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Thursday, February 5, 2026
Feds: 700 agents will leave
White House border czar Tom Homan said Wednesday, Feb. 4, that after getting cooperation from Minnesota political and law enforcement leaders, the Trump administration is withdrawing 700 federal law enforcement personnel from the state "effective today." Homan then said that if Minnesotans want to end Operation Metro Surge and see the other 2,000 agents who remain in the state leave, activists must stop "impeding" Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents from doing their job. "Protest, but stop impeding," Homan said. "Because we will arrest you." "I will not let our officers be put at risk," Homan added. The shift in focus to protesters as the primary impediment to the end of Operation Metro Surge came a week after Homan said the primary hurdle was access to county jails. Homan said the removal of the 700 agents was a direct result of Minnesota counties giving federal officers better access to county jails. It was unclear whether jails, including the Hennepin County jail, which the Trump administration has targeted, will actually change anything — or whether this is a political solution allowing various interests to save face while de-escalating. Several Democratic leaders including Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison welcomed news of the reduction but said as long as Operation Metro Surge remains, public safety is compromised in Minnesota. Walz's office called for a speedier drawdown, state-led investigations into the federal killings of Renee Good and Alex Gonzalez, and a permanent end to the program.
Hospital halts child gender care amid Trump funding threats
Children's Minnesota is suspending some pediatric gender health services in response to threats by the Trump administration to cut off millions of dollars in federal funding that keep its hospitals running. The health system made the move reluctantly, according to a written statement, in response to "federal actions directed at pediatric health systems like ours that provide this care." The suspension will take effect Feb. 27. Other health care providers such as Duluth-based Essentia Health might take similar steps or face severe financial losses. "This is not the decision we wanted to make," Children's said in its statement. "This is the decision we had to make to protect our hospital and our providers." The Trump administration late last year proposed rules that would cut federal Medicaid and Medicare support for hospitals and clinics that provide minors with gender-affirming care.
Judge's order on detained Venezuelans is ignored
A federal judge ordered the release of two Venezuelan men accused of assaulting a federal immigration officer last month outside a north Minneapolis duplex, concluding that they do not present a heightened flight risk. But they never made it out of the St. Paul courthouse. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Alfredo Aljorna, 26, and Julio Sosa-Celis, 24, without explanation, shortly after the hearing. "This re-detention is unconstitutional and they should be immediately released," family attorney Brian Clark wrote in an emergency habeas petition filed late Tuesday, Feb. 3. Minnesota's Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz ruled almost immediately that ICE could not move Sosa-Celis and Aljorna out of Minnesota. He gave the federal government until Friday to provide an explanation for its actions. The routine court hearing was scheduled to weigh the conditions of their potential release. But it also offered the first outside glimpse of photographs that raise questions about the federal government's account of what happened.
Legal fight escalates over seizure of voting records in Georgia
Officials in Georgia's Fulton County said Wednesday they have asked a federal court to order the FBI to return ballots and other documents from the 2020 election that it seized last week, escalating a voting battle as President Donald Trump says he wants "to 'take over' elections from Democratic-run areas with the November midterms on the horizon. The FBI had searched a warehouse near Atlanta where those records were stored, a move taken after Trump's persistent demands for retribution over claims, without evidence, that fraud cost him victory in Georgia. Trump's election comment came in an interview Monday with a conservative podcaster and the Republican president reaffirmed his position in Oval Office remarks the next day, citing fraud allegations that numerous audits, investigations and courts have debunked.
Schools, union sue to keep ICE off grounds
Fridley and Duluth schools, along with the state teachers union, are suing the Trump administration to keep federal immigration agents off school property. The new measure comes as school leaders decry what they say is increased federal agent activity on and near campuses, causing fear and safety concerns. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction barring enforcement within 1,000 feet of school property. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and top officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection. It asks a judge to reinstate the federal government's decades-old "protected areas" policy, which limited enforcement in sensitive locations including schools. The DHS revoked that policy in January 2025. Since then, federal officials have said immigration agents do not target schools or children. In September 2025, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: "ICE is not conducting enforcement operations at, or 'raiding,' schools." The statement went on to say that the DHS directive allowing ICE to go into schools "gives our law enforcement the ability to do their jobs. Our agents use discretion. Officers would need secondary supervisor approval before any action can be taken in locations such as a school. We expect these to be extremely rare."