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Some things Virgilian

Homer is getting his due through The Odyssey movie, as acknowledged in the last episode of this narrowly esteemed substack. A little-known fact is that Homer Simpson was not named after the poet, but after the father of Matt Groening (the creator of “The Simpsons”). An even lesser-known fact is that Groening’s father was a Canadian Mennonite. An even lesser-known lesser-known fact is that I and my offspring are distantly related to Matt Groening.

Those of us named for other classical poets are feeling a bit left out by Christopher Nolan. I admit I may have been named not for the Roman poet Virgil (aka Publius Vergilius Maro, B.C. 70- B.C. 19) but for the ill-fated NASA Apollo astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom, who died tragically three years after I was born. One of my older brothers was named for two other early astronauts, including Alan Shephard, the first American in space, so why not me? The second American in space? Grissom. Or was I named for my dad’s sister-in-law’s brother who subsequently bought me a blue leisure suit when I was ten and who also died tragically?. Lots of lesser-known facts. And one more - A shout-out to UNHCR’s Kelleen Corrigan, who told me this week that she named her first car “Virgil,” after a kind neighbor named Virgil. “Virgil!” they would shout to him.

Apart from the silliness above, Virgil’s Aeneid (John Dryden 18th century translation,12h free on Librivox; Robert Fagles 2006 translation, 12h, 26m on Audible; Sarah Ruden 2021 translation 10h, 53m on Audible) raises eternal issues of exile, flight, war, trauma, love, xenophobia, aggrieved locals, welcoming elites, love, hate, duty, honor, piety, conquest; in other words, the daily fare of many of us. It tells the story of Aeneas’ flight from Troy and arrival in Italy to found Rome. The following articles have almost convinced me to re-read (or listen to) the book:

• Book Review - The Aeneid and the Modern World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Vergil’s Epic in the 20th and 21st Centuries (3.27.25, 8m)

• In today’s anti‑immigrant rhetoric, echoes of Virgil’s ‘Aeneid,’ The Conversation (3.20.17, 5m)

• Winners or Losers, Colonists or Exiles: What is Roman Identity?, Colby College’s The Aeneid: An Epic of Migration.

Less than Legal Stuff

I’m putting more general interest immigration stuff up front for those of you not so interested in getting down in the weeds of the modified categorical approach to classifying crimes for immigration purposes. Important nonimmigration matters like cat videos and Minnesota Vikings are to be found at the end of the episode.

• - Trump’s Clashing Goals: More Housing, Fewer Immigrants, The Daily (7.22.26, 36m). A nuanced look at how the housing trades were dis-organized, and how that drop in unionization led to the rise in undocumented labor in housing. And more.

• Immigration Newsmaker: A Conversation with Border Czar Tom Homan, Parsing Immigration Policy (7.27.26, 37m). Here are some free association notes: Homan addresses traffic stops (they’ll be coming back), claims to have made agreements with 84 counties in Minnesota to de-escalate situation, no backing down from mass deportation, cranked up heat when got reconciliation budget - “really kicking butt right now,” likes sanctuary cities as can make more collateral arrests, brought back worksite enforcement officers from earlier era, changing HSI culture, his take on the construction industry, will be using private contractors to do I-9 audits, hails inter-agency collaboration, “I’ve got a great boss [Trump] and he listens to me. . . . Steven Miller, he’s brilliant.” Responds to demands from the Mass Deportation Coalition - Homan wants to deport 1m a year and 100k of detention bed space. Attacks “radical district court judges” and “open borders” groups. “blood shed not over with if they keep this crap up.” [Crap being nationwide injunctions, ginned up protests, Democratic “lies”]. Can’t stand habeas petitions. Wants more deportations but has to be done the right way - “no racial profiling.”

• One Woman’s Message From the Hell of ICE Detention, Nation (8.11.26, 6m). What it says. Immigration detention of a psychology professor. And her family.

What’s God got to do with it?

• Feds spying in Minneapolis church may have violated court order (MPR, 8.19.26, 5m). “Federal reports released in the conspiracy case against 15 anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota this week show that an undercover federal agent attended a training session of what the government described as a left-wing martial arts group in University Baptist Church’s gymnasium on May 28. According to the report, the female agent sparred with other attendees and interviewed them about how they got involved in the group.” The name of the group? Left Jab. A surprisingly good story found here: DHS Agent’s Hidden Wire Drops to the Floor While She’s Spying on Minnesota Church, People (7.18.26, 5m). “Due to the physicality of the event, [the undercover agent] concealed body-worn audio recorder erroneously fell to the floor of the gymnasium near the end of the training.” The surveillance and recordings also targeted members of the church.

• How grief made Archbishop García-Siller a prophetic voice on immigration, Religion News Service (8.7.26, 7m). Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio came through the tragedy of the Uvalde school shooting and the suffocation of 53 migrants in the back of a tractor trailer shortly thereafter with profound grief and a sense of solidarity with migrant brothers and sisters. He recently released a 56-page pastoral letter, “We Will Come to You” (8.3.26, 60m on VoiceDream). I’m not all the way through it, but it includes a fascinating personal and family story, including the role of his Catholic family in the Cristero War (1926-1929) and how they were among the 250,000 religious refugees (many of them peasants) to the U.S.

• Following the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), the newly created Constitution was decidedly anti-clerical, as much of the church had sided with reactionary forces during the Revolution. For more, see David Bailey, Viva Cristo Rey!: The Cristero Rebellion and the Church-State Conflict in Mexico (1974) (You can download the pdf chapters and listen on VoiceDream if you like!). And for something much shorter, see Julia Young, Cristero Diaspora: Mexican Immigrants, The U.S. Catholic Church, and Mexico’s Cristero War, 1926-29 (2012, 45m VoiceDream) or Donald Mabry, Mexican Anticlerics, Bishops, Cristeros, and the Devout during the 1920s: A Scholarly Debate (1978, 20m VoiceDream), or Ramón Jrade, Inquiries into the Cristero Insurrection against the Mexican Revolution (1985, 30m VoiceDream). I’ve got these cued up for a road trip! The beauty of historical rabbit holes.

• Border Czar Tom Homan also frequently tells the truly sad story of witnessing the tragic deaths of migrants in the back of a tractor trailer. See, e.g., ‘Baked to death’: Homan rips media while sharing horrific scenes from border enforcement career, Fox News (6.26.26, 3m). His Catholic faith evidently moves him in a different direction. “The Catholic Church is wrong. . . I’m sorry. I’m a lifelong Catholic. I’m saying it not only as a border czar — I’ll say it as a Catholic. They need to spend time fixing the Catholic Church, in my opinion.” Border czar Tom Homan slams\ Catholic Church, says a ‘secure border saves lives,’ Fox News (11.15.25, 3m)

Some of the Regulars

• All the President’s Henchmen, Strict Scrutiny (8.17.26, 96m). Host Kate Shaw speaks with Liz Oyer, former U.S. pardon attorney and federal public defender, about the skin-of-his-teeth appointment of Todd Blanche at the Department of Justice. Guess who swore in Blanche? Judge Emil Bove, who before being appointed to the bench was also Trump’s private attorney and heavy - among other things he’s been accused of was defying a court order not to deport a group of Venezuelans and others to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.

• Oyer discusses how the DOJ has been hollowed out of an entire generation of non-partisan leadership. The two also opine on the future of Federal Reserve Board member (and old friend) Lisa Cook, as efforts to remove her from office for cause proceed. The president’s relentless attack on birthright citizenship through yet another executive order on August 6 is discussed. I have not gotten to the part on Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer’s new book, On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear.

• The End of the Alien Enemies Act Litigation?, Steve Vladeck substack (8.17.26, 20m). Steve describes how the administration’s efforts to use the Alien Enemies Act (remember when Venezuela invaded the U.S. last year? No wait. . . ) has come to a hopefully simpering end with a recent 5th circuit decision.

• Immigration Review, (7.28.26, 54m) Includes an unlawful voting case. Matter of Lopez Rico, 29 I&N Dec. 780 (BIA 2026).

• By the People - For the Children, Amicus (7.25.26, 41m). This is part of a series on Amicus about the role of everyday citizens in interpreting and enforcing the Constitution. Look them all up. In this one: “[i]n 1867, an 8-year-old girl named Elizabeth Turner became the epicenter of a legal battle that would help define what freedom really meant after the Civil War. Days after Maryland abolished slavery, her former enslaver had her re-indentured under a sham ‘apprenticeship’ law used to seize Black children. Elizabeth’s mother—and thousands of other parents—refused to accept it. . . . The resulting case, In re: Turner, helped end the practice of racialized child ‘apprenticeship’ and shaped the meaning of the 13th and 14th amendments.” Habeas in the hands of the people. Parallels made with habeas filings in Minnesota during Metro Surge and beyond.

(More) Minnesota News

1. Trump administration won appeal for mandatory detention, but ICE keeps losing, FOX 9 (8.13.26, 15m). Fox 9’s Paul Blume has been looking at how detained immigrants continue to win habeas cases challenging their confinement despite an 8th circuit ruling in March 2026 reading the immigration statute to require mandatory detention for a huge swath of immigrants. Why? Because the Constitution remains. Because judges often don’t trust what the government tells them about how someone was arrested. Paul speaks with local immigration attorneys (including me ;) ).

• Like Captain Renaut in Casablanca being shocked to discover gambling going on in Rick’s (only to then accept his winnings), right wing provocateur James O’Keefe expresses shock that voters can be registered to vote in Minnesota through vouching. Except that vouching is legal in Minnesota. On election day in Minnesota last week, O’Keefe dressed up like a “Muslim,” assumed a phony accent and walked into polling places to ask about the process of vouching, in which a registered voter vouches that a person lives in the precinct (who then has to provide personal identification - a fact conveniently not mentioned by O’Keefe). Fact Check: Undercover O’Keefe video misrepresents Minnesota election vouching law, Reuters (8.19.26, 3m).

• To prove his point, at each polling place he went, O’Keefe gave the name of actual registered voters. He claims that by simply saying the name of a truly registered people, he was not impersonating those people. Tell that to the poll workers he deceived and those people whose name he used. One of those people, William Pomerantz, was not pleased. Minnesota Secretary of State calls polling place impersonation ‘outrageous’, KTSP 5 (8.16.26, 3m), See also this. And this. And this.

• Funny thing is that I had vouched legitimately for someone the same day, so I saw all of the safeguards in place, and how well they worked. And another funny thing, successful unlawful vouching rarely happens. In responding to a request for comment from Reuters about the story, I shared that I could find only one report of this ever happening in Minnesota, one report of a clumsy but thwarted effort, and no reports of prosecutions. Maybe more digging will turn up other cases, but this is another effort at smearing the Somali community in Minneapolis.

• Alleged Latin Kings gang member sentenced to 54 months in connection to anti-ICE riot, Alpha News (7.30.26, 3m). I roam around right-wing sites.

• - An illegal alien in St. Paul was arrested after two packages, each containing an estimated 5 pounds of meth, were delivered to him, Alpha News (7.28.26, 4m).

• - Months after surge, some families struggling to pay for DACA, work permit fees, Minnesota Now (7.30.26, 10m).

Surveillance. By the Cops. Of the Cops.

Copwatching 101, Strict Scrutiny (8.13.26, 39m). For lawyer and layperson alike, Leah speaks with Brooklyn Law School’s Jocelyn Simonson about copwatching. Very clear both about what is permissible and what remains unclear in the law around observing ICE.

Community groups involved in anti-ICE protests disturbed by scope of federal surveillance, MPR (8.14.26, 6m). Local outlets and the NY Times reported that ICE likely had violated a court order in creating a surveillance dragnet of left-leaning groups in Minnesota during Metro Surge. This has come out during the ongoing prosecution of protestors.

Minnesota’s top federal prosecutor speaks out on Antifa indictment, political violence, Alpha News (7.31.26, 14m). US attorney Dan Rosen speaks with Alpha News about the ongoing prosecution. Alpha News is the go-to outlet for ICE and the government locally. Highlights the allegations of planning violence by some of the defendants.

New stuff for you to check out

Lawyering Without Law. A new-ish podcast I just discovered that looks at how authoritarian regimes have used legal systems to impose their will.

Immigration Roundup by Ami Hutchinson. This is not a podcast but a fairly frequent rundown of immigration news, both legal and otherwise.

Fun stuff

Lies, theft, and cover-up: the history of Monopoly you’ve never heard, Throughline (8.6.26, 50m). How Monopoly started out as an anti-monopoly game.

Purple Daily - A Minnesota Vikings Podcast

Fetching kitty

Skid plate Kitten Update

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Several nonlawyer subscribers have pointed out to me how recent episodes have been so heavily legal that they cannot be bothered to read them. So I’ll start (and possibly end) this one with a more popular culture angle. Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of The Odyssey is all the rage. I went to see it last week with my family and enjoyed it, but for it being seat-shakingly loud in the IMAX version. The photo above is of a stained-glass window in the University of St. Thomas main library to which I sometimes retreat in the summers.

As you might imagine, Odyssey podcasts have proliferated in the wake of the film. If you would like to listen to the whole epic for free, there are very serviceable versions at LibriVox, including the 1900 Samuel Butler translation (11h, 5m) read by Mark Nelson. If you want to be very up to date, Audible offers the 2018 Emily Wilson translation (13h, 32m) read by Claire Danes (includes an introduction to provide context).

Emily Wilson writes a withering but occasionally thankful review of the film in the London Review of Books (8.12.26, about 15m on VoiceDream). The popular historian Dan Snow offers up What Happens in The Odyssey? (7.5.26, 76m), which he then chases with more Odyssey related episodes in subsequent weeks on his Dan Snow’s History Hit. Many more podcasts are out there on the Odyssey.

A Few Thoughts of My Own: The Odyssey of Public Intimacy

As some of you might know, I have reflected in the past on the lessons the ancient rite of footwashing can teach professionals as to how we are to serve our clients and patients. The film caused me to resurrect an old piece I have yet to push to publication called “The Odyssey of Public Intimacy: Keeping Professional Confidences and Maintaining Client Boundaries.” A few sporadic thoughts.

Pastors, Lawyers, Doctors, Nurses, Psychologists, Social Workers, IT specialists, Janitors, Teachers, Las Vegas “Hospitality Workers” and others are expected to and often required to keep secrets.

In the film, the role of Odysseus’s childhood nurse Eurýkleia gets very little airtime in comparison to the epic poem. Towards the beginning of the film, a wild boar injures a young Odysseus during a hunt, and Eurýkleia is shown stitching up the ankle wound and saving Odysseus’s life. FWIW, in the poem, it’s a thigh wound, and it is Odysseus’s grandfather who cares for him, not Eurýkleia (I do feel fancy putting that meaningless accent over the “y”), but who’s counting. What matters is that Eurýkleia knows of the wound.

At the end of the film, Odysseus returns home dressed as an old beggar to bring vengeance on the suitors of his wife, Queen Penelope. He’s been away for twenty years. Disguise is key to Odysseus’s plan. While speaking with Odysseus but not recognizing him, Penelope offers him the option of being bathed and cared for by young maidens (who, unbeknownst to Penelope, have betrayed her), but he insists on an elderly servant. In the film (as in the poem), Eurýkleia immediately recognizes Odyssey as she begins to wash his feet. He sends the wash basin flying and wordlessly urges her silence and she quietly acquiesces. It’s treated as a fun little side-plot twist in the film.

More sinister substance is found in the poem itself, where a much longer conversation between Odysseus and Eurýkleia unfolds. Here is just a small bit of that exchange (taken from Robert Fitzgerald’s 1961 translation):

Eurýkleia: “Oh yes! You are Odysseus! Ah, dear child! I could not see you until now - not till I knew my master’s very body with my own hands!”

Narrator: Her eyes turned to Penélopê [more fancy accents] with desire to make her lord, her husband, known - in vain, because Athena had bemused the Queen, so that she took no notice, paid no heed.

At the same time Odysseus’ right hand gripped the old throat; his left hand pulled her near, and in her ear he said:

Odysseus: “Will you destroy me, nurse, who gave me milk at your own breast? Now with a hard lifetime behind I’ve come in the twentieth year home to my father’s island. You found me out, as the chance was given you. Be quiet; keep it from the others, else I warn you, and I mean it, too, if by my hand god brings the suitors down I’ll kill you, nurse or not, when the time comes -- when the time comes to kill the other women.”

The Odyssey, Book XIX, Lines 549-469

The late art historian Professor Christine Mitchell Havelock (who herself lived to the age of 99 and published the following at age of 79) wrote that “as a young girl, Eurýkleia had been brought to be a slave-concubine by Odysseus' father, Laertes, but she soon became a close and trusted member of the family, serving it generation after generation. She was obedient, ubiquitous, sometimes feisty, but always loving towards all of them.”

This scene came back to me several decades ago when an angry, and probably afraid, client said to me. “If you ever do anything to hurt me, you will have serious problems.” On the eve of an important immigration interview, I had come across a conviction in the client’s past that he had failed to disclose and that would jeopardize his bid for status. He was not pleased.

To proceed with the case would require disclosure, something (moving forward) he most adamantly wanted to do and something (disclosure) he most adamantly did not want to do. He came from a powerful family in his country of origin, and also firmly believed he had been blessed with powers to supernaturally harm others, so he was somewhat used to giving orders.

Why do I refer to “public intimacy?” Professional rules govern intimate relationships with clients. While we may be behind closed doors with clients (and often must be behind closed doors), we nonetheless can be held accountable for what happens there. In the case of the client mentioned above, he called me while I was at a family picnic. My cousin’s guest bathroom became my office while I held the telephonic consultation ove the course of an hour and a half. What happens in the loo, stays in the loo.

Homer, and this client, caused me to reflect on the importance of keeping confidences and the shifting nature of power. Odysseus, powerful leader and brutally efficient warrior, was at that moment vulnerable to the whims of an elderly slave. Those of us with professional responsibilities of confidentiality might do well to think of ourselves as servants (and maybe sometimes even slaves) who hold great responsibility and power. Washing dirty feet is an intimate act, as can be hearing a client’s story.

And we are beholden to our clients, who can file complaints against us for rule violations that can result in professional death through loss of license.

We must also use wisdom to know when to speak truth to power, and when even the most powerful clients must face limits.

Whether our clients be rich or poor, powerful or powerless in the eyes of society, we would do well to be “obedient, ubiquitous, sometimes feisty, but always loving.”

In the next episode I will be back to immigration (including some legal) podcasts.

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ICE Killings

• “Our Community Is Hurting”: ICE Kills 25-Year-Old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, Democracy Now (7.16.26, 12m).

• “They Were Hunting for Latinos”: LULAC CEO on ICE Killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Democracy Now (7.14.26, 16m).

• ICE Ramps Back Up, With Deadly Results, The Daily (7.16.26, 29m).

• Who Can Hold ICE Accountable?, The Atlantic (7.9.26, 33m). Includes discussion of the role of county prosecutors, focusing on Hennepin County (Minnesota) Mary Moriarty.

• Uncovering abuse inside America’s largest ICE detention center, Fresh Air (7.14.26, 45m). New Yorker journalist Jonathan Blitzer on Camp East Montana.

• Inside Human Rights Watch’s Investigation of ICE’s Minneapolis Operation and Rising Detention Deaths, Austin Kocher substack (7.10.26, 60m). Interview with Human Rights Watch's Brian Root and Reagan Williams “on the data behind ICE's Minneapolis surge, the rising death toll in US immigration detention, and research methods that shape their work.”

Birthright Citizenship

• Who Gets to Be a Citizen?, What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law (7.13.26, 50m). Of the many podcasts I’ve listened to about Barbara v. Trump (the birthright citizenship case) (see #50, with links to the case), this is the best one so far for the lay listener. Thanks for sharing, Romas.

• Divided Argument SCOTUS blog hosts this podcast by law professors Will Baude and Dan Epps and deals primarily with the supreme court. Baud would fairly be seen as an old-fashioned conservative and originalist. A claim to fame was co-authoring (with my equally conservative colleague Mike Paulsen) a law review article (that got over 100,000 downloads - not so much for a YouTuber, but for a 142-page law review?) arguing that the 14^th amendment disqualified Trump from the presidency because of his role in the January 6 insurrection. Almost carried the day before the Supreme Court said otherwise.

• In a recent episode of Divided Argument (7.2.26, 75m), starting at minute 12, they do a deep dive into Barbara v. Trump (the birthright citizenship case) that I have heard so far. They hail the majority opinion as great writing and analysis (walking through common law → Dred Scott → the 14th Amendment → Wong Kim Ark), somewhat diss the dissent/concurrence by Cavanaugh, and say that while the Thomas dissent makes interesting points, they are basically the points that failed to carry the day at every time in history they have been mad. One of them goes so far as to suggest that Alito’s logic in his dissent could lead to the children born to U.S. dual citizens in the U.S. could be denied citizenship. Both Thomas and Gorsuch place a lot of emphasis on “domicile” and speculate that perhaps the children of undocumented people who have lived in the U.S. for a long time indeed could be seen as U.S. citizens, creating some daylight between them and Trump. They claim the Jackson concurrence talks past Thomas to some extent. I didn’t think so - you should take a listen to or read Jackson’s dissent - an inspiring history (that relies on historians!) of African American agency and citizenship through thick and thin.

• Lincoln’s Promise Kept, Amarica’s Constitution (7.1.26, 78m), Listen to Professor Akhil Amar humble brag about how he predicted the outcome of the case. Could only take about 20 minutes of it. Tell me if the rest of it is worth going back to. I have yet to listen to the most recent one from Akhil. Dissenting from the Dissents, Amarica’s Constitution (7.15.26, 86m). Will do so while working on digging out the weeds from between our house and our sidewalk. A brilliant Constitutional scholar at Yale, Amar has taught a Supreme Court justice (but just a little bit - sounds like Brett Kavanaugh didn’t take a complete course from him), many Supreme Court clerks, multiple U.S. Senators, many other legal luminaries, and probably lots of erudite cats and dogs. Smart dude. Can be a bit much.

More Minnesota

‘It is affecting this community immensely’: Imam condemns continued targeting of Somalis, Minnesota Now (7.8.26, 8m). Reactions to Trump posting video of little girls in hijabs at kindergarten graduation. Yep.

Community members create public art to grieve ICE surge, Minnesota Now (7.9.26, 9m).

There is a Rally at Lake Steet and Nicollet at 5:30pm on May 17th in Minneapolis to protest the killings and to demand justice.

For fun.

I’ve binge-listened to 9 episodes of The Expert Witness, Uncovered. Came out in May 2026. The podcast unravels the story of Cybercheck, an AI crime fighting tool that claims (without sharing its work) to be able to place people at scenes of crimes using open-source data.

Thank you Maggie for the following:

• Soggy Raccoon

• Thirsty Weird Cat

• Puppies

Keywords: ICE killings, birthright citizenship, the Thomas dissent, Professor Akhil Amar, targeting Somalis, public art to grieve ICE surge, the Expert Witness.

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Those my generation and older will remember the Dick and Jane reading series. The very first book in the series went out of copyright on January 1, 2026 and can now be read online. The immortal opening lines of the book are “Dick. See Dick. See Dick run. Jane. See Jane. See Jane run.” The last lines of the book are “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Okay, okay, the last lines really are “‘Goodbye,” said Mother. ‘Goodbye,’ said Dick and Jane. Guess what baby said.” Can you guess what SCOTUS said in Trump v. Barbara (6.30.26)?

Five members held that what the Constitution says is what the Constitution says. That the overwhelmingly vast number of persons born in the United States, regardless of their parentage, are United States citizens. Five justices can read plain language. The text. The original text. Only five. But still five.

I’m taking the 50th edition of Immigration Podcasts to reboot and remind you, my gracious listener-readers, of some of the primary immigration related podcasts I listen to. The birthright citizenship case features in most of them this week.

I often listen to decisions rather than (or in addition to) just reading them. I imagine there are lots of text-to-voice apps out there, but I bought VoiceDream for ten bucks years ago and it still serves me well. When I’m just listening, I use the 300 words/minute speed. If I read along while listening, I crank it up to 600 words/minute. The Barbara majority opinion is the first 26 pages of the 194-page document. On 300 speed, we’re looking at four hours for the whole thing. Take a look, pick and choose amongst the various opinions; there’s something for everyone.

Here we go:

Immigration Law Podcasts

Immigration Review. Kevin A. Gregg occupies a place in the immigration lawyer pantheon. Week by week he summarizes all of the immigration decisions by the supreme court, federal courts of appeal, and the board of immigration appeals. May be a bit much for the casual listener, but a reliable go-to for practitioners.

The past two weeks have been great in terms of coverage, if not always in terms of happy news for immigrants. This week (6.7.26, 70m) he covered the Birthright citizenship case briefly - gave a shout out to Justice KBJ’s concurring opinion. Last week (6., he briefly tackled three other SCOTUS immigration cases, all going against the immigrants involved. Blanche v. Lau, (U.S., 6.23.26, 29 pages) makes travel for Lawful Permanent Residents with pending criminal cases risky. The Immigrant Defense Project issued a helpful travel advisory and also a practice advisory. ILRC has also issued a practice advisory (jointly with AIC).

In Mullin v. Doe (U.S., 6.25.26, 49 pages), SCOTUS held that POTUS can cancel Temporary Protected Status at will, even though LOTUS had legislated a process for doing that which the administration had not followed. (Instead of an “L” for Legislature I thought of using a “C” for Congress, but . . .). It also held that blatantly racist comments directed at Haitians were not blatantly racist comments (but maybe xenophobic) and therefore Trump’s actions were constitutionally sound. Professor Lucas Guttentag provides a trenchant critique. Finally, Mullin v. Al Otro Lado (U.S., 6.25.26, 70 pages) interpreted the phrase “arrives in the United States” to read that a person cannot claim asylum unless they are physically within the U.S.

Immigration Policy Podcasts

Unsettled: Immigration in Turbulent Times. Three immigration law professors (Alex Alienioff, Hiroshi Motomura, and Amanda Frost) run the show, interviewing policy makers and academics every month or so. The most recent episode (6.25.26, 54m) discusses with history Erica Lee and Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute the past year and a half of Trump. It was recorded live at the bi-annual and zestily-named Immigration Law Professors Conference. You know when you are listening to a live radio show and the audience is prompted to give a cheer? My fellow law professors offered up the most pathetic applause, I must say. I was happily sipping wine with friends in Sonoma Valley rather than joining them this year.

I will say I am disappointed to not meet Professor Lee, who used to live here in Minnesota. One time we were eating at a nice Minneapolis restaurant, and she arrived with friends to dine a couple of tables down on the sidewalk terrace. I had used her fabulous book, America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States, in one of my courses but was too shy and embarrassed to go up and introduce myself. Then Harvard stole her.

The Melting Pod. I initially found this newcomer to the space (the first podcast dropping in February 2026) a bit pompous, but it has grown on me. Hosted by three former federal immigration officials, the podcast has in-depth interviews with immigration influencers on specified topics every week or so. In this weeks episode called Winning Message (6.30.26, 63m), Beatriz Lopez from Voto Latino talks about how Democrats have botched messaging on immigration - not celebrating victories (like record numbers of naturalized citizens) and just not talking enough about immigration and tying it to the everyday lives of people who are hurting. Here are some good recent ones: Reality Based Economics (6.19.26, 48m), The Truth About ICE (5.26.26, 61m). Apple strips out the hyperlinks in the show notes, so go straight to the source.

Parsing Immigration Policy. Mark Krikorian, undeterred immigration restrictionist, hosts this Center for Immigration Studies podcast. I listen mainly because he often interviews current Trump officials and former restrictionist federal immigration officials - sometimes we get an early preview of what is to come. This week (7.2.26, 40m) two of their lawyers unpacked the SCOTUS cases discussed above - funny how there’s no mention of Trumps’s actual racist language. In the birthright citizenship case, they noted how “Justice Kavanaugh's opinion leaves open the possibility of congressional action,” indicating that while Trump lost, the restrictionists are looking for ways around the decision. Ideas to attack birth tourism: arrest returning citizens for tax fraud for not filing tax returns while living abroad; ask all women applying for visas if they are pregnant. Also, in a rather bizarre reading of the Court’s decision, one of the commentators said that maybe a naturalized citizen of the United States who returns to live in their home country is no longer a U.S. citizen because they are no longer “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” SMH.

(Mostly) Supreme Court Podcasts

I’ll share today two of my favorites that you’ve seen before, but there are others I’ll try to share in the next episodes. These podcasts do not focus exclusively on immigration, but as the topic is always hot on the shadow and regular docket, it often gets their attention.

Strict Scrutiny. Three female law professors (at least two of which are also kind of potty-mouths) skewer SCOTUS from the left. Sometimes they have guests. sometimes they just rollick and riff on their own. This week’s podcast title sums up their feelings: Surveying the Wreckage of This Supreme Court Term (7.2.26, 92m). They note that while the Barbara result was endorsed by six justices, only five of them did so on constitutional grounds. This should worry defenders of birthright citizenship, as the right will not let go of an issue so closely decided. (The commentators at the Center for Immigration Studies were quick to point this out as well). More generally, they lay out five SCOTUS trends (Sorry, I did not write them down because I thought I could review the transcript for them later, but alas, the transcript is not easily available). I need to go back and catch this one: SCOTUS Just Barely Preserves Birthright Citizenship (6.30.26, 59m).

Amicus. Dahlia Lithwick, who used to cover the Supreme Court for the NY Times, now hosts this podcast with sidekick Mark Joseph Stern. Like Strict Scrutiny, it covers a wide range of SCOTUS adjacent topics. These always drop on Saturday. This week was Bad History Will Kill America (7.4.26, 66m). The birthright citizenship case comes up at the 48m mark. Dahlia remarks that “Justice Kavanaugh said it’s [the president’s proclamation] only a violation of the statute. It could be tweaked by Congress tomorrow to change the rules.” That’s why many commentators are saying the decision was really 5-4 on the constitutional question. One historian added “This was a remarkably easy case” but that it was released last in the term to show that the court can stand up to Trump. The 5-4 decision “is a flashing red warning light that says just how bad and aggressive this court is” - meaning that many expected there to be seven votes. The two historians interviewed believe the lengthy dissents do a disservice to history, while praising the concurrences of Sotomayor and Jackson.

Fun Stuff

Thank you, Maggie, for sharing this brief but soul stirring video on Instagram.

Volleyball at the border wall.

My daughter Maggie has also turned me on to “Cat button” videos, where cats are trained to talk to their human overlords. Check it out.

Enough for now.

Keywords: The Dick and Jane reading series, Trump v. Barbara, birthright citizenship, Mullin v. Doe, Kevin A. Gregg, racist comments directed at Haitians, Professor Lucas Guttentag, Professor Lee, America for Americans book.

Why Sweet Corn? Because I don’t have an immigration themed photo and he’s cute.

I’m going to do a few episodes around themes, while also trying to slip in some on current pods on immigration. This week, immigration and the courts.

Courts

Federal courts to the rescue? or to detention?

• Why conservative judges think Trump has gone too far, WBUR On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti (4.21.26, 37m). I enjoyed speaking with Deborah Becker about how federal judges have been on the frontlines of curbing government misconduct through habeas petitions in Minnesota. I pointed out the project at Lawfare that tracks violations of federal court orders Tracking Government Non-Compliance in Habeas Corpus Cases.

• Mandatory Detention. The government has been asserting since the middle of 2025 that it must detain undocumented people who crossed the border unlawfully when such folks are arrested and placed in removal proceedings. Their argument turns on what Congress meant by the words “arriving alien” and “seeking admission,” saying that people who have entered unlawfully and have lived here sometimes for more than 30 years are arriving and seeking admission. Hundreds of federal district judges in thousands of cases have said such a reading is whack-a-doodle and ordered that people who are detained at least receive a bond hearing where they can prove they are not a flight risk or a danger to the community. The point is not that people should not be deported at all, but that while they fight their cases, they should be able to do so from outside of detention, perhaps after posting a substantial bond.

• A handful of district court judges have signed off on the whack-a-doodle reading, which no-one in the federal government had thought of before for a 30-year-old statute. Three federal courts of appeal have now weighed in. So far, whack-a-doodle 2, voice of reason 1. This is bound for the Supreme Court.

  • Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi, 5th circuit (2.6.26, 47 pages, about 30m on VoiceDream). The 5th circuit raced to be the first court to rule on the issue, in favor of the government. For a caustic take, listen to 5th Circuit on that Detention Bullshit w/ Steve Vladeck, One First (2.9.26, 35m) or read/listen to 208. The Fifth Circuit Jumps the Immigration Detention Shark, One First (2.7.26). The Court makes a weird analogy, suggesting that someone who entered the country illegally and has been here for decades is like someone applying for college. Meaning when you apply for college, you don’t stop seeking admission after you apply. You just keep seeking admission for years. Or decades. Strenuous dissent by Judge Dana M. Douglas, a Biden appointee.

  • Herrera Avila v. Bondi, 8th circuit (3.25.26, 26 pages, about 20m on VoiceDream). 8th circuit trotted along behind. Strenuous dissent by Judge Ralph Erickson, a Trump appointee. (BTW. I don’t think I know anyone named Ralph. NTTM). Eighth Circuit, on a 2-1 vote, sides with Trump admin’s mandatory immigration detention policy, LawDork (3.25.26, 5m on VoiceDream) shares it views and had lots of interesting links.

  • Cunha v. Freden, 2nd circuit (4.28.26, 69 pages, about 40m on VoiceDream). Just this week, the 2nd circuit took a swing. Judge Joseph Bianco, a Trump appointee, wrote “If someone sneaks into Yankee Stadium at the start of the game with no ticket for admission (and no intention of ever paying) and he is later found by security in a seat in the seventh inning, no one would consider that fan to be ‘seeking admission’ to the game.” For a quick and clear take, listen to Appeals Court BRUTALLY SMACKS DOWN Trump’s Favorite Policy, Talking Feds with Harry Litman (5.28.26, 13m). Summarizes all three cases. Also, Bloomberg news has a nice piece. Trump’s ‘Mass-Detention’ Policy Rejected by Appeals Court (4.28.26).

Immigration courts down for the count?

• I’m (sort of) looking forward to listening to Advocates for Human Rights v. Blanche (4.30.26, 30m on VoiceDream). AHR sued the Department of Justice because immigration judges here in Minnesota have gotten into the habit of closing their courts to the public. The court said AHR had not met the high burden for an injunction. As one colleague has pointed out, turning even one public hearing into a private hearing should have been enough. And, of course, there are podcasts on Star Chambers - secretive courts from medieval times created with the laudable goal of reigning in warlords but which got out of hand. Enter the Chamber, The Star Chamber (11.26.24, 23m); Star Chamber and the Rack, BBC (undated, 6m); The Star Chamber: Precursor to Rebellion, Sir Talkalot Doolittle (8.24.23, 12m). Not sure how reliable that last one is, but I’m a sucker for a posh English accent and love the name of the podcast.

• Welcome to the Trump Administration’s Board of Immigration Appeals. The Immigrant Always Loses, 136 Yale Law Journal Forum (2026). And Professor Jason Cade really means ALWAYS. The immigrant won in only 2 of 93 precedential cases handed down over the past year. And the holding in one of those was later overturned by the BIA. And the other one was a minor procedural victory.

For the uninitiated, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) reviews decisions made by immigration judges and sets standards for those judges. Unlike federal district courts, the BIA is a part of the executive branch and reports directly to the Attorney General, who can overturn their decisions. The current administration has cut the number of judges from 28 members to 15, in part by firing all nine judges appointed by President Biden, and has been issuing precedential decisions at breakneck speed (3x faster than usual). Precedential decisions bind immigration judges (The BIA issues thousands of non-precedential decisions). Here’s an abridged summary of the piece:

The first 93 opinions in Volume 29 of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ precedential decisions constitute a project. The Trump administration has used the Attorney General’s self-referral power and a reconstituted, ideologically aligned Board to engineer a body of precedents that reliably produces one result: removal. According to Professor Cade, the decisions fall into five main categories: (1) narrowing relief for noncitizens alleging persecution; (2) expanding mandatory detention while narrowing discretionary release; (3) maximizing the immigration consequences of criminal history; (4) tightening the exceptional and extremely unusual hardship standard governing non-LPR cancellation of removal; and (5) tightening the procedural rules governing immigration court proceedings.

Don’t despair entirely – he does suggest some ways to fight back at the end. Give it a listen, or a read.

Former judges speak out on Trump admin’s immigration court purges, CBS Sunday Morning (4.19.26, 12m). Our own Minnesota Chief Immigration Judge Ryan Wood is featured. As is Judge Dredd. And “deportation judges.”

The Immigration Hotel

People who know me (almost all of them) have been subjected to the Immigration Hotel, my handy-dandy way of making sense of immigration law on the United States. This spring, I have been spending some of my Wednesday mornings with folks at the Selim Center for Lifelong Learning at the University of St. Thomas, giving a short course on immigration law and policy. The Selim Center caters to lifelong learners, many of whom are just as graying as I am, more adventurous than I am, although few as rotund. Anyway, this has led me to update the Prezi version of the Hotel (see below). What has been clear as our conversations have progressed is not news to most of you - the current administration is taking a wrecking ball to virtually every floor of the Immigration Hotel, except for the dungeon. I suppose they would say they’re doing a deep cleaning. Anyway.

Here are different incarnations that you might find informative or helpful:

• Immigration Hotel 2026, Prezi.

• A Quick Look at Immigration Status: The Immigration Hotel, LegalEdWeb (2015, 3m video). The Father Guido Sarducci version.

• Immigration 101 information session to honor Human Rights Day & International Migrants Day, Minneapolis and St. Paul Offices of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (12.15.26, 14m, starting at the 4m mark). A bit longer video version.

• The Immigration Hotel, Rutgers Law Review (2016, 74 pages, a while on VoiceDream).

And some fun

• Frog Funk Therapy | A Breezy Jazz Funk Playlist for the Soul | Nebula Breeze (2025, 169m).

• Zekira - Zaïko Langa Langa (Clip Officiel) (7.18.17, 8m).

• These CATS are too FUNNY! 🤣 | New Cat Videos 2026 Pop Cat Laugh (4.29.26, 15m). Okay. Listening to this will do you no good.

Keywords: Deborah Becker, mandatory detention, Judge Dana M. Douglas, Judge Ralph Erickson, Judge Joseph Bianco, mass-detention, AHR, Professor Jason Cade, Board of Immigration Appeals, the Selim Center for Lifelong Learning, the Immigration Hotel.

The turkeys are back. I spotted the flock of now 13 on Como Avenue. It’s been a minute, but the Birthright Citizenship case bears a quick look.

Birthright Citizenship

The Supreme Court hears the case on tomorrow. For those who enjoy that sort of thing, the Supreme Court has audio. The oral argument begins at 9:00am Central. It looks like this is the only case of the day.

Here’s a really quick look - a 3-minute video explainer on the SCOTUSBlog. Here’s what Akhil and Vikram Amar & Samarth Desai would have the justices ask the government: Birthright citizenship: 20 questions for the solicitor general, SCOTUSBlog (3.30.26). Find other articles on the case at the SCOTUS Blog, including one by one of my heroes, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández. I am only now discovering Akhil Amar’s Amarica’s Constitution podcast - will listen to Created to Born to Barbara (3.26.26, 59m) on the ride to work this morning.

If you want to know how Justices Alito and Thomas will vote and why (and hopefully only them), listen to Parsing Immigration Law (3.26.26, 45m). One of the guests is Hans van Spakovsky, the guy who’s spent a good part of his career looking for the ever-elusive hordes of noncitizen voters. Spakovsky believes Wong Kim Ark was wrongly decided and that the Court should look not to it but to Elk v. Wilkins, the Supreme Court case that predates Wong and denied U.S. citizenship to a Native American. The guests also pushed the consent theory and that the money quotes in Wong were dicta (Dicta are non-binding comments by judges in opinions that are not essential to the case).

I spoke at the University of Baltimore’s conference on Friday, The Great Regression: Immigration Law in Crisis. Angie Howat, an Associate Attorney at Cozen O’Connor, presented on the birthright citizenship case and detailed how, yes, the consent theory was being discussed in the 1860s, but no, it did not carry the day in the Congressional debates. Congress was intent on avoiding the creation of stateless second-class groups of people.

Trump Says Birthright Citizenship Was Only for the Children of Slaves. He’s Wrong., NY Times (3.30.26, 8m). Cites Congressional debate of the day that makes it clear that members of Congress were well aware of the broad reach of the proposed 14th amendment and that some of them did. not. like. it. Senator Edgar Cowan of Pennsylvania expressed his concern for the fine people of California when stating “Is it proposed that the people of California are to remain quiescent while they are overrun by a flood of immigration of the Mongol race?”

Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order at Supreme Court Splits Conservative Scholars, N.Y. Times (3.30.26, 11m).

The birthright citizenship arguments will show what Trump has done to the United States, Law Dork (3.29.26, I don’t think you can listen to this one). Lays out the arguments on each side succinctly. It also links to many of the friend of the court briefs.

Professor Amanda Frost’s great historical work about birthright citizenship has been featured here and is worth another listen on episodes #13 (discussing just how precarious Chinese “permanent residence” really was at the time of Wong Kim Arkon the Unsettled podcast) and #39 (The Dog That Didn’t Bark). In episode #8, links to testimony before Congress where she points out that there were indeed children of “illegal immigrants” covered by the 14th amendment - i.e., the children of illegally imported slaves. Also in that episode, Anthony Michael Kreis, Evan D. Bernick & Paul A. Gowder rebut the Randy Barnett and Ilan Wurman consent piece in the NYT, as do the gals on Strict Scrutiny in episode #7.

In episode #32, I provided links and commentary on the 1st circuit’s rejection of the administration’s arguments. Birthright citizenship appears in episodes #18 (Professor Elora Mukerjee on Strict Scrutiny). Birthright citizenship and diplomatic immunity are discussed in episodes #26 (which also links to USCIS implementation plan if the administration wins the case), and #27 (which also links to a great article “By Birth Alone: The Original Meaning of Birthright Citizenship and Subject to the Jurisdiction of the United States”). In episode #17, I go through the four means by which one becomes a U.S. citizen.

Pause Policies

Bob Webber has taken a break from his podcast, The Maze (and what Minnesota immigration attorney hasn’t cut back on the extracurriculars), but his 3.27.26 LinkedIn post wonderfully spells out the horrible triple bans on immigration adjudications, with a helpful chart, to boot. There’s the original group of 19 countries, a second group of 20 countries, and a final group of 75 countries. Bob explains how in detail the administration is screwing over each group. Not a podcast, but a useful tasty tidbit.

See this for The Daily Show’s take on ICE at airports.

Keywords: Birthright Citizenship, SCOTUS, Solicitor General, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, Hans van Spakovsky, Wong Kim Ark, Elk v. Wilkins, the University of Baltimore’s conference, Angie Howat, the consent theory, Senator Edgar Cowan, Professor Amanda Frost, the 14th Amendment.

We’re in that time of year in Minnesota when we face freeze and thaw and re-freeze. Makes for treacherous sidewalks. Recently, we went back down to about 10 degrees, so I had to pull out the electric socks for my bike ride to work. So the weather comments about ICE and Minnesota continue to resonate. Not nearly so many men with guns on patrol, but ICE operations continue - just sneakily, like this one where fake car trouble lures a man out of his house. Operation PARRIS continues as well.

Refugees: Operation PARRIS and UHA v. Noem

The orchestrated effort to detain and re-vet refugees admitted during the Biden administration continues. Some roadblocks and some victories. What’s happening? The master plan has at least two parts: (1) detain Biden era refugees who have not yet gotten their green cards, potentially indefinitely; and (2) re-vet the refugee claims of all Biden era refugees. A federal judge stopped the detentions with a temporary restraining order in late January, which expired last Wednesday night, February 25.

So what did that mean on the ground? My immigration clinic represented a refugee who had fled ethnic cleansing and was called in for an interview on Thursday morning, February 26. With the TRO expired, would he be detained? While part of the team went with him, others stayed at the office, preparing to file a habeas petition with the assistance of a local law firm. Fortunately, no detention occurred.

On February 27, Judge Tunheim issued a preliminary injunction, once again stopping arrest and detention. While I have yet to read/listen to the full 66-page decision, the first paragraph tells the lay reader all they need to know:

When the clock strikes 12:00 a.m. on the 366th day after a refugee was lawfully admitted to the United States, according to the Government, 8 U.S.C. § 1159(a) gives Department of Homeland Security officials the power to arrest and detain that refugee with no limits on the length of detention. Because § 1159(a) provides no such power, the Court will issue a preliminary injunction enjoining Defendants from arresting or detaining refugees in Minnesota on the basis that have not yet been adjusted to lawful permanent resident status—which, by law, cannot occur until one year has passed. The Court will not allow federal authorities to use a new and erroneous statutory interpretation to terrorize refugees who immigrated to this country under the promise that they would be welcomed and allowed to live in peace, far from the persecution they fled.

Does this mean the battle is over? No, because the government will probably appeal. And that second part, the revetting, continues, just not in detention. And something is afoot. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (which I now call U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Vetting) abruptly cancelled revetting interviews on Friday and Monday. The concern is that rather than re-interviewing refugees, USCIS will simply send out Notices of Intent to Terminate refugee status, and make refugees prove their cases all over again. If they do not, they will face deportation.

A few related bits:

• Hmong Woman Detained and Released by ICE, Kare 11 (2.2.26, 3m). Refugee persecuted for her faith is detained, shipped to El Paso, then Houston, then released only after habeas filed. SMH. SMH. SMH. SMH. SMH. This happened over and over to others before the temporary restraining order took effect.

• The obscure legal case shielding refugees, World (2.25.26, 5-ish m). Conservative evangelical magazine does a fine job report on efforts by the administration to overrule Matter of D-K, a case that rules that refugees have been “admitted” to the U.S. Well, at least they interviewed me. Why does this matter? Without getting into the weeds, the case as it stands makes it harder to detain and deport refugees. I enjoyed speaking with the reporter.

Random cat video

Summing up What’s Happened in Minnesota

The Surge of ICE in the Twin Cities: Law Professors on the Issues, University of St. Thomas Murphy Institute (2.12.26, 129m). On the day the “withdrawal” was announced I and several colleagues (including student Andrea Thompson) held what amounted to a good old-fashioned “teach-in.” Check it out. Every minute a golden one. The opening prayer and the closing comments by our priestly colleagues framed the presentations perfectly. It even works at double-speed.

Old Reliables:

With everything going on in Minnesota, keeping up with the more national podcasts has been more difficult. Here’s some catching up.

• Live community event, Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order (12.29.26, 87m). Gripping wrap-up of the show about the Japanese internment camps. Direct parallels to today, with witness from Japanese Americans. Camp East Montana, now notorious for its inhumanity to immigrants, was used during WWII to intern Japanese-Americans.

• Rights in the Era of ICE Raids, Unsettled (2.24.26, 50m). Lee Gelernt of the ACLU interviewed - looking forward to listening to this one on the ride to work tomorrow (actually later today. . . ).

• ‘I’m an Immigration Lawyer. Trump Is Shattering My Clients’ Lives.’ Unsettled (1.27.26, 43m). Hiroshi and Alex talk with Elora Mukherjee, Clinical Professor of Law at the Columbia Law School. I listened to this pod just after reading QASEMI v. FRANCIS, No. 25-CV-10029 (LJL), 2025 WL 3654098 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 17, 2025, 30m on VoiceDream), the case of an asylum seeker from Afghanistan that Elora and her students freed from detention late last year. For the attorneys in the room, it is a habeas case involving a person paroled into the US after a credible fear interview She shares the back story. Their advocacy and storytelling shine through in the court’s decision, which eviscerates the government’s argument for mandatory detention.

• The Illegality and Injustice of ICE’s Minnesota Occupation, Strict Scrutiny (2.2.26, 82m). Only a month old - seems almost quaint. Remember the 8th circuit court of appeals stopping the effort to rein in ICE? Remember Bovino’s Jewish jokes? Also discusses illegality of murdering people in speedboats in the Caribbean. But who’s counting.

• Trump’s SOTU Through an Immigration Policy Lens, Parsing Immigration Policy (2.26.26, 38 m). I found I could get through this CIS podcast at triple speed. With caveats, they praised Trump’s focus on Somalis in Minnesota and fraud. No mention of the Assistant US Attorneys in charge of the fraud investigations quitting over the killing of Renee Goode. Art and Jessica also summarized Trump’s four pieces of proposed immigration legislation: “‘Delilah's Law,’ which would prohibit states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to those here illegally;” (no mention of how hard this would hit the Sikh community); “the stalled DHS funding bill” (no mention of why the funding is stalled, i.e. ICE/BP murderous activity); “an act to end federal funding for sanctuary jurisdictions” (well . . . ); “and the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections” (no mention of how unneeded this is).

lots of random cat videos

Shocker! ICE Violates Court Orders Left, Right, Front, and Center

• Officials Violated More Than 50 Court Orders in New Jersey, Justice Dept. Tells Judge, NY Times (2.18.26, 8m). Yep.

• Judge Says U.S. Is Intentionally Violating the Law on Immigration, NY Times (2.27.26, 5m). New Jersey. Up to 70.

• EXCLUSIVE: ICE remains committed to mission in Minnesota after surge despite attacks, field director says, Alpha News (2.21.26, 8m). Protestors fling obscenities at a reporter and tell the field director to kill himself. Certainly not Minnesota Nice. That said, Sam Olson says, “Our officers are here to just enforce the laws that were enacted by the legislative branch.” Hmm. And what about all those court orders? Worth a listen to get the unvarnished “apolitical” position of ICE. Query to anyone out there: Is Sam Olson Field Office Director, or is David Easterbrook?

Last week, Judge Patrick Schiltz of Minnesota let the government have it with both barrels as he detailed well over a hundred and fifty instances of violations of court orders by ICE, threatening civil and criminal contempt. It’s late as I finish up this too long episode, but will keep a close eye (and ear) on this.

Detention and ICE Operations

• The ICE hiring boom, Planet Money (2.25.26, 18m). Half-butted training of ICE officers. And I think this was the pod where the reporters discussed what amounts to “untraining” of experienced officers - brutality condoned and expected from the top. The pod also briefly breaks down the massive detention build-out.

• Companies reap $22bn from Trump’s immigration crackdown, Financial Times, Behind the Money (2.24.26, 38m). I listened to the transcript read by an automated voice on my bike. Then I checked on my laptop later and there is a real people version. Worth a listen. Details billions of dollars poured into detention facilities. Usual suspects: CoreCivic and Geo Group. Unusual (but not surprising) suspects: small companies with ties to Trump . Human rights abuses abound, accountability structures dismantled. Public backlash has been great but has doneenough to slow things down.

• ICE whistleblower says training cut nearly in half, Fox9 (2.24.26, 3m). “I received secret orders to teach new recruits to violate the Constitution.” That. And more.

• The Concentration Camp Next Door, Amicus (2.14.26, 80m). Our local hero Linus Chan on habeas in Minnesota. Then Andrea Pitzer, about her new piece, Building the camps: The warehouseification of detention and initial thoughts on stopping it. (Hey, my students who are reading this, you can get clinic hours for listening to this episode and writing about it in your weekly reflection). Here’s a map of detention expansion efforts.

• ICE & DHS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2.16.26). It’s John Oliver. Just watch it. Lots of spicy Minnesotan being spoken. Be forewarned.

• Testimony at Surprise, Arizona City Council opposing a detention center (2.4.26, just 2m)

Random cat video

Stuff

The Immigration Debate Came to Rural Kansas. Locals Stood by Their Mayor, NY Times (2.16.26, no audio but great photos). I love my home state. I really do. Mayor claimed to be U.S. citizen but isn’t. He even voted for Trump. Trump town rises up to defend him. I’m glad. But really, folks. Of course, when the person is “one of ours,” exceptions must be made.

More Minnesota

• The Status of Immigration Cases, WCCO (2.23.26, 6m). Yours truly discussing with Vaneeta how Operation PARRIS has been playing out in Minnesota, and how the immigration courts are targeting Somalis for accelerated proceedings.

• If Operation Metro Surge is Over, Did it Accomplish its Goals?, St. Paul Pioneer Press (2.14.26, 15m). Long Sunday piece interviewing lots of really well-informed people.

• Trump Declared Victory in Minneapolis. But What Did He Accomplish?, NY Times (2.26.26, 10m). Locals claim there’s been no change in policy (of turning over folks with convictions). Homan says there’s more cooperation now. Will be fun sorting out what’s really going on.

• Minnesota Now. Just every day,

• Rendering aid, unmasking agents and education access: Minnesota Legislature hears bills addressing immigration enforcement, Sahan Journal (2.20.26). Lays out pro-immigrant legislation in the Minnesota statehouse. More to come on legislation. In the meantime, check-out action.northstaralliancemn.org.

• Federal authorities arrested an illegal alien in Minnesota who allegedly worked as a corrections officer while falsely claiming citizenship, Daily Caller (2.18.26). Yah, I know. I mix it up some.

• Representatives Angie Craig and Ilhan Omar Visit an Empty Whipple Building, Fox9 (2.20.26, 21m). Press conference after ICE conveniently has no one in custody at time of visit by Congress.

• State Representative Walter Hudson on the Killings (2.19.26, 2m). I admit to falling for the clickbait. Hudson, former radio shock-jock, knows how to get under your skin - “People like Renee Good and people like Alex Pretti put themselves in harm’s way.” And more. Insurrection! Undermining the federal government.

• Minn. Supreme Court chief justice quietly negotiated ICE court enforcement deal, Star Tribune (2.21.26, 5m). Spoiler alert. It didn’t last long. Pay wall version with photo of arrest in courthouse.

• Twin Cities mobile home parks feel the pain of immigration enforcement, often in isolation, Sahan Journal (2.21.26). Ongoing fabulous coverage by SJ.

• ICE enforcement and songs of protest, MPR (2.14.26, 53m). The boss and more.

Share podcasts you find interesting. vowiebe@stthomas.edu (Steve Yale Loehr - thank you!)

Until next time.

Keywords: Judge Tunheim, Notices of Intent to Terminate refugee status, University of St. Thomas Murphy Institute, Andrea Thompson, ICE Violates Court Orders, Sam Olson, ICE hiring, ICE whistleblower, Kansas mayor, ICE at courthouse.

I am Spartacus

This may be a bit hokey, but in Minnesota it has felt like a Spartacus moment. You know, the movie about ancient Rome where Kirk Douglas plays Spartacus, a slave who leads a revolt. At the end of the movie, the revolt has been suppressed. The Roman centurion offers freedom rather than death to the survivors, who sit chained together. The condition? Give up Spartacus. Before Douglas can stand and identify himself, his bestie, Tony Curtis, stands and shouts “I’m Spartacus,” immediately followed by one after another. Rousing stuff.

When I described this scene to some students as inspiration for solidarity in the face of daunting odds, they said, oh, that’s Rebel Radio. Turns out to be a 2012 Disney movie in which a shy student runs a subversive-ish underground radio station. It’s been tough finding a clean clip of the copycat closing scene - here’s one with commentary. Whatever one can do to reach across generations.

The Surge of ICE in the Twin Cities: Law Professors on the Issues

I will join a group of colleagues here at the University of St. Thomas in a few hours (2.12.26, 3-5pm CT) to address Metro Surge. I’m sure we’ll discuss the beginning, middle, and end-ish. I believe the event will be recorded.

Welcome to new follower(s)

What is this Substack about? I like to listen to learn. I like to ride my bicycle. I like immigration, immigration law especially. So I listen to lots of immigration related stuff (including podcasts) while I ride my bicycle. To listen to websites or pdfs, I use the VoiceDream app, which allows you to upload documents and then listen to them at various speeds. I will often link to documents that you can read if you like or listen to.

The End to Metro Surge?

Border Czar Tom Homan announced an end today to Metro Surge, saying “We have that cooperation here now,” stating that Minnesota is “less of a sanctuary state.” The full press conference can be seen. Border czar Homan: ICE surge in Minnesota ready to end, federal officers to withdraw next week, KSTP (2.12.26, 26m). Props to all of the Spartici that banded together to bring an end to the obvious militarized occupation of Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz called Minnesotans the “toughest damn people” in his press conference. Gov Walz addresses Operation Metro Surge ending and ICE’s impact on local businesses, KSTP (2.12.26, 36m).

Side bar: Many local USCIS officers have been loaned to ICE for Metro Surge, likely leading to all of the citizenship interview and oath ceremony cancellations. Were USCIS funds used in that repurposing? USCIS is a fee based, application-processing organization, not a taxpayer funded deportation machine. Its budget should not be used for removal support. (A shout-out to the colleague who raised this question).

“Quiet violence is still violence.” Erica Zurawski, co-founder of Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Center (MIRAC) said of the claimed end to Operation Metro Surge. She decried Minnesota leaders selling out immigrant communities. There is a sigh of relief. But. What will continue when ICE and Border Patrol stop killing white people and scale back racist Kavanaugh stops against black and brown people?

The attack on Somalis continues

What is just hitting the news through interviews with community activists and lawyers this morning is that the attack on the Somali community will continue without white people being killed in the street and racist Kavanaugh stops plaguing brown and black people. How so?

Attorneys in Minnesota report that hundreds of Somali cases in immigration court are being fast tracked, starting next week on February 17 (which just coincidentally is the beginning of Ramadan). Many of these cases were scheduled in the future for individual asylum hearings. Now they are being placed on master calendars - which means hearings that are not for hearing evidence and taking testimony.

The immigration court is ripping cases away from local judges and reassigning them to a handful of immigration judges from around the country. Who, for example? Acting regional deputy chief immigration judge from Baltimore, Phillip Taylor. ICE is filing motions to pretermit cases (meaning that immigration judges can end asylum cases without taking any testimony). Mass deportation of Somalis to a third country is in the works.

Fast track summary appeals are coming in March (Appellate Procedures for the Board of Immigration Appeals (2.6.26)), making it easier to deport and much harder and expensive to appeal. Rekha Sharma Crawford has a brief and great summary of the violence this does to due process and how it cements the BIA as a kangaroo court. “Immigration judge decisions become functionally final in most cases, eliminating routine appellate error correction.” In effect, the federal circuit courts of appeals will become the immigration appeals courts. Kevin Gregg in his weekly Immigration Review (2.10.26, 44m) called it a “Mass deportation scheme designed to violate the rights of appellants.”

Operation PARRIS targets refugees

As I’ve mentioned in past episode, USCIS has embarked on a campaign to reinterview all 5,600 refugees who came to Minnesota in the Biden administration. While ICE efforts to detain refugees ran into that pesky thing call Rule of Law (see episodes #43 and #44), USCIS is going forward with re-vetting refugees who have already been interviewed multiple times and run through multiple criminal and national security screenings. Our first interview went relatively well this week, but we do not have a decision yet. Rumor has it that USCIS may just start issuing Notices of Intent to Revoke refugee status without re-interviewing and place the burden on refugees to re-prove their story within 30 days. I hope the fairly reliable rumor mill I rely on is wrong.

Funny Stuff. Kind of.

• Here’s an article from national FOX news, offering suggestions to how the resistance to ICE should be conducted. Thanks. So much. Really. ‘White saviors’ use of whistles causes bitter internal rift inside anti-ICE movement, FOX News (2.7.26). Bitter. So very bitter.

Habeas

• That thing called the Constitution. Read the whole very short decision in Little Bunny v. Noem (1.31.26).

Civics lesson to the government: Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster. That is called the fox guarding the henhouse. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer. Accordingly, the Court finds that the Constitution of these United States trumps this administration’s detention of petitioner Adrian Conejo Arias and his minor son, L.C.R. The Great Writ and release from detention are GRANTED pursuant to the attached Judgment. Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned.

• Federal Courts Undercut Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign, NY Times (2.1.25, 8m).

• Tracking Habeas Cases, ProPublica (2.10.26). Fascinating data about the spike in habeas claims under Trump and especially in the past month.

  

  

Minnesota and Florida Stuff

• Minnesota Now (2.9.26, 58m). My dear friends Bruce Nestor and Rachel Moran discuss the arrests of constitutional observers and the (un)likelihood of successful felony prosecutions. Nina Moini has been knocking it out of the park in covering the occupation.

• Hennepin County sheriff says department is a ‘scapegoat’ despite cooperation with ICE, Minnesota Now (2.6.26, 6m).

• KTTC analyzes federal data pushed on Minnesota ICE arrests, KTTC Rochester (2.4.26, 4m).

• Trump’s Migrant Detention Pipeline Extends From Minnesota to El Paso, NY Times (2.5.26, 11m).

• Gov. Ron DeSantis on Florida’s “Gold Standard” Immigration Enforcement Model, Parsing Immigration Policy (2.5.26, 35m). This flagship restrictionist podcast hosted DeSantis, who happily shared that all sheriffs must sign on to task force 287g agreements and that undocumented cannot get drivers licenses. Operation vigilant century, Florida’s own immigration enforcement effort, has spent half a billion dollars. He proposes going after remittances, claimed immigrants were self-deporting from Florida to other states. He also heralded State voting prosecutors, whose efforts at least initially flopped.

• Tampa Bay students walk out in ICE protest despite state warnings, Tampa Bay Times (2.6.26, 3m video).

Outrages

• Immigrant whose skull was broken in eight places during ICE arrest says beating was unprovoked, Associated Press (2.6.26, video here). ICE said he ran, voluntarily, into a brick wall. He says ICE repeatedly beat him in the head, including with a steel baton. The hospital, rather than reporting evidence of a crime as required by state law, puts in effort to track down medical professionals who contested ICE narrative.

• Many Minnesotans have been ending up at Camp East Montana, located at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. The ICE strategy is to move arrested Minnesotans there as fast as possible, to avoid habeas corpus petitions. Guess what else this camp has been used for in the past? Japanese internment in World War II. In December, the ACLU and seven other organizations filed a complaint with ICE (December 8, 2025, 36m at 300/wpm), and copied most of Washington D.C. Do we feed dogs spoiled food? Do we feed dogs frozen food? Do we take dogs to the Mexican border and force them to cross illegally into Mexico while threatening them with prison time if they do not go? Do we grab dogs’ testicles and crush them with our hands, causing immediate and lasting pain? Do we slam puppies to the floor so hard that we break their teeth and then laugh at them for having a broken tooth? Do we force our fingers so deeply into a dog’s ear that it causes hearing loss? Do we beat a dog so severely they must be taken for emergency care and then charge the dog for the emergency visit? Do we require dogs to live in raw sewage? Do we require dogs to eat where there is raw sewage? Do we take dogs to the vet only after they have collapsed and not before, even if they are complaining? Do we repeatedly walk by a comatose dog, even when other dogs are pleading with us to look after that dog? Do we delay, deny, or improperly administer prescribed drugs to dogs for days, weeks or months? Do we deny dogs access to their lawyers, while telling the lawyers the dogs don’t want to see them? Do we?

The UST Immigration Clinic

I do not ask for paid subscriptions, but if you like the content you find here, you can donate to support the Immigration Clinic I direct at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota. While Metro Surge might be over, cleaning up the legal carnage left behind will continue.

Keywords: Spartacus, Radio Rebel, Tom Homan, Metro Surge, Governor Tim Walz, oath ceremony cancellations, Erica Zurawski, MIRAC, attack on the Somali, Phillip Taylor, Operation PARRIS, Notices of Intent to Revoke, Habeas Corpus petitions, Camp East Montana, St. Thomas Faculty Forum, BIA evisceration, broken and skull.

What not to cover is always the question. Today: Random bits, Surveillance, Helper Wellbeing, Minnesota Stuff, Crime, Fun stuff, The Other Side(s). Hang on to the end for the My Pillow guy.

Habeas Corpus

There’s not a lot specifically on habeas in this episode, but it is the word of the week for attorneys (and others) in Minnesota. So many attorneys are signing up to practice before the federal district court that the court is creating zoom events for the admissions ceremonies. Many immigrants have regular check-ins with ICE at the Whipple building or at ISAP (Intensive Supervision Appearance Program) on the other side of the airport from ICE. Sometimes folks are detained and sometimes they are not, so a constant stream of real-time intelligence from community members and family has attorneys on standby to file petitions soon after detention. Here’s a video if you want to try and understand what this ancient creature is. What we know is that it works.

Attorneys who know nothing about habeas can join the Minnesota Habeas Project Training, a fabulous effort put together by some of the smartest and most dedicated people and organizations I know.

P.S. The New York Times headlined this article this morning: Federal Courts Undercut Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign, NY Times (2.1.26). “A policy intended to keep immigrants detained indefinitely has led to a deluge of lawsuits, overwhelming some federal courts and resulting in many releases.”

Random Bits to Start Things Off

Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong, The Atlantic (1.26.26, 23m). The triumph of Neighbor-ism. Describes the resistance as three pronged: protestors, providers, and ICE Watch.

No matter how many more armed men Trump sends to impose his will on the people of Minnesota, all he can do is accentuate their valor. No application of armed violence can make the men with guns as heroic as the people who choose to stand in their path with empty hands in defense of their neighbors. These agents, and the president who sent them, are noone’s heroes, no one’s saviors—just men with guns who have to hide their faces to shoot a mom in the face, and a nurse in the back.

An Autopsy of the Biden Years at the Border: A podcast with Andrea Flores, The Border Chronicle (1.20.26, 56m). Flores served in the Biden administration. She has a policy driven Substack. (“Even though I was born in the United States, and my family has lived here for generations, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to explain to an immigration officer that I am a U.S. citizen.” Starting in middle school.)

“We thought we had the public with us, but we offered them nothing in terms of vision or explanation of what we were trying to build,” Flores said of Biden’s first year. “And I fear that could happen again if we just oppose everything President Trump is doing,” she said of Democrats, without offering new policy solutions or standing up for immigrants.

Minneapolis Mayor: Without Videos, ‘We’d All Be Living in a Lie’, NY Times The Interview (1.31.26, 32m). Mayor Frey shares about his call with Trump, how the city will not be held hostage, how it is scary to be investigated, how he “is right, just a little bit too early.” Amenable to a double-speed listen.

Collection and Use of Biometrics by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, Federal Register (11.3.25). About 3 hours of listening at 600 words/minutes. (No, I didn’t). Filed under the adage of “If they’ve complained about it, they’re doing it.” Deep state? This is it. Among the disturbing proposals is the breathtaking expansion of biometrics collection:

DHS has determined that it is necessary to expand its routine biometric collections to include individuals associated with immigration benefit requests or other requests or collection of information, and to perform other functions related to administering and enforcing the immigration and naturalization laws, such as verifying identity. Using biometrics for identity verification and management will assist DHS’s efforts to combat trafficking, confirm the results of biographical criminal history checks, and deter fraud. Therefore, DHS proposes in this rule that any applicant, petitioner, sponsor, supporter, derivative, dependent, beneficiary, or individual filing or associated with a benefit request or other request or collection of information, including U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals and lawful permanent residents, and without regard to age, must submit biometrics unless DHS otherwise exempts the requirement. (emphasis added).

Thanks, Morgan, for finding this after I said in class that I thought I had read something about this somewhere.

Surveillance. The Eyes Have It.

As you know, I bike to work. You’ve had you computer freeze up on you, yes? When I got to work on Thursday, my computer was so cold it would not function. I had to turn a space heater on it to get it to work. That’s having a computer freeze.

Then, on Thursday night, I was making my way home. I had forgotten my normal reflective vest and so had donned my “Immigrant Defense Network” reflective vest. It was dark out. I sensed a pickup truck pulling up beside me on a bit of a lonely stretch and it beeped its horn twice. As I turned to look, the driver waved. I could see the light go on his phone. I think he was taking my photo.

• How is ICE tracking people in Minnesota? An expert explains, Minnesota Now (12.8.25, 9m)

• Federal agents’ use of facial recognition technology in Minnesota sparks legal concerns, KARE 11 (1.30.26, 3m)

• What federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota means for law, politics and history, MPR at 8 (1.27.26, 59m). I need to listen to this, but I think it addresses surveillance issues.

• The powerful tools in ICE’s arsenal to track suspects — and protesters, Washington Post (1.29.26). Some chilling bits:

Thomson Reuters has said this data can show, for instance, when an individual registered at one address regularly parks his or her car at another location.

ICE agents must obtain a search warrant from a judge before deploying a Stingray [cell phone locator] . . . . In 2023, DHS’s inspector general released a report finding that ICE agents had repeatedly disregarded the law requiring a warrant.

ICE has a deep trove of digital forensics tools that allow it to hack into locked phones and computers, recover deleted files and read information in encrypted chats.

Minnesota attorneys are reporting clients being released from detention in Texas are finding that their cell phones do not work properly. Hmmm.

As part of its buying spree last year, ICE signed contracts with the Israeli companies Paragon Solutions, which makes spyware that can hack into phones remotely, and Cellebrite, which allows agents to access the contents of locked phones it has seized and automatically sort the data.

Drones are an increasingly ubiquitous part of federal law enforcement agencies’ field operations, providing real-time aerial video back to a base. One compact model purchased by ICE, the Skydio X10D, is advertised as being able to detect individuals from 7.5 miles away and identify them from 0.8 miles. Many models are equipped with night vision and thermal cameras.

Multiple clients report hearing drones constantly over both neighborhoods known for high percentages of immigrants and those that do not.

Immigrants with Criminal Records (mostly in Minnesota)

• Show Your Work: The Math Behind My Claim that 92% of ICE’s Detention Growth Comes from People with No Criminal Convictions, Austin Kocher (1.31.26)

• Where ICE Has Had Cooperation From Minnesota Jails and Prisons, NY Times (1.29.26). Sorry about the paywall – I’m out of free articles.

• How ICE detainers work in Minnesota prisons, explained by DOC [Department of Corrections], KSTP (1.28.26)

• Fact check: DHS’s list of the worst of the worst arrested in Minnesota, CBS (1.26.26).

They called them kidnappers, pedophiles, violent assailants and perpetrators of fraud. WCCO found court records on three of the five men and the information released on them is mostly accurate. . . . WCCO also could not find Minnesota or federal documents related to the other two, who are in custody.

Other Minnesota Stuff

• A federal judge rules lawful refugees detained by ICE have to be released immediately, KSTP (1.29.26, 3m). More on oreder reported in Episode #44.

• Questions Surrounding Immigration Law, WCCO Radio (1.28.26, 7m). Yours truly interviewed about fear faced by clients and determination by advocates to serve in the face of illegal actions by the government.

• An Ethicist ‘in the Scalia Mold’: The Minnesota Judge Blasting ICE, NY Times (1.30.26, 10m). Again, sorry about the paywall. Pat (and others) hired me back in 2001. He and Lisa kindly hosted our little family for a few days upon our arrival in Minnesota when our house was not quite ready for occupancy. Back in 2023, Pat donned his robes to play a judge in the final scene of a performance of The Courtroom in St. Paul, presiding over a mock naturalization ceremony in which the audience takes the oath of naturalization.

• ICE in St. Cloud: Mayor discusses ongoing operations, FOX 9 (1.30.26, 8m). Interview with St. Cloud mayor Jake Anderson. Discussed the ICE raid on a Somali mal by 60-75 agents, then confronted by 200 community members. No advance warning to the city. Went on to say that local authorities do not collaborate with ICE or enforce immigration laws but did say that Benton, Stearns, and Sherburn counties (St. Cloud is in all three counties) do respect ICE detainers [NB: Is that true? Something to follow up on]. The mayor also reported on fear of ICE, even from US citizens, and racial profiling by ICE.Was at a listening session with community members:

They all agreed that we do want dangerous criminals off our streets. So if there’s folks here illegally that are criminals, the so-called worst of the worst, it is a nearly unanimous and universal that that’s who folks want off the streets.”

• ICE Unloads, Ken Klippenstein (1.26.26, probably 5m on VoiceDream).

“This is a no-win situation for agents on the ground or immigration enforcement overall,” a Border Patrol agent said in the private group chat shared with me. He closed on a plaintive note: “I think it’s time to pull out of Minnesota, that battle is lost.”

Not quite what we’re seeing so far. But interesting to read how divided internally the government is. Here’s another Atlantic article (Battles Are Raging Inside the Department of Homeland Security, 1.29.26) I’d like to listen to but don’t have a gift version, so there’s only the MSN re-issue version without the audio.

Helper Wellbeing

“When I was a boy and saw scary things in the news, my mother would say, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” Fred Rogers.

During the last Trump administration, I had what used to be called a nervous breakdown. I’m thankful to my family, my colleagues (you know who you are), my employer and caring medical providers for pulling me back into reality and wellbeing. Did I mention my spouse?

Reports already last December had immigration attorneys facing burnout, Immigration Lawyers Battle Burnout Amid Deportation Surge, Law360 (12.5.25, 10m). (paywall).

“I mean, I’m just seeing people leave the practice because it’s too discouraging, it’s too frustrating, it’s too hard to make a living,” said Susan Reed, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. “It feels like you’re part of a system that’s so unjust. And even though you are advocating for justice for your clients, I’ve just seen a lot of people really burnout, and it’s something I think about a lot for our team.”

“The Trump administration is simply enforcing the law and fulfilling the promise the president madeto the American people to deport criminal illegal aliens,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson wrote in an email. “The criminal illegal aliens being lawfully removed from the country are not victims, nor are the attorneys working for them.”

The statement that the administration is only deporting “criminal illegal aliens” is false. Seventy-four percent of immigrants in detention in November had no criminal convictions

An article from this week, Minneapolis Law Firms Give Support to Staff and Community, Law360 (1.27.26, 4m), addressed the state of affairs in Minnesota.

I remember taking the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) many times during the course of my recovery. I just took it again this morning and was pleasantly surprised at how well I am. It takes about two minutes and is oddly entertaining.

Walking and moving slowly, interestingly, is a symptom worth paying attention to. Other things to take note of that are not in the PHQ-9: drinking too much, not bathing, withdrawing from friends and family, curling up in a little ball late at night, screaming while driving, believing ICE is following you (wait, what?).

I’m grateful for therapy, psychiatry, and, frankly, properly prescribed medication, to keep me on an even keel. I’m not currently in therapy but did do a number of check-ins with a great guy in late 2024 and early 2025 to get a tune-up before the current go-round.

For Minnesota lawyers, judges, legal staff, law students, and their families in Minnesota, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers provides free services, INCLUDING free therapy sessions. Think about how you can help others by helping yourself – you need to be healthy for clients, friends, family member. And I would think that therapists want to do their part in keeping fighters for justice healthy.

More from LCL:

If you are concerned for yourself or another and would like to learn more, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL) can help. View our resources on substance use and compulsive behaviors, mental illness, stress, and well-being to understand more about the problems that can affect you in the legal profession. Learn about the tools, including self-assessments, which are available to you. Additional resources are available for judges and law students. You are not alone.

For immediate assistance, please call: 651-646-5590 or 1-866-525-6466

You may talk to a counselor at any time. You may also email us. We respond to emails during business hours.

For non-lawyers, my lovely spouse (did I mention her), social work professor Susan Schmidt wrote a piece from September 2021 that holds up well, The Importance of Self-Care for Immigrant Advocates, Social Work Today (Sept. 2021, 5m on Voice Dream).

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Some Fun Stuff

• The Marsh Family, a UK based family that sings, did a cover (1.28.26, 4m) of “If You’re Going to San Francisco,” but set it in Minnesota. So earnest and hokey it’s endearing.

• Minnesota Anthem (4m).

• My son discovered this 2004 cover of Welcome Back (4m) by Mase, the theme song of Welcome Back Kotter. We were dancing in our house to the Mase version. I’ll spare you Mennonite jokes about dancing. The sitcom WBK ran from 1975-1979 and gave John Travolta his first big break. Immigration related? No.

• A Quick Ride in a Jazz Mobile, Latvian Radio Big Band (2017, 8m). Immigration related? No. But my daughter introduced me to these folks through the inspired Stevie R. (2017, 6m) (introduction lasts two glorious minutes) and I like them. So listen.

The Other Side(s)

I’ve taken to listening to many podcasts at double speed, especially those with whom I take issues. Sometimes they challenge me, sometimes they baffle me, sometimes they entertain me.

How a Visa for Crime Victims Became a De Facto Amnesty, Parsing Immigration Policy (1.29.26, 37m). Restrictionist Center for Immigration Studies podcast. Longtime CIS analyst Jessica Vaughan attacking the U victim of crime visa. U visas are available to victims who are helpful in the investigation or prosecution of crimes. Only 10,000 are available a year, so the Biden administration allowed those who are in the queue to get work permits while they wait. Was interesting to hear the claim that there have been fake crime schemes to manufacture claims. Also reminded the listener of the prosecutions of some local law enforcement officials who have been prosecuted for providing fake certifications to support applications.

Episode 5108: Live From The Streets Of Minneapolis; Victories In Texas, Steve Bannon War Room (1.30.26, 49m). Bannon interviewed one Mike Davis, who was very concerned about Don Lemon (who covered the disruption of the Cities Church service by Nekima Levy Armstrong and others). “Pam Bondi is going to send his ass to jail.” “Pam Bondi is not a p____.” “Don Lemon can go to hell. Don Lemon can go to jail.” Asserted DL had gone onto the pulpit to debate the pastor and that women and children were afraid in the pews. Mike Davis claimed that St. Paul is “more sane than the Somali pirates in Minneapolis” but went on to say that its jurors are “the dumbest people in America” for allowing the fraud.

Bannon also had a reporter on the scene of the 20K-30K protesters in downtown Minneapolis yesterday. Interestingly, Bannon was playing the new Bruce Springsteen song as background. Bannon acknowledged no police presence but a well-behaved crowd.

At the 29m mark, there was discussion of the potential government shutdown and then an attack on federal district court judges (because Dems are calling for judicial warrants for immigration enforcement). The guest claimed that the system of allowing immigration judges to issue administrative arrest warrants (rather than federal district judges) had been working fine. Only problem with that – immigration judges do not issue those administrative warrants; ICE officers do.

And for those Minnesotans in the crowd, fast forward to the 45:30m mark for a dose of My Pillow guy Mike Lindell (and gubernatorial candidate) rolling out the “paid protesters” trope and hyping a pillow discount. His friends in downtown Minneapolis reportedly were terrified. Always a hoot, that one. I was in downtown Minneapolis yesterday, my office at street level. I was ABSOLUTELY terrified, especially by the guy in the duck costume passing by my window.

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Keywords: Habeas Corpus, protestors, ICE Watch, Mayor Frey, biometrics, Paragon Solutions, Cellebrite, drones, criminal records, Nekima Levy Armstrong, Minnesota anthem, self-care, wellbeing, neighbor-ism, naturalization biometrics, surveillance, Patrick Schiltz.

The Brothers Katamazov

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Don’t Mess with Minnesota

The District of Minnesota has been stepping up. Earlier this evening, Judge Tunheim issued a Temporary Restraining Order in U.H.A, et. al, v. Noem (1.28.26, about 30m on Voice Dream), ordering ICE to stop unlawfully arresting and detaining refugees. The order came down as we and our students were advising a refugee family, who could not believe what was happening to them with visits by masked armed men, the sort of thing they were trying to get away from, about their options. They’re safe for now (at least until the 8th circuit weighs in?). Thank you Advocates for Human Rights and the crackerjack attorneys at Berger Montague led by E. Michelle Drake. Judge Tunheim did not mince words:

It is also essential to emphasize that the refugees impacted by this Order are carefully and thoroughly vetted individuals who have been invited into the United States because of persecution in the countries from which they have come. They are not committing crimes on our streets, nor did they illegally cross the border. Refugees have a legal right to be in the United States, a right to work, a right to live peacefully—and importantly, a right not to be subjected to the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause in their homes or on their way to religious services or to buy groceries. At its best, America serves as a haven of individual liberties in a world too often full of tyranny and cruelty. We abandon that ideal when we subject our neighbors to fear and chaos.

Not to be outdone, Chief Judge Schiltz let it rip in his order letting ICE Acting Director Lyons off the hook, but just a little bit, in the follow-on order (1.28.26, just 4 pages) in JUAN T.R. v. KRISTI NOEM, Case No. 26‐CV‐0107 (PJS/DLM) discussed in Episode #43:

That does not end the Court’s concerns, however. Attached to this order is an appendix that identifies 96 court orders that ICE has violated in 74 cases. The extent of ICE’s noncompliance is almost certainly substantially understated. This list is confined to orders issued since January 1, 2026, and the list was hurriedly compiled by extraordinarily busy judges. Undoubtedly, mistakes were made, and orders that should have appeared on this list were omitted.

This list should give pause to anyone—no matter his or her political beliefs—who cares about the rule of law. ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence. The Court warns ICE that future noncompliance with court orders may result in future show‐cause orders requiring the personal appearances of Lyons or other government officials. ICE is not a law unto itself. ICE has every right to challenge the orders of this Court, but, like any litigant, ICE must follow those orders unless and until they are overturned or vacated. (emphasis added).

So there.

Hey, I did listen to a “real” podcast on the bike ride home last night, Ep. 300!!! - Precedential Decisions from 1/19/2025 - 1/25/2026, Immigration Review (1.27.26, 37m). It was cold. Lobster claw gloves cold. Electric socks cold. Eye lashes freezing cold. But there was no wind, so there’s that. Hey, my students, Matter of S-M-H-, 29 I&N Dec. 412 (BIA 2026) is worth a review, as it addresses how a frivolous asylum claim can come back to bite you many years later in a naturalization case. Shake My Head indeed.

Some more inspiration:

• This suburban dad’s rant became touchpoint of ICE opposition, Star Tribune (1.27.26). The Instagram is here (4m).

• New video on CNN: Moment border agents confront, question Somali American driver: ‘you don’t have the same accent as me’, CNN (1.26ish.26, 12m). This is one tough Uber driver - faces down three border patrol officers, including Bovino.

• Bruce Springsteen, Streets of Minneapolis (5m). Damn straight.

Keywords: Judge Tunheim, Advocates for Human Rights, frivolous asylum claim, Streets of Minneapolis, Bruce Springsteen, Court Order Non-Compliance, Patrick Schiltz, refugee TRO.

It’s unheard of that I get two posts out within the space of a few days, let alone the same week, but when I heard about the following story, I had to share it and the historic resonance that sounded for me. Again, history rhyming, not repeating.

But there is also breaking news further down if you want to scroll down and jump ahead!

Two women, detained by ICE, say they helped agent having seizure, Star Tribune (1.23.26). On January 22, ICE officers had arrested Tippy Amundson, 39, and Heather Zemien, 55, and were taking them to the Whipple federal buildings when one of the officers began having a seizure and was in danger of suffocating on his tongue and saliva.

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Heather and Tippy (“a kindergarten teacher who has received CPR and first-aid training through school emergency planning”) convinced the other officers to pull over so they could administer first aid.

By the time emergency medical responders arrived, the women had been holding the agent steady for several minutes. They were detained but acting as first responders to the man who had detained them. . . .

Once the agent was transferred to medical care, Amundson and Zemien were placed into another vehicle and driven to Whipple anyway.

“I asked if we could just go home,” Amundson said. “I said, ‘We just saved his life. Is that cool with you?’ And they said no.”

“We were willing to do for this man, this human, what they were not willing to do for Renee Good,” Zemien said.

“It’s important for people to know how ill-prepared they are,” Amundson said. “And how untrained.”

The story immediately brought to mind the witness of Dirk Willems, who has been a hero for Anabaptists (who formed what are known as the “peace churches” and include the Mennonites - I’m one of those) for centuries. In 1569, local Dutch authorities in Asperen arrested Dirk for the heretical crime of getting baptized as an adult. He languished in jail and lost a lot of weight. And then he escaped from his upper-level cell in the castle by fashioning a rope out of rags. But, alas, a thief-catcher spotted him and engaged in chase.

The now svelte Dirk dashed across a newly frozen lake (as a Minnesota ice fisherman, I’m familiar); his portly pursuer, however, broke through the ice. Rather than secure freedom by continuing his flight, the righteous Dirk returned to save the man. Who, although he wished to free Dirk, heard and acted on orders from the shore from the burgomaster to re-detain Dirk. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. That sort of thing.

To find out what happened to Tippy and Heather, read the linked story above. You’ll have to read here to see what happened to Dirk. Apologies in advance to my Catholic friends (and employer!) for references to “the papists” in the 17th century retelling of the story. (And if you’re interested what Mennonites are up to these days in the Twin Cities, feel free to drop by on a Sunday).

BREAKING NEWS: “The Court’s patience is at an end.”

As I was about to hit the publish button, I received an e-mail that District Judge Pat Schiltz ordered Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear personally before him on Friday to explain why he should not be held in contempt for the growing number of court orders ICE is violating. A finding of contempt can lead to jail time.

This is one of dozens of court orders with which respondents have failed to comply in recent weeks. The practical consequence of respondents’ failure to comply has almost always been significant hardship to aliens (many of whom have lawfully lived and worked in the United States for years and done absolutely nothing wrong): The detention of an alien is extended, or an alien who should remain in Minnesota is flown to Texas, or an alien who has been flown to Texas is released there and told to figure out a way to get home.

This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result. Respondents have continually assured the Court that they recognize their obligation to comply with Court orders, and that they have taken steps to ensure that those orders will be honored going forward. Unfortunately, though, the violations continue.

The Court’s patience is at an end. Accordingly, the Court will order Todd Lyons, the Acting Director of ICE, to appear personally before the Court and show cause why he should not be held in contempt of Court. The Court acknowledges that ordering the head of a federal agency to personally appear is an extraordinary step, but the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed.

Hats off to Graham Ojala-Barbour and Morgan Twamley for their work on this case, JUAN T.R., Petitioner, v. KRISTI NOEM, Case No. 26‐CV‐0107 (PJS/DLM), Order to Show Cause (Jan. 26, 2026).

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More Old Breaking News. Greg Bovino is leaving us. Tom Homan is taking his place. Tom Homan, if you recall, is the “border czar,” and the recipient of the original $50,000 ICE bonus.

Some More Podcasts I’m looking forward to on the rides through the kind of character-building weather the rest of the country is experiencing this week that we have grown accustomed to here:

• When immigration enforcement and religious conviction collide, MPR News with Angela Davis (1.22.26, 47m). One of the guests was Greg Boyd, theologian and pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, a self-described Anabaptist church (see what I just did there).

• Who Gave ICE Permission to Trample the Constitution?, Amicus (1.24.26). Dahli and Mark Joseph interview guest Alex Reinert about the leaked memo giving ICE license to forcibly enter homes without judicial warrants if the person they seek has a deportation order. No matter the 4th amendment. Also addressed are the topics of qualified immunity for federal agents and Bivens actions - and how difficult it is to hold federal agents accountable. Includes mention of state laws attempting to do just that.

• Padres Indocumentados, Hijos Ciudadanos: Cómo Prepararse Legal y Emocionalmente, El Podcast de Inmigración (1.5.26, 42m). Just like it says. Undocumented Parents, Citizen Children: How to Prepare them Legally and Emotionally.

Some more inspiration

• Brass Solidarity, Instagram (1.13.26)

• Brass Solidarity in the Target Center at the Friday March, Instagram (1.23.26)

Postscript: A Way You Can Help

I do not charge for this substack. But people have asked how they can help. As many of you know, I direct a legal clinic at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. We need support to extend our immigration law clinic fellow position for a few months. Our law fellow is a newly licensed attorney who assists me in training our students and representing clients. We’re focused now on preparing clients for illegal arrest and possible habeas petitions that need to be filed on a moment’s notice, as well as continuing to represent naturalization clients in a hostile environment. If you would otherwise be willing to pay for this substack or just are interested in supporting our work in the midst of this maelstrom, here is the link:

Donation · University of St. Thomas · GiveCampus

1. Select/decide on an amount to donate

2. Under “Designation” - scroll to the bottom and select “Other Law”

3. Write in the designation “Immigration Law Clinic”

4. Complete the remaining fields.

So there you have it. I’ve invited you to church AND asked you for money.

Keywords: - ICE, Heather and Tippy, Dirk Willems, Anabaptists, District Judge Pat Schiltz, Court’s patience, Todd Lyons, Donation.

These are attorneys (and their sponsors) just admitted this Thursday to the Federal District Court of Minnesota for the purpose of filing habeas petitions on behalf of immigrants being illegally abducted by ICE and Border Patrol agents in Minnesota.

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Friday I stayed in my lane. Rather than join the massive protest of tens of thousands of fellow Minnesotans, I admittedly broke the general strike by holding class for my brand new students who need to get up to speed far too quickly on what it means to file a habeas claim and counsel naturalization applicants. With a helicopter buzzing over the law school here in downtown Minneapolis, I also educated a reporter* about what I was learning about habeas claims. I did resist stopping for a six pack on the way home, so I didn’t buy anything, so at least there’s that. Dry-ish January. *ICE flew 2-year-old to Texas despite court order to release her from custody, KSTP (1.23.26, 4m).

I started my day yesterday trying to stay in my lane. Editing an article, as law professors are want to do. Then this happened. These are links to video of yesterday’s homicide/murder?/execution?, so be forewarned.

I am trying to stay in my lane(s). Naturalization. State immigration legislation. Press inquiries. But now habeas. Four different versions of habeas. Now denaturalization. Now consolation. Now referrals and referrals and referrals. Now the singing candlelight vigil last night in our neighborhood – I expected a dozen people and ten times that showed up. It was -7 degrees.

This morning, I am feeling a sense of calm and peace and determination, born out of community. Close-in community: family, clients, lawyers, congregants, students, colleagues, family, friends, neighbors, strangers. Far away community: high school classmates reaching out, colleagues around the country, family, strangers.

There is a section on Joy and Inspiration below, if you want to skip ahead.

Little Picture.

Statement from the family of Alex Pretti, Michael and Susan Pretti, calling out the lies of the administration about their son.

Big Picture.

Apologies in advance for some of the stuff below being behind paywalls. Gift articles have run out).

• Minneapolis Reveals Where Trumps Immigration Agenda is Going, The Ezra Klein Show (1.23.26, 66m). Excellent interview with NY Times reporter Caitlin Dickerson. Comprehensive overview of detention expansion, more-than-doubling of ICE agents, militarization of ICE, dispersion of much-more-aggressive border patrol agents to the interior, and more.

• Community & the Cost of Discipleship: The Seminary that Defied Nazis, The Rise of Bonhoeffer (11.24.24, 74m). I continue listening to this series on the Lutheran theologian who opposed Hitler while also worked for a while for German Army Intelligence. Compelling discussion of cheap grace at the 35m mark. Bonhoeffer argued that Christian ethics are not based on universal principles. He lived out a peacemaking ethic but was not a pacifist. Violence is a quick fix, or not a fix at all.

• ‘This Is Trump’s Goon Squad, for Christ’s Sake’, NY Times Opinion (1.20.26, 18m).

Habeas Corpus and Refugees

Last week, DHS launched Operation PARRIS, a “sweeping initiative reexamining thousands of refugee cases through new background checks and intensive verification of refugee claims,” with the “initial focus is on Minnesota’s 5,600 refugees who have not yet been given lawful permanent resident status.” OK. So, we expected call-in letters for re-interviews. Instead, ICE and Border Patrol have begun detaining refugees and whisking them off to Texas in a matter of hours. Compelling them in horrible conditions to be interviewed about their claims and their green card applications. “Winners” flown back or kicked out into the street. “Losers” sent to New Mexico.

The community is fighting back with habeas petitions. Successfully. But there are not enough attorneys to go around.

• Here’s an example of a win on a temporary retraining order- Darwin M. v. Bondi (1.23.26, 14m on VoiceDream at 300 words/minute). Congrats to Cameron Giebink.

• Advocates for Human Rights, their friend Michelle Drake at Berger Montague, and others have brought a federal class action to stop the practice. Refugees Sue Trump Administration to Stop ICE Terror Campaign (1.23.26). Complaint here (51 m).

• Habeas Corpus in a nutshell, U of M Binger Center (undated, 3m or so).

Thank you to all of the habeas heroes rising up in Minnesota: Abdinasir, Linus, Zach, Rebecca, Nadia, Isabelle, Hannah, Rachel, Brent, David, Nico, Hanne, Leslye, Laurie, Mary, Nancy, Graham, Jennifer, Graham, Marc, Zophie, Nancy, Mary, Cameron, Gabriela, Kelsey, Thomas, Evangeline, [fill in your name].

For attorneys wanting a crash course in habeas, contact me off list for an excellent CLE series put on by the University of Iowa clinic.

What does the First Amendment Mean?

The FBI arrested my former colleague, Nekima Levy Armstrong, a few days ago for attending a church service last Sunday in which she and others challenged the lead pastor of Cities Church (a Southern Baptist congregation in St. Paul) for having on staff as a pastor one David Easterwood, the local ICE director. Nekima has spent her life speaking truth to power. And as I was her department chair for over a decade (and therefore emblematic of power), I will admit that I was occasionally spoken to. Here’s some video of the original encounter. Here’s something about the vile and racist AI mangling of her visage by the government when she was arrested. Again, anyone who knows Nekima knows the FBI could not make her cry. Here is Nekima speaking with CNN (Erin Burnett, Out Front, 1.23.26, 13m) after she and others were released. I have not tracked down the arrest warrant, but the charges under the FACE act were discussed.

My former boss is the Honorable Patrick Schiltz, Chief Judge of the District of Minnesota (when he was interim and then associate dean). Just a few minutes ago, Professor Steve Vladeck published on his substack (8m) an astonishing set of letters by Judge Pat about the behind-the-scenes effort by the Justice Department to spin this incident into a national security emergency and undermine the rule of law.

The government’s arguments about the urgency of its request makes no sense. As the government says, “dozens” of protestors invaded Cities Church on Sunday. The leaders of that group have been arrested, and everyone knows that they have been arrested. The government says that there are plans to disrupt Cities Church again on Sunday. Of course, the best way to protect Cities Church is to protect Cities Church; we have thousands of law-enforcement officers in town, and presumably a few of them could be stationed outside of Cities Church on Sunday. The government does not explain why the arrests of five more people—one of whom is a journalist and the other his producer—would make Cities Church any safer, especially because that would still leave “dozens” of those who invaded the church on Sunday free to do it again.

Trump officials investigate protesters who interrupted Minnesota church service, targeting ICE official, CNN (1.19.26).

As a regular churchgoer, I, too, fear possible disruption on a Sunday morning. But the signs on our church are about ICE agents keeping their distance rather than preaching to us.

Insurrection Act

• Invoking the Insurrection Act, Amicus (1.17.26, 67m). Superstar Steve Vladeck doesn’t see how there is justification for invoking it.

• What to know about the Insurrection Act (1.16.26, 20m). Steve Vladeck and Allison Gill unpack it.

• A Minnesota law professor explains the Insurrection Act, Minnesota Now (1.16.26, 15m). Professor Ilan Wurman of the University of Minnesota opines that Trump could get way invoking the Act. BTW, Professor Wurman has also argued in support of the Trump Birthright Citizenship Executive Order, so . . .

Fourth Amendment Out the Window?

• Who Gave ICE Permission to Trample the Constitution?, Amicus (1.23.26, 50m). I need to listen to this one. Discusses the internal ICE memo authorizing warrantless searches of homes of people with outstanding deportation orders.

• ‘Part of a Larger War’: Whistleblower Exposes ICE Effort to Spy on Immigrants—and Americans. Common Dreams (1.14.26, 5m).

Old chestnut

• Ep. 297 & 298 - Precedential Decisions from 12/29/2025 - 1/11/2026, Immigration Review (1.13.26, 48m). Hey, my students, there’s a denaturalization case discussed.

Some joy and inspiration

• Marc Prokosch, one of the leaders of our local immigration bar, writes “Stay safe out there! And for a nice little boost, may I recommend listening to our office’s theme song: Shungudzo - It’s a good day (to fight the system) [official audio].” (3m – worth putting on repeat).

• Drummers on the Stone Arch Bridge (1.23.26, 2m)

• Straight Outta St. Paul, Tod Maffin on Facebook (2m). Canada claims Minnesota: “If that is not a province waiting to be reclaimed, I do not know what is.”

• The Kingdom Arrives Barefoot, the river west of eden (1.22.26). My lovely naturalist nephew Jake teaches little ones about the great outdoors – from a poem he wrote this week: “A child asks if the door will stay locked today. Another wants to know if learning about milkweed still matters when their neighbors are taken away.”

• Jesse Wells, Good v. ICE (1.8.26, 1m 19s). Thanks, Amy, for giving us the link.

• Y’all Ever Play Galaga?, Elle Cordova (3m). Elle Cordova is the boss. And I loved playing Galaga when I was a kid.

• Weekend Update: Tommy Brennan on Trump’s ICE Deployments in Minnesota, SNL (1.20.26, 4m). Remember that ICE guy who slipped on the ICE?

• Mon Rovîa Essentials, Apple Music. “Rescued by missionaries during the Liberian civil war and now living in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Mon Rovîa used that all-American journey as inspiration for his own understated and idiosyncratic genre. What he calls ‘Afro-Appalachian’ music.” Also lovely.

Minnesota Nice in Action

• ‘A submissive dog’: White supremacist who came to Minneapolis to clash with protesters gets saved by black men—then posts a wild spin, Atlanta Black Star (1.19.26, 5m).

• He knew exactly what Jake had said about people of color... and still chose to help him. That’s a level of humanity most people wouldn’t show. TikTok (1.18.26, 3m). A fine sermon in a few short minutes. “When one mother------ show love, everyone show love.”

Criminal Controversy in Minnesota

• ICE Demands More Access to Minnesota Inmates. But It’s Complicated, NY Times (1.22.26, 8m).

• Who is ICE arresting during ‘Operation Metro Surge’? Top ICE officials say not only people with criminal convictions, KSTP (1.23.26, 3m). There is a 25m ICE press conference I may bring myself to listen to this. May.

• MN Department of Corrections update on ICE operations and addresses ICE ‘misinformation’, KARE 11 (1.22.26, 21m). I need to listen to Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell explain how Minnesota law really works in practice (Note to Najma – we need to understand this stuff).

• Minnesota prisons head calls out ICE misinformation on arrests, cooperation, KSTP (1.22.26, 2m). Department of Corrections chief Paul Schnell explains how Minnesota law mandates reporting immigrant inmates to ICE. See also this.

• Minnesota Department of Corrections releases statement on Minneapolis shooting, federal claims, Mankato KEYC-TV (1.24.26).

More Minnesota Stuff

• Minnesota Now: January 20, 2026 (57m). Minnesota Now covers the crisis on a daily basis – well worth linking into it – put it on double-time and catch up on what’s happening here. This episode: USC in underwear. Protesters interrupted a church service. Camp East Montana, the ICE detention center in Texas where a Minnesota man died last week and hundreds are being sent. Senator John Hoffman – assassination survivor interviewed.

• ICE flew 2-year-old to Texas despite court order to release her from custody, KSTP (1.23.26, 4m).

• Detention of 5-Year-Old by Federal Agents Incenses Minneapolis, NY Times (1.22.26, 5m).

• ICE: Minnesota won’t let us arrest 1,360 criminal illegal immigrants in state jails, Washington Examiner (1.21.26).

• Minneapolis ICE detainee dies in custody in Texas, Newsweek (1.19.26)

• Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Deadly Assault on Minnesota, Rep. Pramila Jayapal Congressional Hearing, Ranking Member of the House Immigration Subcommittee (1.16.26, 4h)

• One State, Two Very Different Views of Minneapolis, NY Times (1.17.26, 8m)

• Allegations of racial profiling of U.S. citizens on the rise as ICE surge expands in Minnesota, Star Tribune (1.18.26)

• ‘We don’t want to be like Minneapolis’: Feelings on ICE surge reveal deep divide across state, Star Tribune (1.18.26)

• Arrest of Special Education Teacher

• Emmer to introduce new bill to strip citizenship from fraudsters and terrorists: ‘You’re going home’, FOX (1.16.26). SCAM act.

• ICE agents eat at small-town Mexican restaurant — then detain workers, Star Tribune (1.16.26). ICE not nice.

Hospitals

• ICE seizes worker documents from Hennepin County’s public hospital, Star Tribune (1.16.26)

• Inside Minnesota Hospitals, ICE Agents Unnerve Staff, NY Times (1.19.26, 10m).

Looking forward to some history:

• The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System, Freakonomics (March 2024). 5 episodes.

• Ripple Effect: The Truth About Immigration | Zeke Hernandez, (6.18.24, 16m).

• The Immigration Act of 1924: Rethinking Its Origins & Impacts 100 Years Later, Immigration History Research Center (2.23.24, 90m).

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Keywords: ICE shootings, Nekima Levy Armstrong, David Easterwood, Church protests, Minnesota, habeas, kids in detention, Caitlin Dickerson, warrantless searches, immigrants with crimes in state custody, National Origins Act of 1924, Hospitals, denaturalization, SCAM act, Operation Parris.

“We had whistles, they had guns.” Becca Good

My dearly departed mother-in-law Eunice picked up the above artifact I now wear around my neck on one of her many international travels. Is it a dog, with its nose to the right? Or is it a horse, with its nose to the left? It is a whistle.

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I have thought of another relative of late, my dearly departed Aunt Nettie, who grew up in Soviet Russia and at age 13 in 1938 saw her dad and the other dads in her small Ukrainian Mennonite village taken away by men dressed in black, the NKVD. The NKVD preceded the notorious KGB, the Soviet secret police.

• “The real law underlying the arrests of those years was the assignment of quotas, the norms set, the planned allocations. Every city, every district, every military unit was assigned a specific quota of arrests to be carried out by a stipulated time. From then on, everything else depended on the ingenuity of the Security operations personnel.”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote those words in The Gulag Archipelago, which I started reading last week and will finish reading in 2029. A free audio version is available on YouTube, in 66 parts read by a very plummy English accented Englishman in 1989. It is also available on Audible (23h & 28m).

Again, history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. Sinister uniforms. Quotas. Desperation to meet quotas. Turning from one category (“worst of the worst”) to another (unadjusted refugees with legal status) to another (special immigrant juvenile status young people waiting for visas) to another (US citizens who are not white working at Target) to another (visa overstays) to another. Asking neighbors to rat out neighbors. Lawful orders. Historical parallels are tricky, as not everything can be the same.

—-

I have collected over 70 items and webinars and podcasts since my last posting - I won’t share them all (see at the bottom for what I’m not sharing). We’re going through some serious stuff in Minnesota. My friend Dick says “your emails are sooo long.”

What happened in 2025?

Report on the Trump Administration’s 2025 Changes to Immigration Law, New York Bar Assoc. (last updated 10.10.25, 100 pages)

Beyond “Shock and Awe”: Immigration Actions in the First Year under Trump 2.0, Migration Policy Institute (1.13.26, 73m). Webinar that in the first 30-40 minutes provides an insightful rundown of all the crap. If you want the written version Unleashing Power in New Ways: Immigration in the First Year of Trump 2.0, Migration Policy Institute (1.13.26)

The New Immigration Regime, Cornell Keynotes (1.8.26, 59m). Not sure what was said but it was probably good because Steve Yale-Loehr was involved. I had scheduled to view it live, but along with others, was sent the wrong link. ☹

The Year in Immigration and Predictions for 2026, Parsing Immigration Policy (1.1.26, 43m). In addition to their own particular restrictionist spin on what happened last year, they also predicted the following:

• A heavier emphasis on worksite enforcement.

• Kilmar Abrego Garcia will be removed to a country in the Western Hemisphere.

• Expanded fraud investigations by USCIS across visa and asylum programs.

• President Trump will withdraw the U.S. from the U.N. refugee treaty.

• Push for legalization of mixed-status families.

• A major no-match letter initiative.

As I have said before, even if you don’t like what they think, you need to watch their space. Put it on double speed play.

The podcast also repeats the widely reported ICE claim in the right wing media (Washington Examiner, NewsMax ) that 70% of ICE arrestees in 2025 had “criminal convictions or pending criminal charges just in the U.S.” This is in STARK contrast to other reports, which show, for instance, that ICE surges result in spikes in non-criminal arrests and that only five percent of arrestees had violent crime records. How many ICE captures are criminals, and what kind, Factually (1.13.26) tries to sort through the noise

Rest in Peace, Renee Good

• For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8

Renee Good and Trump’s Age of Immunity, Amicus (1.10.26, 61m). Affirms the notion that a local prosecutor can charge federal agents, but that the case might be removed to federal court for trial. First twenty minutes on Renee Good, then excellent dissection of the lack of legal basis for the Venezuela event.

Press Conference on deadly Minneapolis shooting; Minneapolis mayor says shooting was not in self defense, KAAL-TV (1.7.26, 21m). Mayor Jacob Frey, having seen a video of the shooting, called the ICE press release about the shooting “bullshit” and told ICE to get the f--- out of Minnesota.

Minneapolis ICE shooting: Eyewitness accounts contradict ICE statement, Fox9 (1.6.26, multiple videos). FOX 9’s Corin Hoggard has done a great job of tracking down eyewitness accounts, which he says are consistent with one another and contradict the administration’s narrative. Day of reporting.

ST. PAUL, MN: A sobbing resident calls 911 as federal agents force their way into her home to chase down a DoorDash driver who was just trying to deliver food, CantStopPoppin on Reddit (1.7.26, 13m). Here is one FIERCE Native American woman screaming away ICE from her yard and front door when they want to arrest the Door Dash woman who came to her door the day after the shooting. Righteous (and just a tad vulgar) rage, notwithstanding the threat of a harboring charge from ICE. Neighbors there to help. (Thank you Matt Armbrecht)

‘There is no debate’ Minnesota has right to prosecute ICE agent: AG Keith Ellison, MS Now (1.10.25, 11m). Interview starts at 4:30m mark. 9m mark. “There is no absolute immunity for a federal agent from being charged by a state authority . . . . [Under the] Supremacy Clause, the state official will likely have to overcome those barriers, but they are factual in nature. 1. Was the federal agent doing their job in the course of their duties? and 2. Was what they were doing necessary and proper in the course of their duties?”

Somewhere in that pile of 70 links I thought there was a video of an ICE agent charging full-blast-full-on-anger mode at a black youth at Roosevelt High in Minneapolis, a few hours after the death of Renee Good. But then he full-on slips and falls on his butt, just as he almost reaches his target. ey man, its winter in Minnesota, you gotta be doing the penguin walk.

Some Spiritual Solace

Pope Leo Confronts Trump on His Own Terms, NY Times (1.11.26, 9m).

Noncooperating with Authoritarianism, Frontlight (10.25.25, 75m). Following an anti-authoritarian Jesus, critiques the theology of empire, how creative nonviolent action can sometimes change things. Jesus never said “worship me.” Thanks, Donna Minter for this one.

Can James Talarico Reclaim Christianity for the Left?, Ezra Klein Show (1.13.26, 88m). Will finish on the ride to work tomorrow. Beautiful stuff. Never heard of this guy before. Evidently he’s a thing on TikTok and Instagram.

Contrary Voices

Citizenship of Somali fraudsters may be revoked: Leavitt, Alpha News/Epoch Times (1.2.26, 6m). Right-wing outlet amplifies calls for denaturalization.

U.S. immigration enforcement data — cutting through the noise, Center of the American Experiment (12.29.25). Minnesota’s version of the Heritage Foundation.

A few Minnesota Vignettes

Advocates, health care workers demand change at HCMC after ICE guarded patient’s bedside, Sahan Journal (1.6.26, 4m). Hennepin County Medical Center. ICE spends 28 hours at bedside of an ill patient, including shackling the patient to the bed. Given access to staff only spaces. Agents leave after confronted by lawmakers.

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Vang Her pledges to limit immigration agents’ access to city property, Sahan Journal (1.2.26, 4m).

Postscript

Heart murmurs and heart disease, Cats Protection (2025, 8m on Voicedream). One of our kitties may have heart disease. This little pamphlet was a helpful listen. Ethical dilemma – how much to spend on a cat’s health. A loveable little cat.

What I didn’t share

What am I not sharing links about? All the different angles of the shooting, the resignation of AUSAs over the despicable FBI investigation of the shooting, Minnesota benefits fraud & viral video, Trump release of fraudsters, Minnesota use-of-force lawsuit (great listen), Minnesota ICE Out lawsuit (ditto), Minnesota response to Trump lawsuit, ICE in hospitals, ICE on school grounds, illegal Venezuela invasion, ICE arrests of brown US citizens, ICE arrests of white pastor but then releases him because “you’re white, you won’t be any fun anyway.”

WSJ on Minnesota networks of ICE watchers, 2,000 ICE troops to Minnesota, 1,500 more ICE troops to Minnesota, ICE arresting Somali-Americans, Greg Bovino using the john in Target and getting shouted out of store, ICE breaking law on private data to chill 1^st amendment, ICE and drones, How ICE escalates traffic stops, ICE going door to door asking about neighbors, Trump contradicts self on immigration, Republican governor candidate accusing democrats “following the pitchforks and torches” for criticizing the shooting.

Somali denaturalization threat, demand for 100-200 denaturalization cases a month, Noem claiming Good was domestic terrorist, Noem in cowboy hat, Noem in tactical gear, Noem and the “Mar-a-Lago” face, Chief O’Hara on the shooting, St. Thomas dance team preps for nationals, alleged Somali vote vouching fraud, habeas corpus, legal challenge to hold on naturalizations, airport phone searches, stalking charge for following ICE, ICE enforcement at MSP airport, Purple Daily on Vikings winning season.

Phew.

Keywords: Eunice, Whistles, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, What happened in 2025, Renee Good

Here’s a quick follow-on to episode #39, focused mostly on Minnesota over the past few weeks.

Those weeks have been both inspiring and unsettling in Minnesota with the president targeting Somalis here, as well as others. Many communities have rallied in support of immigrant neighbors.

Here we go.

Making America Safe Again: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services End-of-Year Review Demonstrates Impact of Rigorous Immigration Crackdown, USCIS (12.22.25, 10m – use the reading app on your browser). I’ve repeated this link from Episode 39 because of its pride in Operation Twin Shield

• “USCIS made history with its fraud investigation Operation Twin Shield, the agency’s largest enforcement operation to date. Launched in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, this targeted operation uncovered everything from marriage fraud to misuse of H-1B work visas and student visas, and even identified an alien with ties to terrorism who was later detained by ICE. USCIS focused on more than 1,000 cases that had fraud or ineligibility indicators, attempted over 2,000 site visits to homes and workplaces, and completed nearly 1,500 in-person interviews with aliens during the operation. USCIS found evidence of fraud, noncompliance with immigration law, or public safety or national security concerns in hundreds of cases. Operation Twin Shield has so far led to the denial of immigration benefits, the issuance of numerous Notices to Appear, and nearly a dozen arrests by ICE. USCIS also gained significant intelligence and evidence that can be used to ensure greater accountability and justice in the ensuing months.”

• I covered this in Episode 32, with some local observers casting doubt on the scope of the issue.

The ugly comments about Somalis by President Trump on December 2 prefaced Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota (allegedly focused on the worst of the worst). The Brown University shooting on December 13, in which an Afghan refugee killed two and injured nine, supercharged the atmosphere, even though it had nothing to do with Somalis.

Longer takes:

• Walz, Twin Cities leaders to talk ICE immigration operations, KSTP 5 on Facebook (12.23.25, 44m). Briefer article here. Press conference with Governor Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Frey, St. Paul Mayor Carter, Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobsen, St. Paul Mayor elect Kaoly Her and others (I saw you Archbishop Hebda!). At the 19:30m mark, discussion of ICE agents breaking Minnesota laws by putting fake plates on rental cars, putting on fake Uber stickers, masking. Jacobsen says any investigation would include the agency under investigation (hmmm). He suggested reporting to the internal affairs of ICE (really?).

  • According to Mayor Frey, Minneapolis police can’t be “everywhere, all at once” to monitor ICE activity. Mayor Carter calls on the community to not take the bait that ICE is putting out there; also questions the ability of the Supreme Court to provide a backstop; calls on others to patronize immigrant businesses.

  • Mayor elect Her has met with ICE and they have not been honest with Her – they’re not going after the worst of the worst. Her gave a shout out to UNIDOS and Immigrant Defense Network and is connecting them to the local police. Power to the People. Constitutional observers praised. Fun(?) to review the live comments – lots of trolling, especially about the massive benefits fraud that has been unspooling in the news here.

• “THIS IS STOLEN LAND!” 8-Year-Old Somali Sends POWERFUL Message to ICE, Status Coup (12.20.25,10m). Rayaan speaks truth to power. If you want a spiritual lift, take a look! Then she turns the camera on the journalist and conducts her own interview.

• ICE targeting Uber drivers at MSP: Airport officials respond, Fox 9 (12.16.25, 38m) A minister, a rabbi, and a union rep walk into . . . an airport commission meeting. This was an emotional hearing of the Metropolitan Airports Commission. There was testimony from a minister, a rabbi, Somali Uber drivers and a SEIU union representative, Samantha Diaz. The issues involved ICE coming to the temporary lot (TNC) reserved for Uber and Lyft drivers. Driver Kalee Jama (sp?) testified as to how ICE had been targeting the Somali drivers. “When we do get out and have our cameras out, they bring out the spray and spray us.”

  • The response from the MAC CEO was that they were taking the complaints seriously, but that federal agents by law have unfettered access to any part of the airport. The chair of the commission also said that they were powerless to stop ICE flights. It was also requested that there be transparency about ICE flights that has happened in Portland. It appears that there’s been an increase in unattended vehicles around the airport - the implication being that drivers had been abducted by ICE and their vehicles had been left behind.

• ACLU-MN, Pro Bono Partners Sue to Protect Protesters, Observers and Journalists from Illegal Activity by ICE, ACLU-MN (12.17.25, press release). We met USC Susan Tincher at the lovely holiday party of our friends Tom and Maureen Berg last weekend, right after she and six others had sued ICE for unlawfully detaining her on December 9 and taking other aggressive actions against them. All are residents who have mobilized to witness and document ICE actions. The effort is to enjoin First Amendment violations and excessive use of force by ICE. The full complaint will be a 67m listen. Video of the encounter went viral. Snopes fact checked the story. MPR covered the story.

• ICE raid in Chanhassen: Crowd confronts agents, Fox 9 (12.13.25, 48m – raw footage).

  • ICE agents try to arrest 2 men at construction site in Chanhassen, Fox 9 (12.13.25, 3m) Observers showed up in force on a subzero day – escort one of them away

Minnesota Attorney General Says Sheriffs Can’t Make 287g Agreements

• Minnesota Attorney General Opinion on 287g agreements (12.12.25, 8 pages, 20m on ). The opinion says that state statutes do not allow sheriffs to make contracts with federal authorities but that county commissions can. The opinion also concluded that “Minnesota law prohibits local law enforcement officers from detaining or holding persons based solely on ICE civil immigration detainers regardless of whether the law enforcement agency is operating under a valid 287(g) agreement.”

• My quick research of Minnesota law found that Minn. Stat. § 8.07 gives the AG authority to give opinions to county attorneys and others. Courts give AG opinions considerable weight, especially when supported by statute and are long-standing. This opinion is new, but it does rely on a close reading of statutes relating to the absence of contracting authority of sheriffs with the federal government

  • AG Ellison finds that sheriffs can’t enter into agreements with ICE, but county commissioners can, KSTP (12.12.25, 3m) Good rundown of 287g agreements

  • Minnesota attorney general’s legal opinion could threaten some county agreements with ICE, Minnesota Reformer (12.12.25, 2m).

Minneapolis Separation Ordinance Updated and Strengthened

• Minneapolis Separation Ordinance, as amended 12.11.25. As of 12.27.25, the Minneapolis Code of Ordinance, Title 2, Chapter 19 has not yet been amended on the city website.

• Minneapolis City Council votes unanimously to strengthen separation ordinance, MPR (12.11.25).

Things that make you go “huh”

• Officer from DHS accidentally shoots self in the leg during firearms training, KSTP (12.11.25)

• FBI investigating after federal agent allegedly kidnapped by detainee, KARE 11 (12.11.25, 2m)

• Federal agent feared he was being “abducted” when driver took off in car he got into in Twin Cities, charges say, WCCO (12.11.25)

From the Minnesota Far Right:

• Kayleigh McEnany fires back at Ilhan Omar for comparing criticism of Somalis to Nazi rhetoric, Alpha News (12.8.25)

• EXCLUSIVE: Former TSA agent recalls millions in cash flying out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Alpha News (12.9.25, 7m)

• Somali Immigrants in Minnesota: Profile of a struggling group, Center for Immigration Studies (12.10.25). Restrictionist group highlights Somali use of public benefits.

• Recent census data on Somalis living in MN, KARE 11 (12.3.25, 2m). 77,000 people of Somali descent in Minnesota. 40,000 of those born in the U.S. More than 87% of foreign born Somalis are USCs. About 4200-5,000 noncitizens.

Short to Really Short (did I say Short?) Clips:

• St. Paul grocer offers free delivery to help customers avoid ICE encounters, Fox9 (12.25.25, 3m)

• ICE crackdown chills sales at immigrant-owned businesses, Star Trib. (12.24.25, 7m). Might be behind paywall – I don’t think I can share with my subscription.

• Video: ICE agents in Twin Cities stop US citizen, demand proof of citizenship, KSTP 5 (12.24.25, 3m). Racial profiling. Somali American holds his ground against ICE. Commentary by Gloria Edin Contreras.

• Apple Valley woman detained by ICE over 2 weeks ago freed after federal court order, KSTP (12.21.25, 3m). Attorney Steve Thal gains release through habeas corpus of Somali woman detained woman who had been on an Order of Supervision.

• Racial profiling concerns grow as ICE expands presence in Twin Cities, Star Tribune (12.19.25, 8m).

• Pregnant woman dragged by ICE agents, DHS disputes witness claims, Fox 9 (12.17.25, 3m)

• Minnesota’s immigration cases are increasingly held in secret, Star Tribune (12.17.25, 6m)

• Minneapolis Police Chief on ICE operations in the city, Fox 9 (12.17.25, 2m)

• KSTP/SurveyUSA: ICE tactics on immigration unpopular with Minnesotans, KSTP (12.16.25, 3m). 56% of Minnesota disapprove of ICE tactics.

• ICE: 400 undocumented immigrants arrested since launching Operation Metro Surge, KSTP (12.15.25)

• Postal workers rally in Minneapolis against ICE raids, KARE 11 (12.15.25, 2m)

• Should you call 911 on ICE? What can local police do, if anything?, Sahan Journal (12.12.25, 7m). How can ICE be held accountable for crimes committed during its stops? (yours truly was interviewed for the piece).

• Somali advocates call for solidarity in midst of ICE activity, KSTP (12.12.27, 27m).

• How do ICE observers organize?, KARE 11 (12.11.25, 3m). Over 3,000 consitutional observers trained.

• U.S. citizen offered to show I.D. but was arrested by immigration officers in Cedar-Riverside, Sahan Journal (12.9.25, 2m). Disturbing video of USC being thrown to the ground in freezing, snowy weather.

• ICE in Minnesota: Agents pepper spray crowd in Cedar-Riverside, KSTP (12.9.25, 2m)

• Minnesota schools continue to deal with ICE operations, Fox 9 (12.8.25, 3m)

• Alleged ICE flight at MSP Airport seen loading possible detainees, Fox 9 (12.8.25, 3m). ICE flight schedule not available like it used to be.

• Minneapolis Police Chief on reported ICE operation at Augsburg University, Fox 9 (12.8.25, 2m)

• ICE agents detain Augsburg student without warrant, sparking campus concern, KSTP 5, (12.7.25, 3m)

• ICE confrontation at Augsburg University in Minneapolis: What happened?, Fox9, (12.7.25, 2m) (features David Wilson)

• Family says U.S. citizen detained by ICE, Fox 9 (12.5.25, 2m). Zip-tied on Nicolet Mall. ICE mocked her hijab and touched her inappropriately. “Wrong attire to try and run away from us in.” U.S. citizen born in Edina.

• Minnesota legal group confirms USCIS instructed permanent residents not to contact attorneys during site visits, Minnesota Daily (11.24.25)

Something more cheerful

• Winter Book Club: A Christmas Carol, Throughline (12.25.25, 49m). A wonderful recounting of the biography of Charles Dickens and how his winter classic transformed the celebration of Christmas and continued his efforts to highlight the inequities of the Victorian age. Includes descriptions of trips to America and his condemnation of slavery. Throughline also did a recent episode on the bittersweet history of chocolate.

Keywords. Susan Tincher, Woodbury, Metropolitan Airports Commission, constitutional observers, postal workers, students, organizers, Minneapolis Separation Ordinance, 287g, Keith Ellison, schools, Operation Metro Surge, Rayann, David Wilson, Gloria Edin Contreras, Steve Thal, Operation Twin Shield, home visits, Somalis, Order of Supervision. License plates, habeas corpus, self-inflicted wounds, ICE kidnapping

Hello, friends. We have some catching up to do. Let’s get to it.

A Conspicuous Gap May Undermine Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Plan, NY Times (12.22.25, 6m). Professor Amanda Frost and her able research assistant Emily Eason scoured the ancestry records of all 584 members of Congress from 1865-1871 looking for times when the citizenship of a member of Congress was challenged based on the lack of permanent status of their parents. How many such challenges occurred? Zero. Why do we care? Because the Trump challenge is based on the assertion that the 14^th amendment establishing citizenship at birth in the U.S. excluded more than the children of diplomats, Native Americans, and enemy invaders (i.e., those that were not “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”).

The period when the 14^th amendment was written and ratified was also a time when hundreds of challenges were being made as to whether elected men met the qualifications for being in Congress (basically a continuation of the Civil War by other means). So, if there was a way to challenge a member of Congress through their parentage, it would have been done.

The Dog That Didn’t Bark: Eligibility To Serve In Congress and the Original Understanding of the Citizenship Clause, SSRN (11.17.25, 45m on VoiceDream at 270 words/minute). Here’s the whole enchilada with Professor Frost as the citizenship wallah. It’s a joy to read and listen to her work as she is both a scholar and a storyteller.

• “William Mungen was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Ohio, as a Democrat, in the Fortieth Congress (1867-69) and the Forty-First Congress (1869-1871). Despite being the child of immigrants, Mungen was opposed to immigration—at least by the Chinese. In 1871, Mungen gave a speech entitled ‘The Heathen Chinese’ in which he described Chinese immigrants as ‘voluntarily servile’ and advocated barring their continued migration into the United States.”

• ‘We could find no evidence that Mungen’s parents had filed a declaration of intent to naturalize with a court before his birth—a step they could have taken at any time after arrival in the United States, and which was a prerequisite to naturalization under the law in place at the time.”

Why the title? In a Sherlock Holmes mystery from 1892 called The Adventure of Silver Blaze, the astute detective concluded the theft of a prized racehorse was an inside job because the guard dog had not barked the night of the theft. A critique of this approach can be summarized as “the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” – a critique leveled at my own work on the absence of widespread voting by noncitizens in Minnesota. But Amanda’s argument holds up (as does mine, I humbly submit). Like a dog with a bone (but without a bark), Amanda and Emily overturn historical rock after historical rock and come up – empty.

• The Adventure of Silver Blaze, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1892, 59m) is the story. This is a lovely narration, if you’re looking for a distraction. I have yet to listen to it all but did locate the critical interchange about the bark-less dog at the 44:30m mark. If you would prefer to read the story, go here.

Citizenship and (De)Naturalization

• Trump Administration Aims to Strip More Foreign-Born Americans of Citizenship, NY Times (12.17.25, 8m). USCIS calls on district offices to supply 100-200 denaturalization cases a month to the Office of Immigration Litigation. By comparison, “between 2017 and this year to date, there had been just over 120 cases filed” in the entire country.

• When can the U.S. government actually revoke citizenship?, On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti (12.10.25, 38m). Great summary of the law.

• Falsifying a Tax Return Can Cost Your Citizenship Under Trump, Bloomberg (7.25.25, 8m). Great review for a lay person of the law and history of denaturalization. Great charts about the number of denaturalization cases since 1990.

• One Step From Citizenship, Some Find It Eludes Their Grasp, NY Times (12.6.25, 10m). Interviews and ceremonies are being cancelled in our neck of the woods, too.

• Reminder: Civil Division Enforcement Priorities, USCIS (6.11.25). 10 priorities for denaturalization listed.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Beacon of Inspiration for the Resistance (or the right?)

I’m looking forward to enjoying a podcast series on The Rise of Bonhoefer, the Lutheran pastor who along with others broke with the state church in Germany to create the confessing church in opposition to the Nazis. Our pastor Caleb Yoder commended the series. The first 11 hour-long episodes trace Bonhoeffer’s life. These are followed by episodes by Bonhoeffer scholars, including commentary on the effort by the right to use Bonhoeffer as inspiration.

• Stop taking Bonhoeffer’s name in vain, his relatives and scholars warn Eric Metaxas, Project 2025, Religion News Service (10.21.24, 5m). The Christian Nationalist right uses Bonhoeffer to compare Democrats to Nazis. In this pre-election article, scholars claim they get it backwards.

• Tyranny is Here. The Church In America Must Fight (Eric Metaxas), Pint with Aquinas (8.19.25, 137m). Will I actually listen to this one? Wil you? Feels like an attempted theft of a liberal icon by the Christian right.

More pods!

• How Biden Lost Americans’ Faith in Immigration, The Daily (12.15.25, 29m). Interviews with 30+ Biden officials document how Biden screwed up immigration, if you buy into the narrative that Biden was not tough enough at the border. Before the 2020 election, an internal campaign memo had predicted there would be a major surge in immigration if Biden was elected and he reversed Trump policies. Biden avoided the issue during his term and didn’t have a clear plan or philosophy. When finally, he did crack down he and Harris didn’t claim credit for the dramatic decrease in border crossings.

• Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order (12.1.25 – Episode 1). Rachel Maddow brings her historic treatment of the shameful history of the Japanese internment, an action based entirely on lies. Truly. Thanks to my spouse Susan for bringing this one to my attention. I listened to the first episode on a frigid walk after attending a fundraiser for US congressional candidate Kaela Berg, a solid supporter of sound immigration policy. (I was on a frigid walk because outside is the only place I’m allowed to smoke a cigar). To get even more derivative, here’s a podcast about that podcast. Rachel Maddow on Japanese Incarceration During WWII, Mass Deportation & Media Chaos, On with Kara Swisher (12.11.25, 57m).

• How ‘Turn and Burn’ Immigration Operations Unleash Chaos — and Sweep up U.S. Citizens, NY Times (12.20.25, 25m video). This is best watched rather than listened to. An painstaking and infuriating examination of two ICE raids in Los Angeles in June 2025 and how ICE, among other things, blew off the door of a guy’s house who had had the audacity to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and had run into an ICE vehicle that slammed on its brakes in front of him.

• Influence Campaigns Inside Evangelical Institutions, Parsing Immigration Law (12.11.25, 36m). Fascinating if troubling interview with Megan Basham, culture reporter for right-wing The Daily Wire and author of Shepherds for Sale: How evangelical leaders traded the truth for a leftist agenda. Declaiming leftist religious influence.

Artificial Intelligence and Immigration Practice

• Practical AI Tools for Immigration Law Firms w/ Kevin Andrews, Esq., Immigration Lawyers Toolbox (12.24.25, 36m). Video version here. John interviews an AI guru about using AI in immigration practice. This guy is so excited about AI that John had to cut him off to end the episode. Anthropic Claude and Perplexity were recommended. Suggestion – don’t put anything in a prompt that agitate your HR folks. He’s got AI prompting tips online. I’m going to give this one a second listen. The interview references Babel X, an AI tool used by CBP to scour immigrant social media. Here’s a 2023 VICE article about Babel X.

• While at a dinner party last night, our friend Steve Thal mentioned he finds VisaLawAI to be a useful tool for immigration practice. So I looked up this podcast to listen to: Immigration Law and the AI Revolution: Unveiling Insights with Greg Siskind, 8am Docketwise (3.20.25, 54m).

Amicus for the restivus

• The Forgotten Lawsuits Targeting Trump’s Worst Abuses, Amicus (12.20.25, 63m). Dahlia interviews Lee Gehlernt of the ACLU about the Alien Enemies Act and CECOT and related matters.

• One Amendment Explains It All, Amicus (12.13.25, 67m). Dahlia interviews the always brilliant Sherrilyn Ifill about the 14^th Amendment.

Shorts

• The Trump administration wants to build seven large-scale deportation hubs to speed up deportations, internal ICE documents show, Wash. Post (12.24.25, 7m). ICE documents reveal plan to hold 80,000 immigrants in warehouses. “We need to get better at treating this like a business,” ICE acting director Todd M. Lyons said. “Like Prime, but with human beings.” For Minnesotans, the article’s map shows Woodbury as a second-tier site.

• Mass deportations cause American workers to lose jobs, wages to go down, and our economy to slow, Congressional testimony (9.24.25, 3m). Deleterious economic effects of mass deportation in a nutshell.

• Inside ICE Detention: Stripped, Shackled, Starved, NY Times (11.17.25, 10m). Stories of three people in the U.S. legally being detained and mistreated. “I felt like I was kidnapped.” “My detention at the Butler County Jail was more traumatizing than my detention in Egypt” [where he was tortured]. “The younger [child] had nightmares.”

Kavanaugh Stops. In Episode 30, I highlighted a couple of podcasts about the Supreme Court greenlighting racial profiling in L.A., an approach replicated here in Minnesota. So scathing have been the critiques of Kavanaugh’s gratuitous concurrence in the nondecision that ICE and CBP stops have been dubbed “Kavanaugh stops.” Evidently Brett has been feeling the sting, so much so that he dropped a footnote this past week in an unrelated case, saying that federal officers “must not make interior immigration stops or arrests based on race or ethnicity.”

Year-End Horse Hockey from USCIS

Making America Safe Again: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services End-of-Year Review Demonstrates Impact of Rigorous Immigration Crackdown, USCIS (12.22.25, 10m – use the reading app on your browser). A few highlights:

• “USCIS announced the creation of a new vetting center on Dec. 5 to enhance screening and vetting of immigration applications, with a focus on identifying terrorists, criminal aliens, and other threats to public safety. The center will leverage advanced technologies and work closely with law enforcement and intelligence partners to strengthen national security and uphold the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.”

• USCIS End-of-Year Infographic. Take with a lump of salt.

Hold and Review of Pending USCIS Adjustment of Status Applications Filed by Aliens Under the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, USCIS Policy Memo (12.19.25, 5m).

Some Musical Inspiration!

Join ICE, Jesse Welles on Colbert (Aug. 2025, 3m). Rising folk singer.

Keywords: Birthright citizenship, Silver Blaze, Sherlock Holmes, dogs, Amanda Frost, Mass Detention, Woodbury, license plates, 14th amendment, illegal ICE action, self-deportation, Naturalization processing changes, Denaturalization, Diversity Visa Hold, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas, Artificial Intelligence, Alien Enemies Act, CECOT, El Salvador, Denaturalization, Jesse Welles, Kavanaugh stops, USCIS

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Lots of breaking bad news here in the Twin Cities. The tragic shooting of two members of the national guard in DC, allegedly by an Afghan asylee who had been a member of an out-of-control CIA unit, has provided license for more immigration crackdowns. President Trump immediately leapt - to where and who? Minnesota and Somalis. So we are bracing for a 100 person “strike force” targeting Somalis with removal orders and others. Who was it that said “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes?” Can someone say “Reichstag fire?”

Word is coming in from many local attorneys about the round up. Those targeted include many without final orders and no criminal backgrounds. Masked and armed agents in cars with blacked out windows and without warrants are arriving at houses demanding to be let in as “police.” Wisely instructed clients have not been opening doors – those that do have been detained. Reports also of Somalis at the airport calling loved ones, presumably before being transferred to other jurisdictions. Reports of Uber drivers being picked up at the airport when they arrive to pick up customers. At least one report of a US citizen being detained overnight after suffering shameful indignities. Rumors of out-of-town armored vehicles being brought in.

• Possible federal immigration operation raises questions, MPR News with Angela Davis (12.3.25, 48m). Minnesota Public Radio ran a great interview on Wednesday, sharing the history of Somalis in Minnesota (over 100,000, most US citizens). A pandemic fraud scandal with Somalis at the center of it has been one excuse for xenophobic attacks. In response to a caller, State Sen. Zaynab Mohamed (DFL-Minneapolis) aptly responded that when white people commit crimes, there’s no group blame assigned. AILA’s own Steve Thal provided excellent legal commentary and awful stories from clients. FYI, DFL stands for Democratic Farm Labor party

Shorts of Operation “Metro Surge.” I will not attempt to list all the media reports, but here are a few:

• ICE arrests 12 men in Minneapolis during targeted law enforcement operation, KSTP (12.4.25, 3m)

• South Minneapolis restaurant visited by ICE, KARE 11 (12.4.25, 2m). ICE attempted a warrantless search at Hola Arepa, a popular Venezuelan inspired restaurant. The owner and its staff had prepared themselves well and refused to allow the search.

• Trump disparages Somali immigrants for the second straight day, saying they’ve ‘destroyed our country,’ NBC News (12.4.25, 3m). Trump uses the word “garbage” four times in about five seconds in reference to “Somalians” and Rep. Ilhan Omar.

• Trump Calls Somalis ‘Garbage’ He Doesn’t Want in the Country, NY Times (12.2.25, 6m). “President Trump has a history of insulting people from African countries, but the outburst was shocking in its unapologetic bigotry. Vice President JD Vance banged the table in encouragement.”

• Minneapolis, St. Paul leaders condemn reports of immigration enforcement against Somali immigrants, Sahan Journal (12.2.25).

Minnesota through dark lenses

• Stephen Miller says Democrats want to turn America ‘into a version of Somalia’, Daily Caller (11.28.25, 3m).

• Border czar Tom Homan: ICE zeroing in on Minneapolis because of ‘criminal activity’, Just the News (12.4.25, 2m).

My podcast listening has been limited in recent days as we’ve been attending to some family business, but here are a few helpful listens, I hope.

• For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional, by Hanna Reichel (September 2025, 3h 30m, plus 42m discussion guide). I listened to the audiobook version of this on a long drive over the weekend. Compelling and accessible, Reichel draws upon her work as a historian and theologian to draw comparisons, shall we say rhymes, between such a time as this and the days of inter-war Germany. The chapters are brief, accessible, inspirational and practical. I was introduced to the book during the Sunday School hour a couple of months ago. Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer get lots of shout outs, as does the Confessing Church, the Protestant church movement in Nazi Germany that refused to be co-opted by the state. I will be leading a student and staff book group in January/February around this book.

  When I asked my retired big brother-in-law Ben the theologian if he was familiar with Reichel, he said he was not but did a bit a googling to discover she is the Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he once taught. Ben shared the interesting aside that the recently deceased and very influential German theologian Jürgen Moltmann had turned down the Hodge Professorship years ago because it didn’t pay enough. Moltmann influenced the liberation theology movement.

• Rest, Repair & Nervous System Regulation, The Trauma Informed Lawyer (11.26.25, 47m). Cranio-Spectral therapy sounds wonderful, especially when discussed by Canadians. If you need some soothing, listen to this.

• Constitutional Breakdown #4: Janet Napolitano, The 99% Invisible (11.26.25, 89m). Thank to Steve Yale-Loehr for sharing this. Janet Napolitano was President Obama’s DHS Secretary. Napolitano goes off on Trump, claims most of the credit for DACA, and throws shade on the attacks on boats off the coast of Venezuela.

Shorts:

• This Is the Kind of Bigotry We Rejected Decades Ago, NY Times (12.5.25, 7m). Our friend Professor Amanda Frost provides a history of racist and xenophobic impulses lived out in immigration law in the 19^th and 20^th centuries that are getting a reboot in the 21^st century.

• I’m an Immigration Lawyer. Trump Is Shattering My Clients’ Lives, NY Times (12.4.25, 7m). Our friend Professor Elora Mukherjee recounts how current events are terrorizing her clients through its policy of collective punishment. The opinion has links to many of the policy statements, some in the form of formal sounding USCIS memos and others by X, including one DHS X post that links to a Brietbart article. SMH. Very hard.

• Trump Administration Fires 8 Immigration Judges in New York, NY Times (12.1.25, 5m). “The firings, part of a nationwide effort, felt ‘like a Monday afternoon massacre,’ said one judge who lost her job last month.” That was Olivia Cassin, who I go to know 30 years when she was defending immigrants at Legal Aid in NY. Another colleague told me all of the fired judges were women.

Comedic Break

• Minnesota Vikings continue to get historically bad QB play from J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer, Before I Die - Minnesota Insider (12.2.25, 37m). Rather than listen to the game on our long drive home on Sunday, I instead viewed faculty candidate lectures I missed while I was away (I was not viewing while I was driving). Much better use of time. Hilariously awful interception of our undrafted rookie third string quarterback Max Brosmer. Here’s real video of that play. Here’s a surprisingly disturbing AI deep fake, with a faked Max Brosmer giving a post-game interview thanking JJ McCarthy for giving him tips on how to throw interceptions. Hey! Coach O’Connell! Run. The. Ball.

On my bike ride to work a couple of days ago, I evidently did not properly secure my pannier bag (I had to look up how to spell that word). Retraced my ride. No Luck. Goodbye laptop and wallet. Lunch. A book I was looking forward to: The Sovereign Citizen. Thank you cloud backup. If anyone sees a black bag by the side of the road between St. Paul and Minneapolis, let me know.

I just realized what must have happened. Those damn turkeys.

Keywords: Garbage, Somalia, Metro Surge, Ilhan Omar, detaining US citizens, Reichstag fire, fraud, Napolitano, Hanna Reichel, asylum restrictions, benefits restrictions, asylum freeze, Max Brosmer, Minnesota, Cranio-Spectral therapy, resistance reflections, Germany, Stephen Miller, Amanda Frost, Elora Mukherjee.

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Workplace Raid in St. Paul, Minnesota

ICE and company (HSI, FBI, and unidentified “police”) raided Bro-Tex, a light manufacturing firm in the heart of St. Paul, on November 18, arresting 14. As for “worst of the worst,” the worst HSI could do in the crimes department was past domestic abuse charges for one person and felony reentry for another. (César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández traces the racist history of making illegal reentry a crime in his great book from last year, Welcome the Wretched).

This was clearly a workplace focused on workers, not criminals. The above mural adorns the exterior wall of the firm, both a testament to immigrant flight and a target asking for scrutiny of those inside. In the parent’s satchel is a print of Frida’s Kahlo’s Viva la Vida and a copy of Shaun Tan’s graphic novel The Arrival, “a migrant story told as a series of wordless images.”

It was heartening to see an immediate response by the Immigrant Defense Network, with IDN spotters identifying both staging area and then mobilizing Constitutional Observers at the site. Multiracial, multigenerational.

Here’s some of the coverage:

• ICE raid: St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter reacts after protesters hurt, FOX9 (11.18.25, 5m)

• ICE raid at St. Paul business; protesters hurt ,FOX9 (11.18.25, 9m)

• Federal agents conduct operation in St. Paul, KARE11 (11.18.25, 3m)

• 14 arrested during St. Paul ICE operation, WCCO (11.20.25, 3m). Shows protesters being sprayed point blank with “chemical irritants”

• ICE says they arrested 14 for immigration violations at St. Paul warehouse, Pioneer Press (11.20.25)

Mayor Melvin Carter released a statement. Mayor-elect Kaohly Her also demanded answers.

Post raid vigil:

• KARE 11: Activists want answers after ICE raid on St. Paul business | kare11.com

• FOX 9: ICE raid in St. Paul: What we know so far | FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

• KSTP: Community demands answers after federal agents raid St. Paul business, injure protesters - KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News

• CBS: Community members demand answers after federal raid in St. Paul - CBS Minnesota

• Pioneer Press: Immigrant group: At least two detained in St. Paul business raid

There’s some other stuff, like long Facebook live videos and photos of people being arrested on the roof. Look for it, if you will.

More on Minnesota: Operation Housepainters?

• Video shows a Minnesota man being detained by ICE agents in Northfield, Minnesota, WCCO (11.12.25, 2m)

• Family demands answers after ICE breaks car window to arrest Northfield worker, Sahan Journal (11.13.25)

Banning Court House Arrests

• U.S. v. Hochul, NDNY (11.17.25, 41 pages, took me about 20 minutes on really, really fast Voice Dream). Thanks Linus for sharing. This decision upholds New York’s ban on courthouse arrests, reaching back into history to affirm the “very ancient privilege” of courts to control their domains. The court cites to an 1836 treatise: “As a general rule, every person who has any relation to a suit, whether his presence be compulsory or not, is exempt from arrest, eundo, morando, et redeundo [going, staying, and returning].” It could really confuse ICE agents and the press to chant “eundo, morando, et redeundo” at a courthouse..

• My suspicions that the spirit of Professor Chris Lasch, may he rest in peace, lives on were confirmed when I found a Yale Law Journal article he wrote in 2017 discussing that Latin phrase in “a leading English case from 1791.” I was with one of Chris’s brilliant mentees and my current boss, Rachel Moran(do), at Barrio in downtown Minneapolis this week, where we raised a glass to his memory. Chris and I got a wee bit crapulatus (that’s Latin) there many years ago.

Over my dead habeas corpus

• Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam, 5-4 (11.18.25). The 5-4 folks skewer this 2020 case, in which the Supreme Court held 7-2 that the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which limits habeas corpus judicial review of the decisions of immigration officers conducting (at least some) Expedited Removal reviews, does not violates the Suspension Clause of Art. 1, Sec. 9 of the U.S. Constitution. A head scratcher, as the Suspension Clause reads: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” No rebellion. No invasion. Just someone seeking asylum who got caught at the border.

Alien Enemies Act

• Speaking of invasion, Immigration is Not Invasion, SSRN (11.6.25, 102 pages). The libertarian energizer bunny of a scholar formally known as Ilya Somin takes on the invasion nonsense. On Voice Dream, at “listen-to-while-biking-speed,” this will take me two hours and forty-minutes. That’s three plus days of commuting. Or half a day sorting through wonderful memories in my father-in-law’s garage. Probably worth it.

Is anyone safe?

• Interview with US citizen arrested and held for three days, Pod Save America (11.7.25, 30m). Army veteran caught up in ICE raid. The Atlantic also covered the story. Thank you Jerrid Buhs for passing this along.

Coming Soon: Withdrawal from the Refugee Convention?

• Asylum Reform: Withdraw from the UN Treaty, or Not?, Parsing Immigration Law (11.13.25, 30m). Mark Krikorian of the Center for immigration Studies calls again to pull out of the refugee convention. He also proposes something he likes to call “Remain in Mongolia” – immediately deport new arrivals to Mongolia (or some other country we can buy off) without allowing them to apply for anything.

• His guest, Yonatan Jakubowicz, Director of the Israeli Immigration Policy Center, says that states should not withdraw from the Convention but that it should strictly interpret it like on the old days, like before the Refugee Act of 1980. Schtuff suggested on this podcast now worms its way into official policy like a boll weevils into cotton.

What are those crazy government recruiters from 1984 up to?

• The Department of Justice is calling for “deportation judges” (previously known as Immigration Judges) to step forward!

• USCIS is calling for “Homeland Defenders” (pka Immigration Officers). And check out the Center for Immigration Studies backdrop for the “I’m declaring war on fraud” clip by USCIS chief Joe Edlow. Reviewed here on episode #28 (Hey! That’s my first self-referential reference).

What are those Crazy Catholics up to?

• U.S. Bishops Issue a “Special Message” on Immigration from Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, USCCB (11.12.25, YouTube version, 5m). The moving statement is read by several bishops, condemning recent ICE actions in so many words while reaffirming the right to maintain borders. Archbishop Bernhard “Bernie” Hebda of Minneapolis & St. Paul makes an appearance at the 1:00 minute mark. (BTW, I don’t think anyone but me refers to him as Bernie). The anonymous vote in favor was 216 to 5, with 3 abstentions. That’s 98%.

• A Christian Answer to Trump and Trumpism Is Finally Here, NY Times (11.16.25, 11m)

• In Pulpits and Pews, Catholic Churches Urge Compassion for Immigrants, NY Times (11.16.25, 7m)

What are those crazy Protestants up to?

• At least seven faith leaders arrested at Broadview ICE facility protest, Religion News Service (11.17.25). Video here (priest plucked from the crowd) and here (7m). Chicago.

• Church and College Leaders Work to Free a Detained Afghan Student, NY Times (11.16.25, 10m). “When Ali Faqirzada was detained after a routine asylum hearing in New York, officials from Bard College and the Episcopal Diocese tapped their networks to help.”

Other Shorts:

• DHS arrests over 130 people in first two days of Charlotte raids, Washington Post (11.18.25, 3m)

• Charlotte Church Goers Flee Border Patrol Raid—’We Thought Church Was Safe’, Newsweek (11.16.25)

• New report exposes massive corruption in Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security, MSNBC (11.14.25, 7m). The Department of Homeland Security has spent over $200 million on advertising. A $143 million no-bid contract was granted to the company of the husband of DHS press secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, who denies any conflict of interest. “My marriage is one thing, and my work is another.”

• Mayor of tiny Kansas town could be deported over voter fraud charges, Washington Post (11.18.25, 9m). “When he turned 18, a teacher at his high school took him to the county courthouse to register for the draft and to vote.” Deport people, just not our people.

Keywords: St. Paul, Immigration Defense Network, Chris Lasch, Courtroom arrests, Thuraissigiam, Habeas Corpus, eundo, morando, et redeundo, habeas corpus, expedited removal, invasion, Alien Enemies Act, Charlotte, Refugee Convention, Mark Krikorian, Coldwater Kansas, voter fraud, Catholics, Pope Leo, David French, DHS corruption, Catholics, Protestants, Chicago, Deportation judges, Homeland Defenders, government recruitment, US citizens detained, Bernie Hebda.

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My friend and fellow immigration attorney Meghan Byrnes shared with me an inspiring (and mildly, wildly sarcastic anti-misogynistic sweetly sung) song by Taylor Swift, Actually Romantic. Immigration connection? Sort of. Gavin Newsom trolled Trump with it on Tik Tok. Thank you, Meghan - now my Apple music Virgil channel algorithm is pumping out more Taylor Swift and Beyonce than David Sanborn and Latvian Radio Big Band. (As for LRBB, Stevie R. and The Girl in the Tree are musts. SO good. Thank you, Margaret).

The Shurden Lectures

• A few weeks ago, I mentioned the Shurden lectures that were hosted here at St. Thomas. Criminalizing Mercy: Sanctuary and Government Repression of Migrant Justice, Respecting Religion (11.06.25, 43m). On October 22 at the University of St. Thomas, Prof. Sergio Gonzalez of Marquette University discussed the history of the Sanctuary Movement and its relevance for today. This podcast shares his lecture – if you want to see the lecture, as well as the Q & A, go to the YouTube recording here.

Employment Based Visas - Woo Hoo!

• The current state of EB-2 NIW (Nov 2025), The Maze (11.10.25, 31m). National Interest Waivers (NIWs). This is a geeky but very informative episode by slow (but clear) talking Bob Webber. Employment based visas are not my thing, but Bob breaks down the last ten years of NIW eligibility brilliantly. NIWs allow really special people (with advanced degrees or exceptional abilities) to get employment based green cards without having to get a job offer and labor certification because they are deemed to be in the “national interest.” And what does that mean? The definition has changed over time, we learn. From 1998 to 2016, a case called NYSDOT was the standard. Then came the Dhanasar case which made it harder to get an NIW.

  And then from January 2021 to January 2025, we had the “emerald age” (??) of EB2 NIW, by which I think Bob means golden era? The standard was loosened up, allowing for MANY more NIWs to be granted. By saying Pigs get Fat, Hogs get Slaughtered, Bob means that the standard got so loose and generous, there had to be a scaling back (Or should it be Pigs get Fed, Hogs get Slaughtered? because the whol idea is that the fed pig is NOT a fat pig . . .) The pushback began in the summer of 2024 and in January 2025, five days before Trump was back, a 22 page memo returned to the Dhanasar standard. Approval rates have dropped from 80% to 50%. Appeals are hard to win. People who have similar qualifications to those who got NIWs earlier will not now. Premium processing almost always leads to incoherent requests for evidence, often unrelated to the filed case, because the system is overwhelmed and USCIS doesn’t want to refund the premium processing fee.

• Perfect Storm: H-2A Visas, Government Shutdown, and the Fight to Feed America, Immigration Nerds (11.5.25, 32m). Fewer farm workers are available as many have self-deported. “The federal government shutdown froze H-2A visa processing right when farmers need to prepare for planting season. At the same time, major changes to how farm worker wages are calculated are making everything more complicated.”

Polling

• Americans Caught Between Trump’s Cruelty and Democrats’ Chaos, ThirdWay (10.27.25). Read it or listen on VoiceDream. Recent polling on immigration – fascinating and useful data. “The data are clear: to win back trust, Democrats must show—not just say—that they take border security and immigration enforcement seriously. That doesn’t mean mirroring Republican overreach; it means proving that enforcement can be strategic, accountable, and consistent with American values.”

In the “Death by a thousand cuts” department:

• Collection and Use of Biometrics by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS (11.3.25). Even VoiceDream will have trouble swallowing this 285-page document. Here’s just one lowlight, evidently spurred by fraud in the CHNV program:

  “Under proposed 8 CFR 264.2(d), this NPRM [Notice of Proposed Rulemaking] eliminates the upper and lower age limits for fingerprint collection and under proposed 8 CFR 103.16 the NPRM requires that biometrics be collected on any individual, including, but not limited to, applicants, petitioners, sponsors, supporters, derivatives, dependents, and beneficiaries, and may include U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, and lawful permanent residents, unless exempted. DHS, at this time, is not proposing biometrics submission by attorneys and accredited representatives. Further, DHS, at this time, is not proposing biometrics submission by interpreters who may be associated with the filing of a benefit request, other request, or collection of information.”

• Asilo en Estados Unidos: Lo que Debes Saber para Proteger tu Futuro con Vanessa Baez, El Podcast del Inmigración (11.6.25, 29m). Great summary in Spanish of the state of asylum.

Weekly Specials

• John’s Top 10 This Week for Immigration Lawyers, Immigration Lawyers Podcast (11.5.25, 17m). Shares what we have been experience with FOIA request – out of control redacting of client files. CBP replaces ICE Leadership. Crazy N600 cases where children who have been USCs for years are having their passports taken.

• Immigration Review (11.04.25, 37m). Third country removal; doctrine of consular nonreviewability; no constitutional right to live with parent or sibling; failure to consider country condition evidence; femicide; gender-based claims; INA § 237(a)(2)(E)(i) crime of child abuse, Loper Bright, Loaf of Bread.

Joy and Hope remain, especially in Canada:

• Remembering Refugees with Jenny Miedema, Far From Home (11.04.25, 38m). Jenny runs a private resettlement agency in Canada. There is a wistful and refreshing earnestness to her evangelical faith and the biblical imperative to serve refugees and immigrants – minus the associated nationalistic BS baggage often attached in the U.S. Phrases like “God is the author of the sponsorship” and “there is a lot of spiritual warfare I think around this” sound so much less odd coming from the mouth of a Canadian. Cites research that private resettlement in Canada is more successful than government resettlement because of the relationships built. Jenny’s favorite Bible verses?:

  “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrews 13:1-3.

Chicago

• Chicago Sanctuary Chaos: The Interview Brandon Johnson Doesn’t Want You to Hear, Federation for American Immigration Reform (late October 2025, 30m). Restrictionist group interviews black conservative activist about Chicago immigration raids. Interesting angle for noncitizen voting conspiracy and an articulation of the great replacement theory that sees blacks (as opposed to whites) being replaced by immigrants, blaming abortion, high Latino birthrates, and, of course, migration. Chicago Flips Red.

Minnesota – Where’s Waldo (aka the Illegal Immigrant Voter)?

Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee (10.14.25, 116m). This is the hearing that led to the Joe Rogan dust-up discussed in episode #34. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and his side-kick Elections Director Paul Linnell described and defended the Minnesota voting system in a hearing mostly focused on the prosecution and conviction of two people who, back in 2021-2022, were paid to get voters registered. Rather than bother with finding and registering real people, they made up names. Over 500 of them. The two people were convicted and the voter roles were cleaned up.

No fake people voted. And I don’t think any of the fake people were fake undocumented people trying to register to vote illegally. But a couple of legislators could not resist the urge to spell out how undocumented people with drivers licenses can (but so far as we can tell, have not) vote illegally. How? By claiming to be a US citizen. Which is a felony. Secretary Simon shared the story of how his non-citizen mother had a drivers license for years, and surprise, had not voted. I will continue my search for actual noncitizen registration and voting (undocumented or otherwise) in Minnesota, especially in the wake of Drivers Licenses for All and Automatic Voter Registration (the laws have built-in safeguards for both noncitizens and the system to stop noncitzens from being registered). Stay tuned . . . .

Other Stuff I found Interesting a couple of weeks ago:

• Ruby Ridge Standoff, American Scandal (July/August 2025). Five episodes tell the story of the far-right survivalist Randy Weaver and his family, who became the focus of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The fifth episode Ruby Ridge Standoff | God, Guns, and Government: The Movement Shaping Modern Politics (8.5.25, 40m) puts the standoff in historical and contemporary context of Christian nationalism, if you want to skip the story and go to the analysis.

• The United States celebrated Veterans Day on Tuesday. The remembrance has its roots on Armistice Day, a day set aside to mourn the devastating losses of the Great War, which came to a close on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 1918. One participant in that war as an Army chaplain named Harry Emerson Fosdick, who later founded the Riverside Church in NYC and became a leading proponent of the Social Gospel movement. During online sharing time at church, my friend Greg Renstrom shared about a sermon Fosdick gave on November 12, 1933 called The Unknown Soldier.

  “We can have this monstrous thing or we can have Christ, but we cannot have both. Oh my country, stay out of war! Cooperate with the nations in every movement that has any hope for peace; enter the World Court, support the League of Nations, contend undiscourageably for disarmament, but set your face steadfastly and forever against being drawn into another war. Oh church of Christ, stay out of war! Withdraw from every alliance that maintains or encourages it. It was not a pacifist, it was Field-Marshal Earl Haig who said, ‘It is the business of the churches to make my business impossible.’ And Oh my soul, stay out of war!”

• The unnamed host of the Fourth Way podcast does an admirable job of reading the whole sermon on Great Works: The Unknown Soldier by Harry Emerson Fosdick, The Fourth Way (5.24.24, 23m, starting at the 6m mark).

• Leveling Up: Moving Beyond Trauma-Informed Practice, The Trauma-Informed Lawyer (10.20.25, 60m). Attorneys and advocates need to take care of themselves and others.

Keywords: Polling, ThirdWay, Out of control FOIA; Third country removal; doctrine of consular nonreviewability; no constitutional right to live with parent or sibling; failure to consider country condition evidence; femicide; gender-based claims; INA § 237(a)(2)(E)(i) crime of child abuse, Loper Bright, Loaf of Bread, CHNV, biometrics, H2A farmworker visas, Ruby Ridge, Christian Nationalism, Randy Weaver, Asilo, Chicago Flips Red, Great replacement, noncitizen voting, National Interest Waivers, EB2 NIW, Pigs, Hogs, Steve Simon, Paul Linnell, Patti Anderson, Walter Hudson, pacifism, Armistice Day, Harry Emerson Fosdick, noncitizen voting, Minnesota.

Il Duce Speaks

Donald Trump on 60 minutes (taped 10.31.25, aired 11.02.25)

• The broadcast version (10.31.25, 29m)

• Full version

• Transcript

Norah O’Donnell: Immigration. You campaigned on immigration. You largely won the election on a promise to close the border—

President Trump: Did a great job, don’t you think?

Norah O’Donnell: —and you succeeded on that. Illegal crossings at the Southern border are at a 55-year low. More recently, Americans have been watching videos of ICE tackling a young mother, tear gas being used in a Chicago residential neighborhood, and the smashing of car windows. Have some of these raids gone too far?

President Trump: No. I think they haven’t gone far enough because we’ve been held back by the— by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama.

Norah O’Donnell: You’re OK with those tactics?

President Trump: Yeah, because you have to get the people out. You know, you have to look at the people. Many of them are murderers. Many of them are people that were thrown outta their countries because they were, you know, criminals.

Norah O’Donnell: Well, you promised in your campaign that you were going to deport the worst of the worst, violent criminals—

President Trump: And I know we’re doin’ that—

Norah O’Donnell: —rapists.

President Trump: Well, that’s what we’re doing—

Norah O’Donnell: But a lot of the people that your administration has arrested and deported aren’t violent criminals. Landscapers, nannies, construction workers—

President Trump: Oh, no, no, landscapers who are criminals—

He also goes on about the Insurrection Act and other stuff. Blah, blah, blah.

Accounts of Resistance

• The Volunteers Taking on ICE, What’s Next (10.30.25, 28m). Teachers and nurses in Los Angeles have been doing patrols and tracking ICE since June, doing trainings at car washes. Describes aggressive tactics. Greg Bovino, Chief Border Patrol agent for Southern California, has been leading the charge in L.A. and in Chicago. Border Patrol has been more aggressive than ICE, and ICE district directors are being pushed out and replaced with CBP. They’re after arrest numbers, not only “the worst of the worst.” Suggests that Bovino is worse than Tom Homan . . . .

• Inside America’s Immigration Crackdown - Terry Moran Reports from Chicago, Real Patriotism with Terry Moran (10.31.25, 31m). Real life impact of crackdown in Chicago. It’s a video. Neighborhood resistance. Jesuits take on ICE. Cardinal Cupich speaks.

• Federal Agent Pointed Gun at My Head: Illinois Lawmaker Hoan Huynh Denounces ICE Raids in Chicago, Democracy Now (10.29.25, 12m). What it says. Describes the SALUTE method of resistance observation:

S – Size/Strength. How many agents? How many vehicles?

A – Activity/Actions: What are you seeing? A raid at a workplace? A traffic stop? Are they using force?

L – Location/Direction: Address? Intersection? Nearby landmarks?

U – Uniform/Clothes: What are they wearing? Do they have masks?

T - Time and Date: What is the time and date of the sighting?

E – Equipment/Weapons: What equipment/weapons? Are they using them?

Left – Center - Right

• “Telling the Truth about Immigration”: A Conversation with Isabel Garcia. The Border Chronicle (10.31.25, “What we allow them to do on the border,” she warns, “is what they will do to you.” “In this conversation, filled with story-telling and biting analysis, Isabel tells listeners how she debated John McCain in the 1990s and schooled Bernie Sanders at the border during his first presidential run.” Righteous anger bubbleth over.

• Henry Cisneros, This Week in Immigration (). The 200^th and final episode of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s immigration podcast features an interview with Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, that I thought would be deadly dull. But it was a nice recounting of the failed Comprehensive Immigration Reform efforts over the past 25 years. In 2013, Cisneros claims there was a rough consensus: 1. “We need to protect the border because a sovereign nation has a right to borders”; 2. Regularize status of 10 million undocumented people; and 3. Path to citizenship (proven fealty, living in community, pay retribution fee). The BPC shutting down its immigration unit is yet another sign of the times that the center cannot hold.

• The Future of Borders and Nationhood, Parsing Immigration Policy (10.31.25, 38m). “Simon Hankinson, Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, discusses his new book, The Ten Woke Commandments You Must Not Obey. Two of the book’s chapters focus on immigration: ‘You Shall Have No Borders’ and ‘You Shall Have No Nation.’” Former State Department employee discusses visa fraud, open borders, H1bs, “free speech” that has consequences, birthright citizenship tourism.

Tasty Immigration Law and History Morsels

• Immigration Review (10.28.25, 41m). Kevin makes some wry cracks about wontons when discussing a helpful case on whether committing an act “wantonly” qualifies that crime as a “crime of violence” (it does not according to the 6^th circuit). Also, the BIA reinstates an older version of the Negusie case which said that committing an act of persecution under duress prevents one from getting asylum or withholding of deportation.

• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza (1984), 5-4 (10.21.25, 49m). Salty. Lots of F-bombs. The 5-4 squad eviscerate this landmark case that curtailed immigrant rights because, it said, immigration proceedings are civil and not criminal. 4^th amendment exclusionary rule. Also discusses the kangaroo court like nature of immigration courts at the 36m-43m mark. Perhaps a bit harsh, but substantively . . . .

• An Overview on Family-Based (FB) Immigration, The Maze (11.02.25, 24m, or 8m on 3x). The laconic and clear Bob Webber does it again, explaining the basics of family based immigration.

Dark Clouds for Naturalization

• Under Trump, Becoming a U.S. Citizen Becomes Harder, NY Times (11.01.25, 11m). What it says. Harder test, Neighborhood Vetting, Really Good Moral Character required, USCIS Chief Joe Edlow.

• Comments on Changes to the N-648, Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions to the English and Civics naturalization Exams. This is really getting down in the weeds, but the Trump Administration is once again working to make it more onerous for the disabled and others to get needed waivers to become U.S. citizens. Last week was the deadline for the public to submit comments to proposed changes to the form. I plan to run a few of the organizational comments through Voice Dream.

You’re not mad enough yet?

• The Trump Administration’s War on Venezuelan Migrants, Unsettled (10.22.25, 44m). Cristina, Alex (with his new hips) and Hiroshi (with guitar camp under his belt) talk with New Yorker writer Jonathan Blitzer about his piece “Enemies of the State: How the Trump Administration declared war on Venezuelan migrants in the U.S.” CECOT, Aurora, Colorado, Alien Enemies Act.

• Entrenched in Justice with Attorney Vanessa Frank, Intersections (10.29.25, 48m). “At Swap Meet Justice, Vanessa’s team provide immediate assistance with citizenship applications to the community. She has started the Mariposa initiative, which aims to train accredited representatives to expand access to immigration legal services.” Inspirational and realist.

Might we take a page from the Europeans?

• Safe return and dignified reintegration, The Migration Podcast (10.30.25, 54m). European context. “It takes three to five years to reintegrate, and 12 months of support is not sufficient.” And here we are talking about $1000 and a ticket. “In this episode, International Centre for Migration Policy Development’s Dries Lensen and Peter Neelen explain the complexities and sensitivities of return. They also touch on how ICMPD works with EU Member States and (partner) countries of origin, as well as return counsellors, and digitalisation tools. All of these to ensure the whole process of going back and reintegrating into society is safe, humane, dignified, transparent, effective, and sustainable for the returnees.” Discussion of the “Return and Reintegration Facility (RRF).

Looking forward to:

• The People Joining ICE, What’s Next (10.09.25, 29m).

• The People Suing ICE, What’s Next (10.10.25, 25m)

• He Wrote About Anti-Fascism—Then Fled the Country, What’s Next (10.16.25, 35m)

Key words: Greg Bovino, CBP taking over ICE, Tom Homan, aggressive tactics, family based immigration, ICE recruitment, Open Borders, Heritage Foundation, birthright citizenship, naturalization test. Neighborhood investigations, Neighborhood resistance, Jesuits, Cardinal Cupich, Chicago, N648, CECOT, Aurora Colorado, Alien Enemies Act, Jonathan Blitzer, INS v. Lopez Mendoza, 4^th amendment, Trump on 60 minutes, Isabel Garcia, Insurrection Act.

The mob of turkeys has grown to 16. Reincarnation?

Here’s a brief installment of podcasts/Youtubes to start your week.

Unpacking the Trump administration’s immigration raid in Chicago, Code Switch (10.25.25, 21m). Thanks, Romas, for the tip. Will cue this up for the ride in today.

Negaciones de USCIS por firmas cómo evitarlas y pelear tu caso con Eric Suarez y Xinia Bermudez, El Podcast de Inmigración (10.24.25, 43m). [Denials for Signatures: How to Avoid Them and Fight Your Case]. YouTube version. Reports of “thousands” of rejections based on signature. Seems to focus on U Victims of Crime visas, Violence Against Women Act, and Trafficking visas. There have been notices of intent to revoke, where cases have already been granted. Very troubling. Photocopied signatures, so long as it is of an original signature on an original form, have been accepted in the past – now there have been rejections. The regulation is 8 CFR § 103.2(a)(2) and more detail is given in the USCIS Policy manual. Maybe a bit down in the weeds for non-attorneys, but this is yet another disturbing trend. I also wonder if this may be related to the Vermont Service Center as the focus of much disdain amongst hardliners, which handles U

Minnesota - an ill wind . . .

• Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem, leaders highlight recent immigration enforcement in Minnesota, Fox9 (10.24.25). Includes news story, complete 24 minute press conference by Noem and 4 minute video response from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.\

• SHS Kristi Noem on Governor Walz, ‘I don’t know how he sleeps at night’, KARE11 (10.24.25)

• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem discusses ICE operations in Twin Cities on Friday, KSTP (10.24.25)

• Secretary of State: ‘It’s a felony to vote in Minnesota if you are not eligible’, KARE11 (10.20.25). My research on the virtual non-existence of noncitizen voting in Minnesota is cited, in response to Joe Rogan. Here’s a version on Instagram that my nephew found. I enjoyed the trolling in the comments and appreciated my defenders, one of whom referred to me as “an actual old white guy.”

• Paradox, Episode 1: The Beginning of the Minneapolis Police, Twin Cities PBS (10.22.25, 43m). From my colleague Yohuru Williams. On my watch/listen list.

Combat Trauma w/ Nadia Abu El-Haj, The Dig (2.25.23, 109m) and American Militarism w/ Nadia Abu El-Haj, The Dig (3.5.23, 82m). At a recent mutual support gathering for service providers run by my fantastic colleague Amy Smith, I mentioned a series of podcasts about the history of PTSD and the emergence of the notion of “moral injury.” Extended interviews with Professor Nadia Abu El-Haj.

Combat Trauma, PTSD, The Dig, Kristi Noem, Minnesota, Jacob Frey, Signatures, Revocations, noncitizen voting, Joe Rogan, Chicago.