Chapter 1: What recent changes are being considered for federal immigration agents in Minnesota?
The White House will consider reducing the number of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Plus, tax season kicks off today, and you might find you're getting bigger deductions than in past years. And for some people on Obamacare plans, a jump in monthly premiums is forcing tough choices.
Folks who feel like they really need insurance are finding a way to make it work because they have health issues, they need to see the doctor. But people who are healthier are just dropping insurance and hoping for the best.
It's Monday, January 26th. I'm Alex Osola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. We begin this evening in Minneapolis, where residents are still reeling from the fatal shooting of Alex Preddy this weekend, the second killing of a U.S.
Chapter 2: How is the current tax season impacting Americans' refunds?
citizen by federal immigration authorities in the city this month. WSJ National Affairs reporter Joe Barrett has been on the ground in Minneapolis.
Yesterday, I went to the scene of the shooting. There were a lot of people there paying their respects. I then went to a protest that I just happened to see in downtown near my hotel. There were 300 people screaming their heads off and doing protest-y things, not always peacefully.
Chapter 3: What challenges are people facing with rising Obamacare premiums?
And then at the end of the night, there was a vigil I went to in a park that's just down the street from where Mr. Pretti lived. Three different vibes in three different places. There's a lot of anger. There's a lot of sadness. And people are out on the streets expressing that.
Today, Joe said, the big action has moved to the courtroom. In one hearing, a federal judge addressed a Minnesota lawsuit seeking to end what the state has called an unlawful federal immigration operation.
She said, you know, she really wants to get this done and that if she had a front burner in front of her front burner, that's what this would be on. She made a really interesting comparison saying that there were 400 ICE or extra agents surged into Illinois and Chicago. And here we're talking about 3,000 to 4,000 in a much, much smaller state.
Just really asking the government specifically, is there a point at which your enforcement is just too much? What is that point? The government lawyer just chafed at the whole idea saying, if you were going to get into that case, then you'd be down to the point of where do we put each of our agents because... It's our purview to mobilize our agents the way we see fit.
In today's other case, federal officials said they're ensuring that the evidence from Preddy's shooting is preserved. Meanwhile, in Washington, President Trump said he had a, quote, very good call with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and that he was sending border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt at a briefing this afternoon spoke extensively about Minneapolis.
Nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America's streets. This includes Renee Goode, Alex Preti, the brave men and women of federal law enforcement, and the many Americans who have been victimized at the hands of illegal alien criminals.
Saturday's shooting remains under active investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI.
Levitt also said that Trump will reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota if local officials there increase their cooperation with federal authorities. Michelle Hackman, who covers immigration for the journal, has been following this story. Michelle, what we've been hearing from Levitt and the president, is this a de-escalation that we're seeing from the administration?
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Chapter 4: How are residents in Minneapolis reacting to recent immigration enforcement actions?
Tom Homan has long been an advocate for focusing ICE primarily on going after criminals. And that has been an idea that hasn't been so popular inside the administration.
Do we have a sense of how folks in the White House are talking about the situation in Minneapolis?
The first shooting of Rene Good had an almost, you know, rally around the flag effect. That was the sentiment inside the administration, that they were doing nothing wrong. The word that I heard administration officials use was righteous.
But that sentiment has changed after Preti's death?
Administration officials have been passing around polling showing that their operation is really unpopular with voters and not just with Democrats. And so all of that was freaking people out and having them look for an off ramp.
That was WSJ reporter Michelle Hackman. Thank you, Michelle.
Thank you.
We have a more in-depth episode featuring Michelle about how ISIS authority has changed under President Trump. That What's New Sunday episode came out yesterday, so you can find it in your feed and we'll leave a link to it in our show notes. And in the latest developments from the Middle East, Israel has recovered the body of the last hostage taken into Gaza on October 7, 2023.
Israel says it will now reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after the return of the body of Ron Vili, who was a 24-year-old Israeli military police sergeant. The return of Gvili's body and the opening of the Rafah Crossing were both crucial requirements of the first phase of the U.S. peace plan for Gaza.
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Chapter 5: What legal actions are being taken regarding federal immigration operations in Minnesota?
I spoke to a couple whose premium was going to jump immediately. to be about three times as much as their mortgage payment. And they're pretty healthy, so they're just gonna save that money that they were paying for insurance. But it's a pretty precarious existence.
They're really worried that if something bad happens to them and they're hospitalized, it's just gonna completely ruin them financially. And then there are other people who are gonna find a way to make it work financially. You know, it's not great, but it's manageable.
It's just yet another rising cost in a world where it feels like everything is significantly more expensive than it was five years ago and where affordability is kind of the number one issue for a lot of people and the reason people feel bad about the economy.
Is there a government plan to restore these subsidies?
Well, the House has passed legislation to extend them. In the Senate, there was a bipartisan group trying to work towards a solution. But my colleagues in Washington tell me it seems like the odds are pretty long, especially because President Trump has come out and offered this other plan this month, which does not appear to include extending the subsidies.
That was WSJ reporter Rachel Ensign. Thanks, Rachel.
Thank you.
U.S. stock markets moved higher today, with the Dow leading the gains in the indexes and closing up 0.6%. Equities gained, but so did precious metals, as gold continued its historic rally, closing above $5,000 a troy ounce, while silver soared 14%, its biggest one-day jump in 40 years, to its latest record. The metal closed above $115 a troy ounce.
And there's a winter storm and cold streak in much of the U.S. that today disrupted thousands of flights and left hundreds of thousands still without power. And it's helped natural gas prices extend their rally. Futures for February delivery have roughly doubled from a week ago.
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