Pistorius: ICE’s actions in Germany are unimaginable
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) criticized the actions of the US immigration agency ICE against its own citizens as “unimaginable”. The events are strange from a constitutional point of view and contradict Germany’s claim to the relationship between the state and citizens, Pistorius told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”.
“Police-like forces that are masked beyond recognition and ambush heavily armed people in order to deport them is unimaginable for us,” emphasized Pistorius. “If the police or a deportation authority in Germany behaved like this in uniform, the responsible minister would rightly not survive politically for three days.”
Former Federal President Christian Wulff also condemned the violent actions of US immigration officials in Minneapolis. In an interview with the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (Saturday), the CDU politician referred to a statement by the philosopher Hannah Arendt. “The death of empathy is the first and most unmistakable sign of a culture descending into barbarism,” he said. “And what is being done to people in Minneapolis, for example, is empathetic and inhumane.”
When asked whether he saw a danger that the USA was on the way to a dictatorship, Wulff replied: “The danger exists. There are many signs of this.” It is unclear whether the next elections would take place freely, whether a change of government would be possible, or whether this would be manipulated. The historian Timothy Snyder emigrated to Canada because he could no longer work freely academically. “Terms are eliminated, books are banned.” (epd)
US judge rejects halt to ICE operation in Minnesota
In the USA, the state of Minnesota has initially failed in its attempt to stop the brutal actions of the immigration authority ICE in the search for illegal immigrants in court. Federal Judge Kate Menendez rejected a request from the Attorney General’s Office on Saturday. She argued that an appeals court had suspended an injunction against immigration tactics. A complete stop to the ICE operation would certainly go too far.
Attorney General Keith Ellison had accused ICE forces of racial discrimination, unlawful arrests and inciting fear. The deployment of thousands of ICE officers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul was closed weeks of protests led. The situation escalated after the deaths of two US citizens who were shot by ICE forces in January. Ellison was disappointed by the verdict, but announced further steps: “This case is still in its infancy.” (rtr)
Trump restricts interventions in protests
According to US President Donald Trump’s wishes, the US Department of Homeland Security should in future only intervene in protests in cities run by Democrats if the local municipalities request help from the federal government. He gave Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a corresponding instruction, Trump wrote on Saturday (local time) on the Truth Social platform. “Under no circumstances will we intervene in several poorly run Democrat cities with their protests and/or riots until they ask us for help.”
He left it open how his order would affect the operations of the immigration agency ICE and other federal agencies that report to the Department of Homeland Security. But he added that they would “very resolutely protect any federal building that is attacked by these highly paid lunatics, agitators and insurrectionists.” He also gave corresponding instructions to the ICE authority and the Border Patrol, which is responsible for border security.
On the flight to Florida on Saturday evening (local time), Trump said that he felt that cities run by Democrats were “always complaining.” “If they want help, they have to ask for it. Because when we intervene, all they do is complain.” Trump also said that people who “do harm to immigration agents or other federal law enforcement officers must suffer” and be “treated at least in the same way.” “Look at how they treat our people. And I said, when someone does something like that, you’re allowed to react. You’re not going to just stand there and take it if someone spits in your face.”
In January, two US citizens were shot by federal officers during protests against Trump’s migration policy in Minneapolis. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the state of Minnesota and the rest of the US to protest against the actions of the federal authorities. (ap)
Shadow network against ICE
Blaring whistles and honking cars: If there were a soundtrack to life in Minneapolis over the past few weeks, it would sound like this. It comes from the thousands of people who follow ICE officers across the city in protest against the “Operation Metro Surge” of the administration of US President Donald Trump. Among them are teachers, researchers, small business owners and waiters. The shared goals of the large and often anonymous network are to help immigrants warn of approaching officials or film to inform the world of the events.
And it is clear that those involved will carry on – even if the White House has adopted a more moderate tone since the killing of Alex Pretti last weekend and, among other things, announced the transfer of the controversial border patrol chief Gregory Bovino.
“I think everyone slept a little better knowing that Bovino was kicked out of Minneapolis,” said Andrew Fahlstrom, a co-leader of Defend the 612, a volunteer networking hub. “But I don’t think the threat we are under will change because they are replacing the local puppets.”
In the politically liberal metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Paul quickly organized groups of activists. Volunteers began delivering groceries to immigrants who didn’t venture out, driving people to work and standing guard outside schools. They formed overlapping networks of dozens to hundreds of rapid response groups – complex systems of thousands of volunteers who track ICE officers and communicate via encrypted messaging apps like Signal.
Tracking often consists of reporting movements of convoys and license plates of possible federal vehicles. Protesters regularly form caravans behind ICE convoys. When agents stop to arrest or question someone, the networks report the location and gather people there to protest by whistling and honking, filming the events, and shouting legal advice to those arrested.
Other activists in the country are taking a more reserved line. “Loud doesn’t mean effective,” a group in a heavily immigrant Maryland county recently declared. According to her own statements, she refrains from using whistles in order to avoid additional escalations. “This is not an action movie,” the group said in a social media post. “You are not in a duel with ICE.” (ap)
US judge orders five-year-old to be released
A US federal judge has ordered the release of a five-year-old boy and his father who were detained in Minnesota by ICE officials and brought to Texas. They must be released from the detention center in Dilley, Texas, by Tuesday at the latest, judge Fred Biery, based in San Antonio, ordered on Saturday (local time). At the same time, he expressed sharp criticism of the migration policy of President Donald Trump’s government.
The case had its “origins in the government’s ill-conceived and incompetently implemented efforts to comply with daily deportation quotas – apparently even if this resulted in the traumatization of children,” explained Biery. He attached a photo of five-year-old Liam and two Bible passages to his written explanation: “Jesus said: ‚Let the children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such‘“, as well as the verse: “Jesus wept.”
Liam and his father were taken into custody on January 20th outside their home in suburban Minneapolis. Neighbors and representatives from the local school district later said that ICE officers had used the boy as “bait” by asking him to ring the doorbell so that his mother would answer it.
The Department of Homeland Security dismissed this account as a “blatant lie.” Rather, the father fled on foot and left the boy in the driveway in a vehicle with the engine running.
Federal officials also emphasized that the father was in the United States illegally. He arrived from Ecuador in December 2024. The lawyer for the affected family, however, explained that the father was in an ongoing asylum procedure that would allow him to stay in the country.
Photos of Liam have been circulating on social media showing him surrounded by ICE agents in front of his parents’ house with a bunny hat on his head and a backpack with a Spiderman motif. The images sparked even more outrage in Minnesota and the rest of the United States over the government’s migration policies. Protesters marched in front of the detention center in Dilley, South Texas, where the father and son were taken. Two Democratic congressmen, Jasmine Crockett and Joaquín Castro, visited the two at the facility.
The father reported that Liam was often tired in the detention center and didn’t eat well, Castro explained afterwards. The facility accommodates 1,100 people. Since the center reopened last year, imprisoned families have reported poor conditions: there are worms in the food, there is also a struggle for clean drinking water and inadequate medical care. In December, ICE admitted in a report that it had held about 400 children longer than the recommended maximum of 20 days.
Federal Judge Biery had already issued an interim order this week prohibiting the boy and his father from being deported. The law firm of Jennifer Scarborough, a lawyer specializing in asylum law, said on Saturday that they were now working to ensure that Liam and his father could be reunited with their family as soon as possible. (ap)
Springsteen sings protest song in Minneapolis
US-Rocklegende Bruce Springsteen (76, “Born in the USA”) made a surprise appearance in Minneapolis with his protest song about the fatal shooting of two US citizens. On Friday evening (local time) he sang “Streets of Minneapolis” – a protest anthem against the controversial deportation raids by federal officials, some of whom were masked. In the song, Springsteen refers to them as “King Trump’s private army.” When surprise guest Springsteen appeared on stage at the Tom Morello concert, there was great enthusiasm in the audience in the northern US city.
According to the magazine Rolling Stone It was a benefit event for the families of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot dead by federal officers in two operations in January. The operations and raids are part of the country’s rigorous deportation policy US administration of Donald Trump.
The deaths of the two US citizens sparked a huge wave of outrage across the country. The TV station CNN reported that the concert audience joined the protest on the city streets after the performance.
There have been protests against the raids against migrants in Minneapolis for weeks. The US government had sent a particularly large number of emergency services to the city – against the will of the democratically governed municipality and against the will of the US state of Minnesota. (dpa)