Poll: Half of Americans think ICE is making cities less safe
Half of Americans believe that ICE is making American cities less safe, a new CNN poll has found.
According to the survey which was conducted from 9 to 12 January, 51% of Americans said that ICE’s enforcement actions are making cities less safe rather than safer. Only 31% felt that ICE’s operations were making cities more secure.
The survey also found that only 26% of Americans said they viewed the ICE agent’s fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis last week as an “appropriate use of force”.
Fifty-six per cent of Americans called the fatal shooting an inappropriate use of force, with about half saying that Good’s killing reflects bigger problems with the way that ICE is operating.
Additionally, the survey revealed a shift in opinion towards Donald Trump’s immigration policies, with 52% saying that his deportation efforts have gone too far, marking an increase from the 45% of Americans who indicated so last February.
Key events
Donald Trump said he had a “great conversation” with Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, after his first known conversation with Nicolás Maduro’s former vice-president.
Here’s more of our recent coverage of Rodríguez:
Bill and Hillary Clinton filed sworn legal documents with Jim Comer yesterday, sharing everything they knew about Jeffrey Epstein, the office of Bill Clinton shared in a statement.
Comer chairs the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the late convicted sex offender. Earlier today, Comer said he plans to hold the Clintons in contempt of Congress after they refused to appear before the committee for in-person testimony.
“Bill & Hillary Clinton took the extraordinary step of – without being asked – each submitting comprehensive statements to Jim Comer directly in two documents. Each was a sworn legal document listing everything they have to offer,” Clinton’s office said in the statement.
The documents include a four-page letter to Comer, as well as one-page declarations from both Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Democrats on the committee issued a statement adding that “President Trump’s targeting of the Clintons is part of a continuing pattern in which President Trump has weaponized the Department of Justice against his perceived political enemies, including, among others, former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and most recently, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell”.
The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, announced on social media that “several officers from the Swedish Armed Forces are arriving in Greenland today”.
He added that the troops are “part of a group from several allied countries” preparing for “Operation Arctic Endurance”. He did not provide any additional details about the operation, but said it “is at Denmark’s request that Sweden is sending personnel”.
The president pushed back against another reporter’s question on his next steps in Greenland.
“You don’t know what I’m going to do,” Trump said. “Certainly I’m not going to give up options, but it’s very important. Greenland is very important for that national security, including of Denmark … I can’t rely on Denmark being able to fend themselves off.”
Donald Trump repeated his refrain that if the US doesn’t annex Greenland, “Russia is going to go in, and China’s going to go in, and there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it”.
“We can do everything about it,” he added, noting that after he wraps up in the Oval Office he’ll receive a briefing about the vice-president and secretary of state’s meeting with Danish and Greenlandic officials earlier today.
The president didn’t confirm that military action against Iran was off the table while speaking in the Oval Office today.
“We’re going to watch and see what the process is,” he said, adding that he’s been given “a very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on”.
When asked who told the administration that the “executions have stopped”, Donald Trump said: “We have been informed by very important sources on the other side and they’ve said the killing is stopped and executions won’t take place.”
Trump says he’s been told the ‘killing in Iran is stopping’
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office today, Donald Trump said that “the killing in Iran is stopping”.
“There’s no plan for executions,” he said, referring to the death sentence of 26-year-old anti-government protester Erfan Soltani. Trump had threatened military action if any executions in Iran took place.
“I’m sure if it happens, we’ll all be very upset,” the president added. “But that’s just gotten to me … they’re not going to have an execution.”
Joseph Gedeon
The Trump administration has indefinitely suspended immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries, marking one of its most expansive efforts yet to restrict legal pathways to the United States.
The freeze, which takes effect on 21 January, targets applicants officials deem likely to become a “public charge” – whom the Trump administration describes as people who may rely on government benefits for basic needs.
The state department wrote on social media that it “will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates”.
Countries affected include Brazil, Iran, Russia, Somalia, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Eritria, Haiti, Thailand and Yemen, though the complete list has not been publicly released.
“The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,” the statement continued. “We are working to ensure the generosity of the American people will no longer be abused.”
Danish minister says ‘we didn’t manage to change US position’ following talks with Vance and Rubio
Jakub Krupa
When asked today about what the compromise could be on Greenland, Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that it’s not a conversation to be had through the media.
At a press conference after his meeting with vice-president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio, Rasmussen sais that any future solution needs to respect Denmark’s red lines on territorial sovereignty.
He also insisted that there are no immediate threats from China and Russia that Denmark and Greenland, and their allies, cannot manage themselves.
“We didn’t manage to change the US position,” he added. “It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering Greenland, and we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the Kingdom [of Denmark].”
In a short while we’ll bring you the latest from the White House, when Donald Trump signs legislation that allows schools to serve whole and 2% milk.
We’ll be watching for the lines from the president about JD Vance and Marco Rubio’s meeting with Denmark and Greenland officials earlier today, as well as any update on the situation on the ground in Iran.
A Minnesota judge has refused to issue a restraining order to halt ICE operations across the state, citing the need for further evidence.
The decision from Judge Kate Menendez comes after Minnesota’s decision earlier this week to sue the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, and other federal officials over their involvement in a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations across the state.
Speaking about her decision, Menendez said: “I think the issues are really important and I don’t want to suggest by not acting immediately one way or the other that I think they are unimportant … To the contrary, I understand this is important to everybody.”
The plaintiffs petitioned the court for a temporary restraining order, arguing that ICE’s immigration sweeps are infringing on constitutional rights and that a brief suspension would allow legal teams to fully develop their arguments.
Meanwhile, government attorneys pushed back, asserting that there is no justification for pausing the operations because the state has not substantiated its allegations.
The government has until 19 January to respond while Minnesota’s state lawyers have until 22 January.
Poll: Half of Americans think ICE is making cities less safe
Half of Americans believe that ICE is making American cities less safe, a new CNN poll has found.
According to the survey which was conducted from 9 to 12 January, 51% of Americans said that ICE’s enforcement actions are making cities less safe rather than safer. Only 31% felt that ICE’s operations were making cities more secure.
The survey also found that only 26% of Americans said they viewed the ICE agent’s fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis last week as an “appropriate use of force”.
Fifty-six per cent of Americans called the fatal shooting an inappropriate use of force, with about half saying that Good’s killing reflects bigger problems with the way that ICE is operating.
Additionally, the survey revealed a shift in opinion towards Donald Trump’s immigration policies, with 52% saying that his deportation efforts have gone too far, marking an increase from the 45% of Americans who indicated so last February.
Slotkin says she’s under investigation for video telling troops to disobey illegal orders
Elissa Slotkin, the senator who led several Democratic members of Congress in a video to tell US troops to “refuse illegal orders”, said that the US attorney for DC asked to interview her about her involvement in the social media post.
In a post on X, the Michigan lawmaker said that “intimidation is the point” and underscored that “it’s not going to work”.
After the initial video, Donald Trump accused the Democrats of “seditious behavior” and even reposted calls for them to be hanged. Today, Slotkin said that after the president’s reaction in November, she received a bomb threat at her home, received “24/7 security from Capitol police” and her parents were “swatted in the middle of the night”.
“Anyone who disagrees with him [Trump] becomes an enemy and he weaponizes the federal government against them,” she said. “Right now, speaking out against the abuse of power is the most patriotic thing we can do.”
Republican senator Josh Hawley, one of five GOP lawmakers who voted to advance a war powers resolution that would curb the Trump administration’s ability to carry out further military action in Venezuela, told reporters today that he now plans to support a procedural effort by Republicans to kill the full vote on the resolution scheduled for today.
This comes after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, sent a letter to the Senate foreign affairs committee confirming that there were no boots on the ground in Venezuela.
My colleague Jakub Krupa notes that Danish media is reporting the meeting between the vice-president, JD Vance, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and officials from Denmark and Greenland has ended.
We’ll bring you the latest lines about what happened at today’s talks as soon as they come through.
