Where things stand
• Nationwide offensive widens: An immigration enforcement campaign is underway in Maine, which with its sizable Somali population is now the latest target of the Trump administration’s turbocharged, coast-to-coast crackdown.
• VP to Minnesota: Vice President JD Vance plans to visit Minneapolis to meet with ICE agents and defend their operations there, White House officials said.
• ICE directive under fire: Federal agents are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal ICE memo obtained by the Associated Press that reverses guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on searches. Democratic lawmakers are sounding the alarm.
• Legal battles ramp up: A federal appeals court froze a judge’s order limiting how federal agents can operate around peaceful protesters. It comes as state and local officials criticize subpoenas issued as part of a Justice Department probe into whether they obstructed federal immigration efforts.
Federal agents’ aggressive moves in Minnesota visualized
Tensions are high in Minnesota after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, in her SUV earlier this month.
Good’s death sparked outrage against ICE’s continued presence and the Department of Homeland Security’s aggressive tactics by armed, masked agents in the Twin Cities — in both immigration enforcement operations and crackdowns on protesters.
DHS has defended its agents’ actions, with Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin telling CNN: “DHS is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.”
CNN reviewed and geolocated videos that demonstrate just some examples of federal agents’ tactics in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Have a look here.
Top Border Patrol official deploys gas canister into Minneapolis crowd
In a clash between federal agents and protesters on Wednesday, Border Patrol Commander at Large Gregory Bovino threw a chemical gas canister into a crowd, video from Minneapolis shows. Agents “had to use crowd control measures to disperse the hostile crowd,” DHS said in a statement.
Before he tossed the canister, Bovino warned the crowd: “Gas is coming!” in a longer version of the video.
Video from Minneapolis shows a clash between federal agents and protesters on Wednesday. Top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino was filmed throwing a canister into a crowd. According to a DHS statement, agents “had to use crowd control measures to disperse the hostile crowd.”
Suspect in $100 million jewelry heist was allowed to self deport, avoiding trial
One of the men charged in a $100 million jewelry heist in California in 2022 was allowed to self deport to South America, avoiding trial, the Associated Press reports.
Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores was one of seven people indicted last year on counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment, CNN previously reported.
Prosecutors said the group created an elaborate scheme to stalk and rob truck drivers hauling jewelry and other high-end merchandise, calling it “the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history.”
Flores had pleaded not guilty and was free on bail when he was picked up by ICE in September, the AP reports, citing court filings. In December, ICE deported Flores after he requested voluntary departure to Chile, the filings show.
An attorney for Flores filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him and asked for the charges to be permanently dropped, AP reported. Federal prosecutors opposed the motion and said they still hope to bring Flores to trial, asking for the charges to be dropped “without prejudice,” which would allow for future prosecution.
ICE did not immediately respond to an email from the AP seeking comment.
Federal authorities have called those who monitor ICE "domestic terrorists." Here’s what we know
As the Trump administration deploys thousands of federal officers to carry out turbocharged immigration operations across the country – with the Minneapolis area now the epicenter – growing networks of volunteers who call themselves ICE observers appear to be intensifying their efforts.
Volunteers document arrests, some tail ICE agents in vehicles, while others blow whistles warning community members of ICE enforcement –– tactics under increased scrutiny since the fatal shooting of Renee Good, which has led to more aggressive enforcement operations and sparked protests across the US.
Experts say while some practices by volunteers are acts of nonviolent civil disobedience, others may fall into murkier legal territory.
Read more here about what’s legal – and illegal – for ICE observers to do.
"Operation Catch of the Day": Here’s what we know about the immigration crackdown in Maine
Federal immigration officials have launched “Operation Catch of the Day” in Maine, the latest enforcement action in a Democratic-led state under the Trump administration’s sweeping deportation crackdown.
ICE is targeting roughly 1,400 individuals in the state, the agency’s Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde told Fox News.
Like Minnesota, Maine is home to a sizable Somali community and has seen strong reactions from state and local officials.
Here’s what we know about the operation:
- Maine Gov. Janet Mills said her administration is monitoring ICE activity to “ensure the safety and civil rights of people” across the state are protected. “If the Federal government has warrants, then it should show them,” she said in a statement. Days before the operation launched, Mills had said ICE’s “tactics are not welcome here.”
- Maine secretary of state slammed the operation. “There can be no pretense that ICE is here to keep us safe,” Shenna Bellows said in a statement. “They are here to stoke fears, play political games, and try to destroy the Maine spirit.” In recent days, she denied a request from Customs and Border Protection for the issuance of confidential, undercover Maine license plates, saying she wants to ensure plates are not used for “lawless purposes,” CNN affiliate WGME reported. In response, the National Police Association urged state leaders to stop interfering with federal agents.
- Republican leaders urged Mainers to remain calm and not interfere with federal law enforcement. “Folks, calm down about all this ICE stuff,” state Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham wrote on Facebook. “They are doing their jobs. These men and women are professionals.”
- Local officials expressed concerns over the forceful tactics used to detain individuals. “We’ve seen people of all ages getting thrown on the ground and getting thrown into trucks,” Portland City Councilor Wesley Pelletier said, describing the ongoing immigration campaign as a “war of terror” waged on the city by the federal government.
- Portland Mayor Mark Dion said local police will not assist ICE agents in their enforcement but would respond to incidents involving imminent danger. While the city respects the law, he added, “We challenge the need for a paramilitary approach to the enforcement of federal statutes.”
- Portland Public Schools have seen attendance drop by more than 5% across the district, with some schools seeing decreases of 15% to 20%, said Superintendent Ryan Scallon.
Vance to visit Minnesota as immigration enforcement operations expand to Maine. Here's the latest
Federal immigration enforcement operations have expanded into Maine, home to a sizable Somali population, as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown ratchets up tensions coast-to-coast.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance is set to visit Minneapolis on Thursday, a city on edge as state and local officials face off with the federal government in courts and as protests continue daily through subfreezing temperatures.
Here’s the latest:
- Crackdown expands to Maine: The operation in Maine, dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day,” is targeting around 1,400 people in the state, an ICE official told Fox News. Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, criticized the operation, which launched Tuesday, saying residents across the state “are fearful.”
- VP Vance to visit Minnesota: The vice president is set to visit Minneapolis where he will meet ICE agents and give remarks defending their immigration operations, White House officials said. Vance has repeatedly defended ICE tactics and the ICE agent involved in the shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good earlier this month.
- ICE directive: Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal ICE memo obtained by the AP. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE chief Todd Lyons to testify before Congress over the memo.
- Bovino deploys chemical agent: Video footage shows US Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino at a demonstration where he appears to be holding a canister of some chemical agent. “I’m gonna gas, get back. Gas is coming, gas is coming,” he says, before throwing the canister into the crowd.
- Appeals court freezes order: A federal appeals court froze a judge’s order that put guardrails on how federal agents can operate around peaceful protesters in Minnesota. The decision is intended to give the court more time to consider whether to permanently pause the order.
- Autopsy in Good case: Preliminary findings from an independent autopsy commissioned by Good’s family showed three gunshot wound paths, according to the law firm representing the family. The Department of Homeland Security told CNN it stands by the agency’s “facts,” and called her death “entirely preventable.” Authorities have yet to release the official autopsy results.
Senator calls for Noem to testify over ICE memo authorizing officers to enter homes without a judge’s warrant
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Wednesday called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE chief Todd Lyons to testify before Congress about an internal memo authorizing ICE officers to enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant.
Blumenthal sent a letter to the chairs of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and the Judiciary Committee asking them to “immediately” call for the testimony following “a shocking anonymous whistleblower disclosure … detailing ICE’s new secret policy to ignore the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and enter private homes without a judicial warrant.”
The memo, which Blumenthal said was sent to his office in a whistleblower complaint, authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal. It breaks with longstanding guidance meant to respect limits on government searches.
The Connecticut senator also sent a letter Wednesday to Noem and Lyons, the acting director of ICE, writing, “The Fourth Amendment is a bedrock principle of our Constitution and an integral privacy protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, especially in the most intimate of settings, the home.”
Blumenthal said in the letter to Noem and Lyons that the memo, asserting that immigration officers have these sweeping powers, should “appall every American.”
The Associated Press first reported on the internal memo.
Vance expected to meet with ICE agents in Minneapolis today
Vice President JD Vance plans to travel Minneapolis today where he will meet with ICE agents and give remarks defending their immigration operations, White House officials told CNN.
Vance’s visit comes days after the Justice Department subpoenaed several high-profile Minnesota officials, and as heightened tensions roil the city after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good earlier this month.
Vance has repeatedly defended the ICE agent following Good’s death and argued the shooting was a result of “radical left-wing” violence in response to the administration’s immigration policies.
