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CNN revisited on Friday a 2016 report the network did on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations that recently went viral, with reporters noting that “heightened rhetoric,” protests, and an increased tactical presence have complicated the agency’s ability to operate under the Trump administration.
The report centered on a May 2016 ride-along in Chicago, where reporter Pamela Brown shadowed a team of ICE agents as they arrested undocumented felons.
Some conservative social media users, who recently unearthed the clip, have used the footage to suggest a media double standard, contrasting the more favorable framing of the agency during the Obama administration with current coverage under the Trump administration.
After reviewing the archival footage on Friday, Brown told viewers she observed the agents to be “very professional” and “respectful” in their encounters. She noted a lack of public resistance at the time, stating there were no protesters and that raids were conducted in the early morning to avoid public disruption.
An anti-ICE activist chants and gestures during a protest at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Jan. 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images)
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CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez noted that while similar operations continue across the nation, media attention has shifted toward Minneapolis due to the scale of operations and significant public backlash.
She observed that agents now operate in a “very, very testy landscape,” where they are met with “protesters with these whistles.”
“They have a very specific mandate, right? They are enforcing immigration laws,” Alvarez said. “But when they’re put in situations like policing the streets, that skirts a little bit what their typical operations and their tasks are when they are out in the field.”
Alvarez added that the current climate has become “murky” due to the presence of multiple law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Border Patrol. She stated that the heated language surrounding the agency has “supercharged” the environment.
People march during a protest after the killing of Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Getty Images)
“There‘s the heightened rhetoric, and then it sort of supercharged with so many agents in a very, very testy landscape where there are also people showing up to protest, and where the agents are also collecting many undocumented immigrants to meet the administration’s mandate,” Alvarez said.
“And using aggressive tactics as we’ve seen in the videos,” Brown added.
The scrutiny of ICE and its tactics has only intensified since last week’s fatal shooting by an ICE agent of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, who the administration said was attempting to use her car as a weapon against the agent.
A picture of Renee Nicole Good is displayed near a makeshift memorial for Good. (Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)
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On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said an ICE agent was hospitalized after being ambushed during an attempt to arrest a Venezuelan national in Minneapolis during a traffic stop.
While attempting to take the suspect into custody, DHS says the suspect “violently assaulted the officer,” and two additional individuals came out of an apartment building and attacked the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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