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Sanders Says Trump Attacks on Europe, Unleashing of ICE All Part of Broader Authoritarian Agenda
"Let’s be clear," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "Trump would prefer the world to be ruled by his fellow multi-billionaire oligarchs."
Jan 22, 2026
US Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that seemingly distinct actions by President Donald Trump—such as his attacks on European allies and his unleashing of federal immigration agents on American cities—are part of a broader agenda that aims to "undermine democracy and move this country and the world toward authoritarianism."
"Trump's hostility toward Europe has little to do with his absurd and irrational arguments over Greenland," Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement following the US president's speech in Davos, Switzerland. "Trump does not like free elections, a free media, or the right of people to dissent. That is why he hates Europe, with its strong democratic governance, social safety net, and commitment to peacefully resolving disputes."
"That is why he is sending ICE to invade American cities," Sanders continued, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Let’s be clear. Trump would prefer the world to be ruled by his fellow multi-billionaire oligarchs, like his good friends in Saudi Arabia and Russia. These dictators crush political dissent, jail their opponents, and engage in massive kleptocracy."
Noting that the US will mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the progressive senator said that "in this dangerous moment in American history, it is imperative that all of us, regardless of our political views, come together to confront the grave threat of authoritarianism."
Together, we must defend democracy and defeat authoritarianism. pic.twitter.com/rYaow0UuO2
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 21, 2026
Sanders' remarks came as the catalog of ICE horrors continued to grow, with news that federal agents have snatched at least four children from Minnesota public schools in recent weeks and revelations that ICE is running roughshod over the Fourth Amendment by asserting the right to forcibly enter people's homes without a warrant.
"This is what a criminal conspiracy looks like," said policy analyst Andy Craig, "because that's what it is."
Marking the end of the first year of Trump's second term in the White House, Amnesty International USA warned earlier this week that the Republican president has plunged the United States into a full-blown "human rights emergency."
"By shredding norms and concentrating power, the administration is trying to make it impossible for anyone to hold them accountable," said Paul O’Brien, the organization's executive director. "There is no doubt that these authoritarian practices by the Trump administration are eroding human rights and increasing the risk for journalists and people who speak out or dissent, including protestors, lawyers, students, and human rights defenders."
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ICE Detainee's Death Officially Declared a Homicide in Autopsy Report
The Department of Homeland Security issued deportation notices to two people who witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos' death, but a judge halted their deportations this week to allow them to potentially provide testimony.
Jan 22, 2026
The family of a man who was detained at the makeshift immigrant detention center Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas is preparing to file a wrongful death lawsuit following an autopsy report that officially declared his cause of death to be homicide.
“Based on the investigative and examination findings, it is my opinion that the cause of death is asphyxia due to neck and torso compression,” Adam C. Gonzalez, the deputy medical examiner for El Paso County, wrote in the report on the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55. “The manner of death is homicide.”
The medical examiner's office had previously indicated it was likely to classify the cause of death as homicide, subject to the results of a toxicology report.
According to the autopsy report, Lunas Campos became unresponsive when he was physically restrained by employees at Camp East Montana, a sprawling tent camp at Fort Bliss. He sustained injuries to his head and neck, including burst blood vessels in his neck and on his eyelids. The exact cause of death was listed as “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) first said in a news release on January 9 that Lunas Campos had died "after experiencing medical distress."
“He said, ‘I cannot breathe, I cannot breathe.’ After that, we don’t hear his voice anymore, and that’s it."
After the Washington Post reported that his daughter had shared with the outlet a recording of a conversation she had had with an employee of the medical examiner's office who said her father's death was likely to be classified as a homicide, DHS described Lunas Campos' death as a suicide.
A DHS official told the Times on Wednesday that Lunas Campos had tried to take his own life and “violently resisted the security staff," causing his death.
An internal ICE log referenced an "'immediate' use-of-force incident" involving Lunas Campos but did not provide details or a date.
Lunas Campos' family petitioned a judge earlier this week to stop the deportations of two detainees who said they witnessed the man's death or the moments leading up to it. Both of the witnesses have been given deportation notices since Lunas Campos died on January 3.
On Wednesday, Judge David Briones, a senior US district judge for the Western District of Texas, granted the request to temporarily halt the deportations, saying they would make it harder to “obtain the testimony of these witnesses."
In the family's petition, they said one witness had seen guards choke Lunas Campos to death and the other had seen him struggling with the guards in the moments before he died.
The first detainee, Santos Jesus Flores, told the Post he had also heard Lunas Campos repeatedly saying, "No puedo respirar"—Spanish for "I can't breathe."
“He said, ‘I cannot breathe, I cannot breathe.’ After that, we don’t hear his voice anymore, and that’s it,” said Flores.
A hearing has been set for January 27 to determine whether the detainees can provide testimony in court.
Lunas Campos is one of six people who have died in ICE custody in the first weeks of 2026, according to ICE records. Three people have died at Camp East Montana since it opened in August.
Physical abuse and medical neglect has been reported at Camp East Montana as well as other detention centers, with an Amnesty International analysis last month warning that some treatment reported at "Alligator Alcatraz" in Florida constitutes torture.
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'Absolutely Vile': ICE Snatches Young Kids From Minnesota Schools, Sends Them to Texas
"Targeting children—our babies—is beyond the pale. ICE is completely out of control and beyond fixing," said Minnesota's lieutenant governor.
Jan 22, 2026
Federal immigration agents have detained at least four children from Minnesota public schools over the past two weeks, including a 5-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl who were both sent to Texas detention centers that have come under fire for grotesque conditions.
Zena Stenvik, the superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, held a press conference on Wednesday to provide details of the targeting of children and decry the menacing presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who have been terrorizing and abusing communities in Minneapolis and other major US cities at the behest of President Donald Trump.
"ICE agents have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots, and taking our children,” Stenvik said. “The sense of safety in our community and around our schools is shaken, and our hearts are shattered.”
The superintendent said that ICE agents used 5-year-old Liam Ramos as "bait" to also arrest his father. The two were taken while in their driveway, "just having arrived home" from preschool. Both are currently at a Texas detention center.
"The middle school brother came home to a missing dad, a missing little brother, and a terrified mother," said Stenvik. "This family is following US legal parameters and has an active asylum case with no order of deportation. I have viewed the legal paperwork with my own eyes. Why detain a 5-year-old? You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal."
"Don’t tell us this is about 'the worst of the worst. That’s a lie."
Stenvik also described the arrest of a 10-year-old fourth grader who was detained by ICE agents along with her mother.
"During the arrest, the child called her father to tell him the ICE agents were bringing her to school," said Stenvik. "The father immediately came to the school to find that both his daughter and wife had been taken. By the end of the school day, they were already in a detention center in Texas, and they are still there."
A 17-year-old high school student, according to Stenvik, was detained by "armed and masked agents, alone."
"The student was removed from their car and taken away," said Stenvik.
Minnesota officials and lawmakers reacted with horror to the superintendent's account of the arrests.
"ICE has detained children as young as five," Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan wrote on social media. "No 5-year-old makes us unsafe. Targeting children—our babies—is beyond the pale. ICE is completely out of control and beyond fixing."
US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called the arrests of children "absolutely vile."
"Don’t tell us this is about 'the worst of the worst,'" said Omar. "That’s a lie."
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