Trump’s trouble shooter in the state, Tom Hman, is sending 700 of the 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol people back to their home offices….
There was only 80 before the seige began….
The ‘Operation Metro Surge’ has resulted in thosands of arrests, two shooting deaths, and net negitive’s for the Trump admin, that may even end up with Homeland Dept spending cuts and procedure changes from Congress…
Federal Court orders and Civil suits are also coming from the action’s on the ground there….
Things ARE going under a microscope…
Below is a update of things today….
President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said Wednesday that 700 immigration and border agents are departing the Minneapolis area after weeks of violent confrontations and fatal shootings by officers of two U.S. citizens.
Homan said the departing group includes agents and officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Custom and Border Protection. The withdrawal decreases the federal footprint from about 3,000 agents to 2,300 — a significant scaling back but still much higher than the 80 who were in the Minneapolis area before Operation Metro Surge began Dec. 1, according to court records. The reduction in officers is effective immediately, he said.
About 190 officers are in ICE’s St. Paul field office overall, which spans five states, according to the agency’s filings in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota officials that sought to curtail the operation.
Homan said a number of law enforcement agencies in Minnesota had expressed interest in allowing ICE to arrest immigrants for deportation inside jails, after they had already been arrested for a crime. Though the state and several counties already offer that cooperation, Trump officials had said they decided to raid the Minneapolis area because it did not. The operation is the Trump administration’s largest immigration crackdown yet….
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The withdrawal comes a day after an emotional forum on Capitol Hill on the use of force by federal agents involved in Trump’s mass deportation campaign. The forum included testimony from the brothers of Renée Good, who was shot and killed on Jan. 7 allegedly by an ICE officer. On Jan. 24, ICU nurse Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent and a CBP officer….
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Democrat’s in Congress want a end to agrresive surge operation’s and could force a spending pause for the Homeland Dept from Congress…
Things do NOT look promising…
Democratic lawmakers are seeking, among other things, tighter rules governing the use of warrants, independent investigations of alleged misconduct, a ban on masks for federal immigration agents and a requirement for them to wear body cameras
Senate Democrats threatened to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security once it expires at the end of the day on Feb. 13 if Republicans do not embrace the restrictions.
Trump signed a funding bill into law Tuesday that ended a brief partial shutdown, but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say negotiations over the measures Democrats are seeking could trigger another partial shutdown….
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Any shutdown would affect only the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE — as well as Customs and Border Protection, the agency whose agents fatally shot Pretti in Minneapolis. But immigration enforcement agencies would be able to keep running largely uninterrupted if funding lapses because Republicans sent them tens of billions of dollars in extra money last year as part of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill….
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…the brunt of the impact would fall on other DHS agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which helps states respond to disasters, and the Transportation Security Administration, which provides passenger screening at U.S. airports. Republicans have signaled that they will blame Democrats if funding for those agencies runs out.
“The only thing that would be shut down is the Coast Guard, TSA, Secret Service, FEMA,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) told reporters. “So nobody’s going to get disaster relief, and no American’s going to be able to fly.”…
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But recent polls show that most Americans have concerns about ICE’s tactics and support some of the Democratic proposals to rein in the agency….
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300+ ex-DOJ lawyers demand transparent Minnesota shooting probes
More than 300 former federal prosecutors and civil rights attorneys are urging the Justice Department to allow state and local investigations into the killings of two Minnesota residents by federal officers, according to a new letterobtained exclusively by Axios.
Why it matters: Minnesota officials have accused feds of obstructing their ability to investigate the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti amid President Trump’s federal immigration blitz in the Twin Cities.
Driving the news: “Blocking a state law enforcement agency from investigating potential violations of state law in its own jurisdiction would mark a severe departure from established DOJ norms and pose a serious threat to the rule of law,” states the letter led by the Prosecutors Alliance in coordination with The Vera Institute of Justice.
- “No matter which party sits in the White House, DOJ plays a crucial role in ensuring that the American people can trust the justice system to preserve our foundational values of life and liberty,” reads the letter, which was signed by nearly two dozen former U.S. attorneys.
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A DHS spokesperson confirmed to Axios that an agency within DHS is supporting the FBI probe into Pretti’s death, and Customs and Border Protection is also conducting a separate internal investigation….
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Tillis launches probe of ICE practices
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) launched a probe into the practices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), demanding details about its work in his home state as well as in Minneapolis.
Tillis’s letter does not mention the deaths of Renee Good or Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by immigration officials in Minneapolis, but it does ask for a sweeping data production on every ICE interaction in the field, including with U.S. citizens.
It also asks ICE to relay its policy for how to handle excessive force investigations, including “protocols governing cooperation with state and local investigations into officer-involved uses of force.”
He said reports of improper conduct in both operations “point to a broader transparency and accountability gap.”
ICE conducted enforcement in North Carolina before turning to Minnesota, where officials have boasted of their largest effort to date….
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Tillis, who is retiring at the end of this term, has been a vocal critic of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House aide Stephen Miller, labeling both as “sycophants” and calling them incompetent.
But he has praised border czar Tim Homan, including saying in the letter that his success at the border has not been mirrored in the U.S. interior….
Minnesota school districts sue over ICE raids
Two Minnesota school districts and a teachers union sued the Trump administration on Wednesday to block immigration raids near schools amid the federal enforcement surge in the state.
For years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had a long-standing policy of not conducting enforcement at “sensitive” locations, such as places of worship and schools….
Updated Dem’s demands and internal politics….
Jeffries said after the news conference he is “a hard no” on a full-year CR, while Schumer stopped short of a hard commitment.
“Republicans shouldn’t expect our votes if they’re not willing to enact strong, tough reform,” he said when asked if Senate Democrats would oppose another punt.
The list of demands Jeffries and Schumer laid out Wednesday largely tracks with an earlier list of DHS proposals Senate Democrats put forward after the Jan. 24 killing of a Minneapolis man by federal agents there. They include prohibiting masks for federal agents in most circumstances and requiring a judge to sign off on warrants for DHS immigration apprehensions — proposals that some top Republicans have already rejected.
In addition to the policy sparring Wednesday, there was some personal squabbling, too — including over who should be involved in notching any agreement.
Thune suggested any deal needed to be cut primarily between Democrats and the Trump administration. He also warned that he does not view Jeffries as a reliable negotiating partner.
“He’s just not, and I think he and, for that matter, Leader Schumer are afraid of their shadows and they are getting a lot of blowback and pressure from their left,” he said. “I don’t think he wants a deal at all. I think he wants the issue.”…
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*ICE’s new recruits complain they haven’t received paychecks, health insurance, or sign-up bonuses
It is well-reported that Trump, as a private citizen, stiffed his subs. Now it seems that Trump, as a public servant, is reneging on promises made to the newest ICE agents. Various of these new federal employees have taken to Reddit to air grievances. The main thrust of their complaints is that they have not received paychecks, their health insurance is AWOL, and their signup bonuses have so far been theoretical rather than paid.
Regardless of the caliber of the new recruits — the reports of their quality are not glowing — none of them will perform at their best if money concerns are added to poor training and indifferent leadership. It is hard to maintain a professional organization when bosses expect employees to be paid like amateurs.
This is how International Business Times UK reported the state of pay:
Despite a historic recruitment drive that added 12,000 agents in recently, the agency’s administrative backbone appears to be buckling, with employees desperate enough to turn to the Reddit to detail their struggles.
In raw, unfiltered Reddit posts now spreading beyond law-enforcement circles, ICE officers describe going a month or more without a paycheque, struggling to secure medical cover for sick children, and watching promised bonuses quietly stall….
YO!
The new ICE people are getting stiffed.….