Federal immigration enforcement has escalated in multiple U.S. cities this week, prompting protests, fear and questions about family separations.
Minneapolis
– Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began enhanced operations focused largely on the city’s Somali residents.
– Local residents reported seeing federal vehicles near a school; people took to the streets with whistles and shouted to confront what they believed were agents. A Minneapolis neighborhood resident said she wanted children to feel safe.
– The city’s mayor signed an executive order barring agents from conducting ICE operations on city-owned property.
– The Minnesota Star Tribune reported shackled detainees were loaded onto a chartered jet and flown to Omaha, Nebraska.
New Orleans
– Tensions rose after masked ICE agents chased a woman, identified as U.S. citizen Jacelynn Guzman, to her home. Guzman said she told agents she was born and raised in the U.S. and a citizen, but that the agents “did not care.”
New York City
– Questions mounted about the whereabouts of six‑year‑old first grader Yuanxin Zheng, who was separated from his migrant father after a scheduled immigration hearing.
– Mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani said the boy was detained and separated from his father and that authorities had not disclosed his location.
– A Homeland Security spokesperson told CBS News the father “was acting so disruptive and aggressive that he endangered the child’s well‑being.” The Department of Homeland Security said the family received an order of removal and that the child is now with the Office of Refugee Resettlement; the agency declined to say where the child was being held.
The actions have drawn local public confrontations and broader scrutiny as communities and leaders seek more information about enforcement practices and the treatment of families and children.
