LIVE STOP TRUMP’S ICE INVASION Protests | Court LIFTS Restrictions on ICE

An appeals court overturned a lower judge's ruling that had restricted immigration enforcement agents from using tactics like pepper spray and tear gas on protesters in the Twin Cities. This decision grants the administration a 'free hand' to deploy these chemical agents, and their use was immediately observed on the streets of Minneapolis.

An appeals court came out and ruled against a lower judge's decision that had barred immigration enforcement agents from using quote unquote less than lethal tactics like pepper spray and tear gas and the like on protesters here in the Twin Cities area except under very particular circumstances. An appeals court came out and struck down that lower court ruling. So the administration is again free to deploy tear gas at will. Not that it was completely obeying that order to begin with, but now has been given a free hand. And already today we have seen on the streets of Minneapolis and the surrounding cities a free use of those chemical agents on people on protesters.

The Associated Press reported on an internal ICE memo circulating among new recruits that authorizes officers to use force to enter residences based solely on administrative warrants (issued by DHS, not a judge). This represents a significant departure from long-standing guidance and established court precedents regarding Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure, prioritizing arrests over constitutional compliance.

What the uh what the uh what is being reported from the Associated Press is that a memo is being circulated among new ICE recruits to essentially only rely on administrative warrants, meaning not issued by a judge, seemingly going against many uh established court precedents as to what constitutes unreasonable search and seizure. ... Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people's homes without a judge's warrant. According to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by the Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal to long-standing guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches. The memo authorized officers uh ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal.

Border Patrol Commander Greg Bevino publicly stated that the level of organization and communication among counter-demonstrators in the Twin Cities is higher than in other cities where his units have operated, specifically naming New Orleans as a comparison. This sophisticated network allows for rapid identification of agents, mobilization of neighborhood responses, and continuous surveillance of ICE convoys.

Bevino just yesterday held a press conference inside of the Federal Whipple building here behind me where he said outright that what he and his agents have encountered here in the Twin Cities is a level of organization and communication among the the counter demonstrators. ... They have been more organized and better and had better lines of communication than than other cities that they have encountered. He specifically named New Orleans as an example where he was before he came here. ... It's very sophisticated and it's quite effective in the way that it is able to identify agents when they are out in these communities and very quickly mobilize neighborhood responses. Rapid response networks come out of the woodwork. people blow whistles to notify the neighborhoods that immigration agents are out and they'll uh often also tail uh ICE and Border Patrol convoys from neighborhood to neighborhood to ensure that they uh are continuously being watched.

Activists on the ground report unconfirmed rumors that federal immigration agents are releasing some detainees, particularly those not directly under ICE's purview, into wooded parks in the middle of the night. Given the extremely cold temperatures, often without proper clothing, phones, or ID, these releases are described as potentially life-threatening. One alleged case involved a person with a cracked skull.

I'm getting information from medical professionals that uh you so you know how safe har or safe haven is here to get people who are being picked up like that person. ... So the people that are injured really badly or maybe other people too. We don't know how many people are being taken out into the woods around the Whipple and released in the middle of the night. you sometimes with no clothes, always with no phone, if they're brown, with no ID. Um, and it's a death sentence. One of the pe one of the people had a cracked skull that that's been treated. ... But reporting uh or what the what the rumors are here among the activists here on the ground is that what is happening is that some of the people who are being detained by federal immigration agents, if they are not directly under ISIS purview, eventually they have to be released. And when they are in some cases they're being let out the front gates as we just saw here. But the rumor is that some people are being released into parks uh uh in the middle of the night and obviously it's so unbelievably and in uh cold out here it's it's dangerous to be outside especially without the proper protection.