, grips his backpack. It’s a chilling visual. This is our government, clutching a preschooler, as if he were a hardened criminal who might run. As if the 5-year-old represented a safety risk for the public.  Another image shows the agent, masked and imposing in all black, his eyes barely visible beneath a baseball cap, escorting the child. Tell us: Who is the real safety risk here? - https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/ice-minnesota-texas-liam-ramos-immigration-arrest-21309308.php


Federal Judge orders ICE chief to court to explain why detainees are denied due process: The chief federal judge in Minnesota says the Trump administration has failed to comply with orders to hold hearings for detained immigrants. He’s ordered Todd Lyons, Trump’s acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to appear before him Friday to explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt. “This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result,” Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz wrote in the order dated Monday. https://www.wcia.com/news/national/ap-the-latest-federal-judge-orders-ice-chief-to-court-to-explain-why-detainees-are-denied-due-process/?ipid=promo-link-block1

Calls for Kristi Noem’s Impeachment Grow After Second Fatal Shooting: ‘Accountability, Not Lies’ - https://time.com/7358125/kristi-noem-impeachment-calls-grow-minneapolis-ice-shootings/ [She belongs in Riker's Island, general population, no special security.]

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador in March of last year, will learn next month whether the federal government might re-detain him.  Maryland federal Judge Paula Xinis says she will rule by Feb. 12 whether the removal order granted a year ago was a final one. If she determines it was, the government could take him back into custody. [If I was him I'd be buying tickets to anywhere outside of the USA right now.]

Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, will be rearrested and deported to Algeria, DHS says.  While the federal government furthers its ongoing deportation case against Khalil, his legal team told Spectator he cannot be legally detained because “his appeals process has not concluded.” [That has not stopped ICE from grabbing numerous other people whose cases were still under consideration.] - https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2026/01/22/mahmoud-khalil-sipa-24-will-be-rearrested-and-deported-to-algeria-dhs-says/

Minnesota - Republican drops bid for Governor's race:  "The president posted something on Truth Social saying it was a time of reckoning and retribution on the citizens of my state, and I've seen that happen and I cannot be a part of it, and I can't be a part of a party that's a part of that." In his video announcement on X, Madel said it is "wrong" that U.S. citizens of color are living in fear and carrying passports to prove their citizenship status...He also criticized two recent federal moves — authorizing officers to enter homes without judicial warrants and cutting off state investigators from accessing evidence of the recent shootings — as unconstitutional. "I cannot support the national Republicans stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so," Madel said. - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/republican-chris-madel-exits-minnesota-governors-race-calls-federal-retribution-on-state-unconstitutional/ar-AA1V0vWr [Yeah, that and that a Republican has a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected in Minnesota now.]

Renee Good: Family's options for justice are bleak -  https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/25/us/renee-good-family-lawyers-case

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham made the following statement on ICE’s killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis: “For the second time in less than three weeks, a Minnesotan is dead at the hands of ICE. While local authorities are still gathering information, we know that Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old Veterans Affairs Hospital ICU Nurse and member of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), is dead. Our hearts are with Alex’s family, friends, loved ones, our community, and his AFGE union family right now as they grieve. Once again, the Department of Homeland Security has rushed to share a narrative that nobody outside the department can confirm and that contradicts every publicly available video. We join the calls for a full and transparent investigation into both this killing and the killing of Renee Nicole Good. ICE continues to make everyone less safe, and Minnesota’s Labor Movement repeats and amplifies our call for them to leave our state immediately. For Minnesota’s workers of color, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, every commute to work, every trip to the grocery store, and every walk to school has become a genuine risk. Just yesterday, tens of thousands of Minnesotans peacefully exercised our right to free speech without incident. When ICE is involved, nonviolent protesters and legal observers are gassed, assaulted, and shot. ’Operation Metro Surge’ is not and has never been about enforcing immigration law. This is about a President who is angry with the people of Minnesota for disagreeing with his policies and is weaponizing the federal government against us in retribution. Minnesota’s Labor Movement will continue to actively support and stand in solidarity with every worker who has been unlawfully detained. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Minnesotans in the face of a hostile federal government.” https://mnaflcio.org/news/statement-ices-killing-afge-member-alex-jeffrey-pretti

Minneapolis, Minnesota - Violent anti-ICE protesters swarm Minnesota hotel with one federal agent left bloodied. https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/violent-anti-ice-protesters-swarm-minnesota-hotel-with-one-federal-agent-left-bloodied/ar-AA1V0eFI [ICE may or may not have been staying there as a group, but they are extraordinarily lucky that only one ICE agent got a busted nose out of it all.]

Urbana, Illinois:  ‘We’re here in solidarity’. 500 miles away from Minneapolis, people in Central IL protest ICE -  https://www.wcia.com/news/champaign-county/were-here-in-solidarity-500-miles-away-from-minneapolis-people-in-central-il-protest-ice/




"Operation Catch of the Day"

Maine:  We're being terrorized.' What Mainers are seeing as ICE launches operation in the state - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/were-being-terrorized-what-mainers-are-seeing-as-ice-launches-operation-in-the-state

Maine:  ICE watchers in Maine say they were threatened by federal agents.  "Now, the volunteers in Maine say federal agents have started showing up at their homes and intimidating them or threatening arrest. Some of them, masked and wearing tactical gear, have issued stark warnings not to follow them."  - https://www.pressherald.com/2026/01/23/ice-watchers-in-maine-say-they-were-threatened-by-federal-agents/

Maine governor questions ‘secret arrests,’ sheriff says ICE targeted one of his recruits. Gov. Janet Mills said the state has been given few details. - https://www.baltimoresun.com/2026/01/22/maine-immigration-enforcement-surge/

Reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity across Maine flooded social media on Wednesday as local mayors confirmed agents were detaining citizens and an ICE official told Fox News the agency had identified “approximately 1,400 targets” in the state....“ICE has been actively conducting operations and detaining people in Westbrook yesterday and this morning. At least one peaceful US citizen observer from Westbrook was targeted for intimidation by a masked federal law enforcement officer this morning,“ he wrote. ”This is outrageous behavior from a federal authority, and I stand by our citizens’ rights to peacefully observe and/or protest.” - https://www.masslive.com/politics/2026/01/ice-in-maine-what-we-know-so-far.html

Portland, Maine, Feels Like a Small Town — And ICE Isn’t Welcome.  The influx of federal agents this week has been hard for locals to ignore. Many are expressing their resistance to the immigration crackdown.   https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/us/portland-maine-resistance-ice-immigration.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Maine Attorney General’s office creates email to report immigration enforcement concerns- https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/maine-immigration/maine-ice-concerns-email-reports-maine-attorney-general-ag/97-f24a399b-a678-45ea-a74a-3f24dc24c7eb
MAINE: -Report ICE/CBP activity: Maine ICE Watch Hotline: 207-544-9989   -Report “intimidating or excessive behavior used by federal agents” to CitizenReporting.OAG@maine.gov

Westbrook, Maine: Community members form a human wall to keep local workers safe from ICE - https://www.mainepublic.org/maine/2026-01-26/how-a-westbrook-business-and-community-members-are-trying-to-keep-workers-safe-from-ice   'This is outrageous behavior': Mayor condemns ICE operations in Westbrook. Portland Mayor Mark Dion said neither the city nor Portland police will cooperate or engage with ICE in any way.  - https://wgme.com/news/local/mayor-condemns-ice-operations-in-westbrook-david-morse-maine-trump-administration-portland-lewiston-us-customs-and-border-protection-secretary-of-state

Portland, Maine:  Agents followed the woman home after she dropped off a child at school, a daughter said. The woman has no criminal record. -  https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/maine-immigration/mother-of-4-detained-portland-immigration-enforcement-ice-maine/97-62423a40-6e72-46dd-80ab-14b699d97ab9

Empty vehicles, dropped calls: The eerie scenes as ICE came to Maine. ICE agents have swiftly whisked people away this week, leaving uneasy feelings in their wake. - https://www.pressherald.com/2026/01/24/empty-vehicles-dropped-calls-the-eerie-scenes-as-ice-came-to-maine/

Biddeford, Maine:  ‘I want my mom’: Kindergartener left without her mother as ICE detains parents - https://theurbanmermaid.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-ice-monsters-in-maine.html [Main article in the Boston Globe, but there's a paywall]

Maine Secretary of State rejects "ransom" for getting ICE agents out of the state - https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/politics/maine-politics/maine-secretary-of-state-shenna-bellows-rejects-ransom-ice-agents-leave-states/97-e8781e4f-9183-44e1-bbbc-f8edc015876e

[Aside: About Mainers. I think ICE will find they are not as 'touchy-feely' as Minnesotans - and probably better armed. There are reports on Blue of locals spotting off-duty ICE officers and verbally harassing them, and running them out of public places. See https://bsky.app/profile/nullifie.bsky.social/post/3mdfda4wifk2p  This could get nastier than Minnesota, in that I don't see Mainers as the type to just march peacefully with signs. I could be wrong.]


So. California:  Churches as Battlegrounds. ICE Agents Raid One Church, As Feds Prosecute Protestors at Another - https://lataco.com/border-patrol-detains-church-painters     

Los Angeles area: Around 40 people were kidnapped from Santa Paula to Riverside, with more than half from the City of L.A. in the last three days. Plus, are ICE and CBP adjusting their strategy again? - https://lataco.com/daily-memo-january-26th-ice-continues-to-use-chp-and-local-police-resources-despite-californias-sanctuary-state-policy


The Leopard Ate My Face [Florida]:  The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown over the last year has gone from uncomfortable to untenable for Ileana Garcia, a Republican state senator in Florida.  A Transportation Security Administration officer at the Tallahassee airport overheard her speaking Spanish and asked whether Ms. Garcia, who was born in Miami, was an American citizen. She worried for the first time that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents might stop her son, a young adult, because he looks Hispanic. Constituents have asked her for help finding immigrant relatives arrested by ICE.- https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/us/florida-republican-says-immigration-crackdown-has-gone-too-far.html

TikTok is investigating why some users can't write 'Epstein' in messages. [Seriously? They have to check why?] - https://www.npr.org/2026/01/27/nx-s1-5689104/tiktok-epstein-direct-messages   https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/26/tech/tiktok-ice-censorship-glitch-cec

Potential photo identification of violent Border Patrol officer who shot pepper-spray into the face of a prone/restrained protester. Please refer to the disclaimer at the bottom of the flyer.   https://bsky.app/profile/spockresists.bsky.social/post/3mdblogcdws2q

Sanctuary policies are legal. The Supreme Court has been clear for decades that the federal government cannot commandeer state or local governments to enforce federal immigration law. This isn’t “playing with fire.” It’s constitutional law.

Texas Representative Veronica Escobar says that that her amendment to the bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security that would ban the detention and deportation of Americans citizens was stripped out of the bill by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller before the bill was voted on.  She noted that the original spending bill that passed out of the committee included language that would prevent ICE from apprehending and deporting U.S. citizens, but that language was stripped when the bill reached the floor. "This means (President) Donald Trump does not want to protect U.S. citizens," she said from the House floor. "Let that sink in: Donald Trump does not want U.S. citizens protected from being detained and deported by ICE." - https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/politics/2026/01/26/us-rep-veronica-escobar-blasts-ice-actions-in-vote-against-funding-package/88320242007/

Trump's too dumb to know, but Glass’s symphony is about him https://newrepublic.com/article/205873/philip-glass-trump-kennedy-center

The families of two Trinidadian nationals killed in an October airstrike are suing the U.S. government for wrongful death and extrajudicial killings..The two men -- Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo -- had been fishing off the Venezuelan coast and were returning to their homes in Trinidad and Tobago when the strike occurred, according to the lawsuit. - https://abcnews.go.com/US/families-2-trinidadian-nationals-killed-strikes-sue-trump/story?id=129608509

Chicago, Illinois: Man cleared in Border Patrol bounty trial now faces immigration proceedings. A Chicago carpenter cleared of accusations that he put a $10,000 bounty on the life of a Border Patrol commander has been taken into immigration custody and faces deportation, attorneys confirmed Tuesday. Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, was acquitted of one count of murder-for-hire last week. Within 24 hours, he was picked up by federal immigration agents....- https://apnews.com/article/immigration-custody-chicago-bounty-arrest-court-b8f03bd4cced7fb266d7cbd3033b96df?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share [Juan was brought to the USA as a child.]

US sending ICE unit to Winter Olympics for security - https://apnews.com/article/ice-milan-cortina-olympics-immigration-enforcement-us-110fa4b2066e1fb920dba2a71c3a89e0 [Really? And Italy is going to allow it? Wouldn't it be ironic if they were detained at the border and sent to CECOT by Italy?]

FBI Director Kash Patel said Monday that he had opened an investigation into the Signal group text chats that Minnesota residents are using to share information about federal immigration agents’ movements, launching a new front in the Trump administration’s conflict there with potential free speech implications. - https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/fbi-investigating-minnesota-signal-minneapolis-group-ice-patel-kash-rcna256041

Near Dodger's Stadium


A man sprayed Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar with an unknown liquid at a town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday, but she vowed not to be intimidated and declined to immediately leave the event to get checked out. ...Omar, the first Somali-American elected to Congress, has spoken frequently about the death threats she has received, many of which have included racist or Islamophobic language. - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rep-ilhan-omar-attack-sprayed-at-town-hall/ [I note that when he was wrestled to the ground he wasn't shot ten times.]    Man arrested in the attack on Ilhan Omar has a criminal history and made pro-Trump posts - https://apnews.com/article/ilhan-omar-attack-sprayed-town-hall-attack-c785b49b2c770b7aed1cdbb75df0a35f

Trump officials have ordered national parks to remove dozens of signs and displays related to climate change, environmental protection and settlers’ mistreatment of Native Americans in a renewed push to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order on “restoring truth and sanity to American history.” Park staff have interpreted Trump’s directive - which seeks to scrub federal institutions of what it calls “partisan ideology” and remove any content deemed to “disparage Americans past or living” - to include any references to historic racism and sexism, as well as climate change and LGBTQ rights. Last week, that included the removal of an exhibit at Independence National Historical Park that focused on George Washington’s ownership of enslaved people.- https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/more-history-exhibits-pulled-national-162435198.html



‘We stand with our neighbors’: Native American community responds to reports of ICE detainments. “The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) condemns the unlawful actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). We stand with our neighbors—whatever their country of birth—who are getting ripped away from their families or violently apprehended for their lawful efforts to protect their communities. ICE’s ongoing campaign of violence marked by racial profiling, warrant-less arrests, excessive force, and a total lack of accountability, must end now.” - https://www.abc4.com/news/native-american-community-responds-ice-detainments/

Oklahoma:   Amid growing mass deportation efforts across the U.S., Indigenous leaders in Oklahoma are warning tribal citizens to be prepared if they are stopped in Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps, especially after multiple incidents in other states...Absentee Shawnee Governor John Raymond Johnson shared a letter on social media last week, saying tribal citizens in Oklahoma are being caught up in the federal government's push to deport undocumented migrants.  "AST has recently been informed that the federal government, in its attempt to deport undocumented migrants, has begun to approach, question and even detain tribal members in Oklahoma," Johnson said in the letter. "It appears that these Tribal Members were accosted by officers using unconstitutional racial profiling techniques." - https://www.kgou.org/indigenous-news/2026-01-20/indigenous-leaders-in-oklahoma-raise-concerns-advise-tribal-citizens-on-ice-encounters

ICE agent threatens to 'erase' Minnesota civilian if they raised their voice -  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-agent-threatens-to-erase-minnesota-civilian-if-they-raised-their-voice/ar-AA1V76iR    [video]   https://www.rawstory.com/ice-erase-your-voice/ [That sounds like a terroristic threat. Which is illegal in most states.]

South Portland, Maine:  ICE agents fire projectiles at legal watchers.  ...ICE agents approached an older woman driving a Volkswagen who had gotten closest to the officers, spoke with her, and then fired projectiles at her.   A federal agent fired paintball-like projectiles at the cars of at least two people observing them in a Home Depot parking lot on Friday, ...The projectiles left sticky, orange marks on their windshields, bumpers and car doors, they said, providing photos and videos to corroborate their accounts.  One video shows a group of about six officers approaching several vehicles in the lot. Two of them held rifles and one of them held a device that resembled a paintball gun. It is not clear what kind of threat the onlookers presented that would have justified the agent’s use of force. - https://themainemonitor.org/maine-filming-immigration-customs-enforcement-projectiles/

Portland, Maine: A pastor searched for a missing congregant. He found a car with the keys on the floor. Evaristo Kalonji, an asylum seeker from Angola who has no criminal record, vanished from South Portland...Kalonji has a pending asylum case, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, part of the U.S. Department of Justice. Kalonji originally had a court date scheduled for this year, but it was recently postponed to May 2028. - https://themainemonitor.org/missing-congregant-ice/

Portland, Maine:  Masked agents detain civil engineer, leave his car running in the street with a smashed window. The man is in the country on a work visa after receiving a master’s degree at UMaine, his colleagues said. - https://themainemonitor.org/masked-agents-smash-window-detain-engineer-portland/ 

Cumberland County, Maine:  ICE abducts Cumberland County Corrections Officer.  On Thursday, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce blasted immigration authorities for the Wednesday night arrest of the man, whom the sheriff described as a jail recruit with a “squeaky clean” record and permission to work while seeking a path to citizenship. ...Agents left the man’s car running in the road after whisking him away....   - https://themainemonitor.org/working-immigrants-caught-up-ice-crackdown/     https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/01/22/portland/portland-police-courts/maine-sheriff-kevin-joyce-condemns-ice-recruit-arrest/

Hawaii governor wants new laws to protect immigrants - fast. Standing beside poster boards printed with photographs of Pretti and Good, Green told the crowd that “last time I checked, America believed in freedom of speech and protest and peaceful protest, and we believed that we were here to be protected by our government and supported in these moments. “That’s not what we’ve been seeing, and it’s tragic,” he said, “to imagine what we’re losing in America.” - https://apnews.com/article/josh-green-donald-trump-donald-trump-es-immigration-hawaii-76954f3b787c356dc48938c98ed5c3c8


Doctor Who Fought to Treat Alex Pretti Says Border Patrol Moved His Body to Count Wounds Instead of Doing CPR - https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/doctor-fought-treat-alex-pretti-144401715.html    https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3mdhl35elfs2t

Internal review contradicts White House narrative of Pretti's death - https://www.npr.org/2026/01/27/g-s1-107608/alex-pretti-death-internal-review-immigration

In Seattle, Washington State:

Prior post has been updated.  It's going to be a busy week. ICE/BP is surging in Maine, but still active elsewhere - including Minneapolis. 





In Memoriam:

Challenger astronauts Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/28/challenger-disaster-40th-anniversary/88377278007/

Bruce Springsteen
‪@brucespringsteen.net‬
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free





Through the winter’s ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
‘Neath an occupier’s boots
King Trump’s private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes

Against smoke and rubber bullets
In the dawn’s early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

Trump’s federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest
Then we heard the gunshots
And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead
Their claim was self defense, sir
Just don’t believe your eyes
It’s our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

Now they say they’re here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight

In chants of ICE out now
Our city’s heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis





Bravo, Minneapolis. Bravo.

Maher Tarabishi was detained in October during a scheduled check-in at an ICE facility. He was the primary caretaker of his son, who died last week. The family is seeking Maher's release so he can attend his son's funeral. ICE reportedly denied the request. - https://people.com/ice-denies-detainees-request-to-attend-his-sons-funeral-attorney-says-11893834


Baltimore, Maryland: Video leaked from the ICE Baltimore Field Office shows people packed into holding rooms with no beds and appalling conditions, echoing the early concentration camps of the 1930s. - https://bsky.app/profile/warmonitor.net/post/3mdbnsifzlk2h

Murderers get paid leave? Border Patrol agents on leave after fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.  DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the agents were placed on administrative leave on Wednesday.  The news is a departure from what former Border Patrol Commander at Large Greg Bovino told reporters on Sunday, the day after the shooting. “All agents that were involved in that scene are working, not in Minneapolis, but in other locations. That’s for their safety. There's this thing called doxxing, and the safety of our employees is very important to us, so we're going to keep those employees safe,"  Bovino had said on Sunday. [So which is it?] - https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/border-patrol-agents-involved-in-fatal-shooting-alex-pretti/89-3a8fd05c-78c7-43dd-a3a9-ccec5447a7b2

Minneapolis, MN:  Announcing her presence "on the ground" in Minneapolis Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said at least 16 people were arrested for allegedly assaulting federal law enforcement officers in the city. Bondi posted the news on social media, claiming those arrested "have been resisting and impeding our federal law enforcement agents." She added she expects "more arrests to come." -  https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/ice-in-minnesota/bondi-in-minnesota-announces-several-more-protester-arrests/89-f2367db8-9a50-4e96-942c-fab7fe306335

Minneapolis:  Ecuador says ICE agent was blocked from entering its Minneapolis consulate. The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said it had issued “a note of protest” to the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador.   The Ecuadorian Foreign Affairs Ministry said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent tried to enter the country’s consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday but was blocked by its staff. “Consulate staff immediately prevented the ICE official from entering the consular building, thereby guaranteeing the protection of the Ecuadorians who found themselves in the consular building in that moment, and activating emergency protocols issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Movement,” the ministry said in a statement about the incident, which it says happened around 11 a.m.  In a video circulating on social media and geolocated by NBC News to the consulate, an employee is seen rushing to the door and opening it to a masked ICE agent. The agent tells the employee, “If you touch me, I will grab you.” The employee replies, “You cannot enter here. This is a consulate, this is a foreign government property.” - [video] - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/ice-agent-blocked-ecuador-consulate-minneapolis-trump-immigration-rcna256284

Minneapolis:  AP reporter describes federal officers pushing journalists back to car as they documented operation -  https://apnews.com/video/ap-reporter-describes-federal-officers-pushing-journalists-back-to-car-as-they-documented-operation-3c19168346604ec59f3b67e63221bfe4




Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) warned the Trump administration on Tuesday that the state “will not be intimidated” by the administration’s surge in federal immigration enforcement.  “Today, I say to the people of Maine: We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced,” Mills said during her final State of the State address. “And to anyone outside these halls, including any federal officials, I say: If you seek to harm Maine people, you will have to go through me first.” - https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5710748-janet-mills-trump-ice-surge-maine/

Salt Lake City, Utah - Thousands demonstrate against ICE.  Protesters marched through downtown Salt Lake City Sunday to show solidarity with Minneapolis and call for changes to federal immigration enforcement. - https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2026/01/26/thousands-protest-ice/ [Note: Utah is a "red" state.]



California: Bill would ban ICE agents from jobs in teaching and policing.  “Public service requires integrity, restraint, and respect for due process." - https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/california-bill-ice-teachers-21318405.php [Teaching? Not a personality type I'd think was good working with kids.]

So. California:  Border Patrol ‘Cluster Raid’ Plays Out in Southern California - https://lataco.com/how-cluster-raids-work     Border Patrol and ICE took at least 15 people from the Southland, mostly from Los Angeles, Compton, and Lynwood.     Compton: Compton Towne Center, 9:00 a.m. Multiple videos show ICE staging behind a Best Buy. A well-known community watcher known as @ice_melter93 on Instagram was brutally tased and arrested. His whereabouts were unknown all day, but he was eventually released.   Echo Park: Glendale & Alessandro Street, 12:30 p.m. Federal agents attempted to enter Spain Restaurant and the recycling center, but both places closed their doors. Agents instead grabbed a random man off the street and kidnapped him.  Los Angeles: MDC, 12:20 p.m. Protesters showed up to the MDC to protest the detention of @ice_melter93 in Compton. While Border Patrol agents were making their pit stops, an infamous Border Patrol agent, Aaron Padda, who now wears a mask, jumped out of his vehicle unprovoked and tackled a protester in the middle of the street while traffic was driving by. Aaron Padda, showing poor tackling form, landed on his back as he attempted to take the protester to the ground. The protester was briefly detained and released.  [video change X to h - Xttps://www.instagram.com/p/DUBx4l4kzcL/] - https://lataco.com/daily-memo-january-27th-border-patrol-attack-and-follow-community-watchers-home-while-we-see-a-new-raid-approach-unfold 

New Jersey:  ICE actions in Morristown, nationwide ‘should outrage Americans’.  Officials urge residents to call police if they spot immigration agents. - https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/01/cory-booker-ice-actions-in-morristown-should-outrage-americans/

Dilly, Texas: Texas state police deployed chemical irritants toward protesters Wednesday outside a federal detention facility where a Democratic congressman met with a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father whose case has stirred anger over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. - https://ktla.com/news/ap-us-news/ap-democrats-castro-crockett-set-out-to-visit-detention-center-housing-family-detained-in-minnesota/ [A federal court has issued an order prohibiting little Liam or his father from being deported at this time, but they are still imprisoned in Texas while the rest of their family waits in Minnesota.]Congresswoman visits Liam and his father.

‘Oh Sh*t!’ CNN Catches Gnarly Scene Featuring Anti-ICE Protesters Coughing Through Smoke Bombs. CNN broadcast a wild scene of anti-ICE protesters wading through smoke bombs live on air on Wednesday, with irate protesters yelling “f*ck you!” at the immigration agents as others were coughing and having water poured in their eyes.  The segment started with anchor Brianna Keilar telling viewers a large group of protesters were gathered in front of an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas, where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his dad are being kept. - https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/oh-sh-t-cnn-catches-213428825.html

New York City:  Thousands rally in New York’s Union Square against ICE raids, support Minnesota protests. Protesters marched on Friday in Union Square urging lawmakers to cut ties with ICE and backing Minneapolis’ statewide strike. - https://news.meaww.com/thousands-rally-in-new-yorks-union-square-against-ice-raids-support-minnesota-protests

Choctaw Nation, Oklahoma - Rumors of an ICE facility coming to a small Oklahoma town are being met with push-back from city leaders and a tribe.  From Blue ...This isn't really hard math. Our communities include a lot of Native Americans. Much of our state is reservation land. ICE is at this very minute holding members of The Oglala Sioux. This has no place in Oklahoma. There will be no ICE detention center next to the Choctaw Nation HQ!  - video change X to h Xttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv15A02h4gU

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:  DA vows to hunt down 'Nazi' ICE officers amid new law to limit agents. Larry Krasner didn't mince words as he slammed ICE operations in the liberal city and across America, speaking to a group of protesters who had gathered in the wake of the shooting death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis ICU nurse who was killed in broad daylight after attempting to protect another protester from being pepper-sprayed and arrested. "This is a small bunch of wannabe Nazis — that's what they are — in a country of 350 million. We outnumber them," Krasner said in the brief speech...."If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities. We will find you. We will achieve justice, and we will do so under the Constitution and the laws of the United States," he said. - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/philadelphia-da-vows-to-hunt-down-nazi-ice-officers-amid-new-law-to-limit-agents/ar-AA1V6BQ9




Barack Obama ‪@barackobama.bsky.social‬  10:02 AM · Jan 28, 2026:   More and more Americans are voicing their outrage at the tactics being deployed by federal agents in Minnesota. But it’s important to understand the broader implications of what this administration is doing, and the threat it poses to the basic freedoms of every American.  Here’s a podcast that does a good job of laying out what’s at stake, and why all of us need to get off the sidelines to demand change.    https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-caitlin-dickerson.html?unlocked_article_code=1.H1A.8Eps.KaUppxOPpoDm&smid=url-share   


Government funding runs out at midnight on Friday, Jan. 30th, impacting several entities, but not the whole government.   Another government shutdown looms as Minneapolis shootings spark DHS funding fight in Congress. Democrats are saying they'll block any bill that includes funding for President Trump's immigration crackdown. - https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/article/another-government-shutdown-looms-as-minneapolis-shootings-spark-dhs-funding-fight-in-congress-215612121.html



Have not forgotten the Epstein Files.

Previous post has been updated.



From Blue:
"I'm coming to Boston and I'm bringing hell with me." --Tom Homan in February
"Do I expect violence to escalate? Absolutely." -- Tom Homan in March
"I actually thought about getting up and throwing that man a beating right there in the middle of the room." -- Homan in July, referring to a Democratic Congressman

Yesterday:  Homan: "I begged for the last two months on TV for the rhetoric to stop. I said in March -- if the rhetoric doesn't stop, there is gonna be bloodshed. And there has been. I wish I wasn't right. I don't want to see anybody die."  [video] - https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mdkvwwjy2u2q




[Aside: As of 2023 roughly 130,000 people without legal immigration status resided in Minnesota, as opposed to 2.1 million in Texas and 1.6 million in Florida.  Florida and Texas are Republican-controlled states. The people of Minnesota chose Democratic leaders. I note that there are no huge immigration sweeps in Texas or Florida. ]

Cleveland, Ohio:  Anti-ICE protesters turned out in bitterly cold weather - [video] https://bsky.app/profile/gmf1369.bsky.social/post/3mdjt4yogjs2o

Maine:  Republican Senator Susan Collins says ICE surge in Maine has ended. Collins told Maine Public on Wednesday that she had received multiple calls from constituents expressing fear and anger about the ICE operation because it was sweeping up people who are here legally....DHS did not immediately respond to a request to confirm Collins' announcement.  - https://www.mainepublic.org/immigration/2026-01-29/susan-collins-says-ice-surge-in-maine-has-ended

Maine:  Governor Mills Statement on Status of ICE Operations in Maine January 29, 2026:     "The reported end of ICE's 'enhanced operation' in Maine does not end the pain and suffering that they have inflicted on communities across our state -- people who have been terrorized, mothers who have been separated from their children, businesses who have been threatened, all by their own government. We still do not know critical details about the 200 individuals ICE says it has detained, many of whom appear to be here legally, who have no criminal record and who are not 'the worst of the worst.' The people of Maine deserve to know the identities of every person taken from here, the legal justification for doing so, where they are being held, and what the Federal government's plan for them are. This operation and the tactics of Federal agents across the nation - including the killing of two American citizens in Minnesota - demand accountability from Congress. That begins with removing Kristi Noem -- which multiple Republicans have now called for -- and Congress rejecting the Department of Homeland Security funding bill until there are measures in place that prohibit ICE's lawless, dangerous conduct and their abuses of power, which are entirely contrary to good law enforcement practices and standards. Until there are substantive measures and changes in place, no state -- including Maine -- is protected from the weaponization of Federal law enforcement agencies against its own citizens by the Trump Administration. I am incredibly proud of the people of Maine who defended our values and who supported those who were afraid to leave their homes, as well as the small businesses who supported and fought to protect the rights of their employees and their families." - https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/news/governor-mills-statement-status-ice-operations-maine-2026-01-29

Santa Barbara, California: ICE agent pepper-sprays woman after shoving her. Totally unnecessary. Santa Barbara police and paramedics showed up to clean up the mess. ICE already fled the scene. - [video] https://bsky.app/profile/cwebbonline.com/post/3mdjji4m3jc2z  Federal ICE Agent Pepper Sprays Person in Face in Santa Barbara Eastside Incident. Group of bystanders responded to protest, recorded ICE activity; local police, medical crews called to scene - https://www.noozhawk.com/federal-ice-agent-pepper-sprays-person-in-the-face-in-santa-barbara-eastside-incident/

San Diego, California:  All flags in San Diego County were ordered to fly half-staff through Wednesday in solidarity with Minnesota, and in honor of those murdered by ICE. - https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-county-flags-lowered-recognition-ice-related-deaths-minnesota/3966717/

California:  New bill would tax 50% of profits from private ICE detention centers. - https://www.ocregister.com/2026/01/28/bay-area-assemblyman-introduces-bill-that-would-tax-50-of-profits-from-private-ice-detention-centers-in-california/

San Bernardino County, California:  Lawsuit alleges inhumane conditions at Adelanto ICE facility  - https://lbpost.com/news/immigration/lawsuit-alleges-inhumane-conditions-at-adelanto-ice-facility

San Diego, California: Earlier this week in Barrio Logan


Los Angeles/San Diego, California:  Apparently the Feds hit them pretty hard on 28 January (yesterday).

Escondido, CA:  Citizen watchers spot ICE agents unmasked, in civilian clothes, inside an Escondido PD parking lot. - https://bsky.app/profile/lesleyabravanel.bsky.social/post/3mdggzg45ac2g

San Diego, California:  This sign is new this week inside the federal building in San Diego (same building where there's been dramatic video of ICE abducting Afghan interpreters and others after their immigration hearings). https://bsky.app/profile/mtsw.bsky.social/post/3mdiusgfpn22o

New York:  ICE, repeatedly caught on camera ripping families apart in the courtroom hallways, has "pivoted" to taking people in the bathroom while court was in session and by instructing people that they had to come for impromptu "ICE-Check-ins" in addition to their court hearings. - https://gothamist.com/news/the-annual-check-in-with-ice-now-a-fraught-event-for-migrants

Minneapolis, MN:  Judge states:   “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”*    Many of [Judge] Schiltz’s colleagues on the federal bench in Minnesota have similarly vented about ICE’s recalcitrance in recent orders. Minutes after Schiltz’s order, one of his colleagues — Clinton appointee John Tunheim — backed an emergency effort** to block ICE from targeting thousands of refugees residing lawfully in Minnesota but who are still awaiting permanent residency status. Tunheim ordered the Trump administration to release anyone detained on this basis and to return to Minnesota any who had been transported out of state. - https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/28/immigration-minnesota-order-00754053

**Emergency effort   CASE 0:26-cv-00417-JRT-DLM Doc. 41 Filed 01/28/26 : "This case squarely presents the issue of whether the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has violated provisions of federal statute and longstanding agency practice by implementing a policy that involves arresting and detaining individuals who are lawful refugees in Minnesota. These individuals were admitted to the country, have followed the rules, and are waiting to have their status adjusted to lawful permanent residents of the United States.      In early January 2026, DHS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) launched Operation Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening (“Operation PARRIS”). The stated purpose of the program is to target and reexamine the legal status of Minnesota’s 5,600 refugees who have not yet secured permanent resident status. Plaintiffs allege that since Operation PARRIS began, Defendants have implemented a practice of arresting and detaining—without notice or warrant—individuals previously screened and admitted into the United States as refugees. These refugees have undergone rigorous background checks and vetting, been approved by multiple federal agencies for entry, been given permission to work, received support from the government, and been resettled in the United States. Because of conditions in their home countries, they have been deemed of special humanitarian concern to the United States. None have been deemed a danger to the community or a flight risk. None have been charged with any ground for removal."   Complete filing viewable as PDF at https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.230526/gov.uscourts.mnd.230526.41.0.pdf

*Court Orders Broken by ICE/DHS January 2026     CASE 0:26-cv-00107-PJS-DLM Doc. 10-1 Filed 01/28/26
Habeas Cases with Order Non-Compliance - list can be viewed as a PDF here - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.230171/gov.uscourts.mnd.230171.10.1_1.pdf

Seen on Blue:  Minneapolis pastor: "There's a saying around here, ‘When does the ice go out?' When does the ice melt off the lakes? It's called Ice Out Day, you know people will park old cars on the lakes—or they used to—and they make bets on when the car would sink in. We know how to wait for ice out." - https://bsky.app/profile/allinwithchris.bsky.social/post/3mdjrrmut4c2j

Minneapolis:  Plane spotter tracking ICE deportation flights -  https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/plane-spotter-turned-activist-tracking-012947684.html   JJinDC on Blue is also tracking - https://bsky.app/profile/jjindc.bsky.social    https://www.youtube.com/@JJinDC [visit the YoutTube channel with caution. He's got some extraneous violent stuff on there.]

[Aside:  About sending ICE agents from like Florida and Texas to conduct operations in Maine... in January. Really? January? What did those boys do to tick off their bosses so much that they got sent to deal with angry Mainer Yankees in January???]

‘Our cities are no longer safe’: GOP mayors condemn Trump immigration enforcement -  A number of Republican mayors are condemning the Trump administration’s hardline immigration enforcement tactics in Minnesota, as they call on the president to pull back from Minneapolis and worry their cities might be next. “It’s roiling the country,” Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt told POLITICO. “We’re all sort of feeling the angst of our residents and the fear that our city will be next and that chaos is going to inevitably creep across the entire country.” Fresno, California, Mayor Jerry Dyer said in an interview that “too much damage has been done” with the crackdown and “the trust in communities has been lost.” [YA THINK??] -  https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/28/republican-mayors-trump-ice-00754195

Guan Heng granted US Asylum: A judge granted refuge to Chinese dissident, no thanks to DHS. Guan Heng, 38, applied for asylum after arriving in the U.S. illegally in 2021. He has been in custody since being swept up in an immigration enforcement operation in August as part of a mass deportation campaign by the Trump administration. - https://apnews.com/article/guan-heng-china-asylum-immigration-adca398a0cf583fc65a32f40e09cdc5c

Catholic Cardinal calls for defunding ICE:  One of the country’s highest-ranking Catholic leaders, and a top ally of Pope Leo, is sharply criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement, calling ICE a “lawless organization."  - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/u-s-cardinal-urges-defunding-of-ice-we-need-to-see-whats-happening-in-front-of-us

Next week's cover:



FBI Raids Fulton County Election Office:   Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts reiterated once again on Thursday that the 2020 election was fair and accurate after FBI agents raided the county’s election hub just a day before. Pitts held a briefing on Thursday to talk about the raid that lasted nearly nine hours on Wednesday as FBI agents served a warrant at the elections facility, taking hundreds of boxes of voting records that included ballots, voter rolls and more.  “Fulton County has been targeted for years because I stood up to Donald Trump’s lies,” Pitts said. The county had already been in a legal fight with the Department of Justice, and Pitts said that the 2020 records would have been unsealed and made available in just a matter of weeks, questioning the motives of Wednesday’s search...Pitts reiterated his concern about where the ballots went and who has access to them. “Once they left Fulton County, our election center, I don’t know where they are, I don’t know who has them, I don’t know what they are doing with them. We can no longer be responsible for those ballots and other data that was seized yesterday. - https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/fulton-chairman-vows-fight-every-173242586.html


U.S. Navy vessels currently in the Middle East (CENTCOM area):  Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, Destroyer USS Delbert D. Black, Destroyer USS Spruance, Destroyer USS Murphy, Destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen, Destroyer USS McFaul, Destroyer USS Mitscher, Littoral Combat Ship USS Canberra, Littoral Combat Ship USS Tulsa, Littoral Combat Ship USS Santa Barbara.    Scuttlebut from the planespotters:  U.S. Air Force C-17A Globemaster IIIs have once again begun to steadily flow eastward out of Robert Gray Army Airfield located inside of Fort Hood, Texas, after a several-day delay due to the ice and snow, with the C-17s likely carrying additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems assigned to the U.S. Army’s 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment to bases in the Middle East. - https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2016882134321856831



Release the Epstein Files.

Prior post has been expanded.


The next NO KINGS DAY is 28 March, 2026.


He's doing that King's Decree thing again (and extortion):  https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G_3qdzzXAAAaB7T?format=jpg&name=900x900   I wonder how he's going to exempt the warbirds that are made by Canada? I believe he's got some of them deployed in the ME right now.

US trade deficit widens by the most in nearly 34 years in November. - https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/us-trade-deficit-widens-by-the-most-in-nearly-34-years-in-november/ar-AA1VfQ9P [I'm pretty sure the tariffs were put in place to close the deficit, right?]

Do we finally get to see his tax records?

Top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees called on Thursday for President Trump's chief spy Tulsi Gabbard to brief their panels on why she was present at an FBI raid on an election facility in Georgia at the center of 2020 election conspiracy theories.  - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-ask-top-us-spy-to-explain-presence-at-fbi-raid-on-election-facility/ar-AA1VhANi 

Denise Wheeler‬ ‪@denisedwheeler.bsky.social: ‬ Just remember Trump said that he should have seized the voting machines in 2020. Dominion dissolved, and Liberty Vote bought it, owned by billionaire Trump mega-donor Scott Leindecker. Around 70% of the market share of voting machines is now in the hands of one of Trump's thugs. Georgia election.

Senate Democrats said Thursday they have struck an agreement to move forward with a package of bills to avert a partial government shutdown. The agreement will see the Department of Homeland Security funding bill separated from a package of five other bills. Programs funded by the five-bill package will be funded until the end of September. DHS will be funded for two additional weeks to allow lawmakers to negotiate on other provisions in the package. - https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/signs-progress-avert-potential-partial-government-shutdown-after/story?id=129667780

US appeals court says Noem’s decision to end protections for Venezuelans in US was illegal: A federal appeals court ruled late Wednesday that the Trump administration acted illegally when it ended legal protections that gave hundreds of thousands of people from Venezuela permission to live and work in the United States. ...The decision, however, will not have any immediate practical effect after the U.S. Supreme Court in October allowed Noem’s decision to take effect pending a final decision by the justices....Noem’s “unlawful actions have had real and significant consequences” for Venezuelans and Haitians in the United States who rely on TPS.  “The record is replete with examples of hard-working, contributing members of society — who are mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and partners of U.S. citizens, pay taxes, and have no criminal records — who have been deported or detained after losing their TPS,” .... - https://apnews.com/article/immigration-trump-venezuela-haiti-court-9049b2f6a934b80bead487639c1cf9af [Talk about closing the barn door after the f**king horse has bolted!]


Minneapolis:  "Non-lethals... we're gonna bring it in by tractor trailer" "This is our f*cking city!" Yes, excellent documentation for Bovino's eventual Nuremberg... [video] https://bsky.app/profile/adamparkhomenko.bsky.social/post/3mdk2ggjya22r

Outrage as feds in Alex Pretti's killing get 'paid vacation' rather than arrest - https://www.rawstory.com/alex-pretti-2675055493/

Minneapolis:   Mom goes outside to warm up her car, ICE grabs her: "Please, my car kids are all alone in the house!” So nothing has changed and Homan was just to put a new face on the cruelty, got it. [video] - https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3mdmbsmem7k2c

Caspar, Wyoming:  Booed Out of Town Hall For Refusing to Denounce ICE Killings. Representative Harriet Hageman’s constituents tore into her. - https://newrepublic.com/post/205893/maga-representative-booed-town-hall-support-ice

Chicago, Illinois:   Yesterday in Chicago, federal agents  violently forced a U.S. citizen to the ground and zip-tied her hands after alleging a “threat” witnesses say never happened.  This is the violence the #Dems are refusing to fund. Hold the line. No blank checks for abuse. - [Video] https://bsky.app/profile/gmf1369.bsky.social/post/3mdlxleweh22l

Portland, Maine:  ICE agents shatter car window glass over 1-month-old baby, leave baby and mother in car after father abducted. - https://www.pressherald.com/2026/01/28/ice-agents-shatter-window-leave-1-month-old-baby-mother-in-car-after-portland-arrest/?uuid=8322f2e4-2ac1-48fb-8e7c-0e0ac94b5378&lid=222199

Minneapolis: A retired couple had guns pointed at them by ICE in a church parking lot. "They were obviously not trained at all. I've known many police officers in my life. These people were right off the streets." "They had the professional demeanor of criminals." - [video] https://bsky.app/profile/bunnibytz.bsky.social/post/3mdixxo6sp22s

California:  A memorial for day laborers near the 210 freeway offramp exit near The Home Depot in Monrovia, California.
|Ivan Fernandez for L.A. Taco  from https://lataco.com/the-two-faces-of-the-home-depot


New Jersey:  Governor wants residents to record ICE agents, upload videos to new state database - https://www.nj.com/politics/2026/01/nj-governor-wants-residents-to-film-ice-agents-and-upload-videos-to-new-state-database.html



National Catholic Reporter headline:  Catholics must decide if they serve Donald Trump or the Gospel - https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/ncr-voices/catholics-must-decide-if-they-serve-donald-trump-or-gospel

Catholic bishops' conference president calls for Holy Hour after Minneapolis DHS killings: ‘The current climate of fear and polarization, which thrives when human dignity is disregarded, does not meet the standard set by Christ in the Gospel,’ wrote Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley. - https://religionnews.com/2026/01/28/catholic-bishops-president-calls-for-holy-hour-after-minneapolis-dhs-killings/



https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/476621/how-to-help-minnesota-protests-ice-volunteer-donate


Apple & Google removed ICE tracking apps in their app stores. TikTok reportedly suppressed videos criticizing ICE & the shooting of Alex Pretti and censored any mention of Epstein.  Meta blocked Facebook groups tracking ICE & links to a database of agents that the government wants to keep secret.  [Hmmmmmm. I would assume Blue is under constant attack.]

Havana, Cuba: Cuba prepares people for war as US shuts off Cuba’s oil valve:  “If you don’t have your bag packed yet, then pack your bag,” US Charge d’Affaires Mike Hammer said...." https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/29/americas/us-cuba-oil-blockade-threat-of-war-intl-latam











[Aside - A number of fighter aircraft from the Vermont (Green Mountain Boys) National Guard have arrived in the Azores from the Caribbean. I doubt they are sight-seeing. Maybe a week.]

Minneapolis, Minnesota:  ‘I don’t have words’. Two more kids from Liam Ramos’ Columbia Heights school taken into ICE custody. Two more Minnesota children — a second grader and a fifth grader — were taken into custody with their mother on Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. -  https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/29/2-more-kids-from-liam-ramos-columbia-heights-school-in-ice-custody

Dilly, Texas:  Little Liam Conejo Ramos, in ICE prison in Texas, is not doing well.  Zena Stenvik, the superintendent for Ramos’ Columbia Heights public school district, told HuffPost that she spoke to the 5-year-old’s mother on Tuesday.  “Unfortunately, Liam’s health is not doing great right now,” said Stenvik. “He’s been ill. I’ve been told he has a fever. So I’m very, very concerned about his well-being in that facility.” His mother is also “incredibly distraught,” she said. - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/liam-conejo-ramos-sick-ice-detention_n_696fd209e4b0559a85915488   5-year-old Minnesota boy fell 'ill' and 'is not doing great' in ICE detention: 'He's been depressed and sad' - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/5-year-old-minnesota-boy-fell-ill-and-is-not-doing-great-in-ice-detention-hes-been-depressed-and-sad/ar-AA1VggTX

Dilly, Texas:  Detainees held at Texas ICE facility protest living conditions and treatment - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/detainees-held-at-texas-ice-facility-protest-living-conditions-and-treatment   The conditions at the Texas facility where Ramos is being held are “absolutely abysmal,” according to attorney Eric Lee, who represents other families being held there. “They mix baby formula with water that is putrid. The food has bugs in it. The guards are often verbally abusive,” Lee told Minnesota Public Radio on Monday. “One of my clients had appendicitis, collapsed in the hallway, was vomiting from pain, and the officials told him, ‘Take a Tylenol and come back in three days.’”- from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/liam-conejo-ramos-sick-ice-detention_n_696fd209e4b0559a85915488

Hutchins, Texas:  ICE plans ‘mega’ Texas detention center in Hutchins to hold 9,500, agency doc shows.  Local leaders, faith groups oppose the using warehouse as a holding facility, which would be the nation’s largest migrant detention center. ICE says expansion is needed to handle rising arrests and speed deportations. - https://www.dallasnews.com/news/immigration/2026/01/29/ice-plans-mega-texas-detention-center-in-hutchins-to-hold-9500-agency-doc-shows/


Eagle County, Colorado: ICE agents leave racist "death cards" in cars after abducting drivers. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is investigating actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Eagle County following reports that agents left ace of spades playing cards inside the vehicles of people they detained. The ace of spades playing card has long been associated with racism and death, dating back to the Vietnam War.  The ace of spades card reads “ICE Denver Field Office,” according to Alex Sánchez, president and CEO of the nonprofit Voces Unidas. He said the cards were left inside at least two vehicles last Wednesday. -  https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/dhs-investigates-death-cards-ice-agents-reportedly-left-inside-detainees-cars-in-colorado  U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper took to the [Washington, DC]Senate floor to condemn the threatening and racist “death cards” reports say were left in cars of Coloradans detained by ICE last week.  https://www.hickenlooper.senate.gov/press_releases/watch-hickenlooper-demands-ice-overhaul-calls-out-violence-trumps-lies/

Maine:  Groups rally in Portland over ICE operations. Community organizations, labor unions, and faith leaders from across Maine plan to gather in Portland on Friday to respond to recent federal immigration enforcement actions that advocates say have affected residents across the state. - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/watch-live-maine-groups-rally-in-portland-over-ice-operations/ar-AA1VkuDj

Maine:  Border Patrol arrested, then US Attorney's Office told the Maine court that Cristian Yair de la Cruz Guillermo had been moved to Massachusetts, although he was still in Maine. Guillermo was one of nine construction workers arrested by Border Patrol agents at a jobsite on Jan. 15, days before federal immigration agencies launched an operation in Maine. His attorney filed a habeas petition on Thursday, arguing her client was unlawfully arrested without a warrant. She asked the judge to release Guillermo from federal custody and hold a bond hearing. But federal judges only have the authority to rule on cases if the petitioner is in their state at the time of the filing. So when the U.S. Attorney’s Office said he was no longer in Maine, Judge John Woodcock wasn’t able to intervene. - https://www.pressherald.com/2026/01/27/feds-gave-judge-in-maine-wrong-whereabouts-of-man-detained-by-border-patrol/

Maine's ICE Watch Hotline is 207-544-9989.

Chicago, Illinois:  Chicago woman shot by Maine Border Patrol supervisor seeks video release. A woman who was shot five times in Chicago by a Border Patrol agent from Maine now wants more details of her case to be released to the public.  Marimar Martinez, who is a US citizen, was shot five times after ICE agents claimed she rammed their vehicle. However, videos from witnesses showed it was the government's SUV that actually rammed her car, setting off the incident. - https://wgme.com/news/local/chicago-woman-shot-by-maine-border-patrol-supervisor-seeks-video-release-ice-marimar-martinez-charles-exum

Portsmouth, New Hampshire:  'ICE Out for Good" protest planned Sunday in Portsmouth. - https://ravenswire.usatoday.com/story/news/local/2026/01/29/ice-protests-new-hampshire/88417927007/

Connecticut:  CT mayors, police chiefs are prepping for ICE deployments. ‘We’ll be ready to keep our people safe  - https://www.courant.com/2026/01/23/ct-mayors-police-chiefs-preparing-for-ice-deployments-well-be-ready-to-keep-our-people-safe/

Rhode Island:  Students plan walk out to join ICE protests - https://turnto10.com/news/local/students-in-rhode-island-plan-walk-out-to-join-ice-protests-national-protests-killing-of-us-citizens-minneapolis-jan-30-2026

Massachusetts:  Governor Healey Takes Action to Keep ICE out of Schools, Hospitals, Courthouses, and Places of Worship - https://www.mass.gov/news/governor-healey-takes-action-to-keep-ice-out-of-schools-hospitals-courthouses-and-places-of-worship    https://bsky.app/profile/massgovernor.bsky.social/post/3mdly6yu2ik26

Massachusetts ICE Hotline is 617-370-5023.

Boston, Mass.:  Tufts urges community to report sightings of immigration officials after agents spotted near campus. The chief of the university’s police department warned students and staff to stay vigilant in light of the recent sightings. - https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/01/27/tufts-urges-community-to-report-sightings-of-immigration-officials-after-agents-spotted-near-campus/?p1=hp_secondary

Missouri: Hours after ICE toured a Kansas City (Mo.) warehouse, council blocks federal detention center permits. On Thursday morning, officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement toured a warehouse in south Kansas City with aims to hold detainees there. By the afternoon, city lawmakers put in place a measure to stop such detention centers from being approved. -  https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2026-01-15/hours-after-ice-toured-kansas-city-warehouse-council-blocks-federal-detention-center-permits

U.S. Department of Homeland Security buys industrial warehouses in 8+ states for "large-scale" detention facilities.... [investigating locations now]

Los Angeles/SoCal:


Los Angeles County, California:  Anti-ICE ‘National Shutdown’ protests planned.  -  https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-29/anti-ice-national-shutdown-protests-planned-in-la-county-heres-where

San Diego, California:  Immigration arrests surge by 1,500% in San Diego. ‘I feel the temperature rising’. With immigration arrests increasing, San Diego is bracing for an even bigger crackdown ... “They’re just putting numbers on the board,” said Andrea Guerrero, the executive director of Alliance San Diego, a community human rights organization that works to hold federal law enforcement accountable, including Border Patrol. “And they’re doing so in a way that is not just irresponsible, but is inhumane. There is no doubt that public trust is eroding in real time in the institutions of our government and that has an impact on the resiliency of our democracy,” she added.  San Diego arrest data shows immigration agents are no longer focusing on people with criminal records. Only 25% of people arrested between May and mid-October had criminal convictions, compared to over 60% in the same months of the final year of Joe Biden’s presidency. -  https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/01/san-diego-immigration-arrest-surge/



Oregon on alert:  Oregon was in the Trump administration's crosshairs for a large-scale immigration enforcement operation like the one currently unfolding in Minnesota, according to an NBC News report published Jan. 28. - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/01/29/oregon-trump-target-immigration-enforcement/88417659007/


ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are:  Agents use facial recognition, social media monitoring and other tech tools not only to identify undocumented immigrants but also to track protesters, current and former officials said. - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/technology/tech-ice-facial-recognition-palantir.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IVA.he-s.MzQDGnwnSm0-&smid=bs-share
https://www.reuters.com/business/pentagon-clashes-with-anthropic-over-military-ai-use-2026-01-29/

Washington, DC:  It appears several clergy were  arrested [29 January] as they staged an anti-ICE protest in the Russell Rotunda in the U.S. Senate office building. A number of faith leaders, who were in town urging Senators to vote against additional ICE funding, were led away by police: change X to h  Xttps://www.facebook.com/FIAnational/videos/659051160599733
DC:   The Unitarian Universalist Association ‪@uua.org‬ [29 January]  Today, UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt was arrested in Washington, D.C., alongside other people of faith protesting the DHS budget that funds ICE and CBP. “There is no moral justification,” she said. - https://www.uuworld.org/articles/uua-president-arrest-dhs-funding-protest    https://www.uua.org/pressroom/ingoodfaith/uua-president-remarks-jan-29

Feds arrest four journalists over church protest:  ...U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X: "At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota."... Last week, the Trump administration sought to charge several people including Lemon after protesters entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, where an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official serves as a pastor. A judge declined to approve Lemon's arrest, citing a lack of evidence. But three others were charged for violating a law that prevents people from obstructing places of worship or abortion clinics. - https://www.npr.org/2026/01/30/nx-s1-5693756/don-lemon-arrest-cnn-minneapolis


US declares Cuba a national security threat, moves to penalize foreign oil suppliers; Mexico pauses shipments. The US has moved to penalize countries supplying oil to Cuba, declaring Havana a national security threat as Mexico temporarily suspends shipments amid mounting economic pressure. - https://www.thestatesman.com/world/us-penalise-oil-suppliers-cuba-national-security-1503548714.html




DOJ releasing 3 million pages of Epstein files, 'didn't protect' Trump, deputy AG says. Blanche said in total there were 6 million documents, but due to the presence of child sexual abuse material and victim rights obligations, not all documents are being made public in the current release...A team of 500 attorneys from the Justice Department worked around the clock to review and redact material, Blanche said. - https://abcnews.go.com/US/doj-releasing-additional-material-epstein-files/story?id=129680518    https://www.npr.org/2026/01/30/nx-s1-5693904/epstein-files-doj-trump


[Aside:  Several KC135 stratotankers crossed the Atlantic last night, switching transponders off. Not normal traffic. B-52s landed in Guam, presumably refueling before heading to Diego Garcia. Several C-17s making runs from Germany towards the ME. Transponders turn off near Greece, turn back on when making the return trip in the opposite direction in roughly the same area. C17 from Ft. Hood, TX, overflying UK now heading east. See also https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2017293178261361040 A lot of the armchair generals are saying it could hit the fan by the end of this weekend, while other say late next week as they're still moving a massive amount of cargo across Europe to the ME. ]

Some pages of Epstein files that were dumped, then supposedly pulled back - but not before being downloaded.
https://bsky.app/profile/thehillshaveayes.bsky.social/post/3mdnvnglaus2j

Dilley, TX — Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in riot gear in Dilley on Wednesday confronted peaceful protesters gathered outside the South Texas Family Residential Center to draw attention to the detention of a five-year-old boy from the Minneapolis area being held at the ICE facility. They pepper-sprayed the protesters.- https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2026-01-28/texas-dps-uses-tear-gas-as-protesters-clash-with-troopers-outside-dilley-ice-detention-facility

Congressional Representatives Castro and Crockett describe conditions at ICE Dilley detention center  - https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2026-01-28/reps-castro-and-crockett-describe-conditions-at-ice-dilley-detention-center   Migrant families paint grim picture of life in Texas ICE detention facility - https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/09/politics/migrant-families-ice-detention-facility-texas

A federal judge has ordered the release of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. In a scathing opinion, which at times read more like a civics lesson, US District Judge Fred Biery admonished “the government’s ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence” and quoted Thomas Jefferson’s grievances against “a would-be authoritarian king,” saying today people “are hearing echos of that history.”... Liam’s case, Biery wrote, originated in “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.”  “Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency,” wrote the judge. “And the rule of law be damned.”  -  https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/31/us/liam-ramos-judge-release-ice-detention [ The court ruled for the release this past Saturday. ICE has until Tuesday to comply. As of this morning (Sunday) Liam and his dad were still in prison in Texas. Considering that there were over 100 court orders issued in Minnesota in January 2026 that ICE/BP/DHS has ignored, only the fact that Liam has received extensive publicity works in favor of his release. A reminder:  Liam and his father are in the USA legally, having followed established procedures. There are currently 3,800 children in ICE/DHS custody.] 

Laredo, TX :  1/31/2026 ICE/CBP/Texas Highway Patrol open fire on a vehicle after attempting to abduct the occupants - https://bsky.app/profile/dominicervolina.com/post/3mdqv72wusk2z

Portland, Maine:  Large crowds protesting against DHS/ICE/BP

Minneapolis, MN:   Many thousands brave extreme cold to protest ICE/Immigration raids - [Video]  https://bsky.app/profile/jonzoidberg.xyz/post/3mds53ep3s22a

Minneapolis:  ICE using tear-gas outside preschool (video) - https://www.instagram.com/reels/DUBsfvgilRf/

Minneapolis:  ICE arrest man who won't produce proof of citizenship - https://bsky.app/profile/adamparkhomenko.bsky.social/post/3mdrhpjedns2b

Minneapolis: ICE using handicapped parking permit tags

Minneapolis: Interview with journalist bear-sprayed in the face by ICE while restrained https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wQ7SCdLhGQ0

Portland, Oregon:  "Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming." https://bsky.app/profile/alexbaumhardt.bsky.social/post/3mdr4g2txb22e    https://bsky.app/profile/nathonh.bsky.social/post/3mdrimsswqc2h   
Portland, Oregon: Video of first aid to teargassed children - https://bsky.app/profile/dumbrunner.bsky.social/post/3mdrapvxmpc2x   Mayor demands ICE out after teargassing of peaceful protest -  https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/mayor-portland-oregon-demands-ice-leave-city-after-129758177

Los Angeles, CA:  Protesters battle police in downtown LA after two days of relatively peaceful protests - https://ktla.com/news/local-news/protesters-clash-with-police-federal-agents-in-downtown-los-angeles/



Follow the money: The largest immigrant deportation and prison contractors in the US are expecting an epic payout this year: for every $1 that they donated to GOP campaigns in 2024, these private companies stand to reap more than $11,000 in increased annual revenue.- https://jacobin.com/2026/01/ice-migrant-detention-contractors-profits    Private Prison Companies’ Enormous Windfall: Who Stands to Gain as ICE Expands - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/private-prison-companies-enormous-windfall-who-stands-gain-ice-expands

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is facing scrutiny over its assertion that federal officers can forcibly enter a home without a judicial warrant – a move constitutional scholars, immigration experts and a federal judge say is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-says-it-doesnt-need-judicial-warrants-to-enter-homes-what-to-know/ar-AA1UQtPi

Judge won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota as a lawsuit proceeds - https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-judge-48052b87af15d2884c47ce00aff8c4a3

Tarrant County, Texas:   Democrat Taylor Rehmet wins a reliably Republican Texas state Senate seat, stunning GOP - https://apnews.com/article/texas-state-senate-democrat-taylor-rehmet-c8cb6685c49696b8a607a8f93111ae2e



Amid allegations of cover-up, House Judiciary Committee members seek access to full Epstein case files [apparently half of them have not been released] - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-judiciary-committee-members-seek-access-full-epstein-case-files/

‪Joaquin Castro‬  ‪@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social‬  · 1h
Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning.  Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack. - https://bsky.app/profile/joaquincastrotx.bsky.social/post/3mdsononmf22d





FLY DELTA!


“Liam’s release is an important development, and we hope it will lead to positive developments for other families as well, including our other four students who are being held at the Dilley facility in Texas,” district officials said. “We want all children to be released from detention centers and hope for the reunification of families who have been unjustly separated." The total number of children from Minnesota who have been detained by ICE in recent weeks is still unknown. Lawyers representing families say ICE’s practices of quickly moving detained children out of state makes it impossible to know who’s taken and to get them access to legal counsel. - https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/02/01/liam-conejo-ramos-5-returned-to-minnesota-following-judges-order

A Minnesota police chief has been forced to intervene to stop the illegal abduction of a woman from her car by ICE. Dashcam footage shows the moment three unidentified, masked men swerved to cut off a female driver alone in her car, forcing her to stop. The men then jumped out of their unmarked, unlit vehicle and immediately drew their weapons, while yelling at her to get out of the car. The officers do not read the woman her Miranda rights, nor do they identify themselves, as they drag her from the car, pin her down, and handcuff her. -  https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/30/st-peter-police-chief-intervenes-prevents-federal-agents-from-arresting-resident

Minneapolis, Minnesota:  ...Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents initially claimed Alberto Castañeda Mondragón had tried to flee while handcuffed and "purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall," according to court documents filed by a lawyer seeking his release. But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the 31-year-old's brain, said three nurses familiar with the case.  "It was laughable, if there was something to laugh about," said one of the nurses, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss patient care. "There was no way this person ran headfirst into a wall."  https://abc7ny.com/post/ice-minneapolis-news-agents-claim-alberto-castaeda-mondragn-hit-wall-shattered-skull-triggers-tension-hospital/18514566/    https://www.thenorthstar.com/p/ice-said-he-ran-into-a-brick-wall?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=d3vhu&triedRedirect=true

San Francisco, California: 'This isn't America anymore': Thousands rally against ICE in SF's Dolores Park - https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/sf-dolores-park-ice-rally-21325277.php


El Paso, Texas: ACLU Renews Calls for Closure of Camp East Montana Following Reports that Detained Immigrant Was Choked to Death by ICE Officer -  https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-renews-calls-for-closure-of-camp-east-montana-following-reports-that-detained-immigrant-was-choked-to-death-by-ice-officer

El Paso, Texas:  West Texas federal courts deluged with challenges to immigration detention.  Eighteen-year-old Heidy was stopped by immigration agents on Jan. 14 as she drove to community college classes in a Minneapolis suburb. An immigrant who came from Ecuador when she was 11, Heidy tried to explain that she and her mother had been granted the right to live and work in the United States under a program that protects victims of violence. The immigration officer refused to look at her documents, told her “it didn’t matter; you aren’t legal,” and had Heidy flown the same day to El Paso, her lawyers said in a Jan. 20 court filing that sought her release through a process called habeas corpus. The lawyers said she was “abducted by ICE agents in Minnesota” and transferred to Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss, the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in the country. ...The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas made no effort to defend the legality of Heidy’s detention, instead telling Cardone that she had been freed Jan. 22. Heidy’s lawyers said her family had to pay for her return to Minnesota. - https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/01/el-paso-habeas-corpus-filings-surge-ice-detainees-released/
 
Pissed-off immigration attorney details ICE abuses and lawlessness. - [video] https://bsky.app/profile/strictlychristo.bsky.social/post/3mdsd7sg6vc2a

She wants to self-deport to be with her deported husband. But this pregnant mom is stuck in a strange subplot of Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown and can't get out - https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/01/us/pregnant-venezuela-immigrant-self-deport

Minnesota:  ICE protester says her Global Entry was revoked after agent scanned her face. Global Entry and Precheck revoked three days after incident, court filing says. - https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/ice-protester-says-her-global-entry-was-revoked-after-agent-scanned-her-face/

Portland, Oregon: Teressa Barsotti’s daughter wanted to see her middle school teacher dressed as an inflatable animal. Instead, she tasted tear gas.
Barsotti, 45, and her daughter, 13, were among the thousands of Portlanders who gathered in Elizabeth Caruthers Park on Saturday for a march organized by more than two dozen labor unions to protest increasingly militarized immigration raids. The atmosphere soon deteriorated. Officers inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility deployed chemical munitions into the crowd after some activists reportedly blocked the building’s security gate.The Barsotti family was two blocks away. “I thought we were in a safe spot,”.... https://www.wweek.com/news/2026/02/01/she-took-her-13-year-old-daughter-to-a-labor-march-ice-tear-gassed-them-both/



Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting:  The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez. - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/two-cbp-agents-identified-in-alex-pretti-shooting/ar-AA1VrWaJ



Chad Scott is a retired Army vet. who did military analysis for the US Military and NATO.

The guy whose name keeps appearing 13,000 times in Epstein records now wants to sue the estate of a dead sex trafficker for damaging his reputation.  [Video] - https://bsky.app/profile/gmf1369.bsky.social/post/3mdt4pizchk2i [I hope he does it. The discovery phase of the trial would be spectacular.] Trump Threatens To Sue Trevor Noah Over Epstein Island Joke - https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/02/02/trump-threatens-to-sue-trevor-noah-over-epstein-island-joke-and-blasts-the-grammys/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky [No grounds for a lawsuit under current law.]