Federal immigration officers have increased their surveillance activities around Twin Cities neighborhoods in recent weeks, and although the number of arrests appears to be far below the peak of Operation Metro Surge, observers are warning residents to stay vigilant.
This month, officers are leaving the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building more frequently than in April, often wearing face coverings, say the observers.
They are surveilling neighborhoods that were targeted during Operation Metro Surge: Columbia Heights, Shakopee, Powderhorn Park and near the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Federal agents have also been spotted at the Anoka County Courthouse to take inmates from the county jail into immigration detention.
“We are seeing more picking up here now, and convoys happening again within the Twin Cities, which we hadn’t seen for a while,” said Emily Phillips, a member of MN50501, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to protecting democracy.
Although a significant number of vehicles are leaving the Whipple Building every day, several immigrant advocates say they’re not seeing those federal agents make arrests at the same level as they witnessed during Operation Metro Surge. A few advocates say there has been an uptick of arrests, but federal agents aren’t approaching people in public places and questioning them about their immigration status. Instead, they said federal agents are watching people from their vehicles, seemingly looking for specific people.
“It feels like the enforcement is much more targeted as opposed to during Metro Surge, when it was a little more chaotic or just broad and they were bringing in anyone,” said Sarah Haraldson, a member of HavenWatch, a mutual aid initiative to support people released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers.
When border czar Tom Homan announced the end of Operation Metro Surge in February, there was a significant slowdown of immigration-related arrests and fewer federal agents, according to several observers. Old channels used to communicate arrests and ICE sightings started to ping with new reports in April. Then in May, observers say the reports began to come in on a daily basis.
The barricades at the Whipple Building were removed last week and there are fewer arrests, but observers say federal agents remain.
“I’m always going to be cautious, and ask people to make decisions that protect their safety and be safe,” said Minneapolis Council Member Jason Chavez, who has been monitoring federal enforcement activity.
Liam Davis Temple, aide to Minneapolis Council President Elliott Payne, said he’s noticing a pattern of federal vehicles parking in one spot, then leaving and returning to the same spot a couple of weeks later. Federal agents have parked near Central Plaza in Columbia Heights multiple times, he added.
“It’s super frustrating because I just feel for our community that’s already been through so much,” he said. “It can feel easier to maybe try to close your eyes, and not notice it because you don’t want to put people through what we all went through again, but we want to be vigilant.”
Arrests happening in Anoka
Fewer reports are emerging of federal officers making arrests in public areas inside courthouse buildings, but observers have recently seen vehicles go in and out of the port area between the Anoka County Jail and courthouse to pick up inmates and transport them to the Whipple Building.
At least 13 people have been taken into federal custody, said Kamryn Wieseler, one of the observers in Anoka. These reports are confirmed by relatives, the license plates of vehicles matching descriptions seen at immigration-related arrest sites, and by identifying detainees from photos and names.
“We’re noticing it all the time,” she said. “They didn’t take somebody every day necessarily, but they were there every day.”
Tierney Peters, a spokeswoman for the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed that federal officers arrest inmates in the port immediately after they are released from the county jail. ICE has access to the jail booking report that lists names and photos of inmates. Federal authorities may submit a “detainer” to request law enforcement agencies hold an inmate up to 48 hours beyond the time they would ordinarily be released to give ICE time to take them into custody.
“Upon notification, the jail sergeant will make a courtesy call to ICE’s 24-hour duty line to provide the estimated release time and reiterate that release cannot be delayed,” she said by email. “If ICE is not present and immediately able to take custody at the time of release, the inmate will be released without delay.”
She said the Sheriff’s Office does not have authority to direct federal officers and they do not enforce courthouse rules on how federal officers make arrests. Federal agencies, including ICE, are not required to notify the Sheriff’s Office of any plans to make arrests.
“Because they are under no obligation to inform us when or where they are operating, we do not have data on the number of arrests made by federal immigration authorities at the Anoka County Courthouse,” her email said.
In Scott County, the jail staff will also notify ICE of when an inmate will be released, according to Sheriff Luke Hennen. Inmates are released from custody into the public lobby.
Unlike Anoka County and Scott County, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office will not assist or comply with immigration detainers, according to their website. Jail sergeants will not call ICE to notify them of an inmate’s release time or they are not allowed to enter the jails and the port area to make arrests, unless there is a judicial warrant.
Inside state courthouses, no federal immigration activity has happened since Feb. 17, according to Kim Pleticha, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Judicial Branch. She said her office knows of 20 incidents of federal agents present in or near courthouses since November.
Brenna Ziemet, who is monitoring federal enforcement activity in Columbia Heights, said she witnessed local police officers arrest a man in a grocery store parking lot for allegedly driving while intoxicated, and she attended his first appearance hearing in front of a judge last Tuesday. Shortly after Anoka County District Judge Justin Collins ordered the suspect to be released on bond, she said she and the man’s family expected to bring him home.
When she accompanied a relative to locate the person last Wednesday, she said sheriff deputies there told them to wait.
In the meantime, she said, another observer witnessed a vehicle that they identified as belonging to ICE drive into the jail garage. When she pressured sheriff deputies again, asking for them to release the man as ordered by the judge, they informed her that he had a detainer.
“That’s when I knew it was done,” she told Sahan Journal. “It isn’t an accident that he gets handed over to ICE, it’s intentional.”
Later, the relative received a call from the man inside the Whipple Building, confirming he was taken into federal custody. Ziemet declined to share the name of the man or the family’s information due to fear of retribution.
“They spent the entire evening beforehand and overnight praying that there would be safety, and that they could bring their person home and that they could be with him,” she said, referring to the family. “They really wanted this to turn out well, and they did everything that they were supposed to do.”
Katelyn Vue is a Report for America corps member.
