Politics and views in the United States

House Minority Leader Jeffries stands by Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar after DHS raid on her home, immigrants nationwide worry they could be ICE’s next target after several shootings, and new polls find voters remain concerned about consumer costs.

Transcript

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

Right-wing conspiracy theorists have been targeting Representative Omar for about eight years at this particular point in time.

There's nothing there relative to behavior that should merit this type of extraordinary raid.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries supports Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar after her house was raided by Homeland Security agents.

Omar and other Trump administration critics call this a, quote, outrageous abuse of power.

DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen says this is part of an ongoing criminal investigation into possible fraud with her family's immigration paperwork.

The raid comes less than three weeks before the midterms, though the Justice Department historically avoids public investigative actions this close to elections.

Immigrants nationwide are worried they could be ICE's next target not long after the shooting of Oscar Belgaul in New York City.

Immigrants in Maine are particularly afraid since they're still contending with the aftermath of ICE agents shooting Johann Sebastian Guilherme of Biddeford in July.

Buffalo Chittum with the Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition says immigrants wonder if they'll be next.

This is tragic and scary, especially when families come to the United States to seek safety and then to be facing, you know, what families have run away from in their country.

It's just really sad.

States like Connecticut are taking action to strengthen immigrants' rights by enacting a protected area law.

It establishes protections against civil immigration arrests in designated places like schools and hospitals unless federal immigration agents have a judicial warrant.

Eric Cruz with CT Students for a Dream says this law helps people live without fear.

Our hope is that it helps families continue to feel safe or feel a little bit safer and be able to access the resources in their community and be able to just live in their community without fear that at their daycare center, they would get picked up.

As the midterms approach, P&S is highlighting important polls.

A new Pew Research poll finds around three quarters of Americans are highly concerned about energy costs and the price of gas, an increase from 60% in July.

Other primary concerns include the cost of food and consumer goods, housing, and health care.

But this is reflective of many other polls on the economy.

J. Michael Collins with the Institute for Research on Poverty says, Americans don't care how the stock market's doing, but are fed up with rising costs.

People can't eat their assets.

You know, they need income to be able to pay for groceries.

And the fact that their 401k is rising might be great when they get to retirement age, but people are really worried about the day-to-day.

He adds when hyperinflation began in 2022, people had savings built up during the pandemic so they could better withstand any economic pain.

Now, Collins says that cushion has gone for many households and ongoing inflation concerns are fueling an even more worrisome outlook.

At the White House's urging, U.S. Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, resigned.

It comes as reports claim she asked high-profile Republican donor Eric Dieters for $100,000 to pay her American Express credit card bill in exchange for access to President Donald Trump.

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

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.