Politics and views in the United States

Evidence in the ICE shooting of a Chicago woman is made public. Immigration officials double down on support for agents and several names will be un-redacted from the Epstein files. 

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2026 Talks where we're following our democracy in historic times.

You got to see why it matters that people can actually see the real evidence as opposed to the false claims by our government.

I mean, we live in a strange time right now where we cannot trust our federal government.

Attorney Chris Parenti represents Miramar Martinez, a Chicago woman shot five times by ICE agents last year.

That investigation has been released.

The agency contended Martinez rammed a car full of ICE agents who fired as she drove away.

But newly public evidence agrees with Martinez's contention she never tried to ram the agents and shows they joked about shooting her.

Officials also accused her of doxing agents and called her a quote "domestic terrorist," a claim also made about Renee Good and Alex Pretty after they were killed in Minneapolis.

But the government has dropped a criminal case against Martinez and she's suing Homeland Security.

While testifying to the House, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons refused to apologize to to the families of Good and Pretty.

Instead, he said immigration agents should be supported because they're facing an increasingly hostile work environment.

In fiscal year 2025, death threats against ICE personnel increased more than 8,000 percent.

Assaults on officers have skyrocketed over 1,400 percent.

One officer in Minnesota had his finger bitten off by a protester, egged on by elected officials characterizing our offices as Gestapo or secret police.

New York Democratic Representative Dan Goldman called ICE's tactics fascist and quote, "un-American" during the hearing.

Congress is no closer to agreeing on limits to ICE's methods, meaning Homeland Security faces a shutdown in a few days.

A delegation of Minnesota teachers will be in Washington demanding Congress block its funding.

Elementary school teacher Peg Nelson says school staff have had to overhaul routine operations so families in hiding from the immigration raids can get their basic needs.

Our school has literally become a food shelf, so our hallways are floor to ceiling filled with food.

There's two refrigerators in the middle of our hallway.

So it just looks and feels completely different and that's not normal.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is revealing the names of several high profile individuals whose identities had been redacted in the Epstein files.

These include billionaire Leslie Wexner and Sultan Ahmed Bin Salyam, CEO of a large Dubai-based logistics company.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say these redactions violated the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Justice is defending its handling of the case, testifying to the Senate Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to apologize to Epstein's victims attending what was an angry hearing.

Massachusetts Democratic Representative Ayanna Pressley later said Bondi had failed them.

You were failed by so many powerful people that could have protected your childhood.

You were failed by a government that ignored your cries for decades.

Truly an institutional betrayal.

The House passed the Save America Act requiring voter ID nationwide.

It's considered dead on arrival in the Senate.

Civil rights groups are also watching the highly restrictive Make Elections Great Again Act.

It includes a centralized voter surveillance system, a ban on mail-in voting, and a bar on counting ballots that arrive after election day.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.