Contributing Writers

As calls grow to defund and abolish ICE, author Alec Karakatsanis warns that activists should take care to not fall for “copaganda,” which “takes ordinary people who are outraged over what’s happening and converts them into supporting meaningless reforms that actually don’t reduce the size or power or budget of these bureaucracies.” Karakatsanis is the author of Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News.

ICE is asserting federal immigration officers have the power to forcibly enter homes without a judicial warrant. “That’s just not true,” says legal scholar Stephen Vladeck, who says the claim directly violates the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. “What we’re really seeing here is an effort to twist a handful of old cases that have recognized circumstances in which the government doesn’t need a judicial warrant to enter a home.

A federal judge in Minnesota heard arguments Monday in a lawsuit filed by city and state officials to halt Trump’s deployment of thousands of federal immigration agents to Minnesota. “The federal government cannot coerce us into doing it their way,” says Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is part of the group that brought the lawsuit.

Tens of thousands of Minnesotans braved the bitter cold in Minneapolis on Friday to demand ”ICE out.” The march was organized by faith and labor leaders and was accompanied by calls for an economic blackout. Seven hundred businesses reportedly closed in solidarity. Democracy Now!’s John Hamilton filed a report from the streets. John Reuss, an English teacher, said his students are afraid. “The fear is so tangible,” said Reuss. “If we do not shut it down right now, your city is next.

Civil rights attorney, minister and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, who was arrested by federal officials for participating in an anti-ICE demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul, was released from federal custody on Friday.

Democracy Now! speaks with a former colleague of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday. Dr. Aasma Shaukat, who hired Pretti for a research job over a decade ago, says he lived with “kindness, compassion and a strong sense of civic duty to help his fellow citizens.

Protests have intensified in Minnesota after federal immigration agents killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked in the Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System, on Saturday. Democracy Now!’s John Hamilton reports from the scene of Pretti’s killing, where protesters clashed with federal agents. “We’ve seen everything from people that are unconscious, that have fainted, tear-gassed, bruised, bloody noses, can’t breathe,” said Melissa, a local resident.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Paul Robeson’s death on January 23, 1976. The actor, singer, athlete and scholar was once famous around the world, but he was attacked, blacklisted and hounded by the government for his political beliefs.

Hundreds of businesses in Minnesota have closed for the day as part of an economic blackout to protest the surge of ICE agents into the state. Organizers of the strike include faith leaders and unions, who are encouraging people to stay home from work, school and shopping.

The Justice Department said Thursday that it had arrested three people in Minnesota who interrupted a church service in St. Paul to protest a pastor’s role as a local ICE official. The activists involved in the protest now face charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a law written to protect abortion clinics.

As President Donald Trump formally inaugurated his so-called Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, his son-in-law Jared Kushner presented his vision of turning the Gaza Strip into an upscale seaside resort with gleaming skyscrapers and entirely new cities. The proposal is said to require an investment of at least $25 billion, and Kushner’s presentation showed a map of the besieged territory divided into different zones.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Paul Robeson’s death on January 23, 1976. The actor, singer, athlete and scholar was once famous around the world, but he was attacked, blacklisted and hounded by the government for his political beliefs.

Hundreds of businesses in Minnesota have closed for the day as part of an economic blackout to protest the surge of ICE agents into the state. Organizers of the strike include faith leaders and unions, who are encouraging people to stay home from work, school and shopping.

The Justice Department said Thursday that it had arrested three people in Minnesota who interrupted a church service in St. Paul to protest a pastor’s role as a local ICE official. The activists involved in the protest now face charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a law written to protect abortion clinics.

As President Donald Trump formally inaugurated his so-called Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, his son-in-law Jared Kushner presented his vision of turning the Gaza Strip into an upscale seaside resort with gleaming skyscrapers and entirely new cities. The proposal is said to require an investment of at least $25 billion, and Kushner’s presentation showed a map of the besieged territory divided into different zones.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Paul Robeson’s death on January 23, 1976. The actor, singer, athlete and scholar was once famous around the world, but he was attacked, blacklisted and hounded by the government for his political beliefs.

Hundreds of businesses in Minnesota have closed for the day as part of an economic blackout to protest the surge of ICE agents into the state. Organizers of the strike include faith leaders and unions, who are encouraging people to stay home from work, school and shopping.

The Justice Department said Thursday that it had arrested three people in Minnesota who interrupted a church service in St. Paul to protest a pastor’s role as a local ICE official. The activists involved in the protest now face charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a law written to protect abortion clinics.

As President Donald Trump formally inaugurated his so-called Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, his son-in-law Jared Kushner presented his vision of turning the Gaza Strip into an upscale seaside resort with gleaming skyscrapers and entirely new cities. The proposal is said to require an investment of at least $25 billion, and Kushner’s presentation showed a map of the besieged territory divided into different zones.

The largest nurses’ strike in New York City history has reached its 10th day, as negotiations stall. Nearly 15,000 New York City nurses are fighting for a contract that includes higher pay, a staffing increase to manage patients, improved benefits and workplace protections against violence. Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined the picket line at Mount Sinai West Tuesday with the New York State Nurses Association.

Deadly anti-government protests continue to rock Iran in the midst of the country’s spiraling economic crisis. Thousands of civilians are believed to have been shot dead by government forces in the past few weeks. Meanwhile, President Trump continues to threaten military intervention in addition to a harsh new set of economic sanctions that the U.S. introduced this week.

Trump’s deportation machine has touched down in Maine. As the state, home to a significant share of the Somali American community, faces a surge of ICE activity, we’re joined by Safiya Khalid, the first-ever Somali American city councilmember for Lewiston, Maine’s second-largest city. Lewiston’s “streets are completely empty” as residents of all immigration statuses fear harassment and violence from unchecked federal agents.