Trump Threatens to Invoke Insurrection Act, and Grocery Prices Keep Going Up

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What does Trump's threat to invoke the Insurrection Act mean for Minnesota?

Debra Kamen 0:00
I'm Debra Kamen. I'm an investigative reporter at The New York Times.
Tracy Mumford 0:32
From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, January 16th. Here's what we're covering.
Unknown 0:44
Look, that's only a question, frankly, the president can answer. But the Insurrection Act is a tool at the president's disposal. As you know, it has been used sparingly, but it has been used by previous presidents in American history.
Tracy Mumford 1:05
President Trump's social media post threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to protests in Minnesota has set off a flurry of questions of can he, will he, and what would it mean? The act gives the president broad authority under some conditions to send troops into U.S. cities.
Donald Trump 1:24
I will say if I feel it's important to invoke the Insurrection Act, which I have the right to do, That's a different thing because then I have the right to do pretty much what I want to do.
Tracy Mumford 1:38
President Trump has brought it up multiple times this term, including just last week in the Oval Office in an interview with Times reporters.

How has the Insurrection Act been used in U.S. history?

Tracy Mumford 1:46
This time, the White House is framing it as a warning to Democrats, who the administration has accused of egging on the protests. The Insurrection Act hasn't been invoked by a U.S. president since 1992, when troops were deployed in L.A. in response to riots that broke out after several white police officers were acquitted in the beating of an unarmed Black man, Rodney King. In the last week, since an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, thousands of people have been out in the streets in Minneapolis, protesting the killing and the immigration crackdown agents are carrying out there. At times, protesters have clashed with federal agents. There are now about 3,000 of them deployed there. Local and state officials have said that deployment is creating an unsafe situation, with agents shoving people, smashing car windows, and pulling drivers out of their vehicles.
Kristi Noem 2:43
Any plans to pull out of Minnesota? No plans to pull out of Minnesota.
Tracy Mumford 2:46
Clear. When asked about the situation and Trump's threat to use the Insurrection Act, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they had been talking about it, but she said it would be up to Trump to decide what's next.
Kristi Noem 2:59
Oh, I think that the president has that opportunity in the future. It's his constitutional right and it's up to him if he wants to utilize it.
Unknown 3:06
Do you think he's likely to do it?

What recent events led to protests in Minneapolis?

Kristi Noem 3:07
I don't know.
Tracy Mumford 3:09
Now, two other developments on the administration's immigration crackdown. A federal judge in Boston issued a new rebuke to the administration over its efforts to deport college students who demonstrated against Israel. Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, called President Trump an authoritarian and said the administration had violated free speech protections when it tried to deport international students who'd been protesting over the war in Gaza. The administration said it had the authority to do so under an obscure legal provision, claiming the students were a threat to American foreign policy. But in court yesterday, the judge said the deportation threats were an effort to, quote, twist the laws and pick off prominent activists to intimidate others.
Tracy Mumford 4:01
The judge said that next week he plans to issue a final order restricting the administration from deporting members of two academic groups that brought the case. And he said that going forward, the government will have to show that any deportations are not retaliation. And what's your reaction to that stunning admission? I accept their apologies. And I hope that based on this apology, I'm able to return back to my studies and also to be home with my parents. The Trump administration has made a rare admission. It said it made a mistake when it deported a college student who was trying to fly home for Thanksgiving. Nineteen-year-old Ani Lopez-Beloza, who was brought from Honduras to the U.S. when she was seven, was on her way to visit family in Texas when immigration agents detained her at the airport in Boston.

What are the implications of the judge's ruling on student deportations?

Tracy Mumford 4:51
The next day, a judge signed an order saying she could not be removed from the U.S.

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