Code words broadcast over an intercom. Flashing emergency lights. Locked doors. Protocols for quickly alerting managers.
Twin Cities nonprofits with immigrant clients and employees are embracing new policies and practices to manage potential encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Nonprofit managers say they’ve been flooded with concerns and questions from immigrant employees and clients anxious about President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
The number of requests for training on immigrant rights and how to manage ICE encounters has increased “tenfold” compared to previous years, said Matthew Webster, senior immigration attorney at the Minneapolis law firm of Fredrikson & Byron.
“We’ve been presenting frequently, but also they’ve been very highly attended,” he said of training sessions on immigrant rights and ICE encounters.
A February training session focused on how to respond to ICE encounters in sensitive places, such as hospitals and churches, attracted 1,200 people, he said.
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For most nonprofits, the main priority has been training staff on new protocols so they know how to protect themselves and clients, nonprofit officials said. Preparation also heads off panic, they said.
“We did this for our staff, for our participants,” said Xavier Vazquez of Centro Tyrone Guzman, a Minneapolis nonprofit that provides services to the Latino community.
At Centro, staff developed a front-desk protocol and plans for emergency ICE situations. Centro has started locking external and internal front doors. Employees will use a phone line to notify others in the building if an ICE agent enters, or flash lights installed throughout the building as a last resort.
The number of ICE arrests in Minnesota since Trump took office has not been publicly disclosed, although a recent post on ICE’s X (formerly Twitter) account said the agency has arrested more than 20,000 immigrants nationwide in the past month. Trump has promised to carry out massive deportation efforts.
Vazquez said that a couple of fearful clients didn’t show up for classes or programming as news of immigration-related arrests ramped up in the first few weeks of the new administration.
One of the most important steps that agencies serving immigrants can take is training a staff liaison in legal and immigrant rights, Webster said. Receptionists or security guards who might have the first contact with an ICE agent should know how to contact that liaison, who would be trained in what to look for in a warrant and who could rapidly notify legal counsel, he said.
The designated person would accompany the ICE agent throughout the visit to ensure that any warrant was being followed, Webster added. And every step of an ICE visit should be documented, including the ICE agent’s badge number and name.
Drawing from a grim previous protocol
Some of the new protocols for dealing with potential ICE draw from a somber practice that has become standard for many agencies and schools over the past several years: active-shooter drills.
Students and staff practiced an active-shooter drill in January at Accola’s Learning In Style School in Minneapolis’ Whittier neighborhood. The school provides English and math classes for adult immigrants, among other topics. Elisabeth O’Toole, the school’s program director, said staff realized that some parts of the drill could also be used to address ICE encounters.
“The timing was coincidental,” she said. “We can utilize that same process and behavior in the event of, say, an ICE visit to the school.”
For instance, students and staff would be notified of an emergency situation via a code word broadcast over the intercom.
Staff would then guide students into classrooms labeled as private areas. A different code word would be broadcast over the intercom to let everyone know the situation had resolved.
Accola has also begun locking its front doors and requiring people to identify themselves before entry. Signs have been posted outside classrooms designating them as private areas. ICE agents can only enter private areas if they have a judicial warrant, which is signed by a judge. Without a judicial warrant, agents need permission to enter.
CAPI USA, a Brooklyn Center nonprofit providing resources and social services to immigrants, also posted private-area signs earlier this year in the lobby and some conference rooms.
Mary Niedermeyer, CEO of CAPI USA, said recent ICE arrests at HardCoat Inc., a St. Louis Park aluminum manufacturing facility, prompted CAPI’s staff to develop training to respond to similar situations.
More immigrants have walked into the building asking for help with legal services since the beginning of the year, she said.
“It is such a chaotic time, and there’s a lot of different information out there, and so being able to provide an actual plan that has people in place and clear direction just provided more clarity and security to staff,” Niedermeyer said.
Rumors about ICE and constant media coverage of immigration issues have heightened fear in the community, said Micaela Schuneman, senior director of immigrant and refugee services for the International Institute of Minnesota.
In response, the Institute started to facilitate large-group discussions with clients this past February about Trump’s executive orders and immigration enforcement. The Institute helps immigrants and refugees resettle in Minnesota.
“This was a new training we created specifically for the situation that we’re in now, but it’s not new for us to do this type of thing,” Schuneman said.
Training and updates to workplace protocol help ensure that staff are prioritizing safety in urgent ICE-related situations, Vazquez said.
“We’re all on the same page to support each other if something like that happens” he said.
CORRECTION: The story has been updated to reflect the correct number of attendees at a February training session.
