Free Republic

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Michael Knox, co-owner of Toma Mojo Grill near Minneapolis. This story has been edited for length and clarity. I run a fast casual chicken restaurant in Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb just south of Minneapolis. With ICE agents in the area, I don't know when — or if — staff will be able to come to work. We all have pretty set schedules, and we're tight-knit. There are only six of us operating this place, seven days a week. And I have concerns: Are my employees going to get stopped on their...

(snip)As part of the changes, the mayor directed the Seattle Police Department to investigate, verify, and document reports of immigration enforcement activity. If officers are sent to a location where apparent enforcement is underway, they will document the activity with in-car and body-worn video, verify the identification of apparent federal agents, and secure scenes of potentially unlawful acts to gather evidence for prosecutors, according to the announcement.(snip)

Philadelphia’s top prosecutor, a George Soros-backed district attorney, is facing scrutiny and backlash after vowing to "hunt" down federal immigration agents as city leaders move to curb ICE operations. Speaking during a morning event outside City Hall tied to newly unveiled "ICE OUT" legislation, District Attorney Larry Krasner sharply criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. "This is a small bunch of wannabe Nazis. That’s what they are," Krasner said. "In a country of 350 million, we outnumber them. If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities. We will...

A Minnesota-based nonprofit focused on aiding Somalis and other East Africans is hiring someone to follow immigration agents and prevent them from making arrests. The Awood Center, named after the Somali word for “power,” released a job posting on Facebook Jan. 14 seeking an employee to assist in “rapid response,” a term activists use to describe following or recording suspected Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in-person. The group’s rapid response program will “reach hundreds of Somali residents within days,” “prevent unlawful or coercive detentions” and conduct outreach at relevant facilities such as mosques, the job posting says. The Awood...

Mayor Mamdani on Saturday accused ICE of terrorizing cities nationwide after federal agents shot and killed an armed 37-year-old anti-ICE protestor in Minneapolis. “As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today,” Mamdani said on X in his latest attack on the agency. “ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.”

OK, for those Minnesota Freepers, here is a list of all the businesses in Minneapolis-St Paul who are closing in support with and "solidarity" with the ICE Out protests. Many of these are one-offs, just the kind of business that you'd expect to find on the list. There other some other more well-known ones such as Surly Brewing, Half Price Books and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Until recently, I lived in the Twin Cities and I've never heard of a good number of these places. Frankly, I hope they lose money, have their furnaces go out or water pipes...

A 'Karen' from Maine let it slip to the Daily Mail that she was the one who tried to allegedly stop police from investigating a serious threat to a school because she thought they were Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Mary Conmee, 63, gladly answered the phone on Thursday morning, but instead of greeting the reporter, she appeared to be having a conversation with someone else about what she did. During that discussion, Conmee, a retired New York State Police Sgt. who resides in Orrington, confessed she was the woman who tried to impede the Brewer Police Department's investigation...

Landlord who tipped off ICE about illegal alien gang members faces investigation. The ‘sanctuary’ for illegal alien criminals movement began with radical activists harboring them in ‘churches’. That escalated to ordering law enforcement not to cooperate with immigration authorities. And from there sanctuary states like California began to penalize any law enforcement personnel who cooperated with ICE. Then came the riots, systemic harassment of immigration law enforcement personnel being coordinated from the top down, and now, in the next step, legal threats against American citizens who cooperate with ICE. Remember this massive raid on a hive of TdA gang members...

A federal magistrate judge rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to bring charges against journalist Don Lemon for appearing alongside protesters who breached a Minnesota church over the weekend, a source told CNN.“The Attorney General is enraged at the magistrate judge’s decision,” a person familiar with the matter said. Attorney General Pam Bondi has been on the ground in Minnesota for two days meeting with federal prosecutors from the state.Lemon, who is a former CNN host who now makes content independently, was with dozens of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters as they rushed into Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota on...

Ted Lieu encourages more people in Minnesota to get into the faces of ICE agents and film them so that evidence can be used to prosecute them in the future for doing their jobs. These people are trying to get ICE agents killed.

SEATTLE - Several Seattle schools were placed on lockdown Tuesday afternoon after the district received unconfirmed reports of ICE activity in the area. What we know: Seattle Public Schools said the shelter-in-place was activated at six separate campuses, including Mercer International Middle School, Aki Kurose Middle School, Cleveland STEM High School, Maple Elementary, Dearborn Park Intern. The ICE activity was reported by community members, according to Seattle Public Schools, though no ICE presence was ever observed. It remains unknown if immigration agents were conducting any business in the surrounding area.

The newest governor of Virginia immediately rolled back anti-sanctuary policy which helped federal immigration authorities take custody of criminal illegal migrants. Within hours of being sworn into office Saturday, Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Executive Order 10, a proclamation rescinding an executive order signed by her Republican predecessor requiring Virginia law enforcement officials to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Critics have framed the move as a “disaster” which will lead to an increase in crime. “This is a disaster for the public safety of the Commonwealth. Mark my words, there will be Virginians who will be robbed, raped...

Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Brad Tabke posted over 20 updates to his X account Thursday documenting ICE agent sightings across Shakopee, Prior Lake, and Savage — suburbs about 25 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Throughout the day, Tabke shared the real-time locations of ICE agents and vehicles, including sightings near gas stations, a Panera, and shopping centers in the Southbridge area. Tabke also described how to identify unmarked ICE vehicles. “Every other car on Marschall and 101 today is ICE if you know what to look for: Missing front or front & back plate … Out of state plates … Tinted...

"I am outraged to hear a New York City Council employee was detained in Nassau County by federal immigration officials at a routine immigration appointment," Mamdani fumed. "This is an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values. I am calling for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation."

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) squared off against federal agents at an ICE facility in Minneapolis on Saturday, joining protesters after she was kicked out of the detention center. The controversial Somali-born Omar, 43, and Congress members were turned away while attempting to gain entry into an ICE processing center at the Whipple Building in Minneapolis Video circulating online showed Omar and Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) and Kelly Morrison (D-MN), flanked by activists and photographers, squaring off against masked military members holding massive rifles who formed a line at the entrance to the facility.

After authorities said two people were injured in a shooting involving a federal agent on Thursday, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson called "on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until a full and independent investigation can take place."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Conflict between law enforcement and activists erupted outside an Orange Mound restaurant Sunday evening after a group of National Guard members was asked to leave the property. The Memphis Police Department was at the scene Sunday night, along with dozens of Memphis Safe Task Force members, outside Da Sammich Spot on Park Avenue, which has a posted sign banning ICE agents. Video shared by one of the activists protesting the National Guard’s presence showed National Guard troops standing by the sidewalk after being asked to leave the property before more reinforcements arrived, bringing dozens of National...

Tensions have been high in Minnesota, particularly after the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) recent announcement that they’d be sending 2,000 ICE officers to the state. After the January 7 shooting that killed a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis, Governor Tim Walz responded in a press conference, calling for protestors to remain calm, and rejecting any further federal law enforcement be sent to the Twin Cities. “I have a very simple message, Walz said, “We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, you’ve done enough.” DHS Secretary Noem herself held two separate...

January 7, 2026 Press Release WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02) announced plans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following the fatal shooting by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. “Secretary Kristi Noem is an incompetent leader, a disgrace to our democracy, and I am impeaching her for obstruction of justice, violation of public trust, and self-dealing. Secretary Noem wreaked havoc in the Chicagoland area, and now, her rogue ICE agents have unleashed that same destruction in Minneapolis, fatally shooting Renee Nicole Good,” said Rep. Kelly. “From Chicago to Charlotte to Los Angeles to Minneapolis, Secretary Noem is...

As of January 1, 2026, city workers in Portland, Oregon, can now clock out for up to 40 hours a year — without losing pay or benefits — to deal with immigration-related legal matters for themselves or for family members. Eligible employees may use this leave for activities such as:Obtaining legal support or meeting with immigration or criminal defense attorneys • Attending interviews or tests related to naturalization or citizenship • Appearing at state or federal criminal court proceedings • Deportation hearings • Matters involving “unlawful detention” related to immigration status. For the first 40 hours each year, this leave...