Immigration and Customs Enforcement accused Minnesota on Tuesday of harboring illegal immigrants with criminal histories after local and state authorities ignored the federal agency’s requests to hand over more than 1,360 people in its jails.
ICE acting Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Marcos Charles said the federal government has repeatedly attempted to work with the state to apprehend illegal immigrants in safe settings as opposed to on the street, but the blue state has declined its requests.
“ICE currently has more than 1,360 immigration detainers on illegal aliens in Minnesota jails and prisons, and we’re calling on [Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN)] and [Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey] to turn these criminal illegal aliens directly over to ICE to keep Minnesota residents in our community safe,” Charles said during a press conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday afternoon.
Of that number, 500 illegal immigrants have previously been ordered deported by a federal immigration judge, meaning a judge has found they had no legal standing to remain in the country and are not a valid asylum-seeker, in the cases where the illegal immigrants sought refuge.
Since ICE, as well as Border Patrol and other federal law enforcement agencies, dispatched thousands of personnel into Minneapolis earlier this month, they have arrested 3,000 people, including 113 over the past weekend.
In President Donald Trump’s first year in office, more than 10,000 illegal immigrants in Minnesota have been taken into federal custody.
Charles made the same plea to Minnesota and Minneapolis’s Democratic leaders that White House border czar Tom Homan made last week.
“Minnesota, the mayor and the governor, could fix this real quick,” Homan said during a telephone town hall with Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX). “Let us in the jail. Stop being a sanctuary jurisdiction, sanctuary state, sanctuary city. Give us access to your jail so we can arrest these criminals in the safety and security of the jail. That way, we don’t have to go into the neighborhood and find them.”
On Tuesday, Walz invited Trump to visit the state amid the clashes between protesters and federal law enforcement, but he did not address cooperation with ICE in turning over illegal immigrants in state jails.
ICE has surged 3,000 personnel to the Twin Cities this month following the discovery of billions of dollars of fraud within state assistance programs that involved primarily Somali illegal immigrants in Minneapolis.
Sanctuary zones do not hand over illegal immigrants in police custody for criminal offenses to federal immigration officers, which means ICE must go into communities nationwide to find and arrest those individuals.
Sanctuary cities and states have said they protect residents from ICE and that it is not the local government’s responsibility to detain people for 48 hours post-bail or bond until ICE can show up and take custody once the individual is released.
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The situation in Minneapolis has grown tense following the death of resident Renee Good, whom an ICE employee fatally shot during an altercation in early January.
Last week, another ICE officer opened fire after he said he was attempting to make an arrest and was attacked by three men, the Department of Homeland Security disclosed in a statement.
