ICE And The State Of Minnesota

0:07It's been almost two months since the Trump administration first announced that its biggest immigration crackdown ever would take place in Minnesota. At the height of the surge, 3 ,000 federal agents were on the ground in the state, which usually has 150 at most. That's according to Minnesota's Democratic Governor, Tim Walz. Lawmakers from Minnesota now say that fewer than 500 agents remain following the Department of Homeland Security announcement earlier this month that it would end the operation. But the department's aggressive tactics have changed the state immensely in a short time. From the Twin Cities to rural areas, federal agents have made arrests at homes and work sites and outside schools.

0:50Two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents, Renee Macklin-Good on January 8th and Alex Preddy exactly one month ago today. Even as the number of federal agents decreases, Minnesotans tell us they're still feeling the toll of the crackdown. My name is Patty and I live in Minneapolis. The Catholic church that I go to is predominantly Latino and they have been greatly impacted by the metro surge. And I would say that a few people have come back to church that didn't come back prior, but we're still delivering groceries to about 320 families who are sheltering at home. So, yes, it might be cut back a little bit, but the people are still living in fear.

1:37We also got this from a member of our tax club. I have family there. It's been traumatizing. One thing that's hard is that they live it each day and they feel alone in the battle and they point out that national news coverage doesn't or can't report all that happens and so the rest of us don't get it. Today, how DHS's Operation Metro Surge has affected communities in Minnesota and how they've been showing up for one another throughout it all. I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A Podcast. We'll be back with more after this short break. Stay with us.

2:13Let's get into the conversation and meet our guests. Joining us from Minneapolis is Kosar Mohamed. She's a member of the Cedar Riverside Protection Alliance. The group was founded in December to serve members of Minneapolis' Cedar Riverside neighborhood during the immigration crackdown. Kosar, welcome to the program. Thanks, Jen. Thanks for having me. And also with us is Matt Sepik. He's been our voice for Minnesota for the last few months. He's a correspondent at Minnesota Public Radio News. Matt, it's great to have you back. Nice to be back. So, Kosar, you and other members of your community formed this Cedar Riverside Protection Alliance as a rapid response to the announced immigration surge.

2:52This was back in December. Tell us about the first meetings and conversations you had as a group. Yeah, so a little bit about the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. It's uniquely set. It's really in the heart of Minneapolis. It's one of the most densely populated census tracts in the state of Minnesota and probably one of the most densely populated neighborhoods outside of St. Louis, Missouri in the Midwest, right? And so for many of us who grew up in the city within a city, right, of a neighborhood that's highly populated, we found really unique ways to still stay connected. And so it really took one or two calls amongst two of us to start connecting a larger network of young professionals, elders, and youth once we've seen really this high level of surge in activity just not only in the neighborhood but also surrounding areas of Minneapolis and across the seven-county metro, But we weren't remiss to not know that there was already activity, I think, earlier spotted in the summer.

3:52But we weren't as prepared or as cognizant of really the severity of the issue until we connected with a lot of our friends on the east side of St. Paul who were already prepared, who already had boots on the ground networks. And so it took one evening to really set up an entire apparatus of a rapid response network that really connected both elders, youth, and young professionals in the neighborhood. Matt, we're checking in nearly two months into this increased ICE presence in Minnesota. But take us back to when it began. And Kosar says there was an awareness of ICE presence in the community even before they formed their organization.

4:33But just walk us through how this all evolved. It really started back in September. What we've been reporting on and what the national media has really focused on is the big ramp up in January when the government sent several thousand agents here. But this whole surge, as the government calls it, as DHS refers to it, as Operation Metro Surge, started in early December. And that's where, you know, what COSAR is talking about here, where we saw this increased presence, particularly in diverse, dense neighborhoods like Cedar Riverside, which is primarily a Somali-American neighborhood. We had a case where a young man, a Somali-American man, a U.S.

5:21citizen, walked out of a building on his lunch break, spotted some agents wearing ski masks, wanted nothing to do with them, turned around and ran. And they arrested him and held him for about an hour, I think, or more before finally returning and looking at his papers to show that he is indeed a U.S. citizen and they had absolutely no reason to arrest him. I mean, we started hearing about that sort of thing late last year. Kosar, how did you identify the biggest needs of Cedar Riverside residents once the ICE operation in Minneapolis began? And how did you go about meeting them? Yeah, it was really critical for us to inform community pretty early on, and particularly those who have the ability to offer their sweat equity around there is no rhyme or reason into the Operation Metro Surge, right?

6:18That ultimately what drives it is lack of data-informed strategies, that it's deep misinformation, and that the biggest thing that's going to protect community is each other, to have a formal network of communication channels, but also to build bridges amongst other communities who have resources, who maybe have already identified really deep strategies in addressing some of the sporadic activities that were happening. right, and the level of just pretty much picking people up off the streets. And so it looked like identifying peak times that we knew that they were arriving into the neighborhood where they thought that community members would not be, you know, out in large populations.

7:01So really tracking those trends and noting that they were really coming during peak hours of early prayer. So Frederick prayer hours and really then picking up both elders and young individuals, but then also utilizing and recognizing that they were coming during bus drop-off times, right, when they knew that, you know, young families and other individuals who are supporting those families would be out in the streets to really provide their wraparound care and services, right? And so from that, it was for us to, A, start informing folks that you have a right to be here, the Constitution still exists, right, and that there are more than enough observers and folks on hand, right, to support.

7:42We then also started communicating with our local businesses. We have a pretty strong small business corridor and started informing them and printing out signage around what does it look like to have a administrative warrant versus a judicial warrant, right, if ICE agents were coming or other federal agents were coming on site. Because the biggest level of traction that we started seeing is agents going into these small businesses and utilizing intimidation tactics. So from that, it was really having proper signage on their doors and visible, but also informing them that there are still constitutional rights.

8:20You still have all these different resources that are available to you. And so really trying to demystify this level of fear that really ultimately started debilitating people's mental health, their spiritual health, and their day-to-day functionality. Let's hear another voice from Minnesota. This is Anna in St. Paul. All of the activity that is happening to respond and resist, all of that continues. There hasn't been a big, massive protest or strike that has 50 ,000 people in the street that hit the news. But all of the other activities continue to be on high alert. The patrolling around schools during drop-off times, recess, pickups.

9:03There are parent volunteers who continue to sign up for those shifts. There is continued effort to pack groceries, drive groceries to people's homes who are afraid to leave their houses. All of these high alert activities continue. We have not dropped our guard because we know ICE is still here. We also got this from a member of the 1A Tax Club. We live in Minnesota. We attended community meetings on how to observe and help our communities in any way that we could. It was actually an amazing experience to come together as a community and see all of the caring and supportive people trying to fight back against this cruel and dangerous attack on our immigrant neighbors.

9:40The training that we attended had over 600 people and instilled pride and hope for the goodness of Minnesotans. I'm proud to be a Minnesotan. I hope that we showed others how to stand up and fight back against this abuse of power. Kosar, briefly, what do you want people to know about how residents in the state are still feeling the effects of the surge? And I won't ask you to speak for everyone, just speak for yourself. Well, I've been a lifelong Southsider, right? And so I think for me, particularly in our Minneapolis community, and even for those of our community members that are across the river, like this has been compounded, right?

10:18We dealt with the civil uprise and we dealt with COVID. And then on top of that, we've now dealt with Operation Metro Surge, right? I don't think we've had a moment to really have an ability to really rebuild or be resilient or to even envision a future beyond the level of trauma and harm that our communities have endured, right? And so I think the thing to really share is that, yes, Minneapolis is resilient. Its residents are resilient. Its businesses and communities are resilient. But how long is that resilience going to last? Is it sustainable? At what point do we recognize that this level of harm and hurt that we're encountering is really systemic, right?

11:00And to be able to get to the roots of those systemic issues, we need to start having deep conversations and reflections that are really reflective of our overall, you know, experiences. is. That's Kosar Mohamed. She's a member of the Cedar Riverside Protection Alliance. That's a neighborhood coalition serving residents of Minneapolis's Cedar Riverside neighborhood. Kosar, thank you for speaking with us. Thank you for having me. Matt Sepik, correspondent at NPR News, is staying with us. And coming up, the arrest and detention of five-year-old Liam Conejo-Ramos put one Minnesota elementary school in the public eye.

11:37How have the school and surrounding community weathered the aftermath? That's after the break.

11:47Back now to our conversation about DHS's impact in Minnesota. It's been over a month since ICE arrested and detained five-year-old Liam Conejo-Ramos and his father outside their home in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. They were held at a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, for more than a week. A federal judge ordered their release at the start of this month. Liam is a student at Valley View Elementary School. His family is one of 26 at the school that had family members detained by ICE over the course of the operation. Joining us now to talk about the effect on his school and community is Valley View Principal Jason Kuhlman.

12:24Principal Kuhlman, welcome to the program.

12:26Joshua Johnson:Thank you, Jen. Thank you for having me on. So first, tell us about your school and students. If we walked down a hallway, say a year or two ago, what would we have seen and heard? You know, you would see a lot of smiling, laughing kids. You know, we have a great school community. We thrive on the community that we've created with our parents and our broader community as a whole. But you're going to see a very diverse population. You're going to see about 66 % Latino students, 14 % white, 14 % African American or African, a few indigenous and a few Asian kids. So really indicative of our community as a whole is an immigrant community.

13:07Joshua Johnson:I mean, Columbia Heights, for the listeners that don't know, has always been an immigrant community and still is. And that's what makes our community so strong and also makes our school so strong is the diversity that we have in it. So how has this immigration operation affected that school community? It's shaken it by all means. I couldn't agree more with what Kosar had said about ICE is still here, you know, and the surge that came in. And we knew this was coming or felt it coming and we started preparing, but we could have never prepared for what has hit us. You know, right now or earlier this month, we had 104 of our students online.

13:50Joshua Johnson:Their parents weren't sending their kids to school. They weren't leaving their houses. We dramatically shifted the focus of our school. You know, we're here to keep kids safe. We're here to educate students. and now we're here to protect families and to serve them and make sure that they have food in their houses, that they're feeling safe. Like I said, we spun up an online program with 104 of just our students from Valley View in it. It looks radically different than it did, say, just last September. Matt, the Trump administration justified the operation in Minnesota by pointing to ICE arrests of what they called, quote, the worst of the worst criminals.

14:30Now, last week at DHS spokesperson revealed their worst of list was rife with errors after being questioned by CNN. And a report by your NPR News colleagues also found that in January, ICE took credit for the arrests of people who were already in Minnesota jails. So how would you characterize the reality of the operation and who it targeted in Minnesota versus how the Trump administration has described it to the nation? Well, if you look at the petitions for habeas corpus, These are essentially federal civil lawsuits, and there have been upwards of a thousand of them filed by people who allege they were unlawfully detained.

15:06And by and large, federal judges are ordering the release of many of these people, which is a very strong indication that they should have never been arrested in the first place. Many of these people are here legally. They have come as refugees. They have legal status, but are being targeted by ICE apparently to meet some sort of quota for arrests. And far from being the worst of the worst, not only are these folks here legally for the most part, they do not have criminal records. These are not people who are committing really any crimes, let alone violent crimes, if you look at the records that appear in court.

15:52Principal Kuhlman, a fifth grader from Valley View, is still being held at nice detention at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. That's a detention center housing children and families. How much information do you have about where that student is now and how they're doing?

16:07Joshua Johnson:Well, we were just checking in this morning with their lawyer. From our understanding, they are still at Dilley. And it was such a weird happenstance. We actually lost track of her for a little bit. She kind of fell off the face of the earth. We were doing home visits. We did welfare checks. You know, as we were delivering food, we're making sure we're knocking on doors, couldn't find them. It wasn't until we had our second and fifth grader who were taken with their mom that we picked them up. I picked them up in Minneapolis that as we were driving back to their house, they indicated they saw this student and her family in Dilley in the cafeteria where they were at, which blew us away.

16:50Joshua Johnson:I mean, we were just having conversations about her that morning and not knowing where she was or where the family was. Did they flee the state? Because we've had other families do that. Here they were abducted and they were taken and gone. Once we knew that, we were able to help them get a lawyer down there and making sure. And just as Matt had said, they're seeking asylum. They were under an asylum case. And so the lawyer is helping them file a habeas corpus plea so that we can get them back as well. But as of right now, they're currently not back with us. Let's go back to our voicemail box.

17:28Here's a message we got from another Minnesotan. My name is Tamara, and I live in Woodbury, Minnesota. My husband was detained by ICE on January 12th, and there were a few hours when I didn't know if he was alive. He was detained for the entirety of the day. And while I did find him at the Whipple Building and get him out that evening, it was not long after Renee Good lost her life and not long before Alex Preddy lost his. And before I was contacted by ICE, I didn't know if he was okay. And he is okay. But the idea that people are just disappearing, the damage, the emotional damage being done to family members, to children, I don't know that we'll ever be able to measure it.

18:28Principal Coleman, you're working with young children, and some of them, as you said, they're not in the hallways at your school right now. So you may not have that face-to-face time with them when you can just sort of get at eye level with them, put your hands on their shoulders and say, hey, are you okay? So how are you trying to address the mental health toll this can take on them?

18:56Joshua Johnson:I think, you know, multiple facets that we're working on. The first is when we do get them back in person. We have our teachers doing an extended morning meeting. And a morning meeting is a place where we can work on social-emotional skills with students, but also gives them a space to have their voice heard and be seen and be accepted and then have conversations. So we've used many read-alouds with our students, our youngest learners. And our oldest students, they know exactly what's going on. Their parents have been transparent with them, and the fear is there. So they'll come out and say it, and we've had real frank conversations that allow them to speak, you know, and get their fears out there so that we can help them deal with it.

19:41Joshua Johnson:I agree with the caller. This is going to be ever, it's going to take years and years, and we don't know how students and children process and when that comes out. We know that this is an ACE or an adverse childhood experience, and we've just created a whole new generation of kids with ACEs. And our learners who have been taken or our family members of those learners who have been taken have even compounded effects. You know, you don't know. And it's that fear of the unknown when parents are gone and where are they at. I mean, I couldn't imagine being in their shoes and having that or my own children being swept up with my wife or something.

20:22Joshua Johnson:I don't know how I could handle that. You mentioned fear as the primary emotion you're seeing from these children now, but what else are they expressing? I mean, it's loss, you know, when they lost a loved one, you know, and loss, I mean, not died, but actually just disappeared, you know, and we don't know if they're in detention. We don't know if sometimes the living conditions in those detention facilities are so bad, our families just decide to self-deport. They might have a case. They're here legally, as you said. They're seeking asylum. They have work permits. They have work visas. But once they're in those detention centers, I don't know how hopeful they are to get out.

21:05Joshua Johnson:So the one way they know how to get out is they sign the paper to self-deport. even though they shouldn't have to, they're being coerced into doing that. Matt, tell us a little bit more about what you've learned about how the court system is operating right now. As people are going into the system, we've heard so many stories of people not being able to track family members, of people not being able to get access to legal representation or to talk to their lawyers. What have you found in your reporting? Well, that's my primary beat here at Minnesota Public Radio is federal courts, and I've been really busy tracking a lot of cases.

21:44My colleagues who primarily cover immigration are following many of these habeas cases, petitions of habeas corpus, and I think, as I mentioned, we're up to around a thousand of these cases of people challenging their detentions as unlawful in federal courts. The courts really are overwhelmed by this. I've heard this from multiple judges speaking on the record in court. the U.S. Attorney's Office here in Minnesota, which, as we have reported, had an exodus of its top, most experienced attorneys following the killing of Renee Macklin Good and the Justice Department's response to that and pressure to investigate Ms.

22:25Good's widow. A lot of people quit, and that has overwhelmed the office because it's up to them to defend the government in these habeas cases. And in many situations, judges are ordering people to be released. And in many cases, the federal government is not abiding by those orders immediately. I was following a case and reporting on a case last week in federal court over in St. Paul, where U.S. District Judge Laura Provenzino held a young special assistant U.S. attorney who's also part of the Army JAG Corps. They're bringing in military attorneys now to backfill at the U.S. attorney's office.

23:11She held this young man in contempt and threatened to fine him$500 a day because the government, while it had released this particular detainee, habeas petitioner on time, they released him in Texas, not Minnesota, as her court order required. They also failed to return his belongings, including his Minnesota driver's license and his Mexican consular ID. It took a week and a contempt finding and a threat of a fine for this detainee, this man who should not have been arrested in the first place, the judge ruled, to get his stuff back. And he finally did via FedEx, I believe, last Thursday. Principal Coleman, how are you thinking about learning right now?

24:00Because against the backdrop of all that's happening, ultimately your school is tasked with educating students.

24:09Joshua Johnson:Absolutely. I think, you know, the best thing we can do for our students is keep status quo. They like the predictability. They like the consistency. They like the routine. And that provides comfort. So we're still going forward with that. Again, some of our learners whose parents don't feel comfortable sending their students, they have so much to lose. We're still doing that online. We've learned from COVID that online learning isn't as good as in-person learning. But in the current situation, we still have them learning. We still have them together. We still have them as part of our broader community.

24:44Joshua Johnson:So we're still going forward with that, obviously, with a lot of compassion and a lot of grace to support the mental health needs of our students. But our families also, and what I'm so proud of them for, we didn't come to this country for them to be learning online. We need them in person. They're doing so well in your school. We want them there. So they're making sacrifices. They're really being courageous and getting their kids here. But I also don't judge the parents who are too fearful. I don't know their situation. Maybe they are the only relatives they have. So if something happens, they're fearful.

25:17But learning is still the focus of what we're doing and then so much more because that's what our community needs right now. Valley View has a food pantry. And Principal Coleman, you've been delivering meals to about 159 families weekly. Matt, the city of Minneapolis released a report measuring the impact of this operation. And it says 76 ,000 people in the city are in need of rental or food assistance as a result of this ice surge. and the report goes on to say that significant external funding is needed to make up for that. We'll talk more about the economic impact a little later, but what do we know about how people are facing food insecurity right now and how they're getting help?