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Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260130130548/https://www.thenation.com/article/society/david-brooks-atlantic-smug-ponderous/

The St. Paul City Council unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday urging Gov. Tim Walz to issue an eviction moratorium through Executive Order to “protect residents and businesses who have been harmed by the federal government’s unprecedented attack.”

Council members expressed concern that immigration enforcement operations are forcing people to stay home, and businesses are struggling to stay open.

“In order to keep our residents safe, they need the ability to shelter in place,” said City Council Vice President HwaJeong Kim. “Immigrant-owned businesses need to stay open and pay their workers. The impacts of an economic and housing crisis in this moment will extend beyond the current immigration operation.”

The ordinance has the support of Mayor Her’s office.

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Last week, the Minneapolis City Council passed a similar resolution.

Archived at https://archive.ph/vAQi3

“We keep our country safe. We’ll do whatever we can to keep our country safe,” Trump said ahead of the “Melania” film premiere at the Kennedy Center, responding to a reporter’s question about whether he would pull agents out of Minnesota.

“So, you’re not pulling back?” the reporter asked again.

“No, no. Not at all,” Trump replied.

The president’s remarks stand in stark contrast to Homan’s position outlined on Thursday, in which he stated that staff from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were crafting a “draw down plan.”

Archived at https://archive.ph/xOD74

Archived at https://archive.ph/sLAlk

Senate Democrats announced earlier Thursday they had struck an agreement with the White House to move forward with a plan that would see the Department of Homeland Security funding bill separated from a package of five other bills. Programs funded by the five-bill package would be funded until the end of September. DHS would be funded for two additional weeks to allow lawmakers to negotiate on other provisions in the package.

The Senate must get unanimous agreement to move forward with this plan if it wants to hold votes before Friday night's deadline. As it stood Thursday night, there seemed to be objections by senators on both sides of the aisle gumming up the works.

"Tomorrow's another day, and hopefully people will be in a spirit to try and get this done tomorrow," Majority Leader John Thune said as he was leaving the Capitol late Thursday.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260130130716/https://abc13.com/post/government-funding-negotiations-hit-snag-democrats-announce-deal/18507356/

A 5-year-old boy from Minnesota has fallen ill while detained with his father at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas, with family members and school officials expressing alarm over his deteriorating condition, PEOPLE reports.

Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, are being held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, following their detention earlier this month, according to PEOPLE. The boy’s mother, Erika Ramos, told Minnesota Public Radio on Monday that her son is experiencing stomach pain, vomiting, and fever.

“Liam is getting sick because the food they receive is not of good quality. He has stomach pain, he’s vomiting, he has a fever, and he no longer wants to eat,” Ramos said, describing the situation as “deeply concerning.”

Zena Stenvik, superintendent for Columbia Heights Public Schools District where Liam attends, characterized the mother as “incredibly distraught” in an interview with the Huffington Post.

“Unfortunately, Liam’s health is not doing great right now,” Stenvik said. “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.”

Archived at https://archive.ph/U7TPb

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260129210943/https://www.npr.org/2026/01/29/nx-s1-5691717/immigration-lawyers-say-ice-is-whisking-detainees-away-and-denying-them-legal-access

Homan tacitly acknowledged the chaos, saying, “I’m not here because the federal government has carried out its mission perfectly.”

Despite agents’ frequent arrests of legal immigrants and those without criminal histories, Homan insisted that immigration operations in Minnesota are targeted on removing undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes.

Homan, who reportedly was investigated for receiving $50,000 in cash from an undercover FBI agent in 2024 in an alleged bribery scheme, said state and local law enforcement agencies’ refusal to assist immigration agents is the reason for the prolonged federal presence in Minnesota.

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Other Trump administration officials have given different explanations for the ongoing “surge” — and made other demands of elected officials. Initial reports suggested the operation would target Somali Americans. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said when the operation began in December that it was intended to “eradicate FRAUD.” Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz last week demanding the state hand over troves of Medicaid, nutrition assistance and voter data.

Homan said he has met with Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and local law enforcement leaders, and that those meetings have been “productive,” though he urged those elected officials to tone down their rhetoric.

“I’ve begged for the last two months on TV for the rhetoric to stop. I said in March if the rhetoric doesn’t stop, there’s going to be bloodshed. And there has been,” he said.

(He did not address Trump’s rhetoric; the president has called Somali Americans “garbage” and his political enemies “vermin.”

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260129211000/https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/29/homan-im-staying-til-the-problem-is-gone/

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260129132518/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/minneapolis-ice-raids-trump-dispatch

Archived at https://archive.ph/AC5EW

Selamawit Mehari, an Eritrean single mother of three, was starting her day when federal agents showed up at her apartment in St. Paul, Minn., on a recent morning. As her 13-year-old son wailed and her older daughter produced paperwork proving her mother was in the United States lawfully, the agents shackled Ms. Mehari and took her away.

“They didn’t explain anything,” recalled her daughter, Yosan, 21, who described the encounter to The New York Times. “We didn’t understand. We had done everything right.”

The next day, chained at the wrists, waist and ankles, Ms. Mehari, 38, was shuffling up the steps of a plane bound for Texas, tears streaming down her face in the frigid wind.

More than 100 refugees with no criminal record from about a dozen countries have been arrested in Minnesota by immigration agents in recent weeks and flown to detention centers in Texas for interviews, according to lawyers, family members and faith leaders. At least some, including Ms. Mehari, were eventually released in Texas, leaving them to find their own way home.

Archived at https://archive.ph/t725T

9 months after the prison guard strike, incarcerated people are being denied early release after not completing programming that they don’t have access to

Archived at https://archive.ph/TayYB