January 20, 2026 — Timeline

Jan 20

ICE secretly deported eight shackled Palestinians from Phoenix to the occupied West Bank

On January 20, 2026, ICE flew eight Palestinian men - shackled at the wrists and ankles for the entire journey - out of a Phoenix deportation hub on a private jet bearing the emblem of Dezer Development, the company run by Trump donor Gil Dezer, with refueling stops in New Jersey, Ireland, and Bulgaria. The men landed at Ben Gurion Airport and were released by Israeli authorities at a military checkpoint near Ni'lin in the occupied West Bank, in an operation coordinated with Israel and approved by the Shin Bet. A joint +972 Magazine and Guardian investigation found the flight was one of at least two such secret removals in early 2026, carried out with little or no due process.

Jan 20

Office of Management and Budget ordered agencies to compile detailed federal-funding data on 14 Democratic-led states and D.C.

On January 20, 2026, the White House Office of Management and Budget, led by Director Russell Vought, directed nearly every federal agency to compile detailed spending data — grants, loans, contracts, subcontracts, and other awards — for 13 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., later expanded to include a 14th state. OMB's memo described the review as a "data-gathering exercise" that "does not involve withholding funds," framing NOTUS reported was written specifically to avoid conflicting with a federal judge's ruling days earlier that targeting Democratic states for funding cuts violated the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

Targeting critics with government power

Jan 20

ICE and DHS launched 'Operation Catch of the Day,' a Maine immigration surge aimed at the state's Somali community

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched "Operation Catch of the Day" in Maine on January 20, 2026, an enforcement surge explicitly aimed at the state's Somali immigrant community and centered on Lewiston and Portland. DHS said the operation targeted "the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens" but disclosed criminal histories for only 4 of the roughly 50 people arrested in the operation's first days, while ICE Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde said the agency had compiled a target list of 1,400 people statewide. Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline, and Portland Mayor Mark Dion publicly objected to the deployment.

Targeting marginalized communities

Jan 20

ICE detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, transferring them to a Texas family detention center

On January 20, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, in the driveway of their home in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, and transferred them to the Dilley family detention center in Texas. A federal judge ordered their release on January 31, 2026, finding the case stemmed from an "ill-conceived" pursuit of deportation quotas, and the family returned to Minnesota on February 1. Days later the Department of Homeland Security moved to end the family's pending asylum claims, which the family's attorneys said was an attempt to fast-track their removal and which DHS called standard procedure.

Jan 20

Brooklyn Park police chief revealed ICE agents drew guns on an off-duty officer and knocked her phone from her hand

Brooklyn Park (Minn.) Police Chief Mark Bruley said at a January 20, 2026 news conference that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled over one of his off-duty officers, boxed in her car, demanded her paperwork despite her being a U.S. citizen, and had their guns drawn; when she tried to record the stop, an agent knocked the phone from her hand. Bruley and other Minnesota police leaders alleged that officers and residents have been stopped by federal agents "solely because of the color of their skin," while DHS said it could find no record of the stop and could not verify the claim without a name.