50501 FRIDAY BRIEFING | JANUARY 16, 2026
Thousands of ICE agents in the Twin Cities. Four deaths in custody. Four DOJ resignations. And five days to walk out.
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January 20th, 2026 (5 DAYS AWAY!)
The Free America Walkout: 2 PM local time, wherever you are.
Commit at FreeAmeri.ca | Find local actions at Mobilize
On January 20th, we walk out of work, school, and commerce as a visible refusal to normalize the construction of a coercive state.
If you can’t walk out safely because of job risk, health, childcare, or any other reason, there are other ways to participate: step away during an official break, skip spending that day, help someone else attend safely, or simply spread the word so others can join.
TL;DR
Last week, Minneapolis mother Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent.
Since then, ICE has flooded the Twin Cities with over 2,000 federal agents and conducted door-knocking enforcement while four people died in ICE custody in just the first 10 days of 2026.
Then the DOJ declined to open a civil-rights probe into Good’s killing, and multiple senior prosecutors announced departures in the aftermath.
We keep building our communities: rapid response, legal observers, and mutual aid.
By The Numbers From This Week’s Posts
+2,000 ICE/HSI agents surged into Minneapolis–St. Paul for “Operation Metro Surge”
1,000+ protests nationwide during the ICE Out For Good weekend of action
4 people died in ICE custody in the first 10 days of 2026
4 senior DOJ Civil Rights Division supervisors resigned after being sidelined
5 days until the Free America Walkout on January 20th
MONDAY: ICE Unhinged: Door-to-Door Raids in St Paul Show a Frightening Escalation
Federal authorities launched Operation Metro Surge, sending roughly 2,000 Homeland Security Investigation agents into the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Acting ICE director Todd Lyons admitted agents were “going door to door” at companies suspected of hiring undocumented immigrants. But local reporters and residents described something broader: officers pounding on residential doors, brandishing long guns, and demanding identification.
The Immunity Claim
Vice President J.D. Vance claimed the ICE officer who killed Renee Nicole Good is “protected by absolute immunity.” Legal experts pushed back immediately. Supremacy Clause immunity is not blanket protection, it applies only when a federal officer was acting within the scope of lawful authority and used no more force than “necessary and proper.” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty launched a state probe and publicly rejected the “absolute immunity” framing.
Communities are Fighting Back
The ICE Out For Good weekend of action mobilized over 1,000 protests nationwide in under 48 hours. Minneapolis drew tens of thousands marching through city streets.
Read the full post with sources by clicking here.
Were you at one of the 1,000+ ICE Out For Good protests last weekend?
TUESDAY: ICE Is Expanding. People Are Dying. And the Government Is Demanding Silence.
What’s changed about ICE encounters right now: accelerated expansion, broader recruiting, faster onboarding, increased incentives, and political leadership that has framed criticism, documentation, and even public grief as hostility toward the agency.
What Has Already Happened
Renee Nicole Good was killed by ICE in Minneapolis. Keith Porter Jr. was killed by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year’s Eve. Four people died in ICE custody in the first ten days of 2026, following one of the deadliest years on record for deaths in ICE detention.
After Renee Good was killed, the federal response was nothing but defensive messaging and threats toward critics. Kristi Noem appeared behind messaging that read: “One of ours, all of yours.”
What You Need to Know If You Encounter ICE
You always have the right to remain silent.
You do not have to open your door without a judge-signed warrant.
You do not have to sign anything.
You can ask if you are free to leave.
You should not physically resist, verbal resistance (”I do not consent”) is safer.
These rules apply even if ICE lies to you.
Read the full post with sources by clicking here.
WEDNESDAY: When DOJ Won’t Review Use of Force
The Department of Justice Declined to Investigate
DOJ leadership said there was “no basis” to open a civil-rights investigation connected to the Minneapolis shooting. The administration is signaling, publicly, that civil-rights review is something it will grant only when they find it convenient.
Four Senior Officials Resigned
Four senior supervisors in DOJ’s Civil Rights Division resigned after being told they would be sidelined from the Minnesota probe.
What This Means
When an administration narrows oversight while pushing enforcement forward and stripping away independent review mechanisms, it turns accountability into a political decision rather than a civic obligation.
Not a single dramatic collapse. A series of choices that degrade our guardrails and make correction harder later.
Read the full post with sources by clicking here.
What’s your reaction to DOJ’s decision? Are you surprised, angry, or something else? Drop it in the comments.
THURSDAY: What To Do When People Are Scared: Build Local Capacity, Not Panic
A step-by-step guide to building what the federal government won’t provide for us: local rapid response networks that reduce harm instead of amplifying fear.
Local Capacity Means:
Verification | preventing ICE rumor cycles from harming immigrant families by labeling what we know, what we don’t, and what we’re still confirming.
A legal pathway | routing people toward qualified guidance, not turning community groups into do-it-yourself legal clinics.
Mutual aid readiness | rides, childcare, food, temporary housing coordination, and workplace coverage when enforcement destabilizes a household.
Documentation standards | documenting from lawful public spaces, protecting privacy, and thinking ahead about whether what’s shared could put an impacted person at greater risk.
On Whistle Kits
Some communities are distributing “whistle kits”, a whistle paired with Know Your Rights materials. If your community is doing this, the most responsible version includes a simple guideline: use the whistle to alert neighbors, then shift immediately to calm coordination, verified reporting, contacting legal support, and documenting responsibly.
Read the full post with sources by clicking here.
Minnesota Is Still Under Pressure
Over the past week, Minnesota has become the test case for what federal power is like when it arrives in force and expects us to accept it.
Under “Operation Metro Surge,” thousands of federal agents have flooded the Twin Cities. Minnesota, Minneapolis, and Saint Paul have sued to halt the operation, and the ACLU has filed a federal case alleging unconstitutional stops, detentions, and racial profiling.
Enforcement continues.
How we help Minnesota right now:
Save and share the rapid-response lines (Immigrant Defense: 612-255-3112 | MONARCA: 612-441-2881), and repost them regularly so they’re easy to find when people need them most.
Support Minnesota’s legal defense and immigrant-rights organizations, because court fights are expensive and this is where precedent gets set.
Build a “Minnesota Watch” thread in spaces: pin post with verified updates, resources, and donation links so Minnesota doesn’t get buried under fake news or replaced by the irrelevant content.
Keep pressuring Congress for oversight hearings, while the record is still being written and before this becomes the new normal everywhere.
Ways to Support Minnesota’s Immigrant Communities as ICE Activity Escalates
Know your rights amid rising ICE activity in Minnesota
What You Can Do Now
This Weekend:
Confirm your January 20th plan. Where will you be at 2 PM? Do you have transportation? Childcare covered? Know your rights if you’re attending a public action?
Text two people today: “Jan 20, 2 PM local. Free America Walkout. I’m going. Will you?”
Download and share the ACLU Know Your Rights guides, available in English and Spanish
Before January 20th:
Find a local action at FreeAmeri.ca or Mobilize
Connect with your local 50501 group at fiftyfifty.one/groups
Check on someone who might be worried or overwhelmed right now
Ongoing:
Call Congress: (202) 224-3121
Example script: “I’m calling about the DOJ’s refusal to open a civil-rights investigation into the Minneapolis ICE shooting. I want to know if the Representative/Senator will demand accountability for Renee Nicole Good’s death.”
Sources & Resources
For January 20th:
Free America Walkout hub: freeameri.ca
Find local actions: Mobilize
50501 community groups: fiftyfifty.one/groups
Immigration Defense:
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
ACLU Know Your Rights: aclu.org/know-your-rights
National Immigrant Justice Center: immigrantjustice.org
ICE Detainee Locator: locator.ice.gov
ICIRR Family Support Line: 1-855-435-7693
Legal Observer Support:
National Lawyers Guild: nlg.org/chapters
Crisis Support:
Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860
Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386
THANK YOU
This was another week where this administration tries to overwhelm us.
You showed up at protests in over a thousand locations last weekend for ICE OUT FOR GOOD. Some of you have just started building local infrastructure in your own communities while others are helping the movement by sharing and engaging in comment so we can get resources to those who need them. Thank you for caring for your neighbors. We are a movement of strength, community, and empathy.
Coming Up: February 17th, National Day of Lobbying for the impeachment, conviction, and removal of Donald Trump and his regime.
We’re joining and supporting FLARE and Citizens Impeachment in organizing in all 435 congressional districts to show up at local Representatives’ offices and demand impeachment, conviction, and removal of Donald Trump and his administration. Reps will be in-district, and FLARE USA & Citizens’ Impeachment & 50501 will be providing a lobbying toolkit and follow-up guidance. (More to come!)
Sign up to organize here: tinyurl.com/lobby217.







We’ve been fearful of Trump instituting the Insurrection Act.
BUT, what if we can turn the tables?
What if we can pit the military against ICE?
And the military becomes OUR defender?
Think about it
Epstein files