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Good morning, everyone. ICE is facing serious legal trouble after a federal judge said he has had enough of the agency violating court orders and is moving toward possible contempt proceedings. At the same time, President Trump was reportedly angered by what he viewed as a callous response from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino following the killing of Alex Pretti. Bovino has now been fully sidelined, and DHS has suspended his access to social media. Despite the backlash, ICE enforcement operations will continue, including a visible ICE presence at the Super Bowl. Overnight, I learned something huge. Our podcast is now beating Joe Rogan. We did that because of you. We are reaching tens of millions of people at a moment when the White House is openly targeting journalists and platforms like TikTok are showing a willingness to censor content. That makes this space and independent reporting more important than ever. I cannot do this alone. If you value this work, please subscribe today. Your support helps keep this reporting independent and ensures we can keep pushing back.
Here’s the news: The Trump White House continues to try to take the off-ramp. After the murder of Alex Pretti and mounting backlash, Trump has begun to de-escalate his aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota, shifting oversight to border czar Tom Homan, sidelining hardline Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, and adopting a more cooperative tone with state and local leaders in an effort to stabilize operations, reduce confrontations, and limit political fallout without fully withdrawing federal forces. President Trump said he sees room for compromise with Minnesota leaders on immigration enforcement, arguing that cooperation would end tensions if the state hands over undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records, while Gov. Tim Walz countered that Minnesota already notifies ICE when non-citizens in state custody are identified. A veteran whom Alex Pretti cared for in the ICU said it was heartbreaking to see the video of his death and even more painful to learn it was Pretti, and that hearing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speak about him the way she did added to the heartbreak.
 Dallas Morning News has confirmed that Wael Tarabishi, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen with Pompe disease, died after his health rapidly declined following the October ICE detention of his father and sole caregiver, Maher Tarabishi; his family and advocates say the separation contributed to his death and are urgently calling for Maher’s release so he can attend his son’s funeral. The San Francisco Chronicle says that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved DHS and CBP’s request to use Fort Snelling near Minneapolis as a staging base for the ongoing immigration operation, allowing hundreds of agents, vehicles, aircraft, and weapons to be housed there, signaling the Trump administration’s intent to deepen and sustain the controversial federal enforcement surge in the Twin Cities. Fetterman came out and called for Noem’s removal:
CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott will join border czar Tom Homan in Minneapolis as part of the Trump administration’s immigration push, following the removal of Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino from his role overseeing agents in deportation operations. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that ICE agents will carry out immigration enforcement operations around Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 8, with the Trump administration making clear that no locations, including major sporting events, will be exempt from enforcement, while officials say the presence is part of a broader security effort coordinated with local and federal partners. Following Pretti’s murder, Wired has confirmed that Palantir employees openly questioned and criticized the company’s work with ICE, while leadership defended its immigration enforcement contracts as improving targeting and logistics, exposing deep internal unease over the ethics, scope, and reputational risks of Palantir’s technology supporting deportation operations. A GoFundMe campaign titled “Alex Pretti is an American Hero” has raised more than $1.5 million from tens of thousands of donors to support the family of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was killed in Minneapolis; organizers say the funds will be distributed once next of kin is verified or otherwise donated to the Immigrant Defense Project. First Lady Melania Trump called for unity and peaceful protests in response to the unrest in Minneapolis following the federal immigration enforcement operation and recent fatal shootings, saying Americans need to come together and urging protesters to “protest in peace.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a state review into TikTok after users and public figures alleged the app was censoring anti-Trump and anti-ICE content following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, claims TikTok denies by blaming a data center outage amid heightened scrutiny of the platform’s new U.S.-based ownership tied to Trump allies.
Plans for ICE agents to play a security support role at the Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics have sparked outrage in Italy, with local officials and opposition parties saying the agency is not welcome due to its controversial immigration actions and recent fatal shootings in the U.S., prompting petitions demanding Italy block ICE’s involvement despite assurances that all security will remain under Italian authority, per the Guardian. The Trump administration has formally withdrawn the United States from the Paris climate agreement for a second time, marking a broad retreat from global climate governance that experts warn could undermine international cooperation, slow emissions reductions, weaken U.S. credibility abroad, and make it harder for poorer countries to transition away from fossil fuels. Alex Vindman, the former national security council official and key witness in Donald Trump’s first impeachment, announced a Democratic bid for the U.S. Senate in Florida, framing his campaign around opposition to Trump’s leadership, immigration crackdown, and use of federal power, as he seeks to challenge Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in a special election.
 A massive winter storm has left more than 30 people dead across over a dozen U.S. states, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, shut down flights and schools, and brought extreme cold and heavy snow from the South to New England, with officials warning that freezing temperatures, dangerous conditions, and prolonged outages could persist for days. Landmark trials have begun in Los Angeles against Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and Snap, with hundreds of families and school districts alleging the companies deliberately designed addictive products that harmed children’s mental health, a case that could expose internal documents, put top tech executives on the stand, and potentially reshape social media regulation and platform design.
See you soon. — Aaron
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