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Majestic Scorn: A City Aflame Fights Fire and ICE
Despite the specious swapping out of fascist ICE leaders seeking to quell public fury, the gutted, steadfast denizens of Minneapolis continue to show up in frigid weather to demand "ICE Out" and "Stop Killing Us." Honoring their righteous struggle, Friday sees the city nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by The Nation, which cites its "moral leadership" for those fighting fascism on "a troubled planet." Likewise moved, The Boss just wrote them a song. Minnesota, says one patriot, "taught us to be brave."
Writing to "the distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee," the editors of The Nation magazine nominated the city of Minneapolis and its people for the 2026 Nobel Peace "as longtime observers of struggles to establish peace and justice" and as the editors of a magazine that's proudly included "several Nobel laureates on our editorial board and masthead - including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." With their "resistance to violent authoritarianism," they argue, "the people of Minneapolis have renewed the spirit of Dr. King’s call for the positive affirmation of peace.” No municipality has ever been recognized for the award, they acknowledge, but "in these unprecedented times," they believe Minneapolis "has met and exceeded the committee’s standard of promoting 'democracy and human rights, (and) creating (a) more peaceful world."
To the Committee, they offer a brief, harrowing history: The Trump regime deploying thousands of armed, masked federal goons targeting the city's immigrant communities in a campaign more about terrorizing people of color than safety; the abuses of harassment, detention, deportation, injury, and the murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti; the call by elected officials, labor leaders and clergy for nonviolent protest; the people answering that call by the tens of thousands in the streets in sub-zero conditions, with mutual support and care for vulnerable neighbors, "through countless acts of courage and solidarity." Quoting Renee Good’s widow - “They have guns; we have whistles" - they argue the whistles have both alerted residents to the presence ofICE and "awakened Americans to the threat of violence (from) governments (that) target their own people."
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., they note, served as The Nation’s civil rights correspondent from 1961 to 1966. When he received the Peace Prize in 1964, he declared it recognizes those "moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice." King believed it is vital to show nonviolence as "not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation...Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace (and) transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood...The foundation of such a method is love." "We believe that the people of Minneapolis have displayed that love," the editors conclude. "That is why we are proud to nominate them and their city for the Nobel Peace Prize."
They don't mention any possible response by a mad, vengeful, impossibly petty king. But they do reflect the respect and gratitude of countless Americans who have watched the people of Minnesota endure "in the face of immense and continuing tragedy," and maintain their courage, dignity and humanity. One of those Americans was Springsteen, who explains in a brief note that he wrote, recorded and released Streets of Minneapolis within days "in response to the state terror being visited on the city." He dedicates it to "the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good," and signs off, "Stay free, Bruce Springsteen." On Wednesday, in hours, it soared to the top of the iTunes chart ranking bestselling individual tracks in the country.
The song is both classic Springsteen - potent, lyrical, with "a sense of urgency and genuine fury" - but atypically direct. It names names, crimes, this specific moment in history: "A city aflame fought fire and ice/‘Neath an occupier’s boots/King Trump’s private army from the DHS/Guns belted to their coats/Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law/Or so their story goes." There is rage: "It's our blood and bones/And these whistles and phones/Against Miller's and Noem's dirty lies." Resolve: "Our city’s heart and soul persists / Through broken glass and bloody tears." Tragedy: "And there were bloody footprints/Where mercy should have stood/And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets/Alex Pretti and Renee Good." Thank you to The Nation, to The Boss, to all those ordinary, extraordinary Americans standing strong against the monsters among us.
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Makeshift memorial for Alex Pretti, shot dead in the streets of Minneapolis (Photo by Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images)
Jan 30, 2026
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Corporate Polluters Running Rampant Under Trump as EPA Enforcement 'Dying a Quick Death'
The Trump administration settled just 15 of the illegal pollution cases referred by the US Environmental Protection Agency in the first year of President Donald Trump's second term in the White House, according to data compiled by a government watchdog—the latest evidence that Trump officials are placing corporate profits above the EPA's mission to "protect human health and the environment."
In the report, The Collapse of Environmental Enforcement Under Trump's EPA, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) noted Thursday that in the first year of former President Joe Biden's administration, 71 cases referred by the EPA were prosecuted by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Under [EPA Administrator] Lee Zeldin, anti-pollution enforcement is dying a quick death,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of PEER and a former enforcement attorney at EPA.
The DOJ lodged just one environmental consent decree in a case regarding a statutory violation of the Clean Air Act from the day Trump was inaugurated just over a year ago until now—signaling that the agency "virtually stopped enforcing" the landmark law that regulates air pollution.
"Enforcing the Clean Air Act means going after violators within the oil, gas, petrochemical, coal, and motor vehicle industries that account for most air pollution," reads the report. "But these White House favorites will be shielded from any serious enforcement, at least, while Lee Zeldin remains EPA’s administrator."
“For the sake of our health and the environment, Congress and the American people need to push back against Lee Zeldin’s dismantling of EPA’s environmental enforcement program.”
In the first year of his first term, Trump's DOJ settled 26 Clean Air Act cases, even more than the 22 the department prosecuted in Biden's first year.
The report warns that plummeting enforcement actions are likely to contribute to health harms in vulnerable communities located near waterways that are filled with "algae blooms, bacteria, or toxic chemicals" and near energy and chemical industry infrastructure, where people are more likely to suffer asthma attacks and heart disease caused by smog and soot.
“Enforcing environmental laws ensures that polluters are held accountable and prevented from dumping their pollution on others for profit,” said Joanna Citron Day, general counsel for PEER and a former senior counsel at DOJ’s Environmental Enforcement Section. “For the sake of our health and the environment, Congress and the American people need to push back against Lee Zeldin’s dismantling of EPA’s environmental enforcement program.”
EPA's own enforcement and compliance database identifies 2,374 major air pollution sources that have not had a full compliance evaluation in at least five years, and shows that no enforcement action has been taken at more than 400 sources that are marked as a "high priority."
Nearly 900 pollution sources reported to the EPA that they exceeded their wastewater discharge limits at least 50 times in the past two years.
The agency has also repealed its rules limiting carbon pollution from gas-powered cars, arguing that the EPA lacks the authority to regulate carbon.
As public health risks mount, PEER noted, Zeldin is moving forward with plans to stop calculating the health benefits of rules aimed at reducing air pollution, and issued a memo last month detailing a "compliance first" policy emphasizing a "cooperative, industry-friendly approach" to environmental regulation.
“Administrator Zeldin is removing all incentives for big polluters to follow the law," said Whitehouse, "and turning a blind eye to those who suffer from the impacts of pollution.”
Jan 22, 2026
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77% of Global Millionaires Agree: Extreme Wealth Allows Uber-Rich to Buy Political Influence
For years, progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have made the case that the world's richest people wield a dangerous level of influence over US politics—and it turns out that many millionaires agree.
New polling conducted on behalf of Patriotic Millionaires surveyed 3,900 millionaires across the world and found that 77% of them believe that extremely wealthy people are able to buy political influence, with 62% believing that extreme wealth is a threat to democracy itself.
Furthermore, 82% of millionaires surveyed endorsed limits from how much politicians and political parties can receive from individual contributors, while 65% supported higher taxes on the highest earners to invest in public services.
President Donald Trump's second term also received low marks from the millionaires surveyed, with 59% saying he has had a negative impact on global economic stability, and 58% saying that he's hurt US consumers' ability to afford basic necessities.
The poll's release coincided with the sending of an open letter signed by hundreds of millionaires across 24 countries asking world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum to increase taxes on the ultrawealthy in the name of rescuing global democracy. Trump is set to speak at the event on Wednesday.
"A handful of global oligarchs with extreme wealth have bought up our democracies; taken over our governments; gagged the freedom of our media; placed a stranglehold on technology and innovation; deepened poverty and social exclusion; and accelerated the breakdown of our planet," states the letter. "What we treasure, rich and poor alike, is being eaten away by those intent on growing the gulf between their vast power and everyone else."
Actor Mark Ruffalo, a signatory of the letter, argued that the extreme dangers posted by Trump and his political movement were the direct result of global wealth inequality that has gone unaddressed for decades.
"Donald Trump and the unique threat that he poses to American democracy did not come about overnight," Ruffalo explained. "Extreme wealth inequality enabled his every step, and is the root cause of the trend towards authoritarianism we’re witnessing in the US and around the world."
Jan 20, 2026
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'He Is a Fascist': Scottish Lawmaker Accuses Trump of Piracy Over US Abduction of Tanker Captain, First Mate
A Scottish lawmaker railed against US President Donald Trump on Wednesday over the American military's seizure of an oil tanker and detention of its two top officers earlier this month in waters between Iceland and Scotland.
Ross Greer, a member of the Scottish Parliament and co-leader of Scotland's Green Party, said that two people—tanker captain Avtandil Kalandadze and his unnamed first officer—"have been abducted from Scotland in the middle of the night by the US military, despite our highest court ordering they be kept under our jurisdiction."
As the Scottish newspaper The National reported Thursday, Kalandadze—a Georgian national—and his first officer were taken out of UK territory by the US Coast Guard earlier this week despite a court ruling against their removal from Scotland's jurisdiction.
"He's not our ally. He is a fascist," Greer said of Trump during his remarks in Parliament on Wednesday. "Our sovereignty has been violated, our courts have been defied, and a foreign military has abducted two people from our territory."
Greer called on the Scottish government to immediately evict US troops from Prestwick Airport, which is used by American forces.
"Will the first minister show Trump that his piracy has consequences?" Greer asked.
Two people have been abducted from Scotland in the middle of the night by the US military. Despite an order from our highest court that they be kept here.
The Scottish Government must respond and evict American troops from their base at publicly-owned Prestwick Airport. pic.twitter.com/owBpL9fvT5
— Scottish Greens (@scottishgreens) January 28, 2026
The BBC reported Wednesday that the Trump administration "says it intends to prosecute" Kalandadze and his colleague for alleged involvement in the violation of US sanctions.
Angela Constance, Scotland's justice secretary, has said the Trump administration's handling of the vessel seizure and abduction of its crew has demonstrated a lack of respect for Scottish jurisdiction.
"We have a number of questions, we have a number of concerns, and deep frustrations about how this matter has evolved, because it is a matter of significant public interest and confidence," Constance said earlier this week. "The Scottish government wants to play our part in international justice because that is appropriate and responsible. But that starts with the recognition and respect that must be afforded to Scottish jurisdiction and Scots law."
Aamer Anwar, an attorney representing Kalandadze's wife in a lawsuit over the incident, said earlier this week that the captain was "whisked away under the cover of darkness" by US forces, and "we have no idea what role our own governments played in that."
"A dangerous precedent has been set, as the US should not have the power to arrest people under our control," said Anwar. "These people have been denied their most basic human rights right under our noses, whilst the UK knowingly assisted the US ‘abduction’ of two men from Scotland to avoid the Judicial Review taking place."
Jan 29, 2026
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'MAHA-Washing': Trump EPA Set to Reapprove Dicamba Despite Pesticide's Harms
The US Environmental Protection Agency plans to reapprove dicamba despite the pesticide's proven health and environmental risks, the Washington Post reported Friday—a move that would seemingly fly in the face of the Trump administration's pledge to "Make American Healthy Again."
According to a draft statement obtained by the Post, the EPA called the reapproval “the most protective dicamba registration in agency history," while noting “several measures” to head off “ecological risks.”
Two EPA officials told the Post's Amudalat Ajasa on condition of anonymity that the agency would move to reapprove dicamba next week.
It would be the third time the EPA approved the pesticide. On both prior occasions, federal courts blocked the approvals, citing underestimation of the risk of chemical drift that could harm neighboring farms.
“The fact that we’re here again after two failed attempts to fix this broken pesticide shows that Lee Zeldin and his army of industry lobbyists are utterly incapable of protecting the public,” Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) senior scientist Nathan Donley told the Post, referring to the EPA administrator.
One judge ruled in 2024 that since widespread dicamba drift damaged millions of acres of nontolerant crops, some farmers felt "coerced" to purchase expensive, dicamba-resistant seeds to safeguard their own fields, creating a "near-monopoly" for companies selling the products.
Some scientific studies have linked dicamba to increased risk of cancer and hypothyroidism. The European Union classifies dicamba as a category II suspected endocrine disruptor.
In 2021, the Biden administration published an EPA report revealing that during Trump's first term, senior officials intentionally excluded scientific evidence of dicamba-related hazards, including the risk of widespread drift damage, before reapproving the dangerous chemical.
A separate EPA report described the widespread harm to farmers and the environment caused by dicamba during the 2020 growing season.
Writing for the New Lede this week, Donley warned that "much like the greenwashing you see at the grocery store, with terms like 'eco-friendly' or 'green' advertising chemical-laden products on store shelves, Zeldin’s MAHA-washing paints the same rosy picture to distract from decisions that harm public health."
"We all stand to lose if this pesticide gets the green light," he added.
Jan 30, 2026
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'85 Seconds to Midnight': Doomsday Clock Ticks Down as Trump Drags World Toward New Low
A "failure of leadership" by the world's most powerful governments and leaders, particularly President Donald Trump, has pushed the annually updated Doomsday Clock closer to midnight than ever, said the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the organization that monitors global existential threats including nuclear bombs, on Tuesday.
The clock was set to 85 seconds to midnight—or global destruction—four seconds closer than one year ago.
The Bulletin has updated the clock each year since 1947, when scientists set it at seven minutes to midnight, emphasizing that the world had little time to get the proliferation of nuclear weapons under control following the United States' bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
The scientists who announced the latest ticking of the clock on Tuesday stressed that a number of other threats appear closer then ever to dooming humanity and called for urgent action to limit nuclear arsenals as well as creating "international guidelines" for the use of artificial intelligence, solving the climate crisis, and forming "multilateral agreements to address global biological threats."
“The Doomsday Clock’s message cannot be clearer. Catastrophic risks are on the rise, cooperation is on the decline, and we are running out of time," said Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of the Bulletin. "Change is both necessary and possible, but the global community must demand swift action from their leaders.”
The organization, whose Doomsday Clock is monitored by its Science and Security Board (SASB) and Board of Sponsors, which includes eight Nobel laureates, said that countries including the US, China, and Russia did not heed the Bulletin's warning last year when it moved the clock's hands to 89 seconds to midnight.
Instead, major powers in the past year have become "increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic."
"Hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation critical to reducing the risks of nuclear war, climate change, the misuse of biotechnology, the potential threat of artificial intelligence, and other apocalyptic dangers," said the group. "Far too many leaders have grown complacent and indifferent, in many cases adopting rhetoric and policies that accelerate rather than mitigate these existential risks. Because of this failure of leadership, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board today sets the Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to catastrophe."
International failures from 2025 include:
- Russia's testing of nuclear-capable weapons as it continued its war on Ukraine;
- The US and Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear sites;
- China's increase of its nuclear warhead stockpile;
- Fueled by the continued extraction of fossil fuels, the global average temperature was the third-highest on record and the climate crisis caused disasters including deadly flooding and heatwaves;
- The treaty between the US and Russia on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, also known as the New START Treaty, inched closer to its expiration date on February 4, 2026;
- The Trump administration dismantled public health infrastructure and climate regulations, making the US and the world more vulnerable to pandemics and the climate emergency; and
- Artificial intelligence grew more sophisticated as the Trump administration refused to rein in the technology.
Daniel Holz, chair of the SASB, said that the "dangerous trends" outlined by the Bulletin "are accompanied by another frightening development: the rise of nationalistic autocracies in countries around the world."
"Our greatest challenges require international trust and cooperation, and a world splintering into ‘us versus them’ will leave all of humanity more vulnerable," said Holz.
The Bulletin emphasized that with political will, the world's leaders are entirely capable of pulling humanity "back from the brink."
The US and Russia could resume dialogue about limiting their nuclear arsenals, and all nuclear-armed states could observe the existing moratorium on nuclear testing.
Through multilateral agreements and national regulations, the international community could also cooperate to "reduce the prospect that AI be used to create biological threats."
And in the US, Congress could take action to repudiate Trump's "war on renewable energy, instead providing incentives and investments that will enable rapid reduction in fossil fuel use."
Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO of Rappler and a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said that world leaders must also come to an agreement that the climate crisis, nuclear proliferation, and unregulated AI are grave threats, as the majority of the global community has.
“Without facts, there is no truth. Without truth, there is no trust. And without these, the radical collaboration this moment demands is impossible," said Ressa. "We cannot solve problems we cannot agree exist. We cannot cooperate across borders when we cannot even share the same facts. Nuclear threats, climate collapse, AI risks: none can be addressed without first rebuilding our shared reality. The clock is ticking."
Jan 28, 2026
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Rights Groups Warn Trump DOJ Is 'Trying to Scare Journalists' With Lemon, Fort Arrests
“The arrests today of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering an anti-ICE protest are a blatant attempt to intimidate others from covering criticism of the administration and its policies," said an Amnesty International official.
Jan 30, 2026
The arrests of two US journalists on Friday over their reporting on a protest at a church in Saint Paul earlier this month sent shockwaves through rights organizations that have long defended reporters around the world from similarly blatant attacks on press freedom.
"The Trump administration cannot send federal agents after reporters simply because they don't like the stories being reported," said Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders North America.
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon, now an independent journalist, and Georgia Fort, an independent reporter based in Minnesota, reported on and filmed a protest organized by local residents on January 18 against a pastor at a church who was also reported to be working as a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.
On Friday morning, federal law enforcement agents took the two journalists into custody, accusing them of a "coordinated attack on Cities Church." The Department of Homeland Security said Lemon was being charged with conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers, and cited the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act—a law that prohibits intimidating or using force against people who try to access reproductive health services but also contains provisions covering places of worship.
Local political candidates Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy were also arrested over the protest. Fort was released Friday afternoon.
"I should be protected under the First Amendment," she said upon her release. "I've been advocating for mainstream media journalists who have been brutalized for months. Do we have a Constitution? That is the pressing question that should be on the front of everyone's minds."
Shortly after Georgia Fort's release from federal custody, law enforcement in riot gear cleared out the 1st floor of the US District courthouse in downtown #Mpls, forcing everyone outside. The independent journalist spoke to reporters there. Here is a clip @FOX9 pic.twitter.com/VsAmClM3YY
— Paul Blume (@PaulBlume_FOX9) January 30, 2026
Weimers emphasized that federal authorities had previously filed a criminal complaint against Lemon over the protest, but it was rejected by a federal magistrate judge, which "enraged" Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Time and time again we are seeing the Trump administration clamping down on free speech rather than upholding human rights. Black and Brown journalists have been particularly targeted for exercising their rights to freedom of expression."
Amnesty International USA also emphasized that the arrests were not just attacks on Lemon's and Fort's rights, but also "a critical threat to our human rights.”
“US authorities must immediately release journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, said Tarah Demant. "Journalism is not a crime. Reporting on protests is not a crime. Arresting journalists for their reporting is a clear example of an authoritarian practice."
“The arrests today of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering an anti-ICE protest are a blatant attempt to intimidate others from covering criticism of the administration and its policies," Demant said, noting that the arrests came as top Trump administration officials and agents on the ground have made clear the White House views people who film ICE agents—an action that is broadly protected by the First Amendment—are "domestic terrorists."
“Time and time again we are seeing the Trump administration clamping down on free speech rather than upholding human rights," she said. "Black and Brown journalists have been particularly targeted for exercising their rights to freedom of expression."
Chip Gibbons, policy director for Defending Rights and Dissent, noted that "journalists have an important role to play in covering protests" like the ones that have been taking place in Minneapolis and all over the country against Trump's deployment of federal immigration agents to detain and deport immigrants and US citizens alike, the majority of whom have had no criminal backgrounds despite the president's claim that the operation is targeting "the worst of the worst."
"Social movements are often vital parts of our nation’s history and it is essential that they be documented in real time," said Gibbons. "By covering the protesters and their message, journalists help to inform our public debates, helping Americans get vital information about sides of an issue that otherwise go ignored."
"It is for precisely this reason that we have repeatedly seen journalists covering protests across the United States being subject to brutality, false arrests, and bogus charges," he added. "The arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are clearly part of that shameful practice... Abusing the legal process to stage retaliatory arrests of a journalist is an attack on our democracy. We call on the charges to be dropped and any public officials involved with pushing them to resign from office immediately."
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law president Damon T. Hewitt also noted that "targeting two acclaimed Black independent journalists for criminal prosecution sends a chilling message at a moment when independent Black media is more necessary than ever."
"Freedom of the press is not optional—it is foundational to a thriving multiracial democracy and is a vital constraint on government overreach," said Hewitt. "This is not just stifling dissent—it’s chilling speech and stifling basic access to information and facts, targeting viewpoints the administration dislikes, and retaliating against law firms, universities, nonprofit organizations, and now reporters who value truth, equality, and justice. This is authoritarianism. And it must not stand.”
Emily Peterson-Cassin, policy director for Demand Progress, said the Trump administration was "trying to scare journalists away from covering the events in Minnesota" by arresting Lemon and Fort.
"The Trump administration, she said, "is clearly waging an ongoing, unconstitutional campaign to intimidate a free and fearless press into submission and must be held accountable.”
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Civil Rights Groups Fight to End Trump's 'Lawless' Courthouse Arrests Nationwide
“The administration’s reckless courthouse arrest policy is an affront to justice, designed to sabotage the immigration court system and force people to abandon their lawful claims," said one plaintiffs' attorney.
Jan 30, 2026
Civil rights groups on Thursday filed a pair of legal motions seeking a nationwide block of the Trump administration's mass arrest policy targeting people attending scheduled immigration court appearances and their extended detention in ill-equipped facilities.
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF), Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) San Francisco, ACLU of Northern California, and the law firm Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP filed the motions in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
One motion contests US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Nationwide Hold Room Waiver, a policy enacted last June that extended the maximum amount of time people can be held by ICE in temporary detention cells from 12 to 72 hours. The other motion seeks to vacate ICE's and the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s courthouse arrest policy, arguing it violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires federal agencies to follow specific, standardized procedures during their rulemaking process.
“From arrest to detention, the Trump administration’s policies are a symptom of a lawless approach to governance," ACLU of Northern California director of appellate advocacy and plaintiffs' attorney Neil Sawhney said in a statement Friday. "One policy creates fear of the system, and the other inflicts suffering within it, creating a cycle of trauma. We are fighting to break this cycle by ending both the courthouse arrests and the prolonged, brutal detentions they feed."
The new motions stem from the ongoing class action lawsuit Sequen v. Albarran, a case challenging the Trump administration’s courthouse arrests and prolonged detention of immigrants in unsafe conditions in temporary lockups.
“The administration’s reckless courthouse arrest policy is an affront to justice, designed to sabotage the immigration court system and force people to abandon their lawful claims,” said LCCRSF program director Jordan Wells, a lawyer representing plaintiffs in the case. "This is a critical step in ensuring that immigrants can safely pursue their immigration cases without fear of arrest.”
Last month, US District Judge Casey Pitts granted a stay in Sequen v. Albarran, temporarily blocking ICE from making courthouse arrests within the agency's San Francisco Area of Responsibility, pending the outcome of the broader legal challenge.
Pitts had previously granted a preliminary injunction ordering ICE to immediately improve "inhumane" and "punitive" conditions at the agency's Sansome Street holding facility in San Francisco.
A separate lawsuit filed last July by the National Immigrant Justice Center, Democracy Forward, LCCRSF, and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Legal Education and Services in the US District Court for the District of Columbia is also challenging the Trump administration's courthouse arrest policy.
“The Trump administration’s arbitrary policies are an assault on due process. Transforming immigration courthouses into sites of arrest eviscerates the right to access justice while prolonging detention in barren cells violates the Fifth Amendment’s core promise against punishment without trial," Nisha Kashyap, another LCCRSF lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Friday.
"Our fight is to restore the foundational principle that the government cannot detain people in inhumane conditions or terrorize them out of court,” she added.
While the Trump administration claims the ICE crackdown is primarily targeting dangerous criminals, critics have noted that people legally seeking asylum, families, relatives of American citizens, and even citizens themselves have been swept up in the mass deportation dragnet. According to a recent analysis by the libertarian Cato Institute, 73% of people taken by ICE had no criminal convictions.
CARECEN legal director Laura Sanchez said Friday that the Trump administration's arrest and detention policies "are a direct attack on the safety and dignity of our families" and "force parents to choose between appearing in court to fight for their right to stay with their children, or missing that hearing to avoid being snatched away by masked agents."
"We hear the trauma in our community’s voices every day," Sanchez added. "This legal action is our collective cry for justice. We ask the court to uphold the rule of law and restore human dignity."
Mark Hejinian, a partner at Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP, asserted that “the Administrative Procedure Act is a cornerstone of accountable government, requiring agencies to act with reason and transparency."
"The Trump administration has trampled on these requirements," he added. "The government failed to consider alternatives and disregarded profound constitutional and human costs. We hope the court will see these failures and vacate both policies.”
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It's a 'Cover-Up,' Says Khanna, If Official FBI Survivor Statements Not Included in Epstein File Dump
“Refusing to release these files only shields the powerful individuals who were involved," said Khanna, "and hurts the public’s trust in our institutions."
Jan 30, 2026
More than a month past the deadline set by legislation passed last year, the US Department of Justice on Friday released over 3 million more pages of files related to convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, but one Democratic lawmaker who has led the push for the disclosure emphasized that the exact contents of the files must be determined to tell whether the release is simply another "cover-up."
"What are we looking for? The FBI statements," Khanna (D-Calif.) told MS NOW. "We need to see whether the 302 forms are being released. That's where the survivors mention who the other rich and powerful men are who abused or raped them... and second, are the prosecution memos being released? This is the document that shows why these rich and powerful men weren't prosecuted.
"If there's no cover-up," said the congressman, those files will be included.
The survivors want a transparent release. If there's no coverup this release should have the 302 statements and prosecution memos to show who these rich and powerful men were. pic.twitter.com/ZgjrHEKO3z
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) January 30, 2026
Files that were released and circulated on social media on Friday afternoon included multiple descriptions of sexual assault in which President Donald Trump was named. Those did not appear to be official 302 forms from an FBI interview with victims, which typically contain the name of the agent who conducted the interview, the date, and other information.
The New York Times noted that "a significant number of uncorroborated tips" were included in the release.
Prem Thakker of Zeteo said the descriptions of sexual assault allegations appeared to come from an FBI tip line and it was not clear whether they had ever been investigated.
Soon after the documents were released, journalists including CNN's Jake Tapper reported on social media that many of the links that had led to the files on the DOJ's website were no longer active.
MS NOW senior legal reporter Lisa Rubin reported that some of the documents had revealed "the names and other identifying details of known survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. In at least one case, MS NOW found a driver's license with an unredacted photo among the documents produced."
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said the release did not appear to comply with an earlier subpoena from the committee, which directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all of the Epstein files while protecting survivors.
"Donald Trump and his Justice Department have now made clear that they intend to withhold roughly 50% of the Epstein files, while claiming to have fully complied with the law," said Garcia. "This is outrageous and incredibly concerning."
"We are demanding the names of Epstein's co-conspirators and the men and pedophiles who abused women and girls," he said. "We will begin a thorough review of this latest limited production, but let's be clear: Our work and investigation are just getting started."
Khanna called on Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to meet with him and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to assess what files were released.
"If you are serious about engaging members, let us have this meeting," he said.
The congressman told the Times that a draft indictment prepared during the 2007 investigation into Epstein in Florida and "hundreds of thousands of emails and files from Epstein’s computers" must also be released.
“Refusing to release these files only shields the powerful individuals who were involved," said Khanna, "and hurts the public’s trust in our institutions."
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