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For Immediate Release
February, 12 2026, 11:31am EDT
Contact:
CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper,Phone: 202-744-7726,E-Mail:,ihooper@cair.com
CAIR-MN Welcomes End of ICE Siege of Minneapolis as ‘Community Victory,’ Warns of Lasting Harm and Ongoing Risks
MINNEAPOLIS
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today welcomed the announced end of the ICE siege of Minneapolis as a “hard-fought community victory,” while warning that the impacts of the operation will continue to be felt by families and communities across the state.
MEDIA ADVISORY: CAIR-MN will hold a news conference today to respond to the announced withdrawal.
WHO: CAIR-MN, Community Activists, Faith Leaders, Elected Officials
WHEN: Today, Thursday, Feb. 12, 1:30 PM CT
WHERE: Minneapolis City Hall, Minneapolis, MN CONTACT: Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director, CAIR-MN, 612-406-0070, jhussein@cair.com; Suleiman Adan, Deputy Executive Director, CAIR-MN, 612-408-7183, sadan@cair.com
Federal officials confirmed today that “Operation Metro Surge,” which brought thousands of immigration agents into Minnesota and resulted in thousands of arrests, is being wound down following months of public pressure, protests, and national scrutiny. The operation sparked widespread backlash after aggressive enforcement tactics and fatal shootings of U.S. citizens during raids, which intensified community fear and demands for accountability.
“Today’s announcement reflects what happens when communities organize, speak out, and refuse to accept fear as public policy,” said Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director of CAIR-MN. “This is a hard-fought community victory. But it comes after real trauma, real harm, and the loss of life. That cannot be ignored.”
“This moment belongs to the community,” Hussein added. “Faith leaders, organizers, tenants, youth, and everyday residents stood together and demanded dignity. That collective action forced change. And we will remain vigilant.” CAIR-MN cautioned that the federal government has made clear enforcement will continue beyond Minnesota and that the policies behind the operation remain in place nationwide.
“The withdrawal of agents does not undo the damage,” said Suleiman Adan, Deputy Executive Director of CAIR-MN. “Families remain separated. Communities remain traumatized. Trust in institutions has been shaken. And today’s rhetoric from federal leadership signals that similar operations could continue elsewhere.”
CAIR-MN is calling for immediate next steps:
- Full transparency regarding arrests, detentions, and use-of-force incidents.
- Independent investigations into harm and loss of life during the operation.
- Legal and mental-health support for impacted families.
- A permanent end to large-scale militarized immigration enforcement in Minnesota communities.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a grassroots civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
(202) 488-8787LATEST NEWS
'Billionaires Are Waging War Against the Rest of Us': James Talarico Responds to Class Warfare Accusations
The Texas Democrat accused US billionaires of "stealing from the American people, stealing the wealth that we created."
Feb 12, 2026
Texas Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico turned the tables on a town hall questioner who asked him if he was pushing “class warfare” with his populist economic pitch and frequent criticism of billionaires.
Talarico responded that there is already class warfare in the US.
"It's the billionaires waging war against the rest of us, and right now the billionaires are winning," explained the Texas Democrat in a video clip of the town hall posted on social media Wednesday. "They've been winning for 50 years. Trickle-down economics is not a theory, it is theft."
A young man at our town hall asked if I was pushing class warfare.
I told him: “We already have class warfare in this country — billionaires are waging war on the rest of us.” pic.twitter.com/w238OfB8yH
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) February 12, 2026
Talarico went on to accuse billionaires of "stealing from the American people, stealing the wealth that we created."
"It's why everyone is so angry right now," he continued. "It's why, no matter how hard you work, you can't seem to get ahead. The American people are not asking for a whole lot: A job we don't hate, a house big enough to raise a family in, and a little left over so we can go on vacation every once in a while. That is a lot harder than it should be in America."
Talarico's answer on "class warfare" came two days after a Monday report in the Wall Street Journal revealed that labor compensation in the US has fallen to its lowest percentage of gross domestic income since at least 1980, even as corporate profits have risen to the highest percentage of gross domestic income over that same period.
"The divergence between capital and labor helps explain the disconnect between a buoyant economy and pessimistic households," explained the Journal. "It will also play an outsize role in where the economy goes from here."
An analysis released in January by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) found that the collective wealth of US billionaires surged to $8.1 trillion in 2025, even as many working-class Americans struggled with basic expenses such as groceries, housing and healthcare.
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GOP Lawmaker Says Bill Being Crafted to Shield Big Oil From Climate Liability Lawsuits
"Let’s be clear: You don’t need immunity unless you are in fact responsible for the damages claimed in these lawsuits," said one climate organizer.
Feb 12, 2026
Weeks after the largest oil and gas trade organization in the US unveiled its 2026 policy agenda featuring the goal of shielding companies from "abusive state climate lawsuits," a Republican congresswoman acknowledged at a hearing Wednesday that GOP lawmakers are actively working to stop legal complaints and legislation that aim to hold the industry accountable for mounting climate harms.
At the House Judiciary Committee hearing in which the panel conducted oversight of Attorney General Pam Bondi's Department of Justice, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wy.) informed Bondi that she is currently "working with [her] colleagues in both the House and Senate to craft legislation tackling" superfund laws like ones passed in Vermont and New York, which require fossil fuel giants to contribute to paying for climate damage wrought by their oil and gas extraction.
The legislation Hageman is working on would also aim to kill state and local climate lawsuits like one filed last month by Michigan alleging antitrust violations by fossil fuel companies and another filed by Boulder, Colorado against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy subsidiaries. The parties in the latter case are awaiting a US Supreme Court review.
At the hearing, Bondi agreed with Hageman's assertion that such lawsuits and state laws "require a federal response" and said the Department of Justice would consider taking action to "protect federal supremacy over interstate emissions and energy policy."
“Multiple climate lawsuits are now advancing toward trial,” Hageman said. “Clearly this is an area in which Congress has a role to play."
Recent reporting suggests that Hageman's efforts are a response to the fossil fuel industry's lobbying to avoid accountability for climate disasters that have increasingly been linked to planetary heating, which international scientists agree is being caused by fossil fuel extraction—despite the congresswoman's dismissal of "speculative future climate change harms."
The American Petroleum Institute (API) said last month in its policy agenda that it aims to "stop extreme climate liability policy" and end the "expansion of climate 'superfund' policies."
Last year, 16 GOP state attorneys general proposed the creation of a "liability shield" for fossil fuel giants, while state legislators in Oklahoma and Utah have introduced bills to bar most civil lawsuits against companies over the emissions or their role in the climate emergency.
Hageman and other opponents of scientists' and experts' demand for a transition away from fossil fuels have suggested such lawsuits are unserious attempts to increase "mismanaged state budgets by imposing fees on consumers and businesses," as the congresswoman claimed.
API president Mike Sommers said last month that the mounting legal challenges are “denying facts, delaying progress, and ignoring the realities of rising demand"—despite the fact that an analysis by climate think tank Ember last year found a growing expansion of renewable energy worldwide while the Trump administration insists on reviving coal production and killing solar and wind power projects.
"Congress should not close the courthouse doors to communities seeking redress. Big Oil is not entitled to special immunity from the consequences of its conduct.“
Vermont Law School professor Pat Parenteau told ExxonKnews in December that the efforts to shield companies from climate liability suggest that fossil fuel giants and proponents like Hageman know that lawsuits like Michigan's and Boulder's would likely stand up in court.
"If these cases are as frivolous as the oil companies’ briefs pretend, then why in the world are you busting your butt to get a declaration of immunity from Congress?” said Parenteau.
Cassidy DiPaola, communications director for the Make Polluters Pay campaign, emphasized that "a federal liability shield for fossil fuel companies would not lower energy prices or ease the cost of living. It would simply shift more of the financial burden onto working families and local governments while insulating one of the most profitable industries in history from accountability."
"Congress should not close the courthouse doors to communities seeking redress," said DiPaola. "Big Oil is not entitled to special immunity from the consequences of its conduct.“
Climate lawsuits have been filed against companies by 11 states including Maine, California, and Rhode Island, and in addition to the Boulder case, lawsuits filed in Honolulu and Washington, DC are advancing toward trial after courts denied the defendant's motions to dismiss them.
Hageman announced her effort to stop climate liability lawsuits and laws the same day that new research led by Oregon State University ecology professor William Ripple was published in the journal One Earth, showing that multiple critical Earth systems are closer to becoming unstable than previously thought, due to the climate emergency.
That pattern is putting the planet on a "hothouse" path, the scientists warn, with feedback loops amplifying the effects of planetary heating like extreme heatwaves and weather disasters.
“As communities across the US move closer to putting Big Oil companies on trial to make them pay for the damage their climate lies have caused, the fossil fuel industry is panicking and pleading with Congress for a get-out-of-jail-free card," said Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity.
“Let’s be clear: You don’t need immunity unless you are in fact responsible for the damages claimed in these lawsuits," he said. "A liability shield for Big Oil would bar the courthouse doors for communities across the country and stick US taxpayers with the massive and growing bill for climate damages, while bailing out corporate polluters from having to pay for the mess they made."
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Body Camera Footage and Texts Show DHS Lied About Shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago
"We live in a strange time right now where we cannot trust our federal government," said Martinez's lawyer.
Feb 12, 2026
Newly released evidence shows that the Department of Homeland Security lied about the shooting of yet another US citizen.
In October, a Border Patrol agent shot Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old school assistant, five times while she was in her vehicle in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. She had been tailing agents while warning the neighborhood that “la migra” was coming.
Immediately after the shooting, DHS leapt to defend the agent who shot Martinez, Charles Exum. The agency claimed in an incident report that Martinez was blocking agents and had "rammed" them with her car. The agency described her as a "domestic terrorist."
Martinez, who survived the shooting, was charged with assaulting officers and pleaded not guilty.
The government's case was fatally undermined in November when it was revealed during a hearing that Exum had bragged to friends about injuring Martinez over text message: “I fired five rounds, and she had seven holes. Put that in your book, boys," he said.
Martinez's lawyers also said body camera footage—kept under seal by a federal protective order—showed a different series of events from what the agency had portrayed.
In November, federal prosecutors dropped the case against Martinez without explanation. But even afterwards, federal officials have continued to label her as a terrorist.
"This is before there’s any investigation done," said her attorney Chris Parente, who has argued that the public should be able to view the evidence for itself.
On Wednesday, the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago released body camera footage from two other agents involved in the incident—Adam J. Perkins and Lorenzo Cordero—as well as dozens of Exum's other emails and text messages from the incident's aftermath.
Parente, who presented the evidence in a press conference on Wednesday alongside Martinez and her other lawyers, said that with the release, “People can actually see the real evidence as opposed to the false claims by our government.”
He said the release after several months of keeping the footage buried was a "misguided attempt to take the sting out of just how damaging it is for the government.”
Block Club Chicago, which reviewed the body cam footage, explained that it "counters the incident report’s narrative" that Martinez had been the aggressor. Rather, it shows that she was attempting to drive away and that agents chose to ram her.
It shows Cordero and Perkins with weapons drawn and pointing out the rear passenger window about one minute before the collision and shooting of Martinez.
The phrase “it’s time to get aggressive” and “we’re going to make contact, we’re boxed in,” can be heard by one of the three agents before Exum is seen yanking his steering wheel to the left and hitting Martinez’s car.
After the collision, Exum is seen getting out of the car and firing five shots within two seconds.
The body camera footage verifies claims made by Martinez's attorneys, who said that after drawing their weapons, one of the agents could be heard saying, "Do something, bitch."
It also provides support to attorneys’ claims about text messages sent by agents after the shooting. Exum is seen bragging about the shooting, calling it a “great new scenario to add to our training.” Other agents sent messages praising him: One called him “a legend among agents.” Another said, “Good job, brother, glad you’re unharmed.” A third said, “Beers on me.”
Exum replied with the phrase "Fuck around and find out," which has been an oft-used slogan within the Trump administration to justify killings by law enforcement and the military.
Exum also discussed the "big time" support he was getting from top Trump administration officials. He said "everyone" had been "supportive," including then-Border Patrol Commander at Large Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and even "El Jefe himself," likely referring to President Donald Trump.
Less than four hours after the shooting, Exum received an email from Bovino, who offered to extend his retirement age beyond 57 and praised his "excellent service to Chicago."
On Wednesday, the same day the new evidence was released, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told the Chicago Sun-Times that Exum has now been placed on administrative leave. They did not clarify how long the leave would last or when it began.
Parente said the smearing of Martinez as a terrorist fits a pattern that the Trump administration has since used to justify other shootings by agents.
"We live in a strange time right now where we cannot trust our federal government," he said. “Within an hour of the actual incident, DHS branded [Martinez] a domestic terrorist. The same thing they did to Renee Good. The same thing they did to Mr. [Alex] Pretti,” referring to two other US citizens shot and killed last month by agents in Minneapolis.
Martinez has announced plans to sue the federal government and Exum for "tens of millions of dollars," citing physical injuries to her right leg, right forearm, and chest; reputational damage; and emotional harm.
During a hearing earlier this month on Capitol Hill about the violent use of force by DHS agents, she described the shooting as an attempted "execution."
"I looked down and noticed blood gushing out of my arms and legs, and I realized I'd been shot multiple times," she said. "What happened to me in a matter of seconds on October 4th will unfortunately be with me for a lifetime."
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