Nurse’s Death Looms Large As Senators Make Last Attempts To Avoid Shutdown
The Senate will reconvene at 11 a.m. Friday to see if they can reach an agreement, ABC News reported. Modern Healthcare explains how health care would be affected if no deal is reached before Saturday. Plus: Nurses across the U.S. hold vigils for slain Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti.
ABC News:
Government Funding Negotiations Hit Snag After Democrats Announce Deal
The Senate, now facing an impasse in negotiations, did not cast votes on a government funding deal on Thursday, sending the government ever closer to a partial shutdown with a little more than 24 hours until funding runs out. Senate Democrats announced earlier Thursday they had struck an agreement with the White House to move forward with a plan that would see the Department of Homeland Security funding bill separated from a package of five other bills. Programs funded by the five-bill package would be funded until the end of September. DHS would be funded for two additional weeks to allow lawmakers to negotiate on other provisions in the package. The Senate must get unanimous agreement to move forward with this plan if it wants to hold votes before Friday night's deadline. (Pecorin and Scott, 1/30)
Modern Healthcare:
How Another Government Shutdown Would Impact Healthcare
Once again, Medicare payments for telehealth and hospital-at-home care are at risk if Congress doesn't make a deal before Saturday. (McAuliff, 1/30)
More on the ICE crisis and the killing of nurse Alex Pretti in Minnesota —
Politico:
Noem Says Her Response To Pretti Shooting May Have Been Wrong
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has conceded she may have gotten some information wrong in her initial response to Border Patrol’s killing of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis ICU nurse she labeled a domestic terrorist. Noem also dodged questions about her leadership of DHS amid widespread outrage, even among some Republicans, about the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good during an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. (Pellish, 1/29)
The New York Times:
Trump Repeats Claims Against Alex Pretti, Casting Slain Nurse As ‘Agitator’
President Trump called Alex Pretti, the nurse who was one of two Americans fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, an “agitator” and possibly an “insurrectionist” in a social media post early Friday, repeating efforts by his administration to blame the victims of the shootings. Mr. Trump posted his comments on social media after videos gained attention showing Mr. Pretti in a confrontation with federal agents at a protest 11 days before he was killed. (Yoon, 1/30)
Chicago Tribune:
Nurses Union Stages Vigil At Chicago VA To Honor Alex Pretti
Four days after federal immigration agents shot and killed intensive care unit nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, some 150 people gathered outside the Jesse Brown Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Chicago Wednesday evening to mourn his death and demand the end of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Kenny, 1/29)
Kansas City Star:
KC Nurses Gather At Research Medical Center For Alex Pretti Vigil
Two children watched with wide eyes Thursday evening as a woman with a bright red megaphone stepped up to speak on the sidewalk in front of Research Medical Center. The pair’s snow boots tramped the nearly week-old Kansas City snow, two candles clutched in their small hands. Their mother, Sarah Patton, stood behind them. (Zimmerman and Curiel, 1/29)
The Guardian:
A Helper And A Patriot: Alex Pretti’s Family And Friends On The Life Of Nurse Killed By Federal Agents
People who knew Pretti describe him as "generous with his time" and denounce the Trump administration’s assessment of him. (Betts, 1/29)
The Guardian:
Minneapolis ICE Watchers Face Violence, Teargas And Arrests. They Keep Showing Up
RM, an observer who asked that their name remain anonymous because they feared further retaliation from federal agents while patrolling, said that they were at the scene of a raid – on the same day that Good was killed – when agents smashed their car window and sprayed chemical irritants directly into their car. Then an agent cuffed RM and used a pain-inducing restraint to drag them out, crushing their wrist in the process. They were not offered water to clear the irritant out of their eyes for more than an hour. Eventually, they were left to wash their face at a broken, low-pressure sink inside the cell where they were held. “The whole incident was painful and humiliating,” said RM. When they were released about three hours later, without any charges, they were finally able to wash in a shower. It took almost an hour to fully rinse off – and the irritant spread and burned their skin even as they tried to wash it off. “That, I would say, is the most painful experience of my life.” (Leingang and Singh, 1/29)
The New York Times:
How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are
Agents use facial recognition, social media monitoring and other tech tools not only to identify undocumented immigrants but also to track protesters, current and former officials said. (Frenkel and Krolik, 1/30)
KFF Health News:
KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: The Hazards Of ICE For Public Health
The actions of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are having ramifications far beyond immigration. Medical groups say that ICE agents in health facilities in Minneapolis and other cities are imperiling patient care, while in Washington, the backlash from a second fatal shooting by agents in Minnesota has stalled action on an eleventh-hour suite of spending bills. (Rovner, 1/29)
KFF Health News:
‘I Can’t Tell You’: Attorneys, Relatives Struggle To Find Hospitalized ICE Detainees
Lydia Romero strained to hear her husband’s feeble voice through the phone. A week earlier, immigration agents had grabbed Julio César Peña from his front yard in Glendale, California. Now, he was in a hospital after suffering a ministroke. He was shackled to the bed by his hand and foot, he told Romero, and agents were in the room, listening to the call. He was scared he would die and wanted his wife there. “What hospital are you at?” Romero asked. “I can’t tell you,” he replied. (Boyd-Barrett, 1/30)
More children are in ICE detention —
Minnesota Public Radio:
2 More Kids From Liam Ramos’ Columbia Heights School In ICE Custody
Two more Minnesota children — a second grader and a fifth grader — were taken into custody with their mother on Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The children are from the same Columbia Heights elementary school as Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old whose detainment by ICE last week gripped the Twin Cities and the nation as images of the small boy flanked by agents in his winter hat circulated online. (Shockman and Yucel, 1/29)
The Marshall Project:
Children In ICE Detention Skyrocket In Trump’s Second Term
The number of children in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention on a given day has skyrocketed, jumping more than sixfold since the start of the second Trump administration. The Marshall Project analyzed data obtained by the Deportation Data Project and found that ICE held around 170 children on an average day under Trump. During the last 16 months of the Biden administration, ICE held around 25 children a day. (Flagg and Heffernan, 1/29)
