News > Immigration In Minnesota
ICE arrests 26 Minnesotan immigrants in March operation
Posted on Mar 17 2017
During the week of March 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 26 people in Minnesota, and another 60 people in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska. The three-day operation was the largest in the Midwest since November’s election.
One of the Minnesotans arrested was a member of Incarnation parish in South Minneapolis, who was dropping off his son with a caregiver. According to the Star Tribune, ICE agents were not looking for the Incarnation church member, but observed that he “kept moving the gear shift from Park to Drive while the officers were on foot around the vehicle” in which he was a passenger. The Star Tribune reported:
“The Incarnation Church member arrested on Lake Street last week had lived in the United States for about nine years and had no criminal convictions, [Incarnation Church business administrator Brad] Capouch said. But he had returned to the United States after he was deported in 2011 to rejoin his wife and his now 8-year-old son, a U.S. citizen. Capouch said the boy was traumatized by witnessing his father’s arrest.”
ICE said most of those arrested had criminal convictions, and that ten were legal permanent residents. While the Obama administration deported high numbers of people, its guidelines ordered ICE to focus on criminals and national security risks. That has changed under the Trump administration, which prioritizes deportation of anyone charged or convicted or any crime, including returning to the country after deportation.
For more information:
- Largest ICE sweep since election nets 26 in Minnesota (Star Tribune, 3/16/17)
- In Minnesota, unauthorized immigrants wait and worry (MPR, 3/16/17)
- ICE arrests 86 in 5 Midwestern states (AP via MPR, 3/16/17)
- U.S. immigration officials arrest 26 in Minnesota during 3-day operation (Pioneer Press, 3/16/17)