ICE

It's been just over a month since Alex Pretti was shot and killed during a chaotic immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis ... and on what would have been his 38th birthday, his mom is pouring her heart out online.

Pretti's mom shared a touching Instagram tribute Sunday, posting a smiling photo of her son standing in front of a rocky desert landscape. Over the image, she wrote about the pain of losing him, saying when you lose a child, you lose more than just a child ... you lose a piece of your heart and part of your future.

She added his laughter, smile and love will remain with her forever, calling him her "precious boy" who will never fade from her soul.

Jamie Kennedy is calling out anti-ICE celebs -- accusing them of pure hypocrisy for sounding off on red carpets ... all while surrounded by security.

Speaking on Jack Osbourne’s "Trying Not to Die" podcast Tuesday, Jamie admitted ICE’s tactics can seem extreme ... but said it’s even crazier watching celebs cry about authoritarian rule while, in his view, "being authoritarian" themselves.

Jamie doubled down, calling out A-listers at Sundance specifically ... saying if they really believed in the cause, they’d be on the frontlines instead of preaching from luxury film festivals.

Don Lemon thinks there may have been some shady dealings with the grand jury proceedings that led to his indictment ... and he's comparing his federal prosecution to something you might see in Russia, China, or Iran.

The former CNN anchor wants his legal team to get their paws on the transcripts from the grand jury proceedings in his case to see if the government misled jurors into charging him with federal crimes ... according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ.

Don seems to think there's a good chance the government may have misrepresented key issues to the grand jury to secure an indictment ... seeing as a magistrate and judge considered the evidence against him and declined charges before the grand jury finally indicted him.

Don Lemon is not going down without a fight ... because he's fighting the federal criminal charges against him in Minnesota.

The former CNN anchor just pleaded not guilty to the charges against him ... one count of conspiracy against the right of religious freedom at a place of worship and one count of injuring, intimidating, and interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom at a place of worship.

Outside the courthouse, Don first thanked his friends and supporters ... then got defiant against the Trump Admin, speaking up for journalism and the First Amendment, and he promised to keep fighting for himself and the people of Minnesota dealing with the ongoing federal immigration surge in the state.

Don Lemon has just arrived at a federal courthouse for his arraignment.

The former CNN anchor showed up at the St. Paul, Minnesota court Friday ready to enter his  plea, which is expected to be not guilty.

Don flashed a smile and gave a wave to onlookers ... but, he kept his thoughts to himself despite the media throwing a few questions his way.

Jill Zarin's controversial comments about Bad Bunny's halftime show have tons of people turning against her ... and one company with a former connection to the star is paying the price.

Here's the deal ... Zarin Fabrics -- a company owned and run by Zarin's stepson David -- has commenters on Yelp and Facebook accusing the company of racism.

Check it out ... commenters are posting one-star reviews and demanding they immediately ditch Jill. The problem ... the company's already addressed the controversy -- and Jill hasn't had a role with Zarin Fabrics for years.

1:40 PM PT -- Cardi B is not backing down in this developing feud with DHS ... tweeting her response hours after their comment.

The Department of Homeland Security is clapping back at Cardi B's ICE diss ... by digging up her stripper past!

ICYMI ... Cardi opened her "Little Miss Drama Tour" in Palm Desert, California on Wednesday night and told fans she will throw hands if ICE shows up at her concerts. A DHS spokesperson went all out in their icy response, telling TMZ ... "As long she doesn’t drug and rob our agents, we’ll consider that an improvement over her past behavior."

If you're scratching your heads ... the "I Like It" hitmaker raised eyebrows in 2019 when an old clip resurfaced in which she admitted to drugging and stealing from men when she was an exotic dancer. Specifically, she said she would bring clients to hotel rooms in order to "drug them up" and then rob them.

Cardi B is pulling no punches when it comes to ICE ... telling fans they’d better be ready to throw down if agents pop up at her shows.

The rapper didn't mince words Wednesday during the opening night of her "Little Miss Drama Tour" in Palm Desert, California. At one point, she climbed onto an elevated platform while singing “La Cucaracha" ... then scanned the crowd and asked if there were any Guatemalans or Mexicans in the audience.

Moments later, she fired off her warning ... "Bitch, If ICE comes in here, we gon’ jump they asses,” drawing booming cheers from the crowd.

Team USA curler Rich Ruohonen, a native Minnesotan, went in on ICE at the Winter Olympics ... calling out immigration officials for what he says is illegal and unjust behavior.

Ruohonen -- who is an attorney by day -- didn't hold back when meeting with the media in Italy, calling out the Department of Homeland Security agency for what he says is aggressive enforcement.

"First of all, I'd like to say I'm proud to be here to represent Team USA, and to represent our country, but we'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention what's going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it's been for everybody," Ruohonen said.

Logan Paul is distancing himself from his brother ... after Jake Paul urged his followers to boycott Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance -- calling the global superstar a "fake American citizen."

In a now-viral tweet, Jake called on his fans to turn off the performance to "show big corporations they can’t just do whatever they want without consequences" ... adding, "a fake American citizen performing who publicly hates America. I cannot support that."

Logan was quick to push back on his brother's controversial take ... saying, "I love my brother but I don’t agree with this. Puerto Ricans are Americans & I’m happy they were given the opportunity to showcase the talent that comes from the island."

Jake is now doing some damage control ... claiming the word "fake" is being misinterpreted -- clarifying he views Bad Bunny as fake because "of his values and criticism of our great country," not because he's Puerto Rican.

Billie Eilish’s acceptance speech at the 2026 Grammy Awards ruffled lots of feathers across Hollywood and beyond ... and now Amber Rose is sharing her 2 cents about the whole situation.

ICYMI ... Billie spoke her mind after winning the Song of the Year award on Sunday, stating ... "as grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything but that no one is illegal on stolen land ... f*** ICE."

Amber took to Instagram on Thursday and urged her fans to cut Billie a break ... writing Billie is "only 24 years old and thinks she’s helping."

She wrote ... “I truly believe Billie thinks she’s doing the right thing as well as many of her peers right now but they’re not! YALL ARE MAKING THINGS WORSE! Do ur research and be a positive voice if you have a platform!”

Amber -- who’s an avid supporter of President Donald Trump -- finished her message with “America First!!!” and three American flag emojis.

Others have expressed anger at Billie for her anti-ICE sentiment, including race car driver Danica Patrick and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

Billie has property in L.A. that sits on Tongva land ... a spokesperson for the Tongva Native American tribe expressed appreciation for the singer's words after the Grammys.

A bunch of AEW fans in Las Vegas made it crystal clear Wednesday night that they aren't happy with immigration enforcement operations going on around the country … letting out a very loud "F*** ICE" chant moments before the show's main.

It all went down at the Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms Casino Resort in Sin City, where Brody King took on AEW World Champion MJF for a chance to earn a title opportunity against the champ next week in Australia.

But before things got underway, fans let out a chant that was hard to mistake — with MJF looking around the arena as it happened.

Border Czar Tom Homan announced hundreds of federal law enforcement personnel will be pulled out of Minnesota Wednesday ... following weeks of unrest across the state.

At a press conference Wednesday morning, Homan said, "Given this increase in unprecedented collaboration, and as a result of the need for less public safety officers to do this work and a safer environment, I am announcing, effective immediately, we’ll draw down 700 people effective today -- 700 law enforcement personnel."

That's about a quarter of federal officers -- including ICE agents -- deployed throughout Minnesota, according to The Associated Press.

Homan cited "unprecedented" increased cooperation with local and state officials as the reason for the reduction. He said about 2,000 officers will remain in Minnesota.

"My goal with the support of President Trump is to achieve a complete drawdown and end this surge as soon as we can, but that is largely contingent on the end of the illegal and threatening activities against ICE and its federal partners that we’re seeing in the community,” he said, KSTP-TV reports.

Homan described ICE's operations in Minnesota as "very effective as far as public safety goes," adding ... "Was it a perfect operation? No. No. We created one unified chain of command to make sure everybody is on the same page. And make sure we follow the rules. I don’t think anybody, purposely, didn’t do something they should have done."

Thousands of federal agents have been sent to Minnesota since December as part of Operation Metro Surge ... and huge civilian crowds have protested immigration raids across the state amid violent detentions of people, including legal residents and children.

Three people have been shot -- including U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who both died -- in Minneapolis in January by CBP and ICE officers. Good and Pretti were both protesting when they were killed.

Alex Pretti's shooting death in Minnesota has officially been classified as homicide ... according to the medical examiner in the case.

A new document from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner says Pretti's manner of death is homicide.

The doc, obtained by TMZ, lists "multiple gunshot wounds" as the cause of death ... and under the section "how injury occurred" medical examiner Dr. Andrew Baker wrote, "Shot by law enforcement officer(s)."

Reverend Jordan Wells has been an NFL fan his whole life ... but he told us he's boycotting the Super Bowl this year -- and not because his beloved Kansas City Chiefs didn't make it ... it's because Bad Bunny's headlining the halftime show.

Wells stopped by "TMZ Live" to explain his boycott of Super Bowl LX has nothing to do with Bad Bunny singing in Spanish ... it has everything to do with the Puerto Rican superstar supposedly making himself an activist, who Wells says, is demonizing one half of the country.

Wells says ... "I expect this Super Bowl to be the most political Super Bowl we have ever seen, because of who they picked and because of how the NFL has handled that."

Celebs were lining up at the Grammys to speak out against ICE ... but Jelly Roll wanted no part of it, flat-out dodging the topic and calling himself a "dumb redneck" when asked for his take.

Fresh off winning 3 Grammys Sunday, Jelly was pressed backstage about what’s going on in the country RN, but he shut it down fast ... saying nobody should care about his opinion, especially since he hasn’t been keeping up with the news and didn’t even have a phone for 18 months at one point recently.

JR traced his disconnection from politics all the way back to his childhood ... growing up in a "drug-addict household" full of "insane pandemonium" and admitting he "didn’t even know politics were f***ing real" until landing in jail in his mid-20s.