Numerous links in this post about migrants 'with their feet' transforming European demographics.

 

Spain offering amnesty to 500K illegal migrants bucks EU, global trend, sparks backlash

Spain is the European Union’s only major member state still governed by a socialist-led coalition.

By Eric J. Lyman in Rome 1-30-26 justthenews.com

At a time when most of Europe is tightening border controls and rethinking asylum policies, Spain is taking a different tack, announcing a dramatic regularization plan for undocumented migrants that has sparked domestic backlash and raised eyebrows among leaders from other European states.

Spain, the European Union’s only major member state still governed by a socialist-led coalition, this week announced a reform that will grant up to half a million people legal status. In a country of around 50 million residents, that amounts to around 1% of the population.

In announcing the reform, Elma Saiz, Spain’s minister for Migration, said beneficiaries of the reform will be able to seek work “in any sector, in any part of the country.” 

She also said migrants in the country had “a positive impact” and that the plan would “give dignity” to people already working in Spain.

“Some say we’re going too far, that we’re going against the current,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said via social media. “When did recognizing human rights become something radical?”

Spain’s change in policy comes as the European Union’s other major countries – France, Germany and Italy – have been pushing for tighter immigration controls, stepping up border patrols, scaling back asylum rights and helping to fund initiatives to create incentives for would-be migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia to stay home.

As in the U.S., public sentiment in Europe is largely opposed to the plan. But European countries have so far stopped short of the Trump administration's effort – led by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency – that focuses on locking down its borders to stop illegal migration and deporting those already in the country with criminal records.

“We know we have to take more control over our borders,” Magnus Brunner, the European Union’s top migration official, said this week.

In France the number of “regularized” migrants was down 10% last year compared to 2024, though there was an increase in foreign student arrivals. In broad terms, the country has been stepping up enforcement efforts by hiring more agents and increasing border control budgets.

On Friday, Germany reached a deal to finally implement the European Union’s Common European Asylum System over opposition by the far-right Alternative for Germany political party. While the reform will speed up processing of asylum requests, it will also reduce access to programs by unauthorized arrivals.

In Italy, which has pushed hardest for stricter European rules on mass migration, the topic was front page news this week after the trial began to determine responsibility for a 2023 migrant tragedy in which 90 people die off the southern Italian coast while trying to reach Italian shores. 

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni continues to push for a plan that would allow Italy to process new refugee arrivals at facilities in Albania, which is outside the European Union and so not subject to the bloc’s asylum rules.

In the U.K., which is not a member of the European Union, a new survey said that the public continues to believe migrant arrivals are on the rise even as numbers trend downward. Late last year, tension over the topic of illegal migration sparked riots and protests in some parts of the country.  

Spain says most of the new arrivals there are coming from Latin America, though the backlash against the new policy is based in part on media reports about arrivals from Africa scaling fences to reach Spanish enclaves in North Africa or reaching Spain’s shores in makeshift boats.

According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, overall “irregular” migrant arrivals in January were about half the level from a year earlier and down by 60% compared to the same month in 2024. 

Last year was the second consecutive year that overall refugee arrivals in Europe declined following a seven-year high of more than 275,000 new arrivals in 2023, UN statistics showed.

Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a trans-Atlantic foreign policy and national security think tank, based in the United Kingdom, told Fox News Digital, "Spain’s decision appears calculated to increase the lure of Europe as a destination for illegal migrants in general, causing problems for all of its neighbors. 

"If Spain wishes to become a repository for such people, then I’m sure other European countries would appreciate signing agreements to transfer their own illegal migrants there," he said. "Absent this, we will all be paying the price for Spanish largesse."

Vox, a national conservative political party in Spain, considers the plan amnesty that could fuel irregular migration.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal wrote on social media that the measure "harms all Spaniards," Fox Digital also reports. 

 

Minnesota Governor Walz certainly has 'encouraged' the massive protests with his explosive words.

 

Tim Walz asks if civil war is breaking out — and gets bombarded with brutal mockery

Carlos Garcia January 29, 2026 theblaze.com

The Democrat does not appear to understand his own historical analogy.

As agitators continue to interrupt federal immigration operations in Minnesota, the state's governor is tossing gasoline on the conflagration by implying a civil war is erupting.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz asked if the violence in Minnesota was akin to that at Fort Sumter, which famously precipitated the Civil War of the 1860s.

'That is literally the dumbest f**king thing anyone has ever said in the history of anything.'

"I mean, is this a Fort Sumter?" Walz asked rhetorically in an interview with the Atlantic.

"It’s a physical assault," he added. "It’s an armed force that’s assaulting, that’s killing my constituents, my citizens."

The failed vice presidential candidate was referring to the lethal shooting of Renee Good, who had driven her car into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, and a second lethal shooting of nurse Alex Pretti, who interfered with an operation while armed with a gun.

While many have been calling for a calming of heated rhetoric, the comments from Walz were widely ridiculed on social media.

"What a complete and total dumbass. Good grief," replied CNN commentator Scott Jennings.

"Tim Walz is, to put it mildly, not the sharpest tool in the shed," responded Mike Coté of the Spectator.

"That is literally the dumbest f**king thing anyone has ever said in the history of anything, and quoting it as though it were not condemns the Tweeter as well," replied John Podhoretz of Commentary.

"Walz, once again, proves he is a moron who both lacks the context for the (horrible and inaccurate) historical analogies he uses and also is not lowering the heated rhetoric. The fact Harris thought this guy was some kind of positive is astounding," said another user.

Others pointed out that Walz appeared to misunderstand his own comparison.

"Federal agents are in a recalcitrant state trying to enforce federal law, and the governor of that state wonders if it’s Fort Sumter without stopping to puzzle out which side that makes him in the analogy," replied Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review.

RELATED: Tim Walz says Democrats need to be 'meaner' and 'bully the s**t out of' Trump

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge8MXLVpVGU

"Uh. Yeah. That is a more apt comparison than he probably realizes. Once again, democrats starting a Civil War to keep their slaves. (Walz, dude, you are the bad guy)," said another user.

Walz is under investigation for allegations that he obstructed investigations into massive fraud in the Minnesota Somali community. He has since dropped his re-election campaign for the governor's office.

 

"This isn’t activism—it’s delusion, where rage eclipses reality. As DHS notes, such interference endangers agents and communities alike".

 

The Blind Rage Of Anti-ICE Protests: Delusional Activism In The Age Of Enforcement

Leftists’ irrational fury renders them incapable of processing irrefutable facts, videos, or evidence, making rational dialogue impossible as their hatred overrides any capacity for truth or reason.

Alex Ashe | January 30, 2026 www.americanthinker.com

In recent weeks, protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations have escalated across the country, particularly in Minneapolis, where mass deportations under President Donald Trump’s second administration have ignited widespread unrest. What began as demonstrations against what protesters call “inhumane” immigration policies has devolved, in many instances, into violent clashes with federal agents. Critics argue these actions stem from a deep-seated delusion, fueled by “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS)—a term describing an irrational hatred of Trump and his policies that blinds participants to facts, evidence, and reason.

Protesters, often portrayed by sympathetic media as peaceful advocates for justice, are accused of shielding criminal illegal immigrants, including rapists, pedophiles, and murderers, while following cues from Democrat leaders to obstruct lawful enforcement. This article examines key incidents highlighting this alleged disconnect from reality, drawing on eyewitness accounts, video evidence, and official reports to underscore how blind rage has overtaken rational discourse.

The Renee Good Incident: A “Mom” or a Menace?

One flashpoint is the January 7, 2026, shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Good “weaponized her vehicle” in an attempt to run over the officer, an act described as “domestic terrorism.” Video footage shows Good’s car lurching forward, followed by Ross firing three shots. Officials maintain she endangered the agent, who suffered internal bleeding and required hospitalization, but Good’s supporters, however, paint her as an innocent bystander who had just dropped off her child at daycare, intervening to protect immigrant neighbors from deportation.

This narrative divide exemplifies the delusion at play. Eyewitnesses and federal accounts describe Good laughing defiantly as she accelerated toward the agent, yet left-leaning voices ignore this, focusing instead on her role as a caring mother and poet. Even video evidence, which some outlets claim shows her turning away, is dismissed by skeptics as inconclusive amid the chaos of the scene. The result? Protesters rally around a sanitized version of events, unable to reconcile facts with their rage against ICE’s mission to remove threats from communities.

Alex Pretti: Nurse or Armed Agitator?

The January 24, 2026, killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old former ICU nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital, has further inflamed tensions. Pretti was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents during a confrontation in Minneapolis, amid protests against “Operation Metro Surge,” Trump’s intensified deportation campaign. Officials, including White House advisor Stephen Miller, labeled him an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” citing his possession of a fully loaded 9mm handgun and aggressive behavior.

Days earlier, video allegedly showed Pretti spitting on agents, kicking out a taillight on a government vehicle, and resisting detention, resulting in a bruised rib for one officer. Detained briefly for destruction of property and assault, Pretti returned armed to another protest site, escalating what critics call a pattern of provocation. His defenders, however, hail him as a heroic RN “hunted down” by ICE while en route to save lives, ignoring the fight he initiated and the weapon he brandished. This selective vision—elevating his profession to “self-righteous high ground,” akin to the hero worship of union teachers during COVID—blinds activists to the reality: Pretti’s actions justified heightened caution from agents, turning a routine operation into a deadly standoff.

Video breakdowns reveal agents pepper-spraying, tackling, and disarming Pretti before shots were fired, yet protesters decry it as an execution of an unarmed man. Such denial fuels the cycle of rage, where facts are twisted to fit an anti-enforcement narrative.

Lexie Lawler: Free Speech or Fired for Fury?

Beyond the streets, the delusion extends to online activism, as seen in the case of Alexis “Lexie” Lawler, a Florida labor and delivery nurse fired from Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital. In a viral TikTok, Lawler wished a “fourth-degree tear” on pregnant White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, hoping she would “rip from bow to stern and never sh*t normally again.” Florida Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, issued an emergency suspension of her nursing license.

Lawler’s supporters frame her as a “freedom fighter” punished for political speech, launching GoFundMe campaigns and decrying retaliation. Yet, her words weren’t mere dissent—they were graphic threats of harm, far from protected expression. This mirrors the broader TDS phenomenon: edgy, violent rhetoric is recast as heroic resistance, even as it crosses into lunacy. Lawler herself dismissed backlash in profanity-laced rants, tying her firing to unrelated events like the Minneapolis shootings. Unable to see the truth, her allies elevate her to martyr status, ignoring how such vitriol erodes professional integrity.

Vigilantes and Democrat Directives: A Coordinated Assault?

These incidents aren’t isolated; they’re part of a pattern where highly organized vigilantes interfere with ICE to protect criminal elements. DHS reports a staggering 1,300% increase in assaults on officers, a 3,200% surge in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% rise in death threats since Trump’s inauguration. Protesters block vehicles, throw projectiles, and even bite agents—acts DHS attributes to “radical rhetoric” from sanctuary politicians. In Minneapolis, crowds have used tear gas and flash bangs against federal forces, turning protests violent.

Democrat leaders are accused of stoking this fire. Figures like Rep. Ilhan Omar call for abolishing ICE as the “bare minimum,” while former President Barack Obama praises “peaceful” protests that often aren’t. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have resisted cooperation, with Frey refusing database access amid welfare fraud probes. Critics argue this amounts to orders to “interfere, intervene, obstruct, and physically resist,” shielding criminals under the guise of compassion.

X posts reveal the grassroots fury: Users decry masked ICE agents as threats while ignoring protester violence, and some celebrate agitators as heroes. Yet, as ICE Director Tom Homan vows to stay until “the problem is gone,” deportations continue unabated.

Breaking the Cycle: Facts Over Fury

Attempts to reason with these protesters often fail; irrefutable videos and reports are dismissed as “lies.” This isn’t activism—it’s delusion, where rage eclipses reality. As DHS notes, such interference endangers agents and communities alike. Until protesters confront the facts—that ICE targets threats, not innocents—the cycle of violence will persist. In an era of renewed enforcement, blind hatred serves no one but the criminals it protects.

 

Image: Myotus, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered.