In Case You Missed It

 From Heather Cox-Richardson...

"At midnight tonight, most of the agencies and services in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will run out of funding, as popular fury over the violence and lawlessness of federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Border Patrol made Senate Democrats refuse to agree to fund DHS without reforms. And yet, because the Republicans lavished money on ICE and Border Patrol in their July 2025 budget reconciliation bill—the one they call the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—those agencies will continue to operate. The 260,000 federal employees affected by the partial shutdown will come from other agencies in DHS, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), and the Coast Guard.

A measure to fund DHS passed the House by a majority vote, but in the Senate, the filibuster allows the Democrats, who are in the minority, to make demands before the measure can pass. On February 4, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) sent Senate majority leader John Thune (R-SD) and House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) a letter outlining demands Democrats want incorporated into a measure to appropriate more funds for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Those demands are pretty straightforward. The Democrats want federal agents to enter private homes only with a judicial warrant (as was policy until the administration produced a secret memo saying that DHS officials themselves could sign off on raids, a decision that runs afoul of legal interpretations of the Fourth Amendment). They want agents to stop wearing masks and to have their names, agencies, and unique ID numbers visible on their uniforms, as law enforcement officers do. They want an end to racial profiling—that is, agents detaining individuals on the basis of their skin color, place of employment, or language—and to raids of so-called sensitive sites: medical facilities, schools, childcare facilities, churches, polling places, and courts.

They want agents to be required to have a reasonable policy for use of force and to be removed during an investigation if they violate it. They want federal agents to coordinate with local and state governments and for those governments to have jurisdiction over federal agents who break the law. They want DHS detention facilities to have the same standards as any detention facility and for detainees to have access to their lawyers. They want states to be able to sue if those conditions are not met, and they want Congress members to have unscheduled access to the centers to oversee them.

They want body cameras to be used for accountability but prohibited for gathering and storing information about protesters. And they want federal agents to have standardized uniforms like those of regular law enforcement, not paramilitaries."

Takk for alt,

Al

 

Then, too, there's this, also from Cox-Richardson

"In his testimony, Lyons maintained that ICE is indeed prioritizing the removal of undocumented immigrants with records of violent crime, enabling Republicans to claim that Democrats who want to rein ICE in are deliberately endangering public safety. Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News reported this week that documents from DHS itself show that fewer than 14% of the nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested in Trump’s first year had either convictions or charges for violent crimes, with fewer than 2% either charged with or convicted of homicide or sexual assault."

Barn Yard barbie not only shoots dogs...

"Last night, in a deep expose of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her advisor Corey Lewandowski, Wall Street Journal reporters Michelle Hackman, Josh Dawsey, and Tarini Parti described a department in chaos. Noem and Lewandowski—who the authors say are having an affair and essentially run the department together—are using DHS for their own aggrandizement with an eye to elevating Noem to the presidency. The reporters detailed the focus on image, the decimation of ICE by firing or demoting 80% of the career field leadership that was in place when they arrived, the apparent steering of contracts to allies, and Noem and Lewandowski's excessive demands, including “a luxury 737 MAX jet, with a private cabin in back, for their travel around the country.” DHS is currently leasing the $70 million plane but is in the process of buying it."

VA Medical Center is Near

       Had an appointment to see my primary care physician at the VA today. There were three items on my agenda. 1. Move my annual primary care appointment from May to February; 2. Order socks; 3. Move a prescription to the VA. Mission accomplished.

       In May I'm usually at The Little House and in February at the OFH. The VA gives me free socks. Prescriptions are cheaper at the VA, most are $8.00. The VA doctor can now access my health records from my civilian provider. When I saw her a couple of weeks ago she ordered lab test so today the VA doctor was able to access the results. 

      My VA experience almost all positive and like this doctor.

Takk for alt,

Al

PS After he listened to my heart I asked him what he heard. He said "You'll live."

While driving a Studebaker!

 

'The detainees at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, the largest detention center in the U.S. for children and families, describe nightmarish conditions: moldy food, contaminated drinking water and limited medical care. In a letter sent to ProPublica, one child says the only medical advice they get from the doctors is to drink more water. “The worst thing is that it seems the water is what makes people sick here,” he wrote. At least two cases of measles, a highly contagious and often deadly disease, have been detected in the facility, leading officials to lock down the jail. But for many parents, keeping their kids in Dilley is preferable to the alternative: staying in detention — and possibly being deported — without them." Huffington Post Takk for alt, Al

Collateral Damage!

      The ICE invasion causes much collateral damage. Many residents, here legally, are afraid to leave their houses. Consequently house construction is lagging for lack of workers. Many restaurants are short of workers, especially minority owned, and many have had to close. Numerous students are too afraid to attend school, so they are missing out on learning. School districts' reimbursement is tied to pupil days so, with many students staying home, the districts are suffering financially. 

   On and on it goes, all to keep orange man from facing up to the Epstein Files.

Takk for alt,

Al

The Epstein scandal is taking down Europe’s political class. In the US, they’re getting a pass.

Heather Cox-Richardson

"As of yesterday, members of Congress who sit on the House or Senate Judiciary Committees can see unredacted versions of the Epstein files the Department of Justice (DOJ) has already released. As Herb Scribner of Axios explained, the documents are available from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM on computers in the DOJ building in Washington, D.C. The lawmakers cannot bring electronic devices into the room with them, but they are allowed to take notes. They must give the DOJ 24 hours notice before they access the files.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the DOJ to release all the Epstein files by December 19. Only about half of them have been released to date, and many of them are so heavily redacted they convey little information. After members of Congress complained, on Friday, January 30, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said they could see the unredacted documents if they asked.

In a letter dated the next day, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) immediately asked for access on behalf of the Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee, saying they would be ready to view the files the following day, Sunday, February 1.

After viewing the files briefly yesterday, Raskin told Andrew Solender of Axios that when he searched the files for President Donald Trump’s name, it came up “more than a million times.” Raskin suggested that limiting members’ access to the files is part of a cover-up to hide Trump’s relationship with the convicted sex offender, a cover-up that includes the three million files the DOJ has yet to release despite the requirements of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. One of the files he did see referred to a child of 9. Raskin called it “gruesome and grim."

Taxes...

     Today was the day to begin preparing my taxes for the preparer. With agriculture interests, etc., my filing is too complicated for me to attempt alone. All was going well until I discovered that the brokerage firm will not have a report ready until next week. Minnesota Soybean Processors, (MSP), with whom I hold a couple of stocks, sent a letter saying they are working on some complicated tax issues. Their advice was to file for an extension while MSP works out the details. When the brokers report next week I should be able to hand over my material. Once in the CPA's hands I can just wait to see what MSP sends. Last year their tax packet was about 30 pages! none of which I could understand.

Takk for alt,

Al

'"Nothing is certain but death and taxes" is a famous maxim regarding the inevitability of mortality and taxation, popularly attributed to Benjamin Franklin in a 1789 letter concerning the US Constitution. It highlights the unavoidable nature of taxes to fund government services and the certainty of death, often used to emphasize realism."  Internet 

Super Bowl, redux!

     Watching the replay of my favorite team winning was the perfect alternative to a football game last night. The women's game began at 11:00 a.m. local time to avoid the Bowl. My subscription to BTM allows me watch many games live and most on replay.

   Today, long-time friends came for lunch. Many years ago she I worked together and we've been friends since. Though we don't see each other regularly we stay in touch. During lunch I asked them, "So, who won the Super Bowl game last night?"  They looked at each other, looked blank, and she said "I think it's the one owned by a woman for gives money to charities."  Neither even knew the teams that were playing. Three at lunch, largely oblivious to the NFL.😀

    Tonight I'll watch Unrivaled basketball. Unrivaled is the one-year old league founded by Napheesa Collier and Brenda Stewart, both of whom are WNBA players. In this league there are only three players for each team on the floor. It makes for fast play, the floor is also slightly shorter, and emphasis on offense. The players all come from the WNBA and are divided into teams for the season. Being a WNBA fan I recognize all the players by sight. It's another great alternative to football and its season is when the WNBA is not playing. Much of the motivation was to provide an alternative venue for the players to playing overseas. Overseas play pays much better than the WNBA, however. a new agreement between the league and players is being negotiated. WNBA player salaries have been very low. Check it out if you like basketball.

Takk for alt,

Al

Super Bowl Sunday!

     It's Super Bowl Sunday I guess. Something tells me the Vikings aren't playing. I'm so glad that I'm not allowed to watch football. While the game is on I have perfect alternative, basketball!

   The University Of Minnesota Women's basketball team is on a roll. They are tied for 5th place in the Big Ten Conference. Last week they beat Iowa in Iowa for the first time after ten losses there. This morning, I was otherwise occupied, they beat Rutgers for their 6th straight conference win.

  While football is being played I'll watch the replay of the Minnesota/Rutgers game. Replays are sweet. No anxiety because the outcome is assured...yes, I'm overly invested. There's fast forward through time-outs, quarter breaks and halftime, so there are NO commercials! Want to review that action? Instant replays are at the touch of a button. Sure beats football!

Takk for alt,

Al

They are all camera shy!

Will Farmers gain political sense?

    Heather Cox-Richardson comments on the situation in agriculture.

"On Tuesday, February 3, a bipartisan group of 27 former Agriculture Department officials and leaders from farm and commodity groups wrote to the leaders of the agriculture committees of both chambers with a dire warning about “the damage that is being done to American farmers.”

Linda Qiu of the New York Times highlighted the letter, which noted that “just a few years ago,” farm export surpluses and farm incomes were at record highs. This year, “[f]armer bankruptcies have doubled, barely half of all farms will be profitable this year, and the U.S. is running a historic agriculture trade deficit.” The authors blamed this crisis on the fact that “the current Administration’s actions, along with Congressional inaction, have increased costs for farm inputs, disrupted overseas and domestic markets, denied agriculture its reliable labor pool, and defunded critical ag[ricultural] research and staffing.”

They warned of “a widespread collapse of American agriculture and our rural communities.” They noted that administration cuts to healthcare will add to the decimation of rural communities, wiping out a way of life. Rural voters tend to be an important part of Trump’s base."

This poem is from Lars' college friend.

Takk for alt,

Al

Heather Cox-Richardson again!

 These would be very helpful changes!

"Also last night, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) sent Senate majority leader John Thune (R-SC) and House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) a letter outlining demands Democrats want incorporated into a measure that will appropriate more funds for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS is the department that contains Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. Democrats insisted on stripping DHS funding out of the bills to fund the government for 2026 after ICE and Border Patrol agents began to inflict terror on the country.

Those demands are pretty straightforward, but if written into law as required for the release of funds, they would change behavior. The Democrats want federal agents to enter private homes only with a judicial warrant (as was policy until the administration produced a secret memo saying that DHS officials themselves could sign off on raids). They want agents to stop wearing masks and to have their names, agencies, and unique ID numbers visible on their uniforms, as law enforcement officers do. They want an end to racial profiling—that is, agents detaining individuals on the basis of their skin color, place of employment, or language—and to raids of so-called sensitive sites: medical facilities, schools, childcare facilities, churches, polling places, and courts.

They want agents to be required to have a reasonable use of force policy and to be removed during an investigation if they violate it. They want federal agents to coordinate with local and state governments, and for those governments to have jurisdiction over federal agents who break the law. They want DHS detention facilities to have the same standards of any detention facility and for detainees to have access to their lawyers. They want states to be able to sue if those conditions are not met, and they want Congress members to have unscheduled access to the centers to oversee them.

They want body cameras to be used for accountability but prohibited for gathering and storing information about protesters. And they want federal agents to have standardized uniforms like those of regular law enforcement, not paramilitaries.

As Schumer and Jeffries wrote, these are commonsense measures that protect Americans’ constitutional rights and ensure responsible law enforcement, and should apply to all federal activity even without Democrats demanding them."  Heather Cox-Richardson

Takk for alt,

Al

Book Report!

    Well into this book I wondered why I kept reading? It was mildly engaging and perhaps part of its allure was its setting in Penang, Malaysia, which I once visited. (A little Penang excurses here. My visit there came at a time when it was first possible to reserve hotel rooms online. On my previous travels I'd find housing upon arrival. So, making an online reservation in Penang, the hotel site gave two prices for rooms. The basic price was $10.00 a night but $20.00 if you wanted a private room. Being a big spender I opted for private.😁) The author wrote two previous books, both of which I enjoyed. His constant use of vocabulary, common to the area's English speakers, Malaysia was an English Colony until 1957, piqued my interest...frequently looking up the meaning of words, this, too, kept me reading. An example, warehouses lining the harbor are called "godowns."

   Persistence was rewarded as it became very interesting. The book is The House of Doors, Tan Twan Eng, and his previous books were The Gift Of Rain, and The Garden Of Evening Mists. It could be classed an historical novel. Two famous people, who spend time in Penang feature prominently in the story. W. Somerset Maugham, the English author, visited Penang in the 1920s. Sun Yat-sen, the Chinese revolutionary was there raising money when revolution broke out in China. Both are feature in Twan's story. While Penang is the main focus of the tale the protagonists move to South Africa for health reasons. This mirrors the author's life as he divides his time between those locales.

   Lesley, the main charcter is imagined in relationship with both Maugham and Yat-sen. In Saigon we stayed at the Oriental Hotel where Maugham has stayed previously. Another historical detail is the trial, conviction and pardon by the Sultan of an English woman convicted of murder. 

  It's good story, well told in excellent prose. It's garnered very positive reviews.

Takk for alt,

Al

What is Sun Yat-sen known for?

As the paramount leader of the 1911 Revolution, Sun is credited with overthrowing the Qing dynasty and served as the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1912) and as the inaugural premier of the Kuomintang.

Heather Cox-Richardson again.

 Cox-Richardson commented on a judges ruling that barnyard barbie, also known as Noem, could not unilaterally end Haitian Temporarily Protected Status

“There is an old adage among lawyers,” Reyes wrote as she decided against the Trump administration. “If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table. Secretary Noem, the record to-date shows, does not have the facts on her side—or at least has ignored them. Does not have the law on her side—or at least has ignored it. Having neither…, she pounds X ([formerly known as] Twitter). Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants. Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the [Administrative Procedure Act] to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that.”

In today's post from Cox-Richardson she also wrote this.

"Republicans are trying to regain support by seeming to back off their extremism, although they are not backing far: not a single Republican showed up for a public forum held today in Washington, D.C., by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) and other Democrats on ICE violence. At the hearing, Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen shot five times by federal agents, told her story; so did Aliya Rahman, another U.S. citizen detained by ICE; and so did the brothers of U.S. citizen Renee Good, killed by federal agents.

Representative Garcia showed a picture of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who is a key instigator of the ICE attacks, and said: “There’s probably no single person in this government [who] has done more damage…and more harm to people across this country, immigrants and U.S. citizens…than this man right here, and it’s our job…to hold him responsible for the crimes that are happening to United States citizens.” A new Data For Progress poll shows that 51% of American voters think Miller should be removed, while only 33% think he should not."

Takk for alt,

Al

Banal!

      Being an old, white, male in an old folks home insulates me from the trauma of our streets. Given the heart rendering dramas being played out with the barbaric siege of the city my life sees banal by comparison.

     There is significant resistance to ICE emanating from the OFH. There is a new ISAIAH Core Team that's active. The OFH Social Justice Committee has been active all the while I've been here. At the last nationwide protest Friday inmates of the OFH gathered in vigil on the skyway.(See photo below) Much of the energy for the resistance work comes from the "other" building. That is all independent living apartments and they tend to be younger than the denizens of this building.  

    Apparently many of the entertainers who were awarded prizes at the Grammy's last night spoke out against ICE and orange man. Minnesota is garnering a lot of attention. We'd be happy to pass on that if the barbarians would leave.

Takk for alt,

Al

PS

BREAKING: Federal judge SMACKS DOWN “ICE Barbie” — uses Kristi Noem’s own ugly rant to stop her deportation crusade.

In a delicious case of poetic justice, a federal judge just took Kristi Noem’s own words, wrapped them in constitutional law, and slammed them right back in her face.

Noem’s plan to rip legal protections away from 350,000 Haitian immigrants was frozen this week by Judge Ana C. Reyes, who issued a blistering 83-page ruling that made one thing crystal clear: screaming on X is not governing.

Back in December, Noem proudly posted that she was recommending “a full travel ban on every damn country,” sending “killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies” to the U.S., punctuating it with the chilling MAGA mantra: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” Haiti was squarely in her sights just days earlier, when she moved to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians who have lived and worked legally in the U.S. since the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Judge Reyes was not amused.

“Noem does not have the facts on her side,” Reyes wrote. “She does not have the law on her side. So instead, she pounds X.”

Ouch.

The judge reminded Noem that while she’s free as a private citizen to spew insults, as homeland security secretary, she is bound by the Constitution and federal law. TPS, Reyes explained, isn’t charity — it’s a lawful program that allows disaster survivors to live and work here, generating $5.2 billion a year in taxes.

And then came the mic drop.

Reyes directly quoted Noem’s own “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” line to prove Haitians have every reason to fear rapid deportation. In other words: Noem’s own bigotry became Exhibit A against her.

The plaintiffs Noem tried to erase? A neuroscientist. A software engineer. A registered nurse. A lab assistant. An economics student. Not “leeches.” Not “killers.” Just people with lives, careers, and roots in America.

The judge also pointed out the obvious hypocrisy: the U.S. State Department still warns Americans not to travel to Haiti for any reason, completely undercutting Noem’s claim that the country is suddenly “safe.”

The ruling blocks Noem — and Donald Trump — from ending Haiti’s TPS nationwide while the case proceeds.

Noem’s response? A tantrum about “activist judges” and promises to appeal. But for now, ICE Barbie’s cosplay tough talk has collided with reality — and the law won.

To be brown in Minneapolis....

    Here's an example of the danger of being brown in Minneapolis with the Federal Government's ongoing invasion.

"t's a video many saw on social media soon after it happened: Officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, dragging a woman out of her car and forcing her to the ground.

The woman in the video is Aliya Rahman, a Bangladeshi American and a U.S. citizen. The day she was arrested, Rahman was on her way to the doctor when she came across an ICE operation and a group of people protesting. She said the ICE officers told her to move her car, but the scene was chaotic and she received multiple instructions at once.

The Department of Homeland Security said in an earlier statement they arrested Rahman because she "ignored multiple commands." But Rahman, who is autistic and also recovering from a traumatic brain injury, says it sometimes takes her a moment to understand auditory commands. Before she knew it, the officers were carrying her away by her limbs."

How long? how long? how long?????????????

Takk for alt,

Al

Life for racial minorities in White Supremist America.

   Kao Klia Yang is one of my favorite authors. Her Hmong parents escaped Laos and she was born in a Thai refugee camp. They settle in Minnesota and today her article appeared in the Minneapolis Star/Tribune.  Her article speaks for itself.

Takk for alt,

Al

Opinion | What I told my children to do if I’m taken by ICE

Writer Kao Kalia Yang shares her fears as a naturalized citizen after seeing others like her being swept up in the immigration crackdown.

January 31, 2026 at 4:59AM

ICE agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 28. "I find myself wondering if I still have a home here in Minnesota, in America," writes Kao Kalia Yang, "in the world of the people who get to decide who is valuable and who is not, who belongs and who does not, who lives and who dies." (Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of guest commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

Star Tribune opinion editor’s note: This article, written as a “letter from Minnesota,” first appeared on Literary Hub’s website earlier this week.

•••

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. I got gas for the first time this year by myself. The gas station was mostly empty. I drove into the station, heart thudding in my chest. I did everything as fast as I could. The few people around, the dark-haired man putting air into the tires on his truck, the white woman who came into the station behind me, each of us quietly doing our business as fast as we can in the cold. I dared to venture out because federal agents killed Alex Pretti this Saturday — just as ICE showed up on our block and went to the house of one of my Karen neighbors, and because I know that Greg Bovino is leaving and Tom Homan is coming, and this is a period of transition, a little break from the escalating pressures pushing us down.

On Sunday, my white husband and I, a Hmong woman, talked to our three children: What happens if Mommy gets detained? If the children are with me and they are taken with me, then we try to stay together as long as we can, hold tight, don’t cry. If they take me and leave the children (as they left the other children on the east side of St. Paul when they took the parents away), then if the oldest of the children has her Gizmo watch and if it is able to make a call, she should call her father (my husband is a teacher and when he is in school, reception is not guaranteed), and if that doesn’t work, she should call one of her aunties, the one who answers her phone the most. If the Gizmo watch doesn’t work, if they are not home, they should go to the nearest gas station or an adult with a whistle and ask to use a phone. They should call the police. At the police station, they should tell the police that one of their aunties is a judge and give the police her name, and if that doesn’t work, then the children should give the names of their white grandparents and tell the police officers that the couple live in the senior co-op close to the lake. The children are scared. My 10-year-old sons put on brave faces. One looks only at his feet. The other has sucked in his lips so that his mouth is a line of folded flesh. The welling of liquid in my eyes falls from my 12-year-old daughter’s. I tell the kids, “It’s not your job to save Mommy or to protect her. I want you three to stay together and be safe. I’m the adult here. I’m a U.S. citizen. I’ve no criminal record. I am … afraid, too.”

I am afraid because I am a naturalized U.S. citizen. I came here at the age of 6 years old. I came as a refugee child whose whole world was a refugee camp right up until leaving for America. At 45, I am still the size of a child. Easy to shove, to push, to take. In my community and around me, I see ICE taking other naturalized citizens …

One, a grandfather, without a shirt or pants, just a pair of shorts and slippers, a man who has done nothing wrong. The snow white on the ground. The house, small, typical of the east side houses that I’m surrounded by. The neighbors gathering, shouting, whistling, screaming for help … help that is a message of love but like all love powerless to prevent the hurt from happening. A grandchild’s blanket thrown over his bare shoulders to keep the cuffed hands hidden, the Minnesota cold from biting into shoulders that have been pushed down by too many hands, too much force. Two agents on either side.

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I remember a story my father told me about the moment he and my mother, with their one-month-old baby strapped to her front, walked into Thailand, after the crossing of the Mekong River and the years of starving in the jungles of Laos after the Americans had withdrawn their troops from a war that the world had declared over, how shreds of his skin fell from his sides like ribbons (because in the crossing, he’d tied the whole family to cuts of bamboo so that he could drag them, and the currents had been strong and the bamboo had sliced through his flesh), how he had on no shirt, no pants, no shoes, just a pair of underwear … how the Thai farmers on the road had gathered to look at the thin man and his thin wife and the baby that looked like a burlap sack in her arms, brown flesh sagging off bird bones, how one threw an old T-shirt at him, how it fell to the ground and how he picked it up, dusted the dirt, and tried to put it on, and then walked to the fenced compound where the Hmong were to register as refugees of war, how at its gate, his feet halted, and how a Thai soldier punched him and how he fell to the ground.

My father had said to me, “My heart hurt more than my body — the flesh can take blows, the heart suffers them. It was the first time I felt that there would be no other place like Phu Khao, the village where I was born. The soldier who hit me was an older man. I was like a prisoner. I stood still, and then I walked into the place they would keep me. And I kept thinking: I was a man, too. I had a wife and a child. But it didn’t matter because we had no home anymore.”

All my life, I’ve carried these words. Born a stateless child in that place where they kept my father, my mother, my older sister and countless other refugees. For the first six years of my life, I thought the whole world was a refugee camp. I saw people come in. I saw how we couldn’t leave. I saw how those who did never returned. I asked the adults around me where home was. With their words, they painted mountains far taller than I knew to imagine. With their words, they paved pathways across oceans to a place called America … where a little girl like me could go to school, become educated and do the work of building a better world. All these years, that has been my goal. As a writer, I’ve tried hard to tell the stories of my people and others who have fled their homes in search of safety and a future, and now all these years later, I find myself wondering if I still have a home here in Minnesota, in America, in the world of the people who get to decide who is valuable and who is not, who belongs and who does not, who lives and who dies.

So, today, now bright with frigid sunshine, I sit in the eerie silence of my house on the east side of St. Paul — alone until I sneak out to pick up my children from school — and hope to return with them once again. There’s gas in my car but I’ve nowhere to go, so I sit here, and I try to do what I’ve always only ever done: Look toward the far distant horizons for the rise of the mystical mountains of my people, for the invisible arms of my ancestors, to keep me steady for one more day.

I find myself thinking: Each day is another day for my three children to grow up a little more, for the one boy to learn how to wash his hair better, for the other boy to be able to put lotion on the eczema patches on his arms and legs, and for the girl to grow her arms a little bit stronger so she can hold her brothers — if there should come a day when I won’t be here to hold them all close, to pull their bodies into mine, to whisper to them, “You are safer here than anywhere else in the world because the arms that love you the most are holding you tight.”

I write the words I believe to be true even as I know how terribly strong the arms pulling us apart are, and how love, even the most powerful kind, cannot protect, how it bears witness only, how it remembers and carries the words on, until our breaths are no more, until the homes that we’ve been looking for our whole lives open their doors and invite us in.

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Kao Kalia Yang is the author of “Somewhere in the Unknown World: A Collective Refugee Memoir” and other books. She was the 2024 Minnesota Star Tribune Artist of the Year.