By REBECCA SANTANA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The men tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda were made to watch a video of the shooting death of Alex Pretti in a slow, moment-by-moment analysis on Thursday by Sen. Rand Paul, who repeatedly cast doubt on the tactics used by federal officers and warned that the American public had lost trust in the country’s immigration agencies.

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It was a tense confrontation at a Senate hearing that was called to scrutinize the immigration chiefs as they carry out one of Trump’s signature policy and after the deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis over recent weeks at the hands of federal officers.

Paul, who paused the video every few seconds to explain his interpretation of the events, argued that Pretti posed no threat to the officers and questioned why the situation culminated in the ICU nurse’s death.

“He is retreating at every moment,” said Paul, speaking of Pretti’s behavior while officers pepper-sprayed him. “He’s trying to get away and he’s being sprayed in the face.”

The hearing’s witnesses included Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, and Joseph Edlow, who runs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The same officials appeared in front of a House committee earlier this week.

Paul’s comments were a strong rebuke of the conduct by CBP officers who ultimately shot and killed Pretti on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis.

“It’s clearly evident that the public trust has been lost. To restore trust in ICE and Border Patrol they must admit their mistakes, be honest and forthright with their rules of engagement and pledge to reform,” Paul said in his opening statements.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a Senate Homeland Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)

But Paul, who’s often shown a willingness to buck party line, was the lone Republican voice questioning the immigration officers’ conduct with others steering clear of any criticism. Democrats also weighed in with sharp condemnation of the shooting and, more broadly, on how officers from those agencies are using force when carrying out their responsibilities.

Scott disputed that Pretti wasn’t a threat.

“What I’m seeing is a subject that’s also not complying. He’s not following any guidance. He’s fighting back nonstop,” said Scott.

Lyons disputed claims that his officers are not held accountable. He said in the year since Trump took office, ICE has opened 37 investigations for excessive force; 18 were closed, 19 are still pending and one was been referred for “further action,” he said.

Todd Lyons, senior official performing the duties of the director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, speaks during a Senate Homeland Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)

The shooting death of Pretti, along with another American citizen, Renee Good, who were protesting immigration enforcement in Minnesota, sparked outrage and prompted changes to the Minnesota operation. On Thursday, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, announced that he was winding down the operation, which at one point included 3,000 ICE and CBP officers.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal pushed Lyons to explain a memo he wrote justifying the use of administration warrants — documents signed by an ICE officer and not an independent judge — to forcibly enter a home to make an arrest.

The Associated Press reported last month that ICE was asserting sweeping power through the use of administrative warrants in its enforcement operations.

Administrative warrants historically have not been sufficient to overcome Fourth Amendment protections that guard against illegal searches.

Lyons defended the practice, arguing that there is case law in Minnesota that allows officers to enter a home to catch a fugitive using only an administrative warrant.

Blumenthal, who compared the ICE’s administrative warrants to a permission slip, said they aren’t enough to overcome constitutional protections.

From left, Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Rodney Scott, commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Todd Lyons, senior official performing the duties of the director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are sworn in before a Senate Homeland Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)

Other Republicans directed their toughest questioning toward an earlier panel of Minnesota officials. When questioning Lyons and Scott, they focused not on the officers’ tactics but on the threats they said ICE and CBP officers faced in carrying out their jobs.

Sen. Ron Johnson, from Wisconsin, asked Lyons to talk about the “violence, the threats, the doxing against ICE officers.”

“That’s where I’ve got a great deal of sympathy for people trying to enforce law,” he said.

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An immigration judge has dismissed the deportation case against a landscaper who was arrested in Southern California last year, and the father of three U.S. Marines is now on a path toward legal permanent residency in the U.S.

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The June detention of Narciso Barranco, who came to the U.S. from Mexico in the 1990s but does not have legal status, caught widespread attention as the crackdown on immigration by President Donald Trump’s administration drew scrutiny and protests.

Witnesses uploaded videos of the arrest in Santa Ana, a city in Orange County. Federal agents struggled with Barranco and pinned him to the ground outside an IHOP restaurant where he had been clearing weeds.

Barranco was taken to a Los Angeles detention center and placed in deportation proceedings. In July, he was released on a $3,000 bond and ordered to wear an ankle monitor.

In a Jan. 28 order terminating the deportation case, Judge Kristin S. Piepmeier said that Barranco, 49, had provided evidence that he was the father of three U.S.-born sons in the military, making him eligible to seek lawful status.

The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that it would appeal the judge’s decision, which was first reported by the New York Times.

Barranco’s lawyer Lisa Ramirez said her client feels “extreme relief” now that immigration officers have removed his ankle monitor and discontinued his check-ins.

“The aggressive nature of the apprehension, it was traumatic,” Ramirez said Thursday. “Mr. Barranco has had zero criminal history. They came after him because he was a brown gardener in the streets of Santa Ana.”

Ramirez said Barranco has applied for Parole in Place, a program that protects the parents of U.S. military personnel from deportation and helps them obtain permanent residency. If that petition is approved, Barranco will receive a work permit. She estimated the process could take six months or more.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reiterated previous government claims that Barranco refused to comply with commands and swung his weed trimmer at an agent.

“The agents took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers,” McLaughlin said in Thursday’s statement.

His son Alejandro Barranco told The Associated Press in June that his father did not attack anyone, had no criminal record and is kind and hardworking. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran said the use of force was unnecessary and differed greatly from his military training. He aided the U.S. military’s evacuation of personnel and Afghan allies from Afghanistan in 2021.

Alejandro left the Marine Corps in 2023. His two brothers are currently active-duty Marines.

“Many low-income New Yorkers—including those who are homeless but not in shelters—have been counting on Mayor Mamdani to implement the CityFHEPS expansion. His decision to stall, blaming the prior administration’s poor budgeting, leaves them in continued limbo.”

(Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Despite racking up early wins such as a settlement for delivery workers, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has already backtracked on one of his campaign promises: to expand eligibility for the CityFHEPS voucher.

As City Limits has reported extensively, the CityFHEPS program’s current eligibility rules make it nearly impossible to obtain a voucher without first residing in a homeless shelter—in direct opposition to one of the original goals of the program, which was to help prevent evictions. In 2023, the City Council voted to remove the shelter requirement, as well as to raise the income cap from $31,300 to $56,700 for an individual, or from $64,300 to $81,000 for a family of four. But Mayor Eric Adams continued to block the legislation in court until the end of his term.

Many low-income New Yorkers—including those who are homeless but not in shelters—have been counting on Mayor Mamdani to implement the CityFHEPS expansion. His decision to stall, blaming the prior administration’s poor budgeting, leaves them in continued limbo.

Meanwhile, the City Council has been hearing testimony on Int. 1475, a proposal that would legalize and regulate shared living arrangements, including so-called “single room occupancy” setups: dorm-style housing centered around a communal kitchen and bathroom.

Former Councilmember Erik Bottcher (who recently left the Council to join the State Senate), is cosponsoring the bill with Councilmember Lincoln Restler, and argue that it will provide tenant protections to the many New Yorkers who are already living in shared apartments, and offer “dignified alternatives to shelter” to those who are homeless or at risk of losing their housing.

As a community organizer who has lived in unregulated, overcrowded settings for the better part of a decade—and became homeless in 2020 as a direct result—I commend the City Council for acknowledging the reality that the average working-class or disabled New Yorker cannot afford their own apartment, let alone qualify for a standard lease. 

However, I do not believe that SROs are the solution, nor am I convinced that anyone other than politicians and developers is actually asking for them. Overwhelmingly, single adults with lived experience of homelessness say they want their own one-bedroom or studio apartments. It is the bare minimum that we deserve.

I moved to New York City in 2016 with no family and a serious undiagnosed illness, making $16,000, just above the poverty line. I lived in several quasi-legal shared settings in and around gentrifying Bushwick, with a revolving door of women and queer people in similar financial circumstances. Everyone I knew lived like this—especially working in the book publishing industry, where the salaries were and are notoriously low. The only people I knew who were able to get their own leases were those who lived with their partners—which came with its own risks of abruptly losing housing if they were to break up.

In 2020, I was sharing a two-bedroom walkup on Myrtle/Broadway with two virtual strangers, one of whom slept in the living room. Officially, they were my subletters, as I had lived there long enough to inherit the lease from a previous tenant. Despite now making an entry-level salary of $40,000, there was no way I would have qualified for a lease on my own, or been able to pay the $2,000 per month that the apartment cost on paper.

When the pandemic hit, both my roommates moved home with their parents. My only family members were medically vulnerable and lived halfway across the country. So I stayed in my Brooklyn apartment, even though my monthly rent had skyrocketed from $700 to $2,000—fully 60 percent of my income.

Even with the eviction moratorium, I didn’t feel safe. As the spring turned to summer and the empty streets echoed with sirens and fireworks, I racked up a debt of $11,000. My landlord would bang on the door of the apartment at 10 p.m. with no mask on. I locked the chain lock. Outside my window, there were families living in tents beneath the train tracks.

I applied for the COVID Rent Relief Program, a predecessor to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), but my application was rejected—presumably because I had not lost my primary income, although the rejection language was unclear, and I could not get an answer over the phone. 

So I left, and availed of the only lifeline I had, moved in with a friend and her husband. That was stable until it wasn’t, when I got in a fight with the husband and he kicked me out. A stranger from social media was kind enough to let me stay with her for two months, but then I had to move again. At this point I was exhausted, sick, and deeply traumatized. All I wanted was a place that no one could take from me.

If you had told me at the time that I was homeless, I don’t think I would have believed it. But according to the federal McKinney-Vento Act, which funds services across the country through the Continuum of Care network, “sharing the housing of other persons” (colloquially known as “couchsurfing,” “doubling up, etc.”) is indeed a type of homelessness. By choosing not to count individuals and families in these types of informal arrangements—many of whom would not be safe in the shelter system or have been explicitly turned away—New York is deliberately suppressing the true scope of its homelessness epidemic. 

Supporters of Int. 1475 might argue that, had there been legislation to regulate apartment shares back in 2020, I would not have been on the hook for my roommates’ rent and therefore might never have gone into debt or become homeless in the first place. But I believe this bill will make conditions worse for low-income renters, including myself, in the long run. I have shared apartments with more strangers than I can count, and the only good thing to be said about it is the flexibility to work out informal deals among ourselves. By contrast, legalizing SROs will fuel gentrification in neighborhoods like Bushwick by allowing landlords to charge even higher rents than they already do.

Five years on, I am once again living in a very similar situation—this time, sharing a one-bedroom—with no end in sight. I cannot stress enough that a 350-square-foot apartment is not appropriate housing for two disabled people who both have complex medical needs. But more to the point, it’s not appropriate housing for anyone. We should not be normalizing the idea of a city in which 30- and 40-year-olds, many working full time, cannot afford to rent their own apartments. It’s absurd.

Do I feel “dignified,” as former Councilmember Bottcher would have it, because I am not in a shelter? Absolutely not. I feel invisibilized, and abandoned by the city I call home.

What would have helped me in 2020—and would help me now—is expanded access to rental assistance, specifically the CityFHEPS voucher. Now is the time for Mayor Mamdani to work directly with the City Council to fulfill his original campaign promise. Homeless, low-income, and disabled New Yorkers deserve to live with dignity—not in SROs but in our own apartments, in the neighborhoods of our choice. We have waited long enough.

Miranda DeNovo is a former publishing and communications professional, and the founder of Long COVID Safety Net, which advocates for people with post-viral illnesses experiencing homelessness and poverty.

The post Opinion: Homeless New Yorkers Need Vouchers, Not SROs appeared first on City Limits.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — In the days after agreeing to a deal with reliever Taylor Rogers late last month, Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll vowed to continue strengthening a bullpen that was broken apart at last year’s trade deadline.

Thursday, the Twins did just that, officially adding a two-time World Series champion and a three-time all-star to the bullpen mix as they traded for Anthony Banda and signed Liam Hendriks to a minor league deal. They also agreed to a minor league deal with Julian Merryweather as another bullpen option.

Chicago White Sox’s Liam Hendriks smiles as he talks to reporters before a baseball game between the White Sox and the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

“What I love that JZ has continued to do, and will continue to do, is we’re going to add pieces and then we’re going to find how the dominos fall,” manager Derek Shelton said.

With a stacked bullpen, the Dodgers designated Banda, 32, for assignment last week. The Twins picked him up on Thursday in exchange for international bonus pool money.

The left-hander has bounced around over the past nine seasons, playing for eight different teams including Pittsburgh while Shelton was managing there. Banda had a 3.18 earned-run average in 65 innings last season with the Dodgers, appearing primarily in the sixth and seventh innings.

“He’s got really good stuff. I’m excited to be able to add him in,” Shelton said. “He’s a bulldog and he’s not afraid of taking the ball.”

Banda joins a group that includes fellow southpaws Rogers and Kody Funderburk, who had a strong finish to last season. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Twins designated reliever Jackson Kowar, whom they added earlier this month off waivers, for assignment.

Hendriks, 37, began his journey with the Twins in 2007 when he signed as an international free agent out of Australia. He debuted in Minnesota in 2011, working as a starter before the Twins ultimately designated him for assignment. Hendriks is now a 14-year major league veteran who was once among the best closers in the game, but in recent years has dealt with a cancer diagnosis and hip and elbow injuries.

“Everything’s been positive. He’s healthy and he’s in a situation where he’s coming into camp to compete. I’m excited,” Shelton said. “When you’re able to add a guy of his pedigree — and he’s pitched at the back half of the game — I’m excited to get him in camp and get a look at him.”

Hendriks adds a veteran presence with late-inning experience but has thrown fewer than 20 combined major league innings over the past three seasons.

The Australian pitched in just 14 games last season, posting a 6.59 earned-run average. He dealt with a hip injury and then required right elbow ulnar nerve transposition surgery in late September. That surgery came nearly two years after he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, which forced him to miss the entire 2024 season.

“(He’s a) veteran guy that people speak so highly of in the game in terms of who he is as a human being,” Shelton said. “Obviously, he’s had some challenges in his life over the last couple years. Just talking about the person, (we’re) excited to add him into that group.”

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