Yet while "Abolish ICE" serves as a unifying chant in the streets, Democrats are once again seeking to temper and co-opt people's demands into a narrow version of reform. The demands outlined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could not be more toothless: requiring ICE agents to unmask, wear body cameras, and to follow a code of conduct modeled on other law enforcement agencies.
Fear of detention or deportation is leading many immigrants to avoid medical appointments, even when those visits are essential. This chilling effect is particularly acute among pregnant individuals, who may delay or forgo prenatal check‑ups out of concern that seeking care could expose them to immigration enforcement. The result is a growing public health crisis: expectant patients are left without consistent medical oversight, and communities face widening disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes.
"This occupation has had an incalculable impact on every single person here and the repercussions will be ongoing for a long time. Besides the separation of families, the legal battles to repatriate them and the persecution and arrest of constitutional observers, there will be ongoing massive economic effects for families trying to make rent, immigrant-run businesses who were forced to close and to the city as a whole."
At Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities across the country, detainees go without medicine for serious health conditions, endure miscarriages while shackled and are dying in record numbers, a group of U.S. senators said. In a sent Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE senior official Todd Lyons, 22 Democratic lawmakers alleged that a "dramatic" surge in deaths in federal immigration custody is a "clear byproduct" of the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda and rapid expansion of detention.
They argued that a freeze on rents is desperately needed after "nearly three months of federal occupation" under President Donald Trump's "Operation Metro Surge," which sent nearly 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other immigration agents to the area, resulting in multiple fatal shootings and a wave of civil rights violations, including explicit racial profiling.
The Department of Justice admitted in a recent court filing that it had violated over 50 court orders in immigration cases and that stunning figure was just since Dec. 5 and only included cases in New Jersey. The tactics used during President Donald Trump administration's immigration crackdown have been loudly criticized and sparked nationwide protests and multiple court challenges, especially after two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis:
"For most of American history, there were already paths to suing federal officials," Harrison Stark, of the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School, tells Axios. A 1971 Supreme Court decision sharply limited individuals' ability to sue federal agents, and since 2022, Congress has been required to authorize such lawsuits. It has not yet done so.
ALPRs are marketed to promote public safety. But their utility is debatable and they come with significant drawbacks. They don't just track "criminals." They track everyone, all the time. Your vehicle's movements can reveal where you work, worship and obtain medical care. ALPR vendors like Flock Safety put the location information of millions of drivers into databases, allowing anyone with access to instantly reconstruct the public's movements.
The day before I relaunched The Flower Shop as its executive chef, I got a text from my old friend, Stretch Armstrong. "My partner is in commercial real estate and aware of your property hunt. Unsure the status of that but if you'd entertain a convo with a great guy, he'd love to speak to you." I was in a bad place because ICE had grabbed my lead line cook, Daniel, two days before.
Colombian conservative congresswoman Angela Vergara claims to be going through hell. Last Friday, she took to social media to report that her 22-year-old son, Rafael Alonso Vergara, had been detained in the United States by immigration police (ICE) and had been imprisoned and chained for 18 days. In a video posted on social media, she said: This is a person who was awaiting his legal situation, but he had his work permit and social security.
I think for me, it is tough to sometimes wake up and see something because I do care a lot about our country. I think people think I don't for some reason, but I do. I'm very proud to be American. But I think when you're from any country, you don't have to represent the entire values of what's going on in the leadership.
Dulcie and her family, who live in the Twin Cities metro, are afraid every day when they leave for work and school. "All of my friends are staying at home. No one comes out. It gets to me," said Dulcie, who declined to use her last name because she fears retribution from federal agents, who have been detaining citizens and legal immigrants.
In an eyewitness video analyzed frame by frame by The New York Times, Alex Pretti raises one hand and holds a phone in the other. Federal agents tackle him, and one appears to find and remove a gun holstered on his hip. Then, an agent shoots - and a second follows. They appear to fire nine more shots as Pretti lies on the ground.
Millions nationwide have begun the process of filing their yearly taxes - including many immigrants without a permanent immigration status. But since President Donald Trump's return to the White House, his administration has sought access to IRS data - including taxpayers' addresses - to further its immigration crackdown and locate undocumented immigrants. And last April, ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, secured a data-sharing agreement with the IRS, alarming many taxpayers who use ITINs to file.
"I am in touch with the Rapid Response Network and community organizations to ensure communities continue to receive accurate information," Lurie said. "We are not aware of any other immigration enforcement action in the city today. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and remain committed to upholding the values and laws of our city."
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