By Elizabeth Wolfe, Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN

(CNN) — As tensions reached a fever pitch in Minnesota this week, the Trump administration sent in White House border czar Tom Homan, who said he’s ready to lower the temperature, ease frustrations and draw down the number of federal agents in the city — all while remaining focused on the president’s unprecedented deportation goals.

Homan announced Thursday he is working on a plan to eventually reduce the number of federal agents in the state. But he said the move will be contingent on whether local authorities allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take custody of immigrants in prisons and jails.

“More agents in the jail means less agents in the street,” Homan said.

In a city where detentions have largely played out on the streets, Homan’s comments have highlighted a battle that has been unfolding in the background. For weeks, federal and state officials have been exchanging barbs over the issue of ICE detainers — which allow ICE to take custody of incarcerated immigrants — as neither party can agree on how many of these people even exist in the system, CNN has reported.

State corrections officials have accused the Department of Homeland Security of presenting “misinformation” on how many ICE detainers are in the state.

Even as Homan strikes a more conciliatory tone on behalf of the Trump administration, it remains to be seen whether officials are ready to meet on common ground — or how long the drawdown will take.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is an ICE detainer?

If ICE believes there is probable cause to detain a migrant who is in prison or jail, it can send a formal request – known as an ICE detainer — to law enforcement asking that they notify ICE before the person is released. It can also ask for a detainee to be held for up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release, so they can be turned over to federal custody.

Under Minnesota law, sheriff’s offices must notify ICE if a person being released is convicted of a felony and that person is not a citizen, according to state Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. In all other cases, such as misdemeanor offenses, “it’s up to each county to decide,” a spokesperson said.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections has been honoring ICE detainers and cooperating with federal authorities, Homan said Thursday. The government is now looking for cooperation from local jails.

How did this become a flashpoint?

As Operation Metro Surge got into full swing earlier this month, more than 3,000 federal immigration agents flooded into Minnesota, carrying out sweeping detentions and facing off with protesters in tense confrontations.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made a “direct appeal” to Trump in a January 15 post on X, saying, “Let’s turn the temperature down.”

ICE responded with its own post: “The buck stops with you, Governor. Tone down the hostile, inflammatory anti-ICE rhetoric. Honor our immigration detainers. And work with ICE to remove criminal illegal aliens from MN streets.”

Days later, ICE official Marcos Charles suggested detainers sent to “the state’s jails and prisons” weren’t being honored. He later acknowledged the state Department of Corrections had fully cooperated, but said most local sheriffs had not.

DHS has said there are about 1,360 Read more

CNN, KARE, WCCO

By Elizabeth Wolfe, Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN

(CNN) — As tensions reached a fever pitch in Minnesota this week, the Trump administration sent in White House border czar Tom Homan, who said he’s ready to lower the temperature, ease frustrations and draw down the number of federal agents in the city — all while remaining focused on the president’s unprecedented deportation goals.

Homan announced Thursday he is working on a plan to eventually reduce the number of federal agents in the state. But he said the move will be contingent on whether local authorities allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take custody of immigrants in prisons and jails.

“More agents in the jail means less agents in the street,” Homan said.

In a city where detentions have largely played out on the streets, Homan’s comments have highlighted a battle that has been unfolding in the background. For weeks, federal and state officials have been exchanging barbs over the issue of ICE detainers — which allow ICE to take custody of incarcerated immigrants — as neither party can agree on how many of these people even exist in the system, CNN has reported.

State corrections officials have accused the Department of Homeland Security of presenting “misinformation” on how many ICE detainers are in the state.

Even as Homan strikes a more conciliatory tone on behalf of the Trump administration, it remains to be seen whether officials are ready to meet on common ground — or how long the drawdown will take.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is an ICE detainer?

If ICE believes there is probable cause to detain a migrant who is in prison or jail, it can send a formal request – known as an ICE detainer — to law enforcement asking that they notify ICE before the person is released. It can also ask for a detainee to be held for up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release, so they can be turned over to federal custody.

Under Minnesota law, sheriff’s offices must notify ICE if a person being released is convicted of a felony and that person is not a citizen, according to state Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. In all other cases, such as misdemeanor offenses, “it’s up to each county to decide,” a spokesperson said.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections has been honoring ICE detainers and cooperating with federal authorities, Homan said Thursday. The government is now looking for cooperation from local jails.

How did this become a flashpoint?

As Operation Metro Surge got into full swing earlier this month, more than 3,000 federal immigration agents flooded into Minnesota, carrying out sweeping detentions and facing off with protesters in tense confrontations.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made a “direct appeal” to Trump in a January 15 post on X, saying, “Let’s turn the temperature down.”

ICE Read more

By Gabe Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — When Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem strode into the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters last week, ahead of a monster winter storm that walloped much of the country, she caught staffers buzzing around the agency’s response center off guard.

“I was shocked she showed up after all the sh*t we’ve been put through and what she’s said,” one FEMA official told CNN, adding that you could hear a pin drop in the center that day.

For the past year, Noem has been one of FEMA’s loudest critics, calling the disaster response agency partisan, bloated and broken; vowing to “clean house”; and even threatening to eliminate it altogether. FEMA insiders say her reforms and rhetoric have tanked morale and driven out thousands of disaster workers, including dozens of experienced senior leaders.

But on this day, she sounded more like a coach before a big game, rallying the staff to “lean forward” and help Americans weather the storm with a robust federal response, three sources with firsthand knowledge told CNN.

For many inside FEMA, it was a jaw-dropping about-face from the combative and adversarial Noem they’ve come to know during President Donald Trump’s second term. It was also her first in-person briefing at FEMA since taking over the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency, according to several high-ranking FEMA officials.

A week later, Noem is facing another moment with calls for her ouster over her handling of the department’s other major mission – immigration – and a possible bomb cyclone threatening the East Coast. So far, White House sources say Noem’s job is not at risk despite frustration over her handling of the crackdown in Minneapolis, Democrats seeking her impeachment and some Republicans saying they have lost confidence in her leadership.

FEMA’s storm response was quickly overshadowed Saturday when immigration enforcement officers shot and killed a protester in Minneapolis. Noem and her team, already gathered at FEMA headquarters, pivoted to address both calamities at a press conference with the disaster agency’s logo displayed prominently behind her.

Noem began by defending the officers and blaming Democrats in Minnesota, labeling the protester Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist and claiming he intended to harm law enforcement — allegations contradicted by bystander videos from the scene.

She also spoke about the impending winter storm. But with the brunt of the impact still hours away, the shooting drew a barrage of questions from reporters, which appeared to frustrate Noem, who asked if anyone had questions about FEMA and its plans.

Noem’s efforts to shine a spotlight on FEMA’s role were familiar in a way. Current and former agency officials say they have seen past administrations capitalize on their response to life-threatening hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes to earn positive headlines and build goodwill.

“They look to be able to say, here is part of the power of the federal government, and we’re able to deliver,” a senior FEMA official told CNN.

In this case, many FEMA insiders were heartened by Noem and her team’s sudden show of support but aren’t convinced the heavy

Por Ray Sánchez y Priscilla Álvarez, CNN

Dos días después de que agentes de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas en Minnesota supuestamente derribaron a una cuidadora a domicilio procedente del África subsahariana al pavimento nevado y se la llevaron en una camioneta, una amiga cercana hizo el viaje de 2.200 km hasta un controvertido centro de detención de Texas donde se encuentra detenida.

“Se sorprendió muchísimo al verme”, dijo su amigo Justin, un cuidador a domicilio de 40 años que pidió no revelar su nombre completo por temor a represalias. “Nunca creyó que alguien supiera dónde estaba”.

Ella no está sola.

Decenas de solicitantes de asilo como ella, así como refugiados que pasaron un riguroso proceso de selección que duró años antes de ser admitidos en Estados Unidos, han sido arrestados en Minnesota en las últimas semanas, dicen abogados y defensores de inmigración.

Los inmigrantes son encadenados y trasladados en vuelos a centros de detención en Texas, donde se les obliga a relatar sus dolorosas solicitudes de asilo con poco o ningún contacto con familiares o abogados, según abogados y defensores. Algunos, tras días de entrevistas con agentes, han sido liberados en Texas sin dinero, identificación ni teléfono. Otros permanecen detenidos sin información sobre el motivo de su detención.

“Es realmente una campaña de terror. Está diseñada para asustar a la gente”, dijo Laurie Ball Cooper, vicepresidenta de programas legales estadounidenses del Proyecto Internacional de Asistencia a Refugiados. “Sé que ha habido muchas historias de desorganización. No estoy segura de que esta sea una de ellas”.

Tom Homan, el zar fronterizo del presidente Donald Trump, reconoció el jueves que el esfuerzo de control de inmigración en Minnesota necesitaba ser “arreglado” y dijo que su equipo estaba trabajando en un plan de reducción mientras agudizaba el enfoque de las operaciones en inmigrantes indocumentados con antecedentes penales.

Homan, enviado por la administración a Minneapolis para gestionar las operaciones de ICE tras el tiroteo fatal de Alex Pretti, dijo que no “todo lo que se ha hecho aquí ha sido perfecto” y que “se pueden y se deben hacer ciertas mejoras”.

Los refugiados provienen de países como Somalia, Etiopía, Afganistán, Siria, El Salvador, Venezuela y Rusia, afirmó Ball Cooper. Entraron a Estados Unidos legalmente, pero no pueden solicitar la permanencia hasta un año después de su admisión, como lo exige la ley estadounidense. Ball Cooper y otros defensores han estado en contacto con algunos de estos refugiados, quienes, según afirman, no han sido acusados ​​de delitos o infracciones migratorias que los expongan a un proceso de deportación.

“Conozco casos en los que la persona fue arrestada, detenida en Minnesota y subida a un avión (a Texas) en 90 minutos o menos”, dijo Ball Cooper a CNN, y agregó que los abogados y defensores en Minnesota y Texas se han visto obligados a luchar para conectarse con muchos de los refugiados.

El miércoles por la noche, un juez federal emitió una orden de restricción temporal que impide al gobierno de Trump arrestar o detener a refugiados reasentados en Minnesota mientras se tramita una demanda colectiva que impugna esta práctica. El juez también ordenó la liberación inmediata de todos los refugiados detenidos en Minnesota, así como la liberación de aquellos que fueron sacados del estado en un plazo de cinco días, y dio al gobierno 48 horas para proporcionar una lista de los refugiados detenidos.

Algunos refugiados en el caso están representados por el Proyecto Internacional de Asistencia a Refugiados y otras organizaciones legales y de defensa. La demanda y los abogados de los demandantes acusan

By Rachel Tashjian, CNN

Paris (CNN) — “The rest of the year is for reality,” said Daniel Roseberry, the creative director of what is perhaps Paris’s most eccentric couture house, Schiaparelli, minutes after his latest collection, featuring a densely feathered jacket with foot-high soaring wings for a collar, was unveiled.

Paris Couture Week, which the American designer’s Monday morning show kicked off, is for fantasy. For play. Not for escapism, per se – Roseberry’s Schiaparelli show, one of his finest and weirdest to date, vibrated with implications about our world’s rigid definition of beauty, with horns, feathers and splashes of neon – but for indulgence.

Couture, after all, is about imagining another, more outrageous reality for yourself. What if I dressed like a pre-code movie star (Valentino)? What if I got married in a dress of degraded flower petals (Dior)? What if I had a green drop waist shirtdress in a silk mousseline lighter than a sigh, with a matching robe, embroidered with mushrooms, by Chanel? Would I write more love letters? Make more demands? Host more seances? What extravagant actions can a life of astonishing clothes inspire?

It was a packed week, with major designer debuts at Chanel and Dior when Matthieu Blazy and Jonathan Anderson, showed couture collections for the first time within their new respective homes. It was also a time of legends remembered, as Armani Privé held its first show since the passing of Giorgio Armani and Valentino showed its first couture collection since the death of its founder Valentino Garavani earlier this month.

Both Blazy and Anderson, millennials with big brains, are yanking the fusty business of extraordinary clothes into the present – the former with a swell of empathy, and the other with a cerebral but intimate approach.

Blazy’s Chanel was a story of lightness that began with transparent silk mousseline pieces and flourished into dresses and suits and dresses ornamented with layers of feathers. The silk mousseline garments floated almost like ghosts or memories of Chanel designs past, including the famous skirt suit with its matching cardigan and Karl Lagerfeld modernisms like jeans with a tweed jacket, plus the iconic flap bag. A group of plain wool suits were equally as easy, especially one with almost no detail except an oval brooch at the neck and coordinating gems at the cuffs. Its simplicity was profound, and clearly the result of hours of labor and design. And what in a woman’s life today is simple, let alone light and breezy?

Jonathan Anderson knows how to seize an enormous stage – his designs, at Loewe and now at Dior, are commercially savvy but extreme, and he knows how to make his bonkers clothing pop up everywhere. Terming his collection a “Wunderkammer,” or a cabinet of curiosities, this was no bric-a-brac of details and stuff, but a combination of highly clarified silhouettes like bulbous gowns and dresses plus layers of tops and bottoms that slithered and puffed, with ornate details like jewelry in the form of bunches of cyclamen flowers, and miniature portraits-turned-brooches.

Anderson faced criticism online after his raucous menswear collection, shown during the men’s shows in Paris earlier this month, divided audiences. But the designer one-upped his haters by sending poesies of cyclamen as his show invitations, noting on Instagram that John Galliano, the hero of couture to many fashion fans, had brought the designer such a bouquet when he came to see his women’s ready-to-wear collection last fall. Galliano, who was famously fired from Dior in 2011, after making antisemitic comments in a bar in Paris, also attended the show, as well as Jean Paul Gaultier, a show of baton-passing if there ever were one. While Anderson’s clothes will undoubtedly entice a younger couture bu