ICE arrests continue in Twin Cities as border czar signals possible drawdown
Early Thursday morning, a neighbor came outside to commotion on her street in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. She began to record after spotting an ICE agent holding a woman by the arm, as she pleaded to be allowed to go back inside so she could take care of her young children.
That woman asked WCCO to only refer to her as "Jessica" as she described an encounter that ended with her father detained and taken away by ICE. She said that she was "shocked" when ICE approached her, telling her that she was under arrest, as she came outside to warm up her car.
"I told them, 'I haven't done anything. Why are you taking me?'" Jessica said. "The ICE agent grabbed me very forcefully. They told me to calm down, and that's when they stopped hurting me."
An agent keeps firm hold of her wrist and arm for at least five minutes, based on the video recorded by Jessica's neighbor. That agent at one point threatens the person recording, telling her, "I need you to step back or you're going to get arrested."
Eventually, after an apparent conversation between two agents, Jessica is released. She explained that they ultimately decided to leave her as they didn't have a warrant for her; however, they did detain her father, who they claimed was their original target.
Jessica said that her dad was undocumented but had no criminal record; WCCO could not find evidence of any crimes that he had committed locally by searching a state database.
The incident left her shaken. She said that she, too, is undocumented, but brought her family to Minnesota from Ecuador about five years ago in search of a better life for her daughters. Jessica said that she is the only one left to care for them after ICE detained her husband about three weeks ago.
"We left Ecuador because my country was taken over by gangs and dangerous people. They are killing innocent people — children and families. I immigrated with my brother, and after some time, I was able to bring the rest of my family to be with us," Jessica said.
This incident was among many detainments documented on social media across the Twin Cities metro on Thursday, the same day that U.S. border czar Tom Homan spoke to the press for the first time following a shake-up in the faces leading Operation Metro Surge.
Homan pledged to have a more targeted approach in an operation that to date has included the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the violent detainment of American citizens and allegations of racial profiling.
WCCO is still waiting to hear from DHS on the detainment of Jessica's father, as well as the detainment of two men in New Brighton on Thursday. A WCCO photojournalist was there to capture ICE agents pulling over a family in a car before asking each occupant for paperwork. ICE put two people in handcuffs, with a man who asked to stay anonymous explaining that they were his brother and his father.
"I can do nothing right now," the man said through tears, explaining that the family had been on their way to get their car washed when they were pulled over.
Homan said that a plan is in the works to begin to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota without offering any concrete details. He said that this would be based on local and state officials "cooperating" with ICE, though the Minnesota Department of Corrections and local sheriffs have pushed back strongly on allegations that they are not already fulfilling their legal duties with respect to detainees with immigration violations.
In one recent case, ICE posted a video on social media accusing the Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office of refusing to honor a detainer for an "alleged child sexual predator." Sheriff Jason Purrington released a public statement calling the post from ICE "wholly inaccurate and not true," explaining that the sheriff's office had contacted ICE when someone posted bail for the defendant. Sheriff Purrington stated that in response, ICE said that they were unable to make it to Cottonwood County at the time and that they would pick him up at a later date.