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    Barack Obama publicly states support for anti-ICE demonstrators in Minneapolis

    Speaking with progressive YouTuber, former US president stressed ‘unprecedented nature’ of agency’s actionsBarack Obama publicly gave his support to demonstrators in Minneapolis for standing up to the “unprecedented nature” of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minnesota.Speaking in an interview with progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen on Saturday, the former president discussed the power that US citizens hold when standing up for the values they believe in and his hopes for the next generation of American leaders. Continue reading… More

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    US officials investigate whether ICE agents lied about Minneapolis shooting

    Charges dropped against two Venezuelan men over January shooting as investigation opened into agents’ conductFederal authorities have opened a criminal investigation into whether two immigration officers lied under oath about a shooting in Minneapolis last month, as all charges were dropped against two Venezuelan men.ICE director Todd Lyons said on Friday that his agency opened a joint investigation with the justice department after video evidence revealed “sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements” about the shooting of one of the Venezuelan men during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown across the Minneapolis area. Continue reading… More

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    Justice department moves to drop charges against men accused of hitting ICE officer in Minnesota

    Prosecutor says ‘newly discovered evidence’ in case against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis ‘materially inconsistent with the allegations against them’Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis have moved to drop felony assault charges against two Venezuelan men, including one shot in the leg by an immigration officer, after new evidence emerged undercutting the government’s version of events.In a filing on Thursday, the US attorney’s office for the district of Minnesota said “newly discovered evidence” in the criminal case against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis “is materially inconsistent with the allegations against them” made in a criminal complaint and a court hearing last month. Continue reading… More

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    ‘It’s happening here’: ICE turns quiet Minnesota suburbs into conflict zones

    Activity of immigration agents has left no part of the state unscathed even as border czar says surge would be endingIn one suburb of Minneapolis, the superintendent spends each school day driving to her district’s schools to track federal agents. Across the metro, in another suburb, a Latino church organizes food donations to deliver to thousands of families staying at home out of fear of immigration agents.In town after town around Minnesota, federal agents have picked up immigrants and taken them away from their communities. Continue reading… More

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    US officials announce end of immigration crackdown in Minnesota – video

    The White House’s border czar, Tom Homan, announced on Thursday that a significant drawdown of immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota was under way and he had proposed that the surge there should conclude. Tim Walz, the state’s Democratic governor, told reporters he was ‘cautiously optimistic’Trump’s border czar says immigration crackdown in Minnesota will ‘conclude’ Continue reading… More

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    I knew Trump would target Minnesota. I didn’t expect this level of violence | Rachel Leingang

    I’m reporting on a political retribution campaign, disguised as immigration enforcement, in the community where I liveI knew they would come here.If you’re a president hell-bent on retreading 2020 and retaliating against your enemies, the midwestern state that started the George Floyd protests, with a generous social safety net and diverse population, governed by a vice-presidential candidate you vehemently hate, is a certain target. Continue reading… More

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    ‘We’re fighting for the soul of the country’: how Minnesota residents came together to face ICE

    Networks created after police killed George Floyd were reactivated to challenge Trump’s mass deportation policyCory never expected he’d spend hours each day driving around after immigration agents, videotaping their moves. The south Minneapolis resident is “not the type of person to do this”, he said.The dangers of what he’s doing, even after the killings of two observers, largely stay out of his mind when he’s watching Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents – even when he’s gotten hit with pepper spray. In quieter moments, it occurs to him that agents likely know where he lives. Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old whom agents killed while he was filming them, “100% could have been me”, Cory said. Continue reading… More

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    Pho, handwarmers, grief and loss: a week on the block where Alex Pretti was killed

    Residents line up to support businesses that became refuges from teargas, and refresh the memorial dailyNothing is quite as it used to be along Nicollet Avenue.The spot where Alex Pretti was gunned down by federal agents has been cordoned off by orange stakes and caution tape, appearing like a giant gash along the block between 26th and 27th streets. Continue reading… More