DL Open Thread: Tuesday, January 27, 2026

I was halfway through my General Assembly Pre-Game Show when I got the sad news:  Today’s session has been canceled.  It was perhaps my best writing ever.  Which will now never see the light of day. Because of my innate generosity, though, if you’d like to read my latest masterpiece, a mere $1000 will get you a cut-and-paste delivered right to your e-mail.  Sure it’s a lot of extra work for me, but your happiness is of my utmost concern.

But, I digress.  Especially since it’s starting to look like ‘Everything Falls Apart’ for the ICE Age.  In the spirit of ICE, I’ll fire a volley of stories at you:

A Frame-By-Frame Analysis Of An ICE Murder.

Greg Bovino ‘Retiring‘:

Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role as Border Patrol “commander at large” and will return to his former job in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon, according to a DHS official and two people with knowledge of the change.

Bovino’s sudden demotion is the clearest sign yet that the Trump administration is reconsidering its most aggressive tactics after the killing Saturday of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents under Bovino’s command.

Earlier today, President Trump appeared to signal in a series of social-media posts a tactical shift in the administration’s mass-deportation campaign. Trump wrote that he spoke with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz—whom the White House has blamed for inciting violence—and the two men are now on “a similar wavelength.” Tom Homan, the former ICE chief whom Trump has designated “border czar,” will head to Minnesota to assume command of the federal mobilization there, Trump said.

NRA Bails On ICE.

Noem On Thin ICE?:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded a two-hour meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office late Monday after she was elbowed aside amid backlash over her handling of the latest deadly shooting in Minneapolis by ICE agents.

Trump held the crisis talks with Noem after he revealed Border Czar Tom Homan was headed to take charge of Homeland Security efforts in Minneapolis after protester Alex Pretti was killed during a brutal takedown by ICE agents, the New York Times reported.

Noem has faced widespread criticism after she was quick to brand Pretti a “domestic terrorist” who had charged at officers while brandishing a gun.

Senate R’s Demand Investigation Into ICE Murder.  Add Kansas’ Jerry Moran and Utah’s John Curtis to the list.

Minnesota R Quits Governor’s Race Over ICE:

GOP Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel said Monday he’s ending his campaign to win his party’s nomination following a series of violent federal immigration incidents in the state.

Madel criticized his own party’s handling of the situation in Minnesota in a statement announcing he’s dropping out of the race.

“Number one, I cannot support the national Republican stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so,” Madel said.

Madel said raids led by ICE using a civil warrant only signed by a Border Patrol agent are “unconstitutional” and “wrong.”

“I can’t look my daughters in the eye and say I’m running as a Republican, when they’re pulling over Hispanics and Asians because of the color of the skin and what they look like,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “I did not sign up for that.”

Were I a cynic, which you know I’m not, I might think that all of this is designed to encourage weak-kneed Senate Democrats to retreat from their threat to kill the appropriations bills if ICE is funded.

Say, I’ve got an idea–why not send ICE agents to the Olympics, you know, to get them out of the country?  What’s that?  Too late?:

The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will see US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents involved in a security capacity.

The move has sparked anger from Milan’s mayor Giuseppe Sala, who maintains “they are not welcome” in the Italian city.

ICE will participate at the Games, AP sources at the US embassy in Rome confirmed, with federal agents clarifying that they will assist with diplomatic security details rather than conducting immigration enforcement operations.

This role, which includes the investigative component of ICE, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), is consistent with support provided by various federal agencies for US diplomats at previous Olympic events, the anonymous sources stated.

However, Mayor Sala has unequivocally declared ICE unwelcome in his city, which is slated to host the majority of the ice sports.

“They are not welcome in Milan. They are not aligned with our democratic way of managing security,” Mr Sala told RTL Radio 102.

Yep, Delaware River And Bay To Consider Giving ICE Co-Conspirator Contract.  Their pathetic rationale:  ‘We might lose Federal dollars if we don’t do it.’  Why the fuck does the Delaware River & Bay need federal dollars?  And why has the General Assembly buried that legislation prohibiting such a contract?:

The government authority that oversees the Wilmington Airport may lease space at the Delaware facility to a little-known company, called Daedalus Aviation Corp., that recently struck a contract to sell planes to federal immigration officials for deportation flights.

Daedalus’s sister company also has a $1 billion contract with the U.S Department of Homeland Security “to support voluntary self-deportation,” according to the report published last month by the Washington Post.

Asked about the potential lease following a public meeting last week, officials from the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which manages the Wilmington airport, said they will consider a resolution next month to approve a rental agreement with Daedalus.

They also said they must provide fair access to all prospective tenants or else they could lose federal dollars. 

(Not so-)Coincidentally, four Boeing Co. 737-700 that Avelo has previously used are also reportedly involved in Daedelus’s recently signed $140-million sale of aircraft to ICE, according to a report from Bloomberg last week.

OK, feckless Delaware Democrats, you can either work that legislation you’ve buried this week, or lose any claim to moral superiority you might have had.

What do you want to talk about?