Vance to visit Minneapolis as anti-immigration enforcement protests continue
As Donald Trump wraps up his time in Switzerland, his vice-president JD Vance will head to Minneapolis today, as protests against federal immigration enforcement continues throughout the Twin Cities in the weeks since the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent.
The vice-president will first attend a meeting with ICE agents, and then hold a roundtable with local business leaders and officials. Both of these events will be closed to the press. He’ll then deliver public remarks at 2:40pm ET.
Prior to travelling to Minneapolis, Vance will head to Toledo, Ohio to tout the administration’s economic agenda.
We’ll make sure to bring you the latest lines here, as it happens.
Key events
ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy arriving home, say school officials
Sam Levin
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a five-year-old Minnesota boy on Tuesday as he returned home from school and transported him and his father to a Texas detention center, according to school officials.
Liam Ramos, a preschooler, and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway, the superintendent of the school district in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb, said at a press conference on Wednesday. Liam, who had recently turned five, is one of four children in the school district who have been detained by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration’s enforcement surge in the region over the last two weeks, the district said.
Liam and his father had just arrived home when they were detained, according to Zena Stenvik, the superintendent, who said she drove to the home when she learned of the detentions.
When she arrived, Stenvik said the father’s car was still running and the father and son had already been apprehended. An agent had taken Liam out of the car, led the boy to his front door and directed him to knock on the door asking to be let in, “in order to see if anyone else was home – essentially using a five-year-old as bait”, the superintendent said in a statement.
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The Guardian’s Robert Tait reports that that the vast majority of congressional Democrats and their 213-strong House caucus are expected to vote against a bill funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with many expressing anger over the agency’s enforcement efforts in Minnesota, where an agent fatally shot Renee Good, a mother of three, this month.
But some like Rosa DeLauro, a representative from Connecticut and the ranking Democrat on the appropriations committee, are saying that it may be better for the bill to pass rather than run the risk of a renewed government shutdown that could affect other agencies.
“I understand that many of my Democratic colleagues may be dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE,” she said.
“I share their frustration with the out-of-control agency. I encourage my colleagues to review the bill and determine what is best for their constituents and communities.”
But she added: “The Homeland Security funding bill is more than just ICE. If we allow a lapse in funding, TSA [transportation security administration] agents will be forced to work without pay, Fema [federal emergency management agency] assistance could be delayed, and the US Coast Guard will be adversely affected. All while ICE continues functioning without any change in their operations due to $75 billion it received in the One Big Beautiful Bill.”
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Trump in Davos to talk peace as immigration crackdown advances at home
Hello and welcome to our live coverage.
Donald Trump is at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where on Thursday he, alongside several other leaders, signed the Board of Peace charter. While initially framed as a narrow mechanism to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, the board is now instead being positioned as a standing global body, chaired by Trump himself, operating in parallel to the United Nations.
Some countries such as France and Britain have declined the offer of membership, with Yvette Cooper, the UK foreign secretary, expressing concern over the announcement on Monday that Vladimir Putin had been invited to join.
In a marathon speech in Davos on Wednesday, Trump reiterated his desire to take control of Greenland, “including right, title and ownership,” but backed away from threats of military intervention. He later announced a “framework for a future deal” to settle the issue and withdrew the threat of tariffs against eight European countries.
For more Davos coverage, follow our colleage Graeme Wearden here:
Meanwhile back home, Trump’s immigration crackdown continues with enforcement efforts persisting in Minnesota and spreading to target Somali communities in Maine.
In Washington, congressional Democrats are coming out en masse to reject a bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“In the last 24 hours, we’ve heard our members speak loudly that ICE isn’t doing enough, these reforms aren’t doing enough. This lawlessness has to stop,” said Pete Aguilar, the chairman of the party’s caucus.
Keep checking back here for more updates.
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