Here’s How The Media Are Lying Right Now: ICE And ‘5-Year-Old Boy’ Edition

The Federalist 

Credit to the Department of Homeland Security and Vice President J.D. Vance for immediately nipping in the bud what was sure to be a hysterical weekend-long news cycle. And yet, the headlines remain.

New York Times: “Detention of 5-Year-Old by Federal Agents Incenses Minneapolis”

Washington Post: “ICE detains four children from Minnesota school district, including 5-year-old”

CBS: “ICE takes 5-year-old boy and his father after using boy as ‘bait,’ school district says”

Axios: “ICE’s detention of child puts new focus on Trump team’s tactics”

It’s the same playbook whenever the dying media want to manipulate their audiences and turn public sentiment against a government policy they oppose. In this case, immigration law enforcement. They would have you believe that ICE snatched an adorable little boy out of preschool and marched him into the frigid air of a Minneapolis suburb.

A photo used by The New York Times and The Washington Post and displayed on cable news depicts as much. (To be extra sure, the Post then ran a column headlined “The abhorrent power of the photograph of a 5-year-old held by ICE.”) But, naturally, that’s not what happened.

ICE agents on Tuesday were attempting to detain Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an alleged illegal alien from Ecuador, who happened to be with his 5-year-old son, Liam Conejo Ramos, at the time of the encounter, according to DHS. When Arias noticed the authorities, he took to his heels, leaving his son behind, though he was ultimately caught.

Not that I’d trust the well-being of any child at all with someone who works in the dying media, but perhaps they should tell us what they believe federal agents should do when faced with a minor whose guardian has just run away. Even if it’s not the media’s genuine wish, the only answer should be: Take the child so that he’s safe.

Though ICE attempted to place the child into the custody of his alleged mother at home, according to DHS, she refused, and so he was paired back with his father in detention.

This is a story about a man who allegedly broke the law and then put his son in danger by fleeing authorities. Instead, we get narratives from The New York Times, which opened its own article on the incident by writing, “A 5-year-old boy wearing a Spider-Man backpack and an oversized hat was detained with his father by immigration authorities on Tuesday. …”

An oversized hat, you say? The president must stop this cruelty at once!

They oppose immigration law enforcement, so they look for any and every opportunity to deceive. Their audiences would do themselves a service by skipping over any coverage on the subject.

You're Fired! Kash Patel Reportedly Ousts Multiple FBI Agents Tied to 'Get Trump' Efforts

RedState 

We reported Thursday on the bizarre trophy FBI officials gave themselves to congratulate their team on the failed Arctic Frost probe, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Don Quixote-like quest to destroy Donald Trump over alleged “election interference.”

Smith himself faced prolonged grilling Thursday at a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Hearing, and the short version is: he came off looking like a partisan hack who had exactly zero scruples when it came to his maniacal effort to bring down the (at the time private citizen, and now once again president) Donald Trump.

FBI Director Kash Patel, who announced the bizarre “trophy story” last night, wasn’t done, however: he’s reportedly sent at least eight agents who participated in the witch hunt to LinkedIn looking for new jobs.

Bye bye:

FBI Director Kash Patel has carried out another round of firings inside the bureau, removing multiple senior officials connected to past federal investigations involving Donald Trump, according to an FBI source.

The dismissals include the special agent in charge of the Atlanta field office and the acting assistant director overseeing the New York field office, both of whom were tied to the two major federal criminal probes into Trump. A former special agent in charge from New Orleans, who had since moved into a different role within the bureau, was also removed.

In Miami, up to six FBI agents were reportedly let go due to their involvement in the bureau’s search of Mar-a-Lago, a move that has remained a flashpoint in Trump’s long-running conflict with federal law enforcement.

The special agent in charge of the Atlanta field office has been dismissed, along with the acting assistant director overseeing the New York field office. 

A former special agent in charge from New Orleans, who had since transitioned to a different role, was also removed.

In Miami, up to six agents were let go due to their roles in the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago.

Although leftist outlets like MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, are using highly charged language like “purge,” the reality is he’s been getting rid of woke partisan actors who seemingly had agendas far beyond fighting crime:

Patel has previously fired a dozen agents who took a knee during a racial justice protest in Washington in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. Even before he took office, the Trump Justice Department removed most of the FBI’s senior leaders in Washington.

Agents like that will not be missed. As we have reported mercilessly, the rot at the Federal Bureau of Investigation is real, marked by the Machiavellian turn by former director “8647” Saint James Comey, and continuing under the ruinous direction of Christopher Wray.

There really is a Deep State — and Patel is one hundred percent on target for cleaning it out. This is what we voted for.

Secretary Lutnick Gently Dispatches the Feelings of Canada and the EU, and Focuses on Pragmatic Economic Growth

Conservative Treehouse 

Hilarious Bloomberg interview with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.  The topics are European trade and politics combined with the overlay of Canadian trade and politics.  The Bloomberg panelists question Lutnick about the similar “feelings” of the Europeans and Canadians, as it pertains to the outcome of trade discussions.  It’s the feelings that make things difficult to negotiate.

Secretary Lutnick doesn’t dismiss the narrative but deconstructs the substance of the topic brilliantly.  Lutnick notes the ridiculous nature of the Canadian trade position and their decision to go running to China because their feelings are hurt.  Lutnick then affirms the USMCA is going to be dissolved mid-summer and fall of this year.

As we noted at the end of last year, splitting the USMCA into two bilateral trade deals, one for Mexico and one for Canada, will be one of the most interesting and long-term economically significant moves in U.S. trade history.  It is going to be a lot of fun to watch these negotiations, and the pre-positioning gives us a preview of what is to come.

Mexico is doing everything almost perfectly in preparation for their bilateral deal.  Canada is doing exactly the opposite and positioning themselves for the worst possible outcome of a deal with the USA.  The disparity in approaches is so different, even now it is remarkable to watch. PROMPTED:

(VIA BLOOMBERG) – […] Canada has “the second-best deal in the world” with its access to the US market, Lutnick said, behind only Mexico. The Commerce chief also indicated that Canada’s tilt toward China could become an issue in talks over revamping the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement known as USMCA.

If Ottawa opts to import Chinese electric vehicles and other trade-strengthening steps with Beijing, “do you think the president of the United States is going to say you should keep having the second-best deal in the world” during USMCA talks, Lutnick questioned.

[…] Canada’s Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters in Quebec City that every Group of Seven nation is charting its own strategic path forward with China, and Canada is no different. 

“We’ll continue to work hand in hand with our US partner,” he said. “At the same time, I think Canadians have understood by now that diversification is key. We need to be more resilient.” 

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said separately Thursday that her nation will work to maintain the USMCA trade deal despite recent disputes between Carney and US President Donald Trump. Speaking at her daily press briefing, she also said she would try to talk with Carney.

Next week, Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard will travel to Washington for trade talks, Sheinbaum also said, speaking in Puebla, Mexico. (read full article)

Having travelled to regions of the world in discussions with people who factually determine economic outcomes, it is clear that every single policy shift undertaken by the Canadian government of Mark Carney is exactly the opposite of what is needed.  In the next 24 months, the lifestyle of every Canadian will forever change.

President Trump is reestablishing an entirely new economic, trade and finance system. The era of the Marshal Plan is over; it has been factually deconstructed in the past 12 months.

Canadians and Europeans are desperately trying to offset the ramifications, hold on to their economic benefits and find a new mechanism to afford the domestic indulgences now eliminated by President Trump and the absence of money.

The EU and Canada have chased ‘climate change’ and ‘green energy’ schemes into a dead end of economic crisis. German Chancellor Merz has admitted the problem to the world.  The direct and collateral damage is generational, and only just now beginning to surface.

When combined with their intransigent resistance to adapt to President Trump’s global economic and trade reset, core issue “reciprocity”, this reality takes both economies down a path that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Choosing to embrace China in lieu of modifying bilateral trade agreements with the USA is a short-sighted fool’s errand. Unfortunately, with political calculations each entity, Canada and/or the EU collective, are pandering to their “feeling” base out of an unwillingness to change trade behavior as demanded by Trump.

From Ottawa to London, to Paris, Berlin and Brussels the geopolitical landscape is changing permanently as President Donald Trump resets their global trade relationship to the United States.

President Trump is leveraging the largest consumer market in the world to the benefit of the customer; that’s America.  Trump’s direct and specific intent is transactional, to rebuild an industrial and self-sufficient nation that is the envy of the world.

For several generations, Canada and the EU have exploited their biggest customer and taken the U.S. for granted. Both the EU and Canadian economies are stalled and soon to be shrinking.  The USA economy will easily grow above 5% GDP and Mexico is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of their proactive positioning.

It’s not about ‘feelings’ it is just the cold reality of the economics.

CMS Director Mehmet Oz Discovers Minneapolis Medicare/Medicaid Facility Housing 400 Businesses Under One Roof

Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Director Dr. Mehmet Oz and Deputy Director for Health and Human Services, Jim O’Neill, just released a stunning video from Minnesota.  They discuss a former linen factory that was transformed into 400 Medicaid businesses that generated almost $380 million in billing to CMS.

It doesn’t make sense.  One industrial building housing almost 400 individual Medicaid businesses that cost taxpayers $380 million in payments for services that are now under investigation.  It is almost guaranteed these complex houses fraudulent fake businesses.  Director Oz dropped the video on his X account.

You’d never believe the kinds of fraud schemes happening in Minnesota. @HHS_Jim and I were taken aback to say the least.

Here’s just a snippet of what we saw on the ground and are working to stop. pic.twitter.com/UNgpjrMoIk

— DrOzCMS (@DrOzCMS) January 23, 2026

“Why did no one in the state figure out this was a concern? Perplexingly to me, in a place of this nature, an industrial complex that people would not come to for child care or autism care or transportation support, how is it possible this could come up like an abscess in the heart of Minneapolis and nobody was watching?!”

“They generated about $380 million of billing that you, the taxpayer, were putting up. That means roughly each business had a million dollars of billing.”  … “It’s an industrial area. There’s no reason that you have a mother bring her child.”

“You can’t imagine getting extra business support. An autistic child probably wouldn’t want to come here. You hear the noise. It’s just not a hospitable place.”

“The question is, how is it possible 400 businesses billing almost $400 million were able to thrive here?!”

“I think it’s because they weren’t looking. They didn’t want to know that this problem was happening here.”

“We’re here to figure out why these folks are being defrauded. Why the people who live in Minnesota aren’t getting access to the care they deserve because it’s been stolen.”

Wondering If ICE Is Doing Something Evil? Check Out Our Flowchart!

Babylon Bee🐝

ICE is all over the news lately, with conflicting reports about what's actually happening. Many people have been left wondering if ICE agents are upholding the law and keeping Americans safe or perpetrating acts of evil on innocent people.

The Babylon Bee is here to help you understand with the following graphic to illustrate whether ot not ICE is, in fact, evil:

That definitely clears up any confusion. Keep checking in with The Babylon Bee for updated information on whether ICE is evil or not.