Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-01-22 Thursday

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

Headlines for January 22, 2026; “An Abomination”: Yanis Varoufakis on Trump’s “Board of Peace” & Threat to Democratic World Order; “Catch of the Day”: Latest ICE Operation in Maine Targets Somali Community; Born in Evin Prison, Iranian Author on Protests Against “Authoritarian, Theocratic Regime”

is democracy now. Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do. The world is a region. We're going to have peace in the world. And boy, would that be a great legacy for all of us. Everybody in this room is a star. President Trump establishes the so-called Board of Peace with a charter signing ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trump will serve as chair indefinitely.

Each permanent seat has a price tag of a billion dollars which Trump will control. Meanwhile, the heads of all 27 European Union countries are meeting separately in Brussels today to talk about growing tensions with the United States. We'll speak to Janice Varifakis, former finance minister of Greece. The Board of Peace is such an abomination. It keeps me up at night. It's the end of the United Nations, the end of the idea of a potentially democratic world order. Then Operation Catch of the Day, ICE and other federal agents have launched a crackdown in Maine, targeting the Somali American community. Our communities feel anxious and fearful. They see this action as unpredictable and a threat to their families.

Collectively and individually, we've done everything we can to assure them and that we believe in their right to be safe. And we've tried to direct resources their way. We'll speak with Safia Khalid, a former Lewiston-Main city council member, and will be joined in studio by the internationally acclaimed Iranian author Sahar Delijani about the unprecedented crackdown and reports of massacres in Iran. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report.

I'm Amy Goodman. President Trump's back down on his threats to take Greenland from Denmark and to impose tariffs on European allies who oppose his plans, at least for now. After a dramatic day at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump announced the framework of a future deal had been reached for Greenland on the entire Arctic region. Trump's comment came after he met with NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta. Details of the framework have not been made public. Trump said the deal would involve the United States getting mineral rights and for Greenland to be used for Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. Trump was questioned about the deal last night.

Does it still include the United States having ownership of Greenland like you said you wanted? It's a long-term deal. It's the ultimate long-term deal. The Greenlandic politician, Aja Chemnitz, who serves in the Danish parliament, criticized Trump's deal. She said, quote, NATO in no case has the right to negotiate on anything without us. Greenland. Nothing about us, without us, she said. During a major speech to the World Economic Forum earlier on Wednesday, Trump repeatedly called Greenland, Iceland. Today, the heads of all 27 European Union nations are meeting in Brussels for what's being described as an extraordinary summit.

President Trump hosted a signing ceremony today in Davos for his so-called Board of Peace. Some 35 countries have agreed to sign on to the project, but many critics fear the board could undermine the United Nations. Trump will serve as the board's chair indefinitely and have veto power over all the board's decisions. He's asking countries to pay one billion dollars for a permanent spot on the board. Trump initially proposed the board to oversee Gaza, but he now envisions a much broader mission. Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do, and we'll do it in conjunction with the United Nations. You know, I've always said the United Nations has got tremendous potential, has not used it on the eight wars that I ended. I never spoke to the United Nations,

about any of them. And you would think that I should have. You would think they could have done those eight wars, but they couldn't have, and they tried, I guess, and some of them, but they didn't try hard enough. countries that have joined the board so far include many right-wing or authoritarian governments, including Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Indonesia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Hungary is the only European country to sign on. France, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom of all said they will not join. Trump has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, to join the Board of Peace.

The Israeli press reports Netanyahu opted not to fly to Switzerland out of fear he would be arrested for war crimes. During the Board of Peace ceremony, Trump also suggested a settlement on the Ukraine war is, quote, coming very soon, unquote. Israeli attacks on Gaza, killed at least 11 Palestinians Wednesday, including three journalists who were working with the Egyptian Committee for Gaza Relief. Mohamed Keshda, Abdul-Rawath, and Anasguunaym, were killed when an Israeli missile struck their vehicle. Shaath was a contributor to CBS News and Agenz France Press.

He just got married within the last weeks. Mohamed Mansour of the Egyptian Committee for Gaza Relief condemned Israel's attack on the journalists. What happened this? is a very big crime committed by the Israeli army by targeting a crew belonging to the Egyptian committee. This crew was not firing rockets nor fighting the Israeli army. The Egyptian committee's crew was in a humanitarian mission. This crew is searching day and night for a shelter to house our people. According to the International Federation of Journalists, at least 258 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since 2023. The Associated Press,

is reporting ICE is asserting that federal immigration officers have the power to forcibly enter homes without a judicial warrant and what legal experts say is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. Ice made the sweeping claim in a secretive memo dated May 12th. Two whistleblowers shared the memo with Senator Richard Blumenthal. On Wednesday, Blumenthal said, quote, it is a legally and morally abhorrent policy that exemplifies the kinds of dangerous, disgraceful abuses America is seeing in real time, unquote. The revelation of the memo comes just days after armed, masked agents in St. Paul, Minnesota battered down the door of a home and without a warrant arrested a man who was

let out of his home in his underwear in sub-freezing weather. It turned out the man, Chongli Scott Tao, was a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Laos. He was later released. In more news from Minnesota, school officials in Columbia Heights say ICE agents have detained four children in the school district in recent weeks, including a five-year-old boy named Liam Ramos, who was detained Tuesday along with his dad as he returned home from preschool. The school released a photo showing a masked agent standing next to Liam who was wearing his backpack in a blue winter hat with bunny ears. About 20 minutes later, Liam's older brother arrived home from middle school to find his younger brother and father were gone. School officials say Liam and his father have been sent to a detention center in Texas more than a thousand miles away.

school officials also say ICE agents tried to use Liam as bait by asking him to ring the bell to his home to help agents detain additional people. One of Liam's teachers said in a statement, quote, Liam is a bright young student. He's so kind and loving and his classmates miss him. He comes into class every day and just brightens the room. All I want is for him to be back here and safe, the teacher said. A medical examiner in Texas is determined a Cuban immigrant who died in ICE detention in El Paso died as a result of a homicide. An autopsy found that Geraldo Luna's compost died from, quote, asphyxia due to neck and torso compression, unquote. ICE has claimed the 55-year-old father of four died while staff were attempting to save him after he tried to take his own life.

But a witness told the Associated Press that Lunis Compos died after he was handcuffed, tackled by guards, and placed in a chokehold until he lost consciousness. The Washington Post is revealed. The Department of Homeland Security is now attempting to deport two men who witnessed Lunas Compos' death. Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jaya poll responded online, writing, this looks a lot like a cover-up. We need an independent investigation now, she wrote. Lunas Compos is one of three immigrants to die over the past two months at Camp East Montana, a sprawling ice detention tent camp located at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

The Department of Homeland Security has launched a new immigration crackdown in the state of Maine, targeting Portland and Lewiston, which has a large Somali population. DHS has labeled the campaign Operation Catch of the Day. Lewiston mayor, Carl Shaline, criticized the operation, saying, quote, ISIS terror and intimidation tactics reflect a complete lack of humanity and concern for basic human welfare. We'll go to Lewis and Maine later in the broadcast. Justices on the Supreme Court appear poised to reject President Trump's effort to oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, the first black woman to serve on the board.

During more than two hours of arguments, justices repeatedly questioned Trump's authority to unilaterally remove her. Federal Reserve chairs Rome Powell attended the hearing, defying a warning from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent not to attend. Trump has repeatedly threatened to fire Powell as well. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice. launched a criminal probe into Powell. California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters spoke outside the Supreme Court Wednesday. I hope that the Supreme Court considers the facts and arguments in today's hearings and sends a clear message to Trump that this country is governed by laws, not by one man's fragile ego.

The Fed does not belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to the American. American people. The House Oversight Committee has voted to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena to testify as part of a congressional probe into the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Nine Democrats on the House panel voted with Republicans to hold Bill Clinton in contempt. According to flight logs, Bill Clinton took four international trips on Epstein's private jet. Meanwhile, the House committee has also announced it will depose Epstein's co-conspirator Gielane Maxwell on February 9th as part of its probe.

She's currently serving a 20-year sentence on sex trafficking charges. This all comes as pressure grows on the Department of Justice to fully release its Epstein files. So far, less than 1% of the files have been made public. A Texas jury has acquitted former school police officers. Adrian Gonzalez in the first trial over the police response to the 2022 Uvalde school shooting in which a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in their classrooms. Gonzalez had been charged with 29 counts of child endangerment for deciding not to immediately enter Rob Elementary School to confront the gunmen.

And Chile's far-right president-elect, Jose Antonio Cast, has named two lawyers. lawyers who once represented U.S. back dictator Augusto Pinnisht to serve in his cabinet. Pinnisht ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. One of the lawyers, Fernando Rabat, has been tapped to head Chile's justice and human rights ministry. The other, Fernando Barros, will serve as defense minister. Cast has openly praised Pinnisette and is the son of a Nazi who fled Germany after World War II. Human rights groups criticize the selection. the Association of Relatives of Detained and Disappeared Persons wrote last week, quote, it constitutes a direct offense to the memory of the victims of the dictatorship and their families.

It reaffirms a history of apologizing for the dictatorship and a commitment to impunity, unquote. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the Warren Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. And I'm Nermin Sheikh. Welcome to our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world. President Trump hosted an elaborate signing ceremony today in Davos for his so-called Board of Peace. Over 20 countries have joined, but that number is expected to increase. Many critics fear the board could undermine the United Nations.

Trump will serve as chairman indefinitely. Each permanent seat has a price tag of a billion dollars, which Trump will control. Trump initially proposed the board to oversee Gaza, but said he now envisions a much broader vision. Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do, and we'll do it in conjunction with the United Nations. You know, I've always said the United Nations has got tremendous potential, has not used it, but there's tremendous potential in the United Nations. You know, on the eight wars that I ended, I never spoke to the United Nations about any. of them and you would think that I should have you would think they could have have done those eight wars but they couldn't have and they tried I guess and some of

them but they didn't try hard enough this is for the world as everyone can see today the first steps toward a brighter day for the Middle East and a much safer future for the world or unfolding right before your very eyes because I'm calling the world the region the world is a region we're gonna have peace in the world and boy would that be a great legacy for all of us everybody in this room is a star. Well, you wouldn't be here. There's a reason that you're here, and you're all stars. The Charter makes no mention of Gaza. Countries that have joined the board so far include many right-wing or authoritarian governments, including Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus,

Egypt, Indonesia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Hungary is the only European country to sign on. France, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom have all said they will not join. Trump has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin to join the Board of Peace. The Israeli press reports Netanyahu opted not to fly to Switzerland out of fear that he would be arrested for war crimes. During the Board of Peace ceremony, Trump also suggested a settlement on the Ukraine war is, quote, coming very soon. Also at today's signing ceremony, President Trump's son-in-law and senior White House Advisor, Jared Kushner, unveiled the board's new $25 billion master plan for a new Gaza.

So we did a master plan. We brought in, I thank you, Kiergabai, who's one of the most successful real estate developers and brilliant people. I know he's volunteered to do this, not-for-profit, really because of his heart he wants to do this. And we've developed ways to redevelop Gaza. Gaza, as President Trump's been saying, has amazing potential, and this is for the people of Gaza, and we've developed into zones. In the beginning, we were toying with the idea of saying, let's build a free zone, and then we have a Hamas zone.

And then we said, you know what, let's just plan for catastrophic success. We, Hamas signed a deal of demilitarized. That is what we are going to enforce. People ask us what our plan B is. We do not have a plan B. We have a plan. We signed an agreement.

We are all committed to making that agreement work. There's a master plan. We'll be doing it in phasing. In the Middle East, they build cities like this in two, three million people. They build this in three years. And so stuff like this is very doable if we make it happen. Rothel will start with.

This will show a lot of workforce housing. We think this could be done in two, three years. We've already started removing the rubble and doing some of the demolition. And then New Gaza. It could be a hope. It could be a destination, have a lot of industry, and really be a place that the people there can thrive. That is former White House advisor, Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Meanwhile, President Trump has backed down on his threats to take Greenland from Denmark and to impose tariffs on European allies who opposes plans, at least for now.

After a dramatic day at the World Economic Forum in Davos Wednesday, Trump announced the framework of a future deal had been reached for Greenland in the entire Arctic region. During his speech, Trump repeatedly referred to Iceland instead of Greenland. Iceland, that I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland's already cost us a lot of money. But that dip is peanuts compared to what it's gone up. Trump's comment came after he met with NATO Secretary General Marquita. Details of the framework have not been made public.

Trump said the deal would involve the United States getting mineral rights and for Greenland to be used for Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. Luta was asked about the deal by Germany. journalist for AIDS, Zakaria. Does all of this give you a sense that the United States, under current administration, is truly committed to the support of Ukraine and to the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine? Yes.

And when it comes to the Arctic, President Trump in his first term already said we should spend more time and more energy on the Arctic and to defend the Arctic against the Arctic. Russians and the Chinese because the sea lanes are opening up. Greenland, yes, not only Greenland. It is the whole Arctic, seven nations in NATO, one outside NATO, Russia. And these seven have to defend themselves against Russia and China. For more, we go to Athens, Greece, where we're joined by Janus Varifakis, former finance minister of Greece, author of several books, including techno-feudalism, what killed capitalism. Janus, welcome back to democracy now. When we got in

touch with you yesterday. The top news was President Trump backing off saying he would invade Greenland and also dropping the tariffs. But a lot has happened in the ensuing minutes, or I should say, hours as it so happens every day now, this fire hose of news. Just as we are broadcasting, President Trump has held a charter signing ceremony for the so-called Board of Peace, while the Board of Peace he referred to was initially Frakaza. He now says it's the region. It'll deal with the region of the world. He said, yes, the world is a region. And he was surrounded by everyone from the head of Argentina, Mille, had Belarus sign, Morocco, Saudi Arabia. The European community, meanwhile, is meeting in Brussels, the 27 nations. It's very interesting to note,

is he having this gathering in Davos to take away from this image of the European community fiercely critical of what he has done just alone in these last few days, imposing the sanctions, saying he would invade Greenland, what he called Iceland, and then taking it all back? Well, what we see is the geopolitical version of Steve Bannon's infamous policy or tactic of flooding the zone. He abducts Maduro from Venezuela. Before we have a chance to think about it, he talks about Greenland,

then he threatens military action in Greenland, then he takes it all back, then he abandons the Board of Peace, then he brings it back and, you know, proposes it as a substitute for the United Nations. I think that, you know, it's very easy to dismiss this as a toddler on LSD. I think that behind this tactic, we have the Steve Bannon strategy of making the rest of us, the rest of the world, you know, sink into a black hole of uncertainty while he's getting on with a business of enriching himself, a ruling class of tech lords around him, and solidifying his power, and keeping his divided MAGA movement somehow pacified.

And Janice, already before today's developments, you'd called the Board of Peace, quote, one of the most despicable developments in your lifetime. So if you could explain what your sense is now, given that we know more about the contours of this board, in particular the fact that the Charter itself made no mention of Gaza, though it was supposed to be a Board of Peace for Gaza. When I first heard about the Board of Gaza months ago, it made me think that this is something that Philip K. Dick would invent part of science fiction if he was on really bad drugs.

The reason why it is a monstrous idea is because think about what he initially proposed, and this is still going on, is that a private company headed by him for life, will annex the occupied land of Gaza. And interestingly, the Europeans, they went along with that because they thought it was only about Gaza. But it wasn't. They were wrong.

It was much bigger than that. It was about, as we now see, replacing the international order that came out of 1945, the carnage of the Second World War, the Holocaust and so on. Look, the United Nations undoubtedly has proven itself particularly weak.

He said so, didn't he? We heard him say, oh, they haven't sorted out any wars. Well, there's a reason for that, because people like him keep vetoing any serious peace proposal at the level of the Security Council. But the whole point of what he's doing is essentially to create an unholy alliance of big business. This is what the tech lords, you know, Peter Thiel,

various members of this cabal that were with him during his inauguration, the second inauguration. This is a new ideology, the ideology of corporations resembling, if you want, if you want to go back centuries ago, you know, the Dutch East India Company or the British East India Company. That monstrous, how shall I put it, nightmare, is now coming back. in very flimsy times with a charter which is not worth the paper it's written on. But this is the whole intention. This is where we're being pushed. And Janice, let's just talk about who is on this, the executive committee of this board. It includes, of course, Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio,

as well as the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Now, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, refused to join, warning that it could undermine the United Nations. But Trump will not only serve as the board's chair indefinitely, he will also have veto power over all the board's decisions. I mean, what do you think that means, especially in light of critics, like yourself, saying that this might actually be an organization that supersedes the United Nations or in fact makes the UN entirely redundant. Well, this is not a matter of interpretation. I mean, it's what Trump wants. It's what he says he wants to do.

He says, okay, well, maybe we can keep the United Nations as a rubber stump. After all, he did push through his proposal of this Board of Peace for Gaza through the Security Council with a complicity of the French and the British who are now really that this is not just about, you know, brown people in the developing world. It's not just about the Palestinians whom they themselves contempt to genocide. It's about them as well. So they're beginning to understand that they're getting their comeuppance. But, you know, when President Macron, for instance, you mentioned that, says,

oh, but, you know, your Board of Peace is going to undermine the United Nations. No, where was President Macron when Israel was effectively, wiping the floor clean with the charter of the United Nations, with the decisions of the International Court of Justice, ordering Israel withdraw from occupied territories. The answer is, people like President Macron and Prime Minister Kirsteke's armor of Britain and Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor of Germany, were aiding and abetting this trashing of the United Nations.

So in a sense, Trump has all his work done for him by placid European centrist who went along with the policy of trashing international law and creating the circumstances for him to create his private company and say, right, I'm taking over the world. Janice, but what about this fact of a billion dollars? Each member will pay a billion dollars to join. Now, this is unprecedented as far as international organizations go. which international organizations require payment from member states. And of course, Trump alone will be in charge of that money.

It's not at all unprecedented. It's how capitalism made its first flattering moves. Remember the East India Company, both the Dutch version and the British version? How did it happen? In the case of the British East India Company, while Shakespeare was writing a play somewhere in London, businessmen got together and they chipped in the equivalent of a billion pounds or dollars or whatever age

to create that company and that company in the end, let us not forget that, was the first colonizer. They had 200,000 soldiers under their command. They took over East India. They took over Indonesia. And it was only later that the states came and effectively nationalized colonialism. So we are going back many centuries.

It's not, maybe it's unprecedented given the narrative that we have been led to believe falsely that is now permanent over the last 60, 70 years. But essentially, Trump is, with the complicity of the Europeans, at least in terms of their deeds, if not their words, is trying to maintain American hegemony, the hegemony of a very tiny ruling class of the United States, not of the people of the United States over the world.

It's very interesting that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik was heckled at the World Economic Forum dinner earlier this week with the European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde walking out. Lutnik had written in an opinion apiece in the Financial Times earlier this week, saying we're not going to Davos to uphold the status quo. We're going to confront it head on. We are here at Davos to make one thing crystal clear with president. President Trump, capitalism has a new sheriff in town, Janus Varifakis. Well, it is interesting.

What he said to them was, we're not here to join your multilateral global order, which we Americans created in the first place and you became beneficiaries of that. We're here to bury it. You know, Christine Lagarde walked out. But where did she walk towards? Back to Frankfurt to the European Central Bank? which is steadfastly refusing to do anything in order to challenge the hegemony of the US dollar. Because, you know, here in Europe, we have manufactured a European Union and a monetary union for decades now

in a manner that it was always subservient to the United States, always acquiescent towards the dollar zone, towards the authority of the Federal Reserve, never, never did the Europeans try to create. It's not that they tried and failed. They never wanted to create a sustainable, independent Europe. And now they are running around like headless chicken, bleeding around, you know, in a poplixie, but without a plan. There's no European plan, for instance, for Ukraine. There's no, what happened when, you know, President Trump orders the Marines to go into Venezuela?

and abduct Maduro, whatever one thinks about Maduro. Did they protest the violation of international law? No, because they again, like in the case of the Board of Peace and Gaza, they thought that this is for brown people, you know, for the people in the developing world. So this is, you know, as a European, I'm far more cross with our own leaders here who, you know, now protest. But it's too late.

I have very interesting to see a Jared Kushner giving center stage a PowerPoint presentation on what they would do with Gaza. You know, no Palestinians included here. And President Trump himself saying today, describing Gaza as a beautiful piece of property, said he is a real estate person at heart. As we begin to wrap up your comments on what this means for Israel and Gaza and Netanyahu not coming to stand with his friend, President Trump, concerned that he could be arrested for war crimes when he comes into Switzerland. Well, that's the only silver lining that something keeps him up at night. He's a war criminal and he should be kept up at night. But just to answer your question directly, what this border peace plan for Gaza is,

is the completion of the genocide. This is the logical limit of what Israel has been doing. To treat Gaza as a piece of real estate, Palestinians don't exist. They can only exist as servants. As in the same way that under South African apartheid, the blacks were tolerated only to the extent that they didn't choose where to live, that they were confined in Bandustans. And they were beaten up the moment they asserted their right to exist and to breathe as human beings. And finally, Anis, if you could talk about the latest with respect to Trump's comments on Greenland, withdrawing, his threat to impose tariffs on Europe and what the latest is about these talks that he says the framework of an agreement that's been reached with NATO on Greenland status.

It seems to me that he's retreated slightly from a tactical perspective, from saying Greenland is going to be mine, like Alaska was sold by Russia to the United States. Now he's shifting to saying, I'm going to have freehold. I'm going to have something along the lines of Guantanamo Bay, a permanent freehold or leasehold with Denmark. But of course, you know, we will probably have to revisit this conversation tomorrow or the day after because this is not a settled agreement. We want to thank you very much for being with us.

We're going to end with the comments of the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, addressing world leaders at the... Davos. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration. But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons. Yanis Farrafakis, we just have 30 seconds, your response as he talks about the great disruption at this point. a brilliant speech, a very good diagnosis of where we are, and a terrible recipe for what we should be doing.

Janus Varifakis, we thank you so much for being with us. A former finance minister of Greece, most recent book is titled Raise Your Soul, a Personal History of Resistance. And we will have you back on to talk about that book, co-founder of Progressive International. Next up, we go to Lewiston, Maine, where ICE has launched Operation Catch of the Day targeting the Somali American community. Stay with us. Slow howling wind, feet on, fragile heart. Open in your eyes won't tear us apart.

This was the year our fathers fell down. and all that we once held they broke upon the ground and the crowds they disappeared the scaffold removed the circle was drawn around me and you old stones don't hide

no God's by David Berkeley here on Democracy Now Democracy Now.org the war and peace reporter. I'm Amy Goodman with Nermin-Sheikh. We turn now to Maine, where immigration agents have launched a new enforcement surge dubbed Operation Catch of the Day. Ice Deputy Assistant Director Patricia Hyde told Fox News they're targeting some 1,400 people and have arrested at least 50 so far. Reports of ICE activity have been concentrated in the greater Portland area and the city of Lewiston,

Maine's second largest city. Both cities have significant Somali populations. School officials in Portland report attendance is down overall by as much as 20% in some schools. This is Portland Mayor Mark Dionne speaking Wednesday. Our communities feel anxious and fearful. They see this action as unpredictable and a threat to their families. Collectively and individually, we've done everything we can to assure them and that we believe in their right to be safe,

and we've tried to direct resources their way. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused Maine officials of protecting criminals. For more, we go to Lewiston, where we're joined by Safia Khalid, former city council member in Lewiston, Maine, who became the first Somali American to hold that role when she was elected in 2000.

She now leads an advocacy group called Community Organizing Alliance, which is responding on the ground right now to the ICE surge. Safia, welcome to Democracy Now. It's great to have you with us. Can you talk about what ICE is calling? I mean, the horror of playing on the seafood industry of Maine, Operation Catch of the Day. What's happening? Yes. Hi, good morning. Thank you so much for having me. You know, the operation name that they're using is really dehumanizing. It is creating fear and intimidation among our communities. Parents have not been able to pick up their kids from school. They have not been able to go grocery shopping. The streets are completely empty. Downtown Louisston is completely empty, especially our Lisbon Street, which is our main.

Street area. No one is going to the stores. Restaurants are closed because people are really in fear and we are urging people to stay home and do not open the door to anyone who do they do not know. And Sophia, if you could talk about for people who aren't familiar with the demographics of Maine and in particular, Lewiston, who's being most directly targeted? Yeah, you know, Lewiston is home to a large place. population of naturalized Somali Americans. And, you know, like Minneapolis in the Twin Cities, he is targeting Somali Americans, but they're also targeting the larger immigrant population here in the

Louis-Stan-Arvin area in the greater Portland area. And have you heard directly from people who have been targeted? Have you been speaking to people on the ground? Yes, we are on the ground. folks yesterday. I was, you know, parents called me to get their kids from school because one parent, for example, an ice agent knocked her door. They're going door to door here in Louis and, of course, in other parts of the state. But when she opened the door, they said that they were police officers. They didn't identify themselves as a federal agent. They didn't

identify themselves, ice agents. They also had plain clothes, too. So they're disguising themselves as regular police officers. And when she opened the door, they immediately arrested her, right? This is an older Somali woman. They arrested her in front of her kids, didn't even let her get her jacket or prepare for anything, and put her in a vehicle and drove away. There's also another woman who was kidnapped from her home.

they knocked the door as well. She looked through the window. She didn't see anyone. And then she peaked. She opened the door just a little bit. But they were, they hit. They were hiding somewhere. And they immediately grabbed her and took her away.

One woman was brought back to her home, but the other woman were still looking for her. A growing number of U.S. citizens have been swept up by ISIS. They surge enforcement around the country. I wanted to go to this Somali American from St. Paul Minnesota, who says she was called a racial slur by an ICE agent before being pushed to the ground. This is Nassar Ahmed, a U.S.-born citizen with no criminal record detained for two days by ice. I am proud to say that I've survived ice. We are both crying together. We were holding each other tight. And I'll never forget the fear that we both felt in our hearts that day.

She still has bandages on her forehead. And I wanted to ask you, Safia, how do you inform people of their rights when you get this latest information, the Associated Press reporting ICE is asserting ICE officers have the power to forcibly enter homes without a judicial warrant and what legal experts have said is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment? What do you tell people to do as we wrap up? Well, the thing is, if a, you know, if a white woman was shot in the face, none of us are safe, right? We are trying to really just educate people as much as we can. We're telling people, do not open your doors. And people are scared. They say, I cannot stay home.

I cannot not go to work. But we're trying to put some operations and some systems in place. We have partners in Minneapolis and in Chicago and across the country who have seen these attacks. in their communities and they have been tremendous help and a resource to us. So we're learning from our comments across the country, but it is a frightening and a scary time for all of us, for us to urge people to stay home and do not leave your home. It's a scary time we live in. I want to thank you so much for being with us. We are going to continue to cover what's happening not only in Lewiston and Portland, Maine, in Minneapolis and St. Paul and beyond. Safia

Khalid, former Lewiston, Maine City. council member who became the first Somali American to hold that position when she was elected in 2019, now leading an advocacy group called Community Organizing Alliance speaking to her in Lewiston. When we come back, we'll be joined in studio by the internationally acclaimed Iranian author Sahar Delijani about the unprecedented crackdown and reports of massacres in Iran. Stay with us. Performing in our Democracy Now studio. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now, Democracy Now.

I'm Amy Goodman with Nerman Shea. We turn now to Iran. The U.S.-based human rights activist news agency now says that since protests erupted on January 8th, more than 4,900 people have been killed, and that may be an undercount. A new amnesty international report on lethal force used against peaceful protesters documented how Iranian security forces stationed on rooftops, fired rifles and shotguns loaded with metal pellets, often aiming for the head and torso. President Trump had repeatedly threatened to intervene

if protesters in Iran continued to be killed, but speaking today in Davos, he claimed Iran's leaders are open to negotiation. Iran does want to talk, and we'll talk. Last week, a U.S. aircraft carrier stationed in the South China Sea began heading toward the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Iran's foreign minister, Abbasarachi, warned Iran will be, quote,

firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack. Arakshi's invitation to the World Economic Forum in Davos was rescinded over the killing of protesters in Iran. For more, we're joined in our New York studio by Sahar Dalijani, an internationally acclaimed Iranian author, her debut novel, Children of the Jacaranda Tree. It's been published in more than 75 countries, translated to nearly three dozen languages since it was released to 2000. She was born in Tehran's Evin Prison in 1983, after her parents, who were secular, leftist, political activists, were jailed by Iranian forces. One of her uncles was executed by the Iranian government in 1988. Her family migrated to California in 1996, 30 years ago.

Welcome to Democracy Now. It's so important to have you with us. You're born in the Evan Prison. You're here and now in the United States. as you look at what's happening in Iran. Can you describe what you understand is happening? And if you see these protests that are happening now across the country of Iran, different from what happened in 2022.

Thanks so much for having me. I think what has been unfolding in Iran, of course, as you said, is one of the largest mass killings of protesters that we have ever witnessed. And the only thing that's comparable to it is, the mass executions of 1988, where my uncle was executed along with thousands of other political prisoners. And all these bodies were just dumped into mass graves. Nobody was allowed to hold funerals. And the same thing is happening again. As you said, like we don't even know the numbers of how many people have been killed this time. That number might never be verified. Because just as the

executions of 98, we still don't know how many people were executed, how many thousands. And we all know that this is part of a long struggle of Iranian people to oust this regime, against tyranny, against dictatorship, against an authoritarian, theocratic regime, a military state. And what has been, of course, the first thing that I can say is just this level of violence that the regime has shown. But another thing, when the protest first started, we always had protests where they would start in bigger cities, in Tehran and bigger cities. And this was one of the first times that they actually started in very small towns. Sometimes I had never even heard the name of that town. And another thing that is also important to, I think, underline is

that this is a working class uprising. These are people who are people who are. are coming from disenfranchised towns. These are people who have not, who have barely are able to make it to the end of the month. And this is not just a question of now. This has been happening partly due to sanctions, but also partly to this rampant corruption and mismanagement of the regime. And also because the revolutionary guards have taken over the economy from every point of view. So I think in so many ways this is finally, these are the people who were never part of our narrative. We never talked about the working class when we talked about Iran. So this is now finally them coming out and they're saying, we're here and this is not what we want.

And could you explain, you just said this, the Revolutionary Guard has taken over the economy. Could you explain what aspects of the economy they have taken over and how this occurred over the course of these decades since the Islamic Revolution? I mean, they have basically taken over every possible in commerce, in, you know, pharmaceutical, medicine. Like, there's just, like, even, like, entertainment and restaurants, like, everything. Like, you hear of people. And then the, it's like a mafia system, you know, and it's really hard to fight against them because people have very little power. And this has been happening for a long time ever since this sort of, because we also have

to take into account that this is a capitalist revolution. It could be not as advanced as, you know, the American one, but this is still a capitalist regime. So what happens is that over time, the military, the revolutionary guys, which were supposed to just guard the revolution in theory, just became stronger and stronger and stronger through the markets becoming free markets. And so this is now 30, 35 years later. and this is that we see the result of. Well, you said earlier that this, at least it began as a working class protest and focused principally on the economic conditions in Iran, but then it became, it seems to have become about many, many more things.

So if you could explain all of the issues that people are protesting against much, much wider than the 2022 protests, and then also you drew an analogy between what happened in 1988, in which your own family suffered so greatly. And what's happening now? What explains the brutality of the regime's response in these protests? I think for one thing, I think all of these reasons that we have been talking about, economic reasons, the deep, deep repression that has been, you know, put on Iranian people for so many, so many decades.

I think these reasons have always been. there. Now, of course, there's an economic collapse in Iran. So that reason has just become one of the biggest reasons now, but people have always been fighting against dictatorship for every reason possible, because the Iranian regime has policed even the most intimate aspects of people's lives, from the way they, you know, get dressed, what they eat, if they dance, if they sing, all of that to the whole political stage where they're not able to assemble. And this is also against, you know, labor, labor rights workers against union leaders. It has repressed every single person in the society. And then the Iranians have shown it again and

again and again that they want an end to this, that the regime's time with the Iranian people has long run out. And when I, you know, every time this type of violence happens, we're always in shock because I think a part of us still wants to believe that it's not possible that the regime could kill in its own people in this way. But we know that it is possible, not only in Iran, but all over the region. Did Assad did the same thing? So it's still the same regime. It's the same regime that killed my uncle that's killing all these young people on the streets today. So, if you can talk about the connection between the anti-war movement, the protests in Iran, And Israel's war on Gaza, the significance of this moment that we are all witnessing and where

President Trump's focus on Iran fits into all of this. Yeah. So I think one thing that we have to keep in mind is that this level of violence that has happened in Iran is coming after two years of genocide. And, you know, the level of violence has just raised so much in our region. And when we see massacre of people all over the region, I think it just shows to us that all of our struggles are connected, that there is no more just one fate of one country that matters. This is all connected. A free Iran must mean a free Palestine and must mean free Afghanistan must mean free Syria and Egypt.

And I think what we have also witnessed and what history has also witnessed and what history is, history has shown us is that Trump is in no way interested in the Iranian people's well-being and dignity and their rights to live a peaceful, happy, safe life. What they're interested is just their own interest. That's what they want. Everybody knows that. I think, I think, or if they do, I mean, if they might pretend like, you know, they buy into this rhetoric of of liberation. But we know what is behind it. We know it because it's happening right before our eyes in Gaza, with not one Palestinian being present in, you know, shaping their own future. That's going to happen to Iran, too, as it has happened to many of the countries that have

gone through this sort of military intervention. So I think the anti-war movements and pro-democracy movements, anti-dictatorship movements, must go hand in hand. And if I wanted to ask you, you know, Democracy now, we spoke to the award-winning Iranian filmmaker Japheth Banahi recently just last week, in fact. And he said to us that the regime is shattered. It has fallen already, politically, ideologically, economically, from any aspect you can imagine, it's fallen, it's only a shell that is in existence, and that also because it's using force. What is your assessment of the strength of this regime and the fact, as you point out, 1988, when Iran carried out these mass executions, 1988 was the year that an eight-year war with Iran and Iraq ended.

And to what extent you think the overall threats against Iran, what role do they play now in these mass executions? In other words, is there a relationship between war, I mean, the country being under siege or the regime, and its response into? Of course. I think all of these wars and threats of wars and foreign intervention, what it does is that it really solidifies the core, the hard core of the regime. They are, because they are put in a corner, it makes them unleash violence even more. It gives them sort of this green light, this permit to unleash as much terror as they want. And second is that wars and these sort of interventions, what? What they do is not necessarily, when, you know, Israel attacked Iran in June, it wasn't necessarily weakening the regime.

It was weakening a civil society. It was weakening this painful, slow labor of building power under surveillance and persecution. So I think what is important to always realize that Israel is interested in a weak Iranian civil society, as is Iran, as is the Iranian regime. And I think one thing I would like to add to what Jafar Panahi said is that the Iranian regime must lose any legitimacy it has, you know, in international eyes. The Iranian regime is not wanted by the people. And we must realize that this is a dictatorial force and it is, you know, it is not a legitimate, any more a legitimate governing force.

Sahar Delajani, we want to thank you so much for being with us, internationally acclaimed Iranian author. And you mentioned Jaffer Panahi. And we're going to talk about him right now in the Oscar nominations. The 26 Oscar nominations have just been released. nominees include several films we've covered on Democracy Now. Ryan Cougler's film Sinners has been nominated for a record-breaking 16 times, including for Best Director and Best Picture. Also, Delroy Lindo for Best Supporting Actor and Michael Jordan. You can go to our website, Ryan Coogler's interview with us.

Other Oscar nominees include the voice of Hendra Job, and it was just an accident for Best International Feature Film, Jaffer Panachis film. And also for short film, armed only with a camera, the life and death of Brent Renault for Best Short Documentary. You can visit DemocracyNow.org to see our segments on all of these films. I'm Amy Goodman with Nermaine-Shake. Thanks so much for joining us.