***. “Human dignity, economic freedom, individual responsibility. These are the characteristics that distinguish democracy from all other forms devised by man.” [ Dwight D. Eisenhower; Republican; 34th U.S. President ]

“How ICE has upended life in Minnesota” [Following are excerpts from an address given by Edina Mayor James b. Hovland. at the U.S. conference of Mayors; Minnesota Star Tribune; 2/6/26 ]

10] “If enforcement continues as it has, we will not be debating immigration alone. We will be confronting the long-term damage done to the relationship between government and the governed. And that is a reckoning no republic should take lightly.. [ “…the relationship between government and the governed.” ]

6]. “In just a few short weeks, this is what we have learned: No city can thrive without the rule of law and no nation can govern without borders; but enforcement, as currently practiced, is not merely removing individuals, it is hollowing out civic life, undermining public safety and leaving local leaders to pick up the pieces.. A democracy cannot prosper when enforcement is divorced from proportionality, clarity and humanity.. The strength of our country has never rested solely in the rigor of its laws; but in the confidence of its people that those laws are carried out with fairness and wisdom.”

2] “We have observed, first, a deep chill of uncertainty settle over many lawful, hardworking residents – citizens and noncitizens alike, and we have seen enforcement as visible, sudden and physical; it does not stop neatly at the door of those it seeks. It spreads outward…”

9]. “So this, then, is the message from Minnesota: Immigration enforcement, when conducted without close coordination with local realities and respect, does not merely remove individuals – it reshapes communities. It alters behavior, weakens trust, and imposes costs that towns and cities will carry long after the headlines fade.”

*** “This is what I call the American idea, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. – a government of the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of God.” [ Theodore parker ]

1]. “We are told the actions are precise. – they are not. We are told their effects are contained. they are not. Fear has not confined itself to a single household or status. Citizens withdraw alongside noncitizens. Law-abiding residents learn that invisibility feels safer than participation.”

3] “Second, there is an economic reckoning. In Minnesota, our restaurants, food-processing plants, construction sites, elder-care facilities and hospitals rely on immigrant labor. When enforcement actions are abrupt, entire workforces can vanish overnight. – not only undocumented workers, but legal employees who choose silence or absence over risk.”

4] “Third, we face the paradox of public safety. Local law enforcement, sworn to protect all residents, finds its work harder when communities fear that any interaction may carry federal consequence.”

5]. “Finally, there s the burden placed on local government. Mayors and city council members are left to explain federal actions we do not control, to calm fears we did not create, and to mend relationships strained by forces beyond our municipal boundaries.”

***. “No government is respectable which is not just. Without unspotted purity of public faith, without sacred public principle, fidelity, and honor, no mere forms of government, no machinery of laws, can give dignity to political society.” [ Daniel Webster ]

7] “In these trouble-filled days, the nation should know that Minnesota has no resisted legal immigration enforcement; it has resisted excess. it does not reject law; it rejects lawlessness clothed in authority. It does not deny the nation’s right to govern its borders; but it insists that such governance be worthy of and deferential to a free people.”

8]. “The future of immigration policy in America will not be shaped by those who merely cheer or condemn; but by those who demonstrate. – through practice and wisdom. – that security and humanity can coexist; that enforcement can be both firm and lawful; and, that the dignity of persons need not be a casualty in the implementation of policy.”

11] “In time, when this chapter in Minnesota history is read, not in the headlines, but in history, I hope it may be said that when the nation faltered between fear and fairness regarding who deserves to live in our country, that Minnesota chose the harder path; not merely to oppose what was wrong but to help build what is right.”

***. “This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” [ Elmer Davis ]

*** “Nothing is rarer than a solitary lie; for lies breed like toads; you cannot tell one but it comes with a hundred young ones on its back.” { Washington Allston ]

A] “Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said this week that Immigration Enforcement has arrested “over 10,000 criminal illegal aliens who were killing Americans, hurting children and reigning terror in Minneapolis, since President Trump took office a year ago, including 3,000 in the past six weeks.” Those numbers were then repeated by Greg Bovino and Marcos Charles. [Deena Winter: “Little Proof to back up ICE claim of 10K arrests”; Minnesota Star Tribune; 1/24/26]
[Put Up or Shut Up!!! – show us the 10,000 mug shots & court records !!!!!!!!!!!]

2] “But if ICE has arrested 10,000 people in the last year, a majority of the arrests would have had to occur before Dec. 1, when it began sending officers into the state. The 10,000 figure is a substantial increase from what officials have said previously. [ Winter ]

3]. “It’s not clear when and where the additional 7,000 arrests occurred.” [ Winter ]

4]. “Their latest report found 1,677 arrests in Minnesota from when Trump took office through Oct. 15.” [ Winter ]

5] “If their numbers are accurate, the only way ICE could have arrested 10,000 people since Trump took office is if they arrested over 5,300 people in the six-week period before Operation Metro Surge began. That’s 2,000 more than they say they arrested during the surge over the past six weeks.” [ Winter ]

***. “Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle that fits them all.” [ Oliver Wendell Holmes ]

B] “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released the names of only about 240 immigrants it arrested as of Jan. 19….About 80% of the 240 people on the “worst of the worst” list have felony convictions…. but nearly everyone of the list has gone through the court system, served time for their crimes and was not actively wanted by police..” [Christopher Magan, Jeff Hargarten: “Gaps in ICE ‘worst’ case”; Minnesota Star Tribune; 1/22/26]

2] “In many instances, ICE didn’t detain these individuals in the military-style raids…Public records show they were picked up after being released from jail or prison and put on parole. More than a quarter also have no criminal connection to Minnesota except for being held in one of the state’s four federal prions.” [Magan, Hargarten]

3]. “ICE has declined repeated requests to provide names of people detained in Minnesota.” [Magan, Hargarten]

PUT UP or SHUT UP !!!!!! – PROVE ICE arrested 3,000 “worst of the worst”. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

C] “Prisons chief accuses Homeland Security of ‘misinformation’….Schnell believes DHS has repeatedly skewed numbers in reports.” {Deena Winter; Minnesota Star Tribune; 1/24/26]

1]. Paul Schnell said DHS spread “”misinformation” by falsely saying the state releases “criminal illegal aliens” to the public rather than turning them over to immigration officials.” [Winter]

2] “At a news conference Jan. 22, Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell played videos of inmates being handed over to federal agents to refute the DHS’ accusation.” [ Winter ]

3] “This is no longer a simple misunderstanding,” he said. “at best, DHS fundamentally misunderstands Minnesota’s correctional system. At a minimum, this reflects systematic data management inadequacies or incompetence as it relates to DHS tracking of detainers in custody. At worst. it is pure propaganda, numbers released without evidence to stoke fear rather than inform the public.” [Winter]

4]. “A state survey of jails found 94 noncitizens in jail with ICE detainers, and 207 in prison, for a total of about 300 people. That’s about 1,000 fewer than Homeland Security’s claim, which correction officials called “categorically false, unsupported by facts, and deeply irresponsible.” [Winter]

5] “Schnell said his department has not found a single case where the state failed to honor an ICE detainer.” [Winter]

6]. “Schnell accused Homeland Security of falsely claiming to have arrested two undocumented immigrants off the streets as part of Operation Metro Surge when, in reality, they were released to ICE by the prison system. He showed reporters a video of the transfer as proof.” [Winter]

7] “This isn’t the first the DHS has claimed to have picked up violent, undocumented criminals off the streets as part of Operation Metro Surge, even though they were released by the prison system to ICE, Schnell said.” [Winter]

8]. “Schnell said some on the DHS’ lists were released to ICE years ago – as far back as the 1990s. DOC officials say the “worst of the worst” list includes many people who were never in Minnesota prisons and often had no criminal record in Minnesota.” [Winter]

9] “Schnell said some of the people on the DHS “worst of the worst” list are people the corrections department had turned over to ICE, and ICE released them back into the community…”
[NOTE: go back over the 9 corrections above – EACH. ONE. REFUTING. AN. ICE. LIE!!!!!!!!!!]

*** “The more lies are told, the more important it becomes for the liars to justify themselves by deep moral commitments to high-sounding objectives that mask the pursuit of money or power.” [Bertram Gross: “Friendly Fascism The New Face pf Power in America”]

And then, there’s Maine!!!!! YOU can read about this Trump DICTATORSHIP farce in Associated Press stories of Jan. 23rd and Jan. 25th – “Court records conflict with claims made by ICE” and the Governor demands ICE data. !!!!!

*** “Great liars are also great magicians.” [ Adolf Hitler ]

*** “Oppression is but another name for irresponsible power.” [ William Pinckney; U.S. Attorney General ]

This post is the 11th in a series describing to YOU the effects of ICE thugs on ordinary people. Outside the MURDER videos of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Effects often invisible – but the trauma inflicted on people, neighborhoods, communities, cities will NOT end when ICE thugs and Trump DICTATORSHIP cease to DELIBERATELY cause chaos and fear.

This series is a WARNING. – what is happening throughout Minnesota can easily happen in YOUR state if “our” 13-year old president and Rasputins around him decide they ‘NEED’ to do it.

Presented below are just SOME of the stories discovered 2/1 and 2/2/26. Excerpts folow:

1] “Intensive care nurses immediately doubted the word of federal immigration officers when they arrived at a Minneapolis hospital with a Mexican immigrant who had tried to flee while handcuffed and “purposely ran head first into a brick wall,”….But staff members..determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the 31-year old’s brain….”It was laughable….ICE insisted on using handcuffs to shackle his ankles to the bed….He appears to have no criminal record….He has significant memory loss and a long recovery ahead. He won’t be able to work..” [ Jack Brock. Jim Mustian, Michael Biesecker: “Detainee’s injuries met with skepticism”; Associated Press; 2/2/26 ]

2] “..my 80-year old Asian-American parents have started to carry their passports each time they leave their suburban townhouse….Federal agents have been recorded on video, acknowledging that they’re homing in on individuals who speak with foreign accents…” Laura Yuen: “In a game of ‘cat and mouse,’ now we carry papers”; Minnesota Star Tribune; 2/1/26]

3] “In fact, for six CVT clients – all here legally, seeking asylum, with work permits – their Orwellian ordeals recurred after they were swept up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Metro Surge, which was falsely predicated on arresting the state’s “worst of the worst.”…….”One of the keys to the healing is feeling safe,”…Now they’re terrified…..”The majority of our clients are essentially under house arrest….Making them fearful of being sent back to their torturers isn’t only immoral, it’s illegal under the international principle of non-refoulement….”this is setting up a climate of fear, and the climate of fear is what is being desired….”We have utterly lost whatever moral standing we might have had,’..” [ John Rash: “They fled terror in their home countries. then ICE detained them”; Minnesota Star Tribune; 2/2/26 ]

4]. “When he shared that his asylum case was pending, the agents arrested him, with handcuffs on his arms and legs….”What’s happening now is the government is just unplugging pending asylum cases by grabbing people, haphazardly, without thinking whether it makes sense…..When Duglof was detained, he tried to explain his condition to the agents..but few seemed to care….did not receive the care needed for his condition…..Duklef said he believes the Trump administration is targeting immigrants with pending asylum cases because it’s easier to find them…” [ Talia McWright: “Scared To Go Out”; St. Paul pioneer Press; 2/2/26 ]

5] “[F]or some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency.” These words were written by a district judge in Texas who ordered the release from detention of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father….They pertain to more than this particular case; they aptly describe the force that motivates the Trump administration and the moral vacuum at its core.” [ R.D.: “It’s not just this case”; letter to the editor; Minnesota Star Tribune; 2/2/26 ]

6] “The ramped-up presence of federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities – and the fear it’s created – has for nearly a month now, disrupted normal school day routines for thousands of students across Minnesota…..”I’ve been teaching in the Columbia Heights Public Schools for 33 years…and I’ve never experienced any disruption or danger to students like the current ICE occupation of Minnesota.”…..”Students are struggling,’ said one social worker. “and this community stress is affecting them in ways they maybe don’t recognize.” [ Mara Klecker, Anthony Lonetree” “ICE surge thrusts schools into the front line”; Minnesota Star Tribune; 2/2/26 ]

*** “Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one hat inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it. It is a trait that is not known to the higher animals.” [ Mark Twain ]

*** “Here in America we are descended in blood and spirit from revolutionaries and rebels – men and women who dared to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.” [ Dwight D. Eisenhower; WW II General; Republican; 34th U.S. President ]

This post is the 9th in a series to describe to YOU effects of ICE thugs on ordinary people. Away from the MURDER videos of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Effects often invisible – but the trauma inflicted on people, neighborhoods, communities, cities will NOT end when ICE thugs and Trump DICTATORSHIP cease to DELIBERATELY cause chaos and fear.

These posts are a WARNING – what is happening throughout Minnesota can easily happen in YOUR state, if “our” 13-year old president and Rasputins around him decide they ‘NEED’ to do it.

Following are excerpts from “letters to the editor” from ordinary Minnesotans. [“Letters to the editor”; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 1/18/26]:

A] “I don’t understand why we tolerate this”
1] “I am writing not to argue policy, but to ask a human and moral question that I cannot stop asking: How are we tolerating this?….watching parents taken from their homes, children left in shock and confusion, neighbors disappearing overnight. – and not be disturbed enough to demand something better?”
2] “I am trying, sincerely to understand how people of good will – people who care about family, order and the rule of law – can witness scenes of armed agents taking someone away in front of their children, or read about a woman killed in the course of enforcement, and do not feel compelled to say: This is not how a humane society should function.”

3] “do the supporters of our current system know anyone outside their own social or economic circles who is being affected? Do they know what it looks like when a child comes home from school and their parent is simply gone? Do they know what it does to a community when people are afriad not only of being taken, but even leaving their homes – afraid to go to work, to school, to the doctor, or to church – and when enforcement actions are disrupting staff and children in our schools?

4] “I find myself thinking about Anne Frank’s words describing how people simply “disappeared,”…I am troubled by how familiar the pattern feels: people removed, families silenced by fear, the rest of society slowly learnig not to look too closely..”

5]. “I understand immigration is complex…But the way we enforce the law also matters….A system that relies on fear, force and family separation as tools cannot be called orderly or just – only cruel.”

6] “What troubles me most is not disagreement. It is indifference. It is the sense that many have become so accustomed to this machinery that they no longer see the human cost, or no longer feel responsible because it is being done “legally,” “federally,” or “by someone else.” But moral responsibility does not disappear just because harm is bureaucratized.’

7] “..we can refuse to normalize what is happening. We can refuse to accept this is the best we can do. We can demand accountability, transparency, restraint and above all, humanity.”
8] “..I am deeply grateful to all who are standing up in protest – peacefully, courageously and publicly – to insist that our neighbors’ lives and families matter and that we can do better than this.”

9] “I am asking how anyone can watch families being torn apart, children traumatized, communities destabilized, and now people being killed – and not feel called to say: This must change. If we cannot feel that, then something more dangerous than any immigration crisis is happening to us.” [ J. W. S. ]

B]. “For decent and lawful enforcement, but not this”
1] “Last week a neighbor of my friend in St. Paul was picked up and detained by ICE. The spouse of a teacher at the school where I volunteer was also picked up and detained by ICE. Both were born in America and have no criminal history. They are NOT illegal immigrants and NOT the “worst of the worst’ of illegal immigrants purportedly being targeted by ICE agents at the direction of President Trump.”

2]. “I believe ICE is in Minnesota to terrorize and traumatize our citizens because President Trump hates Rep. Ilhan Omar and Gov. Tim Walz….Disagreeing with your political opponents is one thing, terrorizing their constituents is quite another.”

3] “..President Trump’s blatant prejudicial violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution to punish political enemies and law-abiding citizens is, very simply wrong.”

C] “The Risk”
1] “My family has realized that no one, especially innocent people, is immune from the ongoing negative interactions and complications caused by the ICE presence in Minneapolis. I want to present the fear, daily life routines needing to be changed and adjustments we are dealing with, realizing that many have it far worse.”

2] “We have been alerted to the risk that one of our family members faces based on a learning disability that makes it difficult for her to deal with complex issues requiring lengthy explanations. Several years ago my husband and I decided to complete our family with a fourth child, who would be a special needs child adopted from Korea.”

3] “Her limitations make it difficult for her to comprehend and address complex issues and reply in a perceived timely manner. If her bus or Lyft transportation is detained by ICE because of other passengers or because many of the drivers appear to be Muslim or because she looks Asian or for any reason and she would be questioned, she would be at great risk to be taken to a facility for “further interrogation” and because she would not have been able to explain that she is a U.S. citizen or answer rapid questioning.” [ J.G. ]

NOTE: These are NOT isolated, “one off” stories. Stories like these continue to become public. American CITIZENS picked up, ordered to present identification. [ including disabled U.S. veterans, out of uniform police officers, etc. ], detained for hours, dropped off somewhere with NO apology, perhaps their unlocked vehicle still running; property damaged, people standing and watching DELIBERATELY sprayed with chemicals, CITIZENS exercising Ist Amendment rights to photograph having phones knocked out of their hands, sprayed with chemicals, people following ICE thugs having vehicles surrounded – perhaps being put into an “accident,” perhaps dragged out of their vehicle, perhaps roughed up and threatened, etc., etc. etc…………..

this site has now posted 9 of these stories – more will likely follow – because ICE thugs continue to create these atrocities – to UNARMED American CITIZENS, on. a daily basis.

*** “It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” [ Benjamin Franklin ]

***. “Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.” [ Mark Twain ]