Version imprimableTens of thousands protested Trump’s immigration policies this past weekend after the murder of two U.S. citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. There were demonstrations in hundreds of cities. Huge protests in Minneapolis. A massive march in frigid New York City. Militant demonstrations against ICE in Los Angeles where activists threw objects at L.A. police who protected an ICE facility. High school and college student walkouts in California and Florida.
At the same time, the country has been shocked by the unprecedented arrest of journalist Don Lemon, formerly of CNN, and award-winning journalist Georgia Fort. In St. Paul, Minneapolis’ twin, city on January, 18, they followed activists who confronted a pastor who is also an ICE agent in his church. The two were later arrested by FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents, accused of organizing the protest, and charged with violating the congregants’ right to freedom of worship. Not surprisingly, given Trump’s racist regime, both journalists are Black.
In an equally startling development in January, FBI agents searched a Fulton County, Georgia, election center for ballots from the 2020 election. Trump has falsely claimed that that election, which he lost, was stolen. The government claims it is investigating voter fraud but this is clearly about gathering voter information and intimidating votes. Attorney General Pam Bondi has sued Minnesota and 23 other states for their voter records, she said the chaos in Minneapolis could end if the state turned over its voting records.
Another injustice appalled the country: the arrest in Minneapolis and transportation to the Dilly Detention center in Texas of five-year-old Liam Ramos, shown in videos with his Spiderman backpack and his hat with bunny ears, DHS claimed the child had been abandoned, though he lived with his mother and his father, the latter also arrested and both sent to the Dilly. There inmates protested in the prison yard shouting “Let us out.” Supporters also came to protest outside the prison but were driven away by police using tear gas and beating them. A judge has ordered the boy and his father to be released.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have demanded that ICE end its “invasion” and be removed entirely. But Trump and Border Czar Tom Homan refused to withdraw any of the 3,000 agents in Minneapolis. The city brought suit against ICE seeking an injunction, but a federal judge refused.
But the country has reached a turning point. The videos of the killing on January 24 of Alex Pretti, the nurse who carried a pistol for which he had a permit, clearly showed that ICE had murdered him. Trump officials called him a terrorist. No one believed it. Democrats, Republicans and conservative gun-rights activists criticized Trump. Political polls show that Americans, Democrats, Republicans, and independents, reject ICE’s violent attacks on immigrants and citizens alike. January polls showed that over 60% of voters oppose ICE’s tactics.
In Congress, Democrats pressured Republicans in an attempt to cut the budget for the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats have demanded the unmasking of immigration agents, an end to ICE’s indiscriminate sweeps through communities, that they obtain judicial arrest warrants, and that they adhere to strict use-of-force guidelines. Still, it is not clear if the Democrats can win those demands.
There is now a national movement against ICE, and it is growing. And Trump could lose control of Congress.
1 February 2026
