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Timeline

Every entry in the archive, ordered by event date. Page 25 of 42, showing January 3, 2026 to January 14, 2026. Pages contain 50 entries each; entries for a given date may continue on the next or previous page.

2026 Events (1,252)

January(130)

DHS Secretary Noem terminated Temporary Protected Status for Somalia, stripping deportation protection from about 2,500 Somalis

On January 14, 2026, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Somalia, effective March 17, 2026, stating that "country conditions in Somalia have improved" and that continued protection was "contrary to our national interests." The termination affects approximately 2,500 Somali nationals — 1,082 people enrolled in TPS as of December 8, 2025, plus 1,383 pending applicants — making them eligible for deportation. The announcement came amid an ongoing ICE enforcement surge in Minneapolis, home to the nation's largest Somali-American community, and after President Trump had made repeated derogatory public statements about Somali immigrants.

Federal agents deployed tear gas under a Minneapolis family's vehicle, trapping six children inside

On January 14, 2026, federal agents responding to protests against Operation Metro Surge deployed tear gas that rolled under a family's SUV in north Minneapolis, trapping Destiny and Shawn Jackson and their six children — ages six months to eleven — inside as the vehicle's auto-locking doors initially prevented escape. Once extracted, Destiny Jackson performed CPR on the couple's six-month-old, who had stopped breathing; the infant was revived, and the family was hospitalized and decontaminated. DHS initially posted, then deleted, a statement blaming the family for bringing children to a "violent riot," before an agency spokesperson said the family had not intentionally been at the protest and were not the target of the agents' actions.

CBS News report revealed DOJ immigration court locked out independent observers at Minneapolis's Whipple building

CBS News Minnesota reported on January 14, 2026 that immigration court officials at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis had locked courtroom doors, denied or severely restricted independent observers' access, and stripped names and complete case numbers from case records — a pattern the advocacy group The Advocates for Human Rights said has continued since early 2025. DOJ's own published policy states immigration courts are open to the public except when a judge grants a motion to close a hearing or limit attendance; no such motion or other government justification for the restrictions was reported.

FBI searched Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's Alexandria, Virginia home, seized her devices in Pentagon leak probe

On January 14, 2026, FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Alexandria, Virginia home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson and seized her phone, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive, and a Garmin watch, as part of a Pentagon-referred Justice Department leak investigation into a government contractor accused of taking home classified reports. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the search was conducted at the Defense Department's request; Natanson and the Post were not targets of the underlying probe, but the seizure cut off her access to more than 1,000 confidential sources and her ongoing reporting on the administration's downsizing of the federal workforce.

Slotkin revealed Pirro's office sought interviews with Democratic lawmakers over anti-illegal-orders video

Sen. Elissa Slotkin revealed on January 14, 2026 that Jeanine Pirro, the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, had asked to interview her the previous week about a November 2025 video in which she and five other Democratic members of Congress reminded U.S. troops of their duty to refuse illegal orders. Reps. Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, and Chrissy Houlahan confirmed to reporters that they received similar interview requests from Pirro's office. The requests followed a November 2025 FBI counterterrorism interview request over the same video and preceded a February 2026 attempt by Pirro's office to indict the same six lawmakers before a grand jury.

Education Department opened 18 Title IX investigations into schools and colleges across 10 states over transgender-athlete policies

On January 14, 2026 — the day after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on state laws barring transgender athletes from women's sports — the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened Title IX investigations into 18 K-12 school districts, colleges, and one state education department across ten states: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington. The investigations targeted policies letting students compete in school sports according to their gender identity rather than sex. Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said OCR was "aggressively pursuing" the entities and would "leave no stone unturned."

ICE detained U.S. citizen Nasra Ahmed for two days in St. Paul; agent allegedly shoved her and used a racial slur

On January 14, 2026, ICE agents in St. Paul, Minnesota detained Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen with no criminal record, while pursuing two men she did not know; Ahmed said agents shoved her to the ground and one used a racial slur before she was held two days at Sherburne County jail and released without charges. She described the detention publicly at a Minnesota State Capitol press briefing on January 21, and a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded the same day by alleging, without evidence, that she had assaulted federal agents. Federal prosecutors subsequently charged Ahmed over the same encounter, and in June 2026 a federal judge dismissed the case with prejudice, finding the government had violated a court order and undermined the presumption of innocence.

Hennepin County charges ICE agent in January Minneapolis shooting of Venezuelan immigrant

On May 18, 2026, Hennepin County prosecutors charged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the January 14, 2026 shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis through the front door of a home in north Minneapolis. County Attorney Mary Moriarty said security-camera and physical evidence show Castro was never under threat — he was not struck by a shovel, broom, or other object — and then filed a false account of the encounter. The U.S. Department of Justice had previously dropped the federal assault charges that the Department of Homeland Security brought against Sosa-Celis and his cousin Alfredo Aljorna in February 2026 after the same footage contradicted the ICE agents' sworn statements; ICE placed two agents on administrative leave at that time.

ICE detained Circle Pines, Minnesota restaurant worker at work, flew him to Texas detention within about 12 hours

On January 13, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a worker at Pancho's Taqueria and Mexican Cafe in Circle Pines, Minnesota, during the federal Operation Metro Surge immigration-enforcement deployment to the Twin Cities. The worker -- identified by restaurant owners only as "Kevin" to protect his safety -- was taken to a federal building in Minneapolis and flown to an ICE detention facility in El Paso, Texas roughly 12 hours later, before his family or an attorney located him. Restaurant owner Frank Chase said Kevin held valid work authorization; ICE and CBP did not respond to reporters' requests for comment on the detention.

Federal agents dragged U.S. citizen Aliya Rahman from her car and detained her without charge in Minneapolis

On January 13, 2026, masked federal agents smashed the window of U.S. citizen Aliya Rahman's car, cut her seatbelt, and dragged her out at a Minneapolis intersection while she was driving to an appointment at the city's Traumatic Brain Injury Center. Rahman, who is autistic and has a prior brain injury, told agents she was disabled; she was taken to the Whipple detention facility, denied medical care until she lost consciousness, and was never charged with a crime. The Department of Homeland Security called her an "agitator" who ignored commands to move her vehicle, one of seven people arrested at the scene during Operation Metro Surge.

CNN report reveals Pentagon directed dozens of active-duty military lawyers to prosecute civilians in Minneapolis

On January 13, 2026, CNN reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had directed the military services to identify 40 judge advocate general officers, from which 25 would be selected to serve as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys prosecuting civilians in Minneapolis amid an immigration-enforcement crackdown. The detailing of active-duty uniformed lawyers to Justice Department prosecutions followed similar moves in Washington, D.C., and Memphis, and drew challenges under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which restricts the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. Former JAG officers argued the practice assigned uniformed military attorneys to prosecute ordinary civilian crimes unrelated to the armed forces.

Justice Department was investigating Renee Good's widow while declining to investigate the ICE agent who killed her

By January 13, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice was pursuing a criminal investigation into Becca Good, the widow of Renee Good — fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross during Operation Metro Surge — for allegedly impeding a federal officer, while Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said there was "currently no basis" for a civil-rights investigation into Ross. The dual decision, which drew on a statute from Attorney General Pam Bondi's December domestic-terrorism memo, prompted at least a dozen career federal prosecutors to resign across the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's office and the DOJ Civil Rights Division's criminal section. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said "the only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her."

Burgum established U.S. Wildland Fire Service by secretarial order, overriding Congress's refusal to fund it

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed Secretary's Order 3448 on January 12, 2026, formally establishing the U.S. Wildland Fire Service by consolidating wildfire management programs from four Interior Department agencies without congressional authorization. Congress had explicitly declined to fund the agency, zeroing out the administration's $6.5 billion request and directing that FY2026 Interior appropriations continue under the longstanding practice of separate agency programs. The new agency also mandated a full suppression wildfire policy requiring all fires under its management to be extinguished as quickly as possible, reviving a decades-old approach that wildfire scientists say worsens long-term fire risk.

ICE agents arrested and held Willmar teenager Suban Noor incommunicado for four days during Operation PARRIS sweep

On January 12, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 19-year-old Suban Noor, a Willmar Senior High School student and Walmart employee, on a downtown Willmar street as she stopped to pick up food for her family. An eyewitness described agents cornering her car, handcuffing her, and pulling her barefoot into an ICE vehicle while she cried out; her family had no contact with her and did not know where she was held until ICE's own detainee locator showed her release on January 16.

ICE arrested NYC Council employee Rafael Rubio at a routine asylum interview and detained him 158 days despite his valid TPS

On January 12, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Rafael Rubio, a Venezuelan data analyst employed by the New York City Council, when he appeared for a routine asylum interview at a USCIS office in Bethpage, New York, despite his holding Temporary Protected Status valid through October 2026. He was held at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey for 158 days, and the Department of Homeland Security branded him a "criminal illegal alien" in a January 13 press release. City Council Speaker Julie Menin disputed the government's account and called the detention wrongful.

New Mexico In Depth investigation revealed ICE detained U-visa applicant Damián Soto for months; Soto says an officer pressured him to self-deport

A January 12, 2026 New Mexico In Depth investigation revealed that ICE arrested Damian Soto, a 31-year-old San Bernardino, California man with a pending, preliminarily-approved U visa, at his home in June 2025 and detained him for months, transferring him through Los Angeles and El Paso facilities to CoreCivic's Cibola County Correctional Center in Grants, New Mexico, where, according to Soto, a detention officer urged him to sign voluntary-departure paperwork. Soto's family found the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, which filed a federal habeas corpus petition the government did not oppose; Soto was released without bail or an ankle monitor, though his immigration court case continues.

ICE deported 5-year-old U.S. citizen Génesis Gutiérrez Castellanos to Honduras without a hearing or access to counsel

On January 11, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported five-year-old Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos -- a U.S. citizen born in Austin, Texas -- to Honduras alongside her mother, Karen Guadalupe Gutiérrez Castellanos, who was removed under a 2019 administrative deportation order issued before Génesis was born. ICE took the pair into custody in Austin on January 5 after local police, responding to a domestic-disturbance call, found an active ICE warrant against Gutiérrez and notified the agency, then held them nearly a week in a San Antonio-area hotel without a hearing or access to a lawyer before deporting them.

St. Lucia signed non-binding third-country deportee MOU, faced disclosure-timing backlash

St. Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced during a New Year's address on January 11, 2026 that his Cabinet had approved a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the United States on third-country deportees. Pierre faced domestic criticism for the timing of the disclosure, with commentators noting the deal appeared to have been finalized weeks before he announced it, and the agreement's text has never been publicly released.

ICE pepper-sprayed and detained two citizen legal observers in Minneapolis; one says HSI tried to recruit him as an informant

On the night of January 11-12, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in south Minneapolis pepper-sprayed the vehicle of two U.S. citizens conducting legal-observer work, Brandon Siguenza and Patricia O'Keefe, then smashed its windows and pulled them out despite their hands being raised -- an incident independently corroborated by neighbor-recorded video, according to a Snopes investigation -- arresting them for an "obstruction" charge that was never formally filed. The pair were held roughly eight hours at the Whipple Federal Building, where Siguenza says a Homeland Security Investigations agent offered him money and help bringing relatives into the country in exchange for the names of protest organizers and undocumented neighbors, which he refused; DHS disputed the account, calling any claim it offered money for information "FALSE" and alleging Siguenza and O'Keefe had themselves committed a felony by "stalking and obstructing ICE law enforcement." Upon release, agents directed Siguenza into a nearby area where tear gas was deployed and he was struck by a projectile.

Border Patrol agents choked and dragged Honduran cook from car, knocked him unconscious during St. Paul gas station arrest

On January 11, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents smashed the car window of Orbin Mauricio Henriquez Serrano, a Honduran restaurant cook, at a Speedway gas station in St. Paul, Minnesota, then dragged him from the vehicle, choked him, and knelt on his back while handcuffing him until he lost consciousness. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, who was directing enforcement activity in the area, watched the arrest. Henriquez Serrano was detained, denied medical care and a lawyer for days, and deported to Honduras before he could meet with the attorney his family had retained.

ICE agents battered down Minneapolis man's front door and arrested him without a warrant; judge ruled the raid unconstitutional

On January 11, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used a battering ram to break down the front door of Garrison Gibson's home in north Minneapolis and arrested him without a judicial warrant and without his consent, while his wife, 9-year-old daughter, and her cousin were inside. Gibson, a Liberian national who had been complying with routine ICE check-ins, was held in custody until U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan ruled on January 15, 2026 that agents had "forcibly entered Garrison G.'s home without his consent and without a judicial warrant," violating the Fourth Amendment, and ordered his immediate release.

DOJ opened criminal probe of Federal Reserve Chair Powell with no evidence, using renovation costs as pretext for Trump's rate-policy feud

Around January 11, 2026, the Justice Department served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, opening a criminal investigation of Chair Jerome Powell focused on $2.5 billion in headquarters renovation cost overruns — a probe that followed months of Trump publicly attacking Powell for refusing to lower interest rates faster. At a March 3 court hearing, the lead prosecutor told U.S. District Judge James Boasberg "we do not know at this time" what evidence of fraud or criminal misconduct existed; the judge quashed the subpoenas on March 13, finding the government had produced "essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime" and calling the investigation's justifications "pretextual."

U.S. Border Patrol detained Spokane asylum-seeker and his 10-year-old daughter, held them a month at Texas facility

U.S. Border Patrol agents detained Guatemalan asylum-seeker Arnoldo Tiul Caal and his 10-year-old daughter Karla Tiul Baltazar in Spokane, Washington, on January 10, 2026, a day after first stopping and questioning him, despite his ongoing asylum case and clean record. The pair, who had lived in Spokane since 2019, were held roughly a month at the Dilley, Texas immigration processing center -- where Karla ran a fever and vomited -- before the Department of Homeland Security released them on February 6 without contesting a due-process habeas petition alleging DHS had violated its own regulations.

ICE detained Parady La, who died in Philadelphia federal custody after staff gave Narcan for his known drug withdrawal

On January 9, 2026, Parady La, a 46-year-old Cambodian American Upper Darby, Pennsylvania resident, died at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him and held him at the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Federal Detention Center Philadelphia. ICE said La was being treated for drug withdrawal when he was found unresponsive in his cell and given several doses of Narcan before being hospitalized; his family and the ACLU of Pennsylvania have questioned why an opioid-overdose antidote, not standard withdrawal care, was administered. The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request on February 5, 2026 seeking his detention, medical, and video records.

DHS launched Operation PARRIS, and ICE detained up to 150 Minnesota refugees without due process

On January 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched "Operation PARRIS," directing USCIS to reexamine the immigration status of 5,600 Minnesota refugees who have not yet received green cards, as part of the administration's broader Minnesota fraud investigation. In the weeks that followed, ICE agents in plain clothes and masks arrived at refugees' homes and workplaces across Minnesota with drawn weapons, told families it was "just paperwork," and detained roughly 100 to 150 people, transporting most within about 24 hours to the Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling and then to detention facilities in Texas without access to an attorney or a stated legal basis for their detention.

DHS agents blinded two protesters with crowd-control projectiles at a Santa Ana immigration protest

On the evening of January 9, 2026, federal Department of Homeland Security officers in riot gear fired crowd-control projectiles into a crowd of demonstrators outside a federal immigration building in Santa Ana, California, at a protest held in response to the ICE killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. The projectiles blinded two protesters, 21-year-old Kaden Rummler and 31-year-old Britain Rodriguez, each in one eye; Rummler required six hours of surgery and was left with skull fractures and metal fragments near his carotid artery. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin characterized the demonstrators as "violent rioters" who threw "rocks, bottles and fireworks," a claim video evidence did not support, and did not address either man's injuries or identify the type of projectile fired.

USDA suspended $129 million in Minnesota, Minneapolis award payments over fraud allegations

On January 9, 2026, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the suspension of more than $129 million in active and future federal award payments to Minnesota and Minneapolis, covering nonprofit funding tied to the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, the state's Housing Stabilization Services program, and daycare-center operating funds. In a letter to Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Rollins wrote that their "Administrations refuse to provide basic information or take common sense measures to stop fraud" and made continued and future payments contingent on the state supplying spending justification within 30 days. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison responded on the record: "I will not allow you to take from Minnesotans in need. I'll see you in court."

Pentagon AI chief Emil Michael sold his xAI stake for up to $25 million days after a major Pentagon-xAI deal

Emil Michael, the Pentagon's Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, sold his stake in Elon Musk's xAI on January 9, 2026, held through an entity called KQ Partners, for between $5 million and $25 million -- a gain of 400% to 4,800% on a position he had disclosed at $500,000 to $1 million the year before, according to Office of Government Ethics filings. Michael had initially disclosed the xAI investment in March 2025, before joining the Pentagon; the OGE issued him a divestiture certificate on December 18, 2025 recognizing a conflict of interest, and the Pentagon announced a major agreement with xAI just days before his sale became official. The Department of War said Michael and other defense officials "are in full compliance with ethics laws and regulations," citing its "rigorous, multi-layered ethics framework." The sale was first reported in April 2026 and was among three Michael stock sales the Guardian detailed further in a September 2026 investigation.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent kneed a man in the face repeatedly while other agents held him down during a Minneapolis arrest

On January 9, 2026, a U.S. Border Patrol agent driving the wrong way on a south Minneapolis street struck an oncoming car, then pulled the driver out and, with other agents holding him facedown, kneed him in the face at least five times as bystanders filmed and objected. DHS said the man is a "criminal alien from Ecuador," while a fundraiser organized on his behalf described him as a U.S. resident who had been observing ICE activity; he was later hospitalized for breathing difficulty before being taken into federal custody.

DHS fired career IT employee Brandon Wright over private political remarks caught in a covert dating-app sting

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security fired Brandon Wright, an eight-year career IT employee, on January 8, 2026, over private remarks criticizing incoming DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that political provocateur James O'Keefe secretly recorded during a date and published as part of his "Dating the Deep State" video series. DHS's own termination decision said continued employment would signal to the workforce that undermining the Secretary's agenda was permissible; Wright is suing DHS in federal court alleging First Amendment and due-process violations.

USCIS canceled naturalization interviews and oath ceremonies nationwide, including for applicants outside its travel-ban list

The Seattle Times reported on January 8, 2026, that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had, since early December 2025, canceled naturalization interviews and oath ceremonies for lawful permanent residents nationwide, including many applicants from countries outside the Trump administration's travel-ban list. At one Seattle nonprofit, 55 clients had appointments canceled as of early January 2026 -- 49 of them nationals of non-travel-ban countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Ecuador, Mexico and Samoa -- and received only a form notice citing "unforeseen circumstances." USCIS attributed the cancellations to a "commonsense approach to balancing out workloads," without naming a legal basis, individualized reason, or rescheduling timeline.

ICE agents beat Mexican national in St. Paul, fracturing his skull in 8 places, then unlawfully detained him

On January 8, 2026, ICE agents pulled Alberto Castañeda Mondragón, a 31-year-old Mexican citizen, from a vehicle in a St. Paul, Minnesota shopping center parking lot, threw him to the ground, and repeatedly struck him in the head with a steel baton, per his own account and hospital records; he was hospitalized with brain hemorrhaging and eight skull fractures, injuries a treating doctor said were inconsistent with ICE's account that he fell and hit a concrete wall while trying to escape. A federal judge ruled on January 23, 2026 that Castañeda Mondragón's detention was unlawful because ICE had not obtained a warrant until after his arrest, and ordered his immediate release, but the government had not confirmed his release five days later, prompting the court to threaten an order to show cause.

U.S. Border Patrol agents shot and wounded two Venezuelan nationals during Portland vehicle stop

On January 8, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents shot and wounded Luis David Nino-Moncada, 33, and Yorlenys Zambrano-Contreras, 32, two Venezuelan nationals, during a vehicle stop outside a medical clinic in Southeast Portland, Oregon. The Department of Homeland Security said the driver "weaponized" his vehicle and an agent fired "a defensive shot"; none of the six Border Patrol agents present wore body cameras and no video was immediately available. Federal prosecutors charged Nino-Moncada with assaulting an officer and damaging federal property and charged Zambrano-Contreras separately with illegal entry, while defense counsel called DHS's accompanying gang-affiliation claim unsupported.

FMCSA withheld $160 million in highway funds from California over delayed revocation of 17,000 commercial licenses

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced on January 7, 2026 that it was withholding $160 million in federal highway funds from California after the state delayed, until March, the revocation of roughly 17,000 commercial driver's licenses a federal audit found were unlawfully issued to non-domiciled and visa-expired holders. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy tied the penalty to Governor Gavin Newsom "putting the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of the American people," while FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said the agency would not accept a plan leaving noncompliant drivers behind the wheel of commercial trucks. California's DMV disputed that the withholding served public safety, saying it had cooperated with FMCSA on the review.

ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shoots U.S. citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis

On January 7, 2026, ICE deportation officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, on a south Minneapolis street during Operation Metro Surge after she stopped to object to the federal presence. Multiple bystander and bodyworn videos, and a New York Times multi-angle analysis, show her SUV turning away as Ross fired three shots. The administration branded Good a "domestic terrorist" and called the killing self-defense, while local officials said the footage contradicted that account; federal authorities later declined to investigate.

ICE and Orange County Jail unlawfully detained Venezuelan student without charges for 18 days

On January 7, 2026, Florida authorities arrested Javier Gimenez Rivero, a Venezuelan high school student in Orlando with a pending asylum claim and valid federal work authorization, and Orange County Jail held him for 18 days with no criminal charges, warrant, or hearing under an ICE immigration hold. Orange County Corrections confirmed it extended his detention past the jail's own 48-hour limit by "rebooking" him and other ICE-hold detainees under new booking numbers each time the clock lapsed. U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. found the hold carried no independent lawful authority and ordered Rivero's immediate release.

ICE detained 10-year-old Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano and her mother on the way to school and held them a month at Dilley, Texas

On January 6, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents surrounded a family car at a Columbia Heights, Minnesota bus stop and detained 10-year-old fourth-grader Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano and her mother, Rosa Elena Caisaguano Cajilema, flying both to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas the same day. The girl telephoned her father during the arrest to say agents would drop her at school; he waited outside Highland Elementary for hours, and the Department of Homeland Security later said officers detained the child because her mother "failed to find a trusted adult to care for" her. School officials and the family's attorney said the father was available at the school and that the family's timely asylum appeal was still pending, leaving no final order of removal.

HHS froze $10 billion in child-care funding naming only five Democratic-led states

On January 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services froze roughly $10 billion in Child Care and Development Fund, TANF, and Social Services Block Grant money to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York, citing unspecified fraud concerns and demanding the states turn over extensive records within two weeks. HHS provided no evidence for the fraud claim, and a department spokesperson said the freeze responded to "Democrat-led states and Governors" having been "complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud" — language the five states' attorneys general cited in a lawsuit alleging the freeze was politically motivated. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian granted the states a temporary restraining order on January 9, 2026, blocking the freeze while the case proceeds.

DOJ sued Arizona and Connecticut to compel release of unredacted, sensitive voter roll data

On January 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division sued Arizona and Connecticut in federal court, seeking to compel both states to produce their complete, unredacted voter registration lists, including voters' full birthdates and full or partial Social Security and driver's-license numbers. The suits brought DOJ's nationwide campaign to 23 states and the District of Columbia; Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had already rejected three DOJ requests for the data and told a department attorney to "pound sand." Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the lawsuits were needed to enforce federal election-integrity law.

Trump White House published website recasting Jan. 6 Capitol riot as 'peaceful march,' blamed Capitol Police for violence

On January 6, 2026 — the fifth anniversary of the Capitol attack — the Trump White House published an official webpage at whitehouse.gov/j6/ describing the 2021 riot as a "peaceful march" and asserting that U.S. Capitol Police "aggressively" deployed tear gas, flash-bangs, and rubber munitions and inexplicably opened doors and removed barricades that "facilitated entry." White House Communications Director Steven Cheung promoted the page on social media, including a post calling it the "REAL Jan. 6 story." Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Thom Tillis publicly disputed the characterization, with Collins — who was on the Capitol floor that day — saying she found the Capitol Police "heroic."

Deputy Defense Secretary Feinberg amended his ethics agreement to keep receiving Cerberus services indefinitely

On January 6, 2026, Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg signed a letter amending his February 2025 ethics agreement to extend, indefinitely, his arrangement to keep receiving tax, accounting, and health-care services from Cerberus Capital Management, the private-equity firm he founded and led until his 2025 appointment; DOD's ethics office transmitted the amendment to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics the next day, finding him still in compliance. The amendment went unnoticed publicly until ProPublica's March 8, 2026 disclosure-records investigation revealed it and connected it to the Pentagon's Golden Dome missile-defense program, which Feinberg oversees and which has awarded contracts to at least four Cerberus-owned companies.

Police fired 27 shots at unarmed Navy veteran John Jenuwine; he bled out while officers watched

Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies, pursuing an erratic white van, conducted two PIT maneuvers and fired 27 shots at an unarmed driver who did not match the dispatch description. John Andrew Jenuwine, 34, died of blood loss. Officers violated department policy by using deadly force without verbal engagement; the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Two deputies received 2024 commendations despite the killing.

U.S. District Court dismissed DeSoto Parish's 1967 school desegregation order at DOJ, Louisiana AG's request, without a desegregation finding

On January 5, 2026, U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. granted a joint motion by the U.S. Department of Justice and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill's office to dismiss a 1967 federal desegregation order governing the roughly 5,000-student DeSoto Parish School Board in northwest Louisiana. It was the second Louisiana desegregation decree the Trump administration and Murrill's office have had dismissed through "joint stipulated dismissals" that require no finding that a district actually ended segregation, following an earlier dismissal of a 1966 Plaquemines Parish order. Murrill said the ruling gives DeSoto Parish "its school system back"; no independent finding that segregation had been eliminated in the district was reported.

Hegseth censured Sen. Mark Kelly and moved to cut his military retirement pay over 'illegal orders' video

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a formal censure letter against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a retired Navy captain, on January 5, 2026, accusing him of "seditious statements" and initiating administrative proceedings to reduce Kelly's military retirement rank and pension. The action punished Kelly for a November 2025 video in which he and five other Democratic lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds reminded U.S. servicemembers they may lawfully refuse illegal orders. Kelly sued Hegseth, the Pentagon, the Navy, and Navy Secretary John Phelan on January 12, 2026, arguing the censure and rank-reduction proceedings violate his First Amendment rights and the Constitution's Speech and Debate Clause.

ICE agents arrested handcuffed Hempstead, NY man whose head struck brick wall during arrest; agency and officials dispute cause

On January 5, 2026, ICE agents arrested Isai Santos Caceres, 35, outside a supermarket in Hempstead, New York, and bystander video shows his head striking a brick wall while he was handcuffed. ICE said Caceres fled, resisted arrest, and "fell into the side of the building," while Nassau County Legislator Viviana Russel and the civic group Islip Forward said the footage shows agents using his head as a "battering ram" against the wall. Islip Forward said Caceres was later transferred to ICE detention in Maryland.

ICE agents forcibly detained man who says he is a naturalized U.S. citizen in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, leaving him hospitalized

On January 5, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped Emmanuel Sackie, who says he is a Liberian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, in a Family Dollar parking lot in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, after questioning his fiancee about a vehicle agents believed was registered to someone else. When Sackie's driver's license did not satisfy agents' demand for further proof of citizenship, the encounter turned into a physical struggle captured on video; agents handcuffed him and took him to an undisclosed location before he was hospitalized with bruising. ICE had not responded to a request for comment as of publication.

Echols County, Georgia sheriff's office secretary arrested, charged with stalking after misusing Flock database to track two people she knew

Anna Altobello, 33, a secretary at the Echols County, Georgia Sheriff's Office, was arrested Monday, January 5, 2026 and booked into the Lowndes County Jail after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe found she had repeatedly searched the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system for two people she knew personally, outside any law-enforcement purpose. Sheriff Randy Courson had requested the GBI investigation on December 18, 2025, after receiving information about the misuse. Altobello was charged with eight counts of misuse of license plate data, stalking, stalking-family violence, and violation of oath of office, with additional charges expected as the investigation continues.

Cuban ICE detainee dies under restraint at Camp East Montana; death ruled a homicide

On January 3, 2026, Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban man, died at ICE's Camp East Montana detention camp on the Army's Fort Bliss base in El Paso, Texas. The El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, finding the cause to be asphyxia due to neck and torso compression while he was being physically restrained by law enforcement. ICE first said he died after "experiencing medical distress," then attributed the death to a suicide attempt and an ensuing struggle with staff; it was the third detainee death at the facility, and no one has been charged.

Trump ordered military raid to capture Venezuela's Maduro in Caracas without congressional authorization or advance notice

President Trump ordered a U.S. military and CIA raid, "Operation Absolute Resolve," that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores at their Caracas compound in the early hours of January 3, 2026, without seeking congressional authorization or notifying congressional leadership in advance. More than 150 aircraft and Delta Force commandos took part in the operation, which killed an unspecified number of Venezuelan security personnel; Maduro was extracted to the USS Iwo Jima and flown to New York to face U.S. drug-trafficking charges. Trump and administration officials characterized the raid as a law-enforcement action under the president's Article II authority rather than an act of war, a framing several senators in both parties disputed.

ICE agents stopped and arrested Hesler Asaf Garcia Lanza while he was walking to the LIRR in Hempstead, New York

On January 3, 2026, ICE agents in Hempstead, New York, stopped Hesler Asaf Garcia Lanza while he was walking to the Long Island Rail Road. ICE revoked his deferred action status and work permit before arresting him, despite his pending Special Immigrant Juvenile status application. On March 3, 2026, Judge Michael Brown of the Eastern District of New York granted Garcia Lanza's habeas corpus petition, vacated ICE's revocation of his deferred action, and ordered his work permit returned, finding ICE had engaged in a pretextual abuse of power. His arrest is one of eight named in the April 2026 class-action lawsuit Benitez v. DHS.