fears

MINNEAPOLIS — For days, Luis Ramirez had an uneasy feeling about the men dressed as utility workers he’d seen outside his family’s Mexican restaurant in suburban Minneapolis.

They wore high-visibility vests and spotless white hard hats, he noticed, even while parked in their vehicle. His search for the Wisconsin-based electrician advertised on the car’s doors returned no results.

On Tuesday, when their Nissan returned to the lot outside his restaurant, Ramirez, 31, filmed his confrontation with the two men, who hide their faces as he approaches and appear to be wearing heavy tactical gear beneath their yellow vests.

“This is what our taxpayer money goes to: renting these vehicles with fake tags to come sit here and watch my business,” Ramirez shouts in the video.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to inquiries about whether the men were federal immigration officers. But encounters like Ramirez’s have become increasingly common.

As the sweeping immigration crackdown in Minnesota continues, legal observers and officials say they have received a growing number of reports of federal agents impersonating construction workers, delivery drivers and, in some cases, anti-ICE activists.

Not all of those incidents have been verified, but they have heightened fears in a state already on edge, adding to legal groups’ concerns about the Trump administration’s dramatic reshaping of immigration enforcement tactics nationwide.

“If you have people afraid that the electrical worker outside their house might be ICE, you’re inviting public distrust and confusion on a much more dangerous level,” said Naureen Shah, the director of immigration advocacy at the American Civil Liberties Union. “This is what you do if you’re trying to control a populace, not trying to do routine, professional law enforcement.”

A ‘more extreme degree’ of deception

In the past, immigration authorities have sometimes used disguises and other deceptions, which they call ruses, to gain entry into homes without a warrant.

The tactics became more common during President Trump’s first term, attorneys said, prompting an ACLU lawsuit accusing immigration agents of violating the Constitution by posing as local law enforcement during home raids. A recent settlement restricted the practice in Los Angeles. But ICE deceptions remain legal elsewhere in the country.

Still, the undercover operations reported in Minnesota would appear to be a “more extreme degree than we’ve seen in the past,” said Shah, in part because they seem to be happening in plain sight.

Where past ruses were aimed at deceiving immigration targets, the current tactics may also be a response to Minnesota’s sprawling networks of citizen observers that have sought to call attention to federal agents before they make arrests.

At the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, the city’s central hub of ICE activity, activists told the Associated Press they had seen agents leaving in vehicles with stuffed animals on their dashboards or Mexican flag decals on their bumpers. Pickups with lumber or tools in their beds were also frequently spotted.

In recent weeks, federal agents have repeatedly shown up to construction sites dressed as workers, according to Jose Alvillar, a lead organizer for the local immigrant rights group, Unidos MN.

“We’ve seen an increase in the cowboy tactics,” he said, though he noted the raids had not resulted in arrests. “Construction workers are good at identifying who is a real construction worker and who is dressing up as one.”

Using vintage plates

Since the start of the operation in Minnesota, local officials, including Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, have said ICE agents had been seen swapping license plates or using bogus ones, a violation of state law.

Candice Metrailer, an antiques dealer in south Minneapolis, believes she witnessed such an attempt firsthand.

On Jan. 13, she received a call from a man who identified himself as a collector, asking if her store sold license plates. She said it did. A few minutes later, two men in street clothes entered the shop and began looking through her collection of vintage plates.

“One of them says, ‘Hey, do you have any recent ones?’” Metrailer recalled. “Immediately, an alarm bell went off in my head.”

Metrailer stepped outside while the men continued browsing. A few doors down from the shop, she saw an idling Ford Explorer with blacked-out windows. She memorized its license plate, then quickly plugged it into a crowdsourced database used by local activists to track vehicles linked to immigration enforcement.

The database shows an identical Ford with the same plates had been photographed leaving the Whipple building seven times and reported at the scene of an immigration arrest weeks earlier.

When one of the men approached the register holding a white Minnesota plate, Metrailer said she told him that the store had a new policy against selling the items.

Metrailer said she had reported the incident to Minnesota’s attorney general. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

A response to obstruction

Supporters of the immigration crackdown say the volunteer army of ICE-tracking activists in Minneapolis has forced federal agents to adopt new methods of avoiding detection.

“Of course agents are adapting their tactics so that they’re a step ahead,” said Scott Mechkowski, former deputy director of ICE enforcement and operations in New York City. “We’ve never seen this level of obstruction and interference.”

In nearly three decades in immigration enforcement, Mechkowski said he also hadn’t seen ICE agents disguising themselves as uniformed workers in the course of making arrests.

Last summer, a Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed a man wearing a high-visibility construction vest was an ICE agent conducting surveillance. In Oregon, a natural gas company published guidance on how customers could identify their employees after reports of federal impersonators.

In the days since his encounter, Ramirez, the restaurant worker, said he has been on high alert for undercover agents. He recently stopped a locksmith who he feared might be a federal agent, before realizing he was a local resident.

“Everybody is on edge about these guys, man,” Ramirez said. “It feels like they’re everywhere.”

Offenhartz writes for the Associated Press.

California lawmakers are expressing concern about how the future of Warner Bros. Discovery could affect Hollywood’s workforce.

In an open letter addressed to Netflix Chief Executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters and Paramount Skydance Corporation CEO David Ellison, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) call for the industry giants to make “concrete commitments to Californian and American workers.”

Late last year, Netflix won the highly anticipated bidding war for Warner Bros, which would give the streamer control over Warner Bros.’ storied Burbank film and TV studios, HBO and HBO Max. The pending $72-billion deal would greatly reshape the Hollywood landscape. Separately, Paramount has continually thrown in counter-bids and has been consistently rejected.

With all of these moving pieces, there’s a bipartisan fear among the nation’s lawmakers about how the acquisition could affect jobs in the U.S. entertainment industry . As stated in the letter, the industry “supports more than 680,000 jobs and contributes over $115 billion annually to the regional economy.”

Given the slowdown the industry has seen post-COVID and the growing number of international productions, Los Angeles film activity was down 13.2% from July through September 2025 when compared with the same period last year. This downward trend continues to build on the loss of 42,000 jobs in L.A. between 2022 and 2024.

Ellison and Sarandos have made arguments for why they believe their respective companies are best positioned to take over Warner Bros.

But each deal comes with major cuts. Paramount is projected to slash $6 billion in expenses over three years, and Netflix is projecting to cut $2 billion to $3 billion. Some analysts believe these cuts will have a significant effect on the workforce.

Previously, Ellison said, “We believe that what we are offering is better for Hollywood. It’s better for the customers and it’s pro-competitive.”

Sarandos is also quoted in the letter saying: “We think it’s great for consumers. We think it’s a great way to create and protect jobs in the entertainment industry.”

Earlier this week during a Senate subcommittee hearing, Sarandos said Netflix plans to increase its film and television production spending to $26 billion this year, with a majority of that happening in the U.S.

The lawmakers’ letter raises a series of questions surrounding the livelihood of creators, the use of AI and “concrete steps” about preserving jobs in L.A. Schiff and Friedman also offer the CEOs an opportunity to meet with them to discuss their answers.

In an effort to ensure “America continues to lead the world in the creative economy,” the letter said that Congress is currently working on bipartisan legislation that would establish a federal film tax incentive. It will be modeled after state programs in California, Louisiana and Georgia.

“We view this as a tool to not just protect but encourage more domestic filming and sustainable job creation on American soil,” wrote the lawmakers.

The attack comes amid fears of a return to conflict following clashes between government troops and Tigrayan forces.

One person has been killed and another injured in drone strikes in Ethiopia’s ‍northern Tigray ‍region, a senior Tigrayan official and a humanitarian worker said, in another sign of renewed conflict between regional and federal forces.

The Tigrayan official on Saturday said the drone strikes hit two Isuzu trucks near Enticho and Gendebta, two places in Tigray about 20km (12 miles) apart.

The official said the Ethiopian National Defence Force launched the strikes, but ​did not provide evidence.

A local humanitarian worker confirmed the strikes had happened. Both asked not to be named, the Reuters news agency reported.

It was not immediately clear what the trucks were carrying.

TPLF-affiliated news outlet Dimtsi Weyane posted pictures on Facebook that ‌it said showed the trucks damaged in the strikes. It said the trucks were transporting food ‌and cooking items.

Pro-government activists posting on ⁠social media said the trucks were carrying weapons.

Ethiopia’s national army fought fighters from the Tigray People’s ⁠Liberation Front (TPLF) for two years until late 2022, in a war ​researchers say killed hundreds of thousands through direct violence, the ‍collapse of healthcare and famine.

Fighting broke out between regional and national forces in Tsemlet in the disputed territory of western Tigray earlier this week, an area claimed by forces from the neighbouring Amhara region.

Tension has been brewing over the presence of troops from Amhara and the neighbouring country of Eritrea in Tigray, violating a peace deal in November 2022 that ended the war.

Last year, the head of Tigray’s interim administration established by Addis Ababa was forced to flee Mekele, the regional capital, amid growing divisions within the TPLF, which controlled all of Ethiopia before being displaced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Addis Ababa accuses the group of forging ties with neighbouring Eritrea and “actively preparing to wage war against Ethiopia”.

Earlier this week, national carrier Ethiopian Airlines cancelled flights to Tigray, where residents rushed to try to withdraw cash from banks.

The Tigray ‌war ended in 2022, but disagreements have continued over a range of issues, including contested territories in western ‍Tigray, and the delayed disarmament of Tigray forces.

The province is also suffering the effects of United States President Donald Trump’s funding cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) last year, which was once Ethiopia’s largest source of humanitarian aid.

Humanitarian organisations say up to 80 percent of the population is in need of emergency support, and funding shortfalls are placing a strain on the health system.

The African Union’s chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, on Friday urged all parties to “exercise maximum restraint” and “resolve all outstanding issues through constructive dialogue”.

He emphasised the importance of preserving the “hard-won gains achieved under the AU-led Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA)” signed in Pretoria in 2022.

President Donald Trump says he is speaking to Iran’s leadership amid a significant US military build-up in the Middle East, as regional leaders push for diplomacy to avoid a new conflict.

More than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled from Tirah, a remote region in northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, as fears grow of an imminent military offensive against the Pakistan Taliban, according to local residents and officials.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has contradicted claims made by locals and provincial authorities, insisting no military operation is occurring or planned in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province town.

During an Islamabad news conference, he attributed the mass migration to harsh weather conditions rather than military actions, despite residents fleeing for weeks over fears of an impending army operation.

The exodus began after mosque announcements in December last year urged residents to vacate Tirah by January 23 to avoid possible conflict. This follows Pakistan’s August military campaign against Taliban forces in the northwestern Bajaur district, which displaced hundreds of thousands.

Shafi Jan, a provincial government spokesman, blamed federal authorities via social media for the displaced people’s hardships, accusing the Islamabad government of changing its position regarding military operations.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, from imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, has opposed military intervention and pledged to prevent a full-scale operation in Tirah.

Military officials maintain they will continue targeted intelligence operations against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). They claim many TTP fighters have found refuge in Afghanistan since the Afghan Taliban’s 2021 return to power, with hundreds crossing into Tirah and using residents as human shields during raids.

Nearly half of population

Local government administrator Talha Rafiq Alam reported that approximately 10,000 families – about 70,000 people – from Tirah’s 150,000 population have registered as displaced. The registration deadline has been extended from January 23 to February 5, with assurances that residents can return once security improves.

Zar Badshah, 35, who fled with his family, said mortar explosions in villages recently killed one woman and injured four children in his community. “Community elders told us to leave. They instructed us to evacuate to safer places,” he said.

At a Bara government school, hundreds waited in registration lines for government assistance, many complaining about slow processing. Narendra Singh, 27, explained that members of the Sikh minority also fled Tirah due to food shortages worsened by heavy snowfall and security concerns.

Tirah gained national attention last September after an explosion at an alleged bomb-making facility killed at least 24 people. While authorities claimed most casualties were TTP-linked fighters, local leaders contested this account, stating civilians, including women and children, were among the dead.