‘I Feel Defeated’: U of M Student Has Been Detained Since January

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.

University of MN Freshman Remains Detained in TX

On January 11, Edwin Toalombo drove to a Walgreens in Richfield with his family to take photos for their U visa applications. But as they exited the parking lot, they were intercepted by ICE agents, who took Toalombo and his father to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building—and then, the next day, had them transported to El Paso, Texas, and held in detention.

Though his father has been released on bond, Toalombo, a University of Minnesota freshman, is still being detained in Texas, as Nicolas Scibelli reports for the Minnesota Daily.

“For the sake of my son, I feel defeated,” his father (using the name Santiago) tells Scibelli. “It feels as though his dreams have been cut short.”

Toalombo, who was studying computer science at the U, is originally from Ecuador, and he arrived in the United States on a visa in 2020. Santiago has not seen his son since the two were detained in Texas—they were sent to different sections of the camp—though they have spoken.

"He is quite sad, mostly because of his studies,” Santiago says. “He’s a good young man, a very responsible person, respectful; he’s never hurt anyone.”

There is a GoFundMe to help with Toalombo's family's legal fees here.

What Happened to the Lakeville Hilton Hotel That Stood Up to ICE?

That's the question J.D. Duggan attempts to answer for the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. If you recall, the former Hampton Inn at 20851 Keokuk Ave. in Lakeville canceled reservations for DHS agents back in January, prompting Virginia-based Hilton Hotels to strip it of its Hampton branding and remove the franchise location from its network.

The property is owned by Lakeville Hotel LLC, which is led by Parmjit Singh, Amanpreet Hundal, Karandeep Nagra and Mohinderjeet Kaur of Everpeak Hospitality, according to the Biz Journal. And they seem to have uh, softened their anti-ICE stance since January: "The Everpeak website currently just features a statement reaffirming its commitment to 'welcoming all guests and agencies,' a statement that is also posted at the front desk of the hotel," Duggan writes.

The hotel's owners, it will not surprise you to learn, did not respond to a request for comment.

You Can't Spell Shopping Aisle Without AI—No, Wait, Hang On...

Add this to the list of things that suck about AI: Retailers have been using the technology to charge different people more for the same item at the grocery store. Man, is there anything this shit can't make worse?

The Star Tribune's Carson Hartzog reports on the practice known as "surveillance pricing," which adjusts the prices on digital display tags as you shop using factors like location or loyalty data. Obviously that's bad and should be illegal, right? Right!

Some lawmakers agree. In Minnesota and around the country, they're proposing bills that would ban this style of predatory pricing along with the electronic shelf labels companies use to do it. Labor leaders like the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Locals 663 and 1189 are also pushing back.

“With surveillance pricing and ESLs powered by AI, mass data collection and automation, consumers don’t stand a chance, and they won’t be alone," Diana Tastad-Damer, secretary-treasurer of UFCW 1189, said at a Wednesday news conference. "Workers will suffer, too.”

Jesse Ventura: "I’m Calling on Barron Trump to Enlist in the U.S. Military"

Sometimes it's just nice to hear someone tell it like it is. And Jesse Ventura... well, does he tell it any other way?

Speaking with Piers Morgan, Minnesota's 38th governor called the Trump assassination attempt a "blade job" (here's a little explainer for you non-wrestling-fans), implied that he was ready to go "face-to-face" with the president, and called on Barron Trump to enlist in the U.S. military.

"A war is justified if you're willing to send your kids. Because how can you send somebody else's kids to a war if you won't send your own?" Ventura asks, adding that to his knowledge, no Trump in the last 100 years has done military service.

"Now hang on a minute, isn't Barron too tall?" is a question you are... almost certainly not asking yourself right now, but Ventura has an answer just in case: He's actually not too tall, because 7-foot-1 NBA great David Robinson served in active duty before he went to the San Antonio Spurs.

Watch Ventura pop off below.