ICE in Minnesota: Latest stories and updates

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.

Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration says it will remove 700 federal immigration agents from Minneapolis, but there are few signs of the crackdown letting up.

“I wish you would just hold me in contempt of court so I can get 24 hours of sleep,” a lawyer representing Donald Trump’s government told a federal judge on Tuesday. Julie Le, the lawyer, who was temporarily detailed to the US Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis, was assigned to 88 federal court cases in under a month — a crushing workload that would make even the most diligent attorney beg for mercy.

Le, moreover, was in court after federal district Judge Jerry Blackwell ordered her and her co-counsel to explain why the Trump administration had not complied with a January 27 order requiring it to release an individual from US custody. As Blackwell’s order demanding an explanation laid out, the government also did not respond to a January 31 order threatening to hold it in contempt.

While the Trump administration continues its immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, anti-ICE protests continued in Minneapolis and around the country — from Los Angeles to rural Maine — over the weekend.

In the Twin Cities area, meanwhile, this activism is well-organized; but it’s not a traditional, anti-government protest movement of the likes we saw during President Donald Trump’s first term. Some have called this new model “dissidence” or “neighborism” — or, more traditionally, “direct action.” As one organizer described what’s happening in the city, “it’s kind of unorganized-organized.”

President Donald Trump is frequently accused of authoritarian ambitions. It’s an image he often seems to relish, either sincerely or as trolling. “Usually they say, ‘He’s a horrible dictator-type person,’ I’m a dictator,” he said in Davos. “But sometimes you need a dictator!” Over the past decade, he’s made a political career by dominating the news with spectacles of outlandish behavior and transgressions against the norms of American democracy. For Trump, there’s no such thing as bad press so long as he can cast himself as the all-powerful main character in every story.

Trump’s immigration operation in Minneapolis, with his loud declarations of “RETRIBUTION” as thousands of heavily armed officers flooded into a frightened and angry city, fit that brand. It has led to a new wave of concern among Americans that their basic freedoms are in acute danger. The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers made Minneapolis look like a testing ground for a new deadly phase of repressive violence by heavily armed and highly funded agencies accountable only to Trump, one that could be replicated elsewhere as needed.

When President Donald Trump launched his deportation campaign last January, he had the American public at his back.

Under Joe Biden, unauthorized border crossings had soared to record levels — and threw America into a nativist mood. In November 2024, a CBS News/YouGov poll found 57 percent of Americans expressing support for “a national program to find and deport all immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally,” while 73 percent said that the next president should make deportations a priority.

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A series of recent polls hammer home just how unpopular ICE has become: Almost half of voters say they’d like to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and six in 10 say the agency has gone too far.

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In recent weeks, Minnesota has borne the brunt of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration strategy, with federal officials detaining thousands of people, from preschoolers to, occasionally, US citizens. Minnesotans on the ground have responded in turn by establishing remarkable models of community resistance, including vast networks of volunteers monitoring ICE activity, as well as handing out free diapers, food, and other essentials to families in need.

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Even if you don’t follow politics closely, you probably know a few things about Kristi Noem. She’s the one that some critics have dubbed “ICE Barbie.” Also, unforgivably: the one who shot her dog.

Minneapolis residents and anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters can claim at least a partial victory after weeks of protest, confrontation, and violence in Minnesota. The Trump administration is scaling back its immigration enforcement surge in the region, after bipartisan outrage and criticism over a second ICE killing of an American citizen last weekend.

This scrutiny — and the resilience of demonstrators in Minnesota — seem to have finally forced President Donald Trump to waver and pushed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) into a partial retreat. The administration announced a draw down of some of the DHS presence in the Twin Cities; moved in a different liaison to handle immigration enforcement; and reassigned “commander-at-large” Gregory Bovino, the most visible face of the administration’s blue-city surges.

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.

Welcome to The Logoff: After killing Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend, the Trump administration is preparing to sweep his death under the rug.

Just a year into his second term, Donald Trump’s new, militarized immigration force is on full display.

Agents in masks and plate carriers are seemingly everywhere, first in Chicago last year and now in Minneapolis, where they have killed two US citizens and terrorized uncounted more.

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value pluralism — the idea that each of us has multiple values that are equally valid but that often conflict with each other. To submit a question, fill out this anonymous form. Here’s this week’s question from a reader, condensed and edited for clarity:

I feel increasingly alarmed by what’s happening politically in America. And yet, even in light of everything in Minnesota, some of my friends seem very apolitical. Instead of talking about ways to get involved, they’re going on with business as usual — hosting dinner parties, posting random stuff on social media, etc. Maybe they think they’re not the target so this isn’t urgent for them personally. Or maybe they’re just busy with their own families and jobs and don’t know if it’s their role to get involved in a political fight.

The chief judge of Minnesota’s federal district court, a George W. Bush appointee who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, just issued a remarkable order commanding the head of ICE to appear personally before him to explain why he should not be held in contempt of court.

Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz’s order in Juan T.R. v. Noem seeks to enforce a fairly straightforward decision he handed down earlier this month.

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I don’t know how you spent your frigid weekend hours, but I spent mine on my phone — compulsively refreshing the New York Times’s Minneapolis feed and feeling my cortisol levels grow. First came the news that federal agents had shot and killed another protester in Minnesota. Then came the videos showing the man restrained on the ground when agents opened fire. Then came the wild gaslighting from Trump administration officials, who — in defiance of evidence Americans could see for themselves — insisted that 37-year-old Alex Pretti had assaulted federal officers and was therefore a “terrorist.”

A federal agent shoves a woman to the ground. A young man walks over to help her up. Then the agent pepper-sprays them both.

Despite the burning in his eyes, the young man keeps trying to get the woman upright — until a pack of masked, camouflaged officers wrestle him to the street.

Federal agents’ killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday has strengthened Senate Democrats’ resolve to force changes to Trump’s immigration forces — even at the risk of shutting down the government.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a statement after Pretti’s death saying that Senate Democrats would not support a key government funding bill without changes to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, both of which are currently deployed in Minneapolis. Without Democratic votes, the government will partially shut down at the end of the week.

Increasingly, the Trump administration’s defense of Alex Pretti’s killing has come to center on the fact that he had a gun.

“We respect that Second Amendment right, but those rights don’t count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct and impede law enforcement officers,” Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol’s commander-at-large, told CNN over the weekend. “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines, to any sort of protest that you want,” FBI Director Kash Patel said during a Fox News hit.

By this point, you’ve probably seen the videos — or at least heard about what’s in them. They show a man named Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who is filming ICE activity in Minneapolis, intervening when federal agents assault a woman. In response, the agents grab Pretti, force him to the ground, beat him, and ultimately shoot the defenseless man repeatedly. Pretti was pronounced dead on the scene.

The footage of Pretti’s killing, shot from different angles by different bystanders, looks disturbingly similar to scenes in places like Syria and Iran — where people rising up against authoritarian regimes were silenced by baton and bullet. The resonance is especially chilling given the Trump administration’s response.

On Saturday, a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti at close range after Pretti had been pepper-sprayed, beaten, and forced onto his knees by other agents.

Pretti, 37, was a US citizen and reportedly in the area to observe agents’ actions. He was also a registered nurse and a legal gun owner with a permit to carry a weapon — one that he was no longer in possession of when he was shot to death.

The video of the latest killing in Minneapolis is truly horrific. In it, about half a dozen men in military garb, who appear to be federal immigration officers sent to Minnesota by President Donald Trump, wrestle a man to the ground and repeatedly strike him. Then one of the officers appears to fire multiple shots into the man. The shots continue, even after the target is lying motionless on the ground.

According to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, the man, who has yet to be identified, is dead.

Editor’s note, January 24, 12 pm ET: Federal agents shot a person in Minneapolis on Saturday morning, according to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The shooting appeared to be captured on video, which shows federal agents wrestling someone to the ground and shooting them multiple times. This story was originally published on January 24 at 8 am.

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Editor’s note, January 24, 12 pm ET: Federal agents shot a person in Minneapolis on Saturday morning, according to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The shooting appeared to be captured on video, which shows federal agents wrestling someone to the ground and shooting them multiple times. The story below was originally published on January 23.

America’s immigration debate has often centered on the morality of mass deportation. Progressives have argued that exiling law-abiding families is inherently wrong — no matter their immigration status. Conservatives have insisted that vigorous internal enforcement is necessary for deterring chaotic inflows of migrants, upholding America’s laws, and preserving our nation’s culture.

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.

Welcome to The Logoff: Over the past few weeks, ICE’s actions have gotten a lot of attention — and if you step back, a disturbing picture is starting to emerge.

This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here.

When I hear the word “insurrection,” I still think about January 6. It’s a strange twist of history — and also, probably, etymology — that this particular term is now finding new purchase in Minneapolis.

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.

Welcome to The Logoff: Tensions are rising in Minneapolis as the Trump administration continues its crackdown.