Minnesota lawmakers tried to end ICE contracts with counties a few years ago. A bill introduced in the House and Senate a half-decade ago aimed to prevent jails from entering into certain contracts with ICE.

During the 2020 legislative session, Minnesota Rep. Fue Lee introduced the bill to end county agreements with ICE. 

"House File 3060 is about keeping families together and for us to say that profiting from detention and imprisonment of immigrants and communities of color is never OK," Lee said.

The bill specifically targeted local jails holding people accused of civil violations. 

"It is about respecting the humanity and the basic rights of every person. It is about standing against policies that generate fears and criminalize immigrant communities and communities of color," Lee said during a House subcommittee meeting in February 2020.

During the meeting, Lee said that, at that time, five county sheriff's office agreements would be impacted, and noted Sherburne County receives around $11 million a year from ICE. It still has an agreement with ICE. Three other county jails also hold detainees.

At the time, representatives expressed both support and concern over the bill.

"I think you are addressing a really critical issue of our time," DFL Rep. Mike Freiberg said.

"I appreciate where you're bringing the issue forward in this realm, have some concerns about the way the bill does, is written, and some of what it intends to do," Republican Rep. Jon Koznick said. 

While the bill did pass out of the subcommittee, it ultimately didn't go anywhere beyond that. DFL Sen. Bobby Joe Champion authored the bill in the Senate. He says it's still relevant. 

"We've seen over the last couple of weeks, unfortunately, things have been happening around immigration and with ICE," Champion said.

He believes if the bill had passed, things might be different now. 

"Because if you have limited resources, and if you have limited space, you would think deeply about your behavior and what you're doing," Champion said.

Champion said he plans to introduce similar legislation this session. Representative Lee told WCCO, "Myself and members of our caucus are currently working with our communities to craft legislation that protects Minnesotans from ICE's unjust actions."