ICE Detains a 5-Year-Old near Minneapolis: And tried to use him as bait to catch his family. On Tuesday, Liam Conejo Ramos had just been picked up from school when masked agents apprehended him and his father in the driveway. MPR reported that another adult living at the house begged agents to let the boy stay. The agents then marched Liam up to the door and made him knock, hoping this would lure his family members out of the house. Nobody answered the door, and ICE took Liam and his dad away. Their lawyer thinks they’re in a family holding cell in Texas, but isn’t entirely sure. Liam is one of four students in the same school district north of Minneapolis that have been detained by ICE over the last two weeks.

ICE at Our Own Schools: Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is dealing with the aftermath of at least six schools sheltering-in-place Tuesday after unconfirmed reports of ICE activity in South Seattle. At last night’s school board meeting, half a dozen parents, teachers and community members spoke about how stressful that day was. Interim Superintendent Fred Podesta said district policy tells principals when they should order a shelter-in-place, which has worked well for local law enforcement activity. But federal law enforcement? Folks were having to make decisions on the basis of unconfirmed information and little risk assessment. Podesta thinks SPS hasn’t given its school leaders the tools needed to deal with ambiguous ICE reports, and they’re going to correct that. It’s unclear how the district will correct that.

More Local ICE Stuff: The feds have a plan to expand Tacoma’s Northwest ICE Processing Center, adding five courtrooms, airport services for deportation, and 60 additional beds for detainees. It hasn’t been approved yet.

Open Up: For years, legal aid groups have advised immigrants not to open the door for ICE unless agents have a warrant signed by a judge. But according to a May 2025 memo obtained by the Associated Press, ICE claims it doesn’t need a warrant and can forcibly enter certain homes. The memo permits ICE to enter based only on a narrow administrative warrant for a final order of removal. But without the judicial warrant, the arrest is unconstitutional, as it violates the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unlawful search and seizure. But ICE has been violating the Fourth Amendment for years, so this memo just validates that.

Minneapolis Church ICE Protester Arrested: On Sunday, activist and civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong led a protest to disrupt service at Cities Church, where one of the pastors is also a local ICE official. Now, she’s been arrested, according to an X post by US Attorney General Pam Bondi, writing, “WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP.” It’s unclear what crime Levy Armstrong has been charged with, but the Justice Department has said they’re considering prosecuting her under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which prohibits physically interfering with a person seeking reproductive services or trying to participate at a house of worship.

‘Catch of the Day’: That’s what the feds have named their newest ICE operation in Maine. Yesterday, the Associated Press reported a surge of ICE arrests in the state, stoking fear in larger cities likePortland and Lewiston. Maine doesn’t have a large undocumented population, but it does have thousands of African refugees, particularly from Somalia, who’ve been targeted by this administration. Portland’s mayor, Mark Dion, said the city council stands with their immigrant communities, and citizens have formed ICE alert networks.

Chicago Hospital Pauses Trans Youth Care: Housing one of the oldest gender-affirming care programs in the nation, Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital won’t issue new prescriptions for puberty blockers and hormones to children and teens. The switch comes less than a week after the Trump administration announced Lurie, along with five other hospitals, including Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Oregon, was being referred for an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services. A Chicago trans advocacy group called the hospital’s decision “pre-compliance,” pointing out that no funding had yet been pulled.

Kidfluencers: State Rep. Kristine Reeves wants to prevent another Ruby Franke (the Utah family vlogger who ran the popular YouTube channel “8 Passengers” before being arrested for severe child abuse) in Washington. She’s sponsored House Bill 2400, which would establish legal protections for  child influencers, like trust accounts for their earnings and the ability to remove their content from the internet once they become adults. Think of them like Hollywood’s child actors, Reeves said: these kids are working and deserve the same protections from exploitation and long hours.

FEMA Flood Aid: Yesterday, Gov. Bob Ferguson asked the Trump administration for $21.3 million in FEMA assistance to help people whose homes were damaged by last month’s flooding. If Ferguson’s request is granted, the program would provide up to $43,600 for housing, repairs, and other needs. But it could take months. Though Trump did approve FEMA search-and-rescue help in the immediate aftermath of the floods in December, the President likes to withhold aid from blue states.

2 Line: A Seattle Times reporter joined South Transit and Mayor Katie Wilson for a practice trip on the new 2 Line across Lake Washington. Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine said the route connecting the International District to Bellevue will open this spring. Officials will share the launch date tomorrow. 

Key Takeaways From Trump’s Davos Speech: Trump is obsessed with Greenland, and droned on about how the US needs the semiautonomous Danish territory for national and international security because Denmark is too weak to protect it. He claimed he wouldn’t use force to take Greenland, but the man’s a known liar. He said some other annoying shit, which you can read about here.

A Reminder That It’s Thursday. We’re almost to the weekend, guys. Hang in there. This morning, we’ll see freezing fog, before a chilly day with sun and clouds. KUOW reported that yesterday was Seattle’s ninth straight day without rain, and it looks like we’re going into our 10th. The high will be 42 degrees and the low will be 33.  

Now, a word from Megan:

Don’t Forget to Send Us Your Valentines! We’re filling our February issue (on stands February 4!) with hundreds of your love notes! Just head over to thestranger.com/valentines and spill your heart in 150 characters or less and we’ll put it in the pages of The Stranger! For FREE! But you gotta hurry. Only the first 500 entries are guaranteed to appear in the paper, and submissions must be received by 5 pm on Friday, January 23, for possible inclusion. And new this year: The first 20 people to purchase a new one-year subscription to the print edition of The Stranger can get a super-sized valentine! Just buy your subscription here, and then forward your receipt to valentines@thestranger.com using the same email address you used when submitting your valentine message, and we'll display your message in larger font with an extra cute design! Cuuuute!