NSS Weekly: Federal Immigration Enforcement in Minnesota Comes under Legal Scrutiny

Transcript

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INTRO: You are listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota, produced by AMPERS, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota.

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ANCHOR: This is North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live. I'm Gracie J.

This week, as Operation Metro Surge continues across Minnesota, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that all federal immigration officers in Minneapolis will now wear body-cameras, a move officials say will expand nationally as funding becomes available. In other developments, eight more federal prosecutors are leaving the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota amid ongoing tensions and disputes over how the federal government is handling the crackdown on immigrants and protestors in our state. Meanwhile, Five-year-old Liam Ramos and his father returned to Minnesota after being held for nearly two weeks in an ICE detention center in Texas, while protests persist across the Twin Cities, with thousands calling for the full withdrawal of federal forces following the latest controversial encounters.
Reporter Xan Holston tells us about other key events that took place this past week regarding Operation Metro Surge and its impact on our communities.

Xan Holston: A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, or TRO, halting Operation PARRIS, a Department of Homeland Security, or DHS operation, that led to refugees living in Minnesota legally being arrested and rapidly transferred out of state.

Madeline Lohman: Refugees are one of the most vetted groups of immigrants in our country.

Xan Holston: Madeline Lohman is Advocacy and Outreach Director at the Advocates for Human Rights, a nonprofit that organizes legal professionals to provide free immigration related legal aid.

Madeline Lohman: They said they wanted to re-vet a number of refugees that had been legally admitted to the United States but hadn't become legal permanent residents yet.

Xan Holston: But that's not what happened. Instead--

Madeline Lohman: They began arresting people just in a very widespread, indiscriminate way, and then moving them to Texas as fast as possible.

Xan Holston: Lohman estimates that more than 100 refugees, out of roughly 5,600 in Minnesota who are legally awaiting green cards, have been arrested and transferred to Texas. She says the speed of those transfers has made it nearly impossible for lawyers to react.

Madeline Lohman: We had a petition we filed. Within three hours, the person was already in Texas.

Xan Holston: The TRO applies statewide, covering all refugees in Minnesota who could be targeted under Operation PARRIS, not just those already detained. The judge gave the federal government five days to release and return the detainees to Minnesota. That ruling came amid growing frustration from the courts, including another federal judge's rebuke of the government for failing to comply with roughly 100 court orders in individual cases, including orders to release detainees. Lohman's group has also filed a separate lawsuit over conditions at the Whipple Federal Building, which ICE is using both as its headquarters and a detention site.

Madeline Lohman: Not intended to be a long-term holding facility of any kind, and is clearly getting overwhelmed by the number of people they're bringing in.

Xan Holston: The lawsuit alleges detainees are being denied basic civil rights, including access to legal counsel.

Madeline Lohman: Attorneys who suspect that their client's been picked up aren't being allowed to call in or visit or see their client.

Xan Holston: And in cases where detainees can make calls, Lohman says they're forced to use phones in open rooms with no privacy for constitutionally protected communication. But concerns go beyond access to phones. State Representative Kelly Morrison recently posted a video describing what she saw there.

Kelly Morrison: There are no beds, no real blankets, minimal food, extremely cold temperatures. People are in locked cells and leg shackles.

Xan Holston: Morrison said there was no clear medical care policy, no nurse on site, and that agents wouldn't or couldn't answer basic questions.

Kelly Morrison: Everything I saw showed me this operation is chaotic, disorganized, ineffective and dangerous.

Xan Holston: In early January, Morrison and other Congress members were stopped from inspecting the Whipple building and told they needed to give seven days' notice, but a federal judge temporarily reinstated their right to conduct unannounced inspections. The Department of Homeland Security disputes the claims made in the Whipple lawsuit, saying detainees have access to phones to contact family members and lawyers and receive full due process. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors have brought charges connected to another flash point. A demonstration inside City's Church in St Paul organized to protest the dual role of the church's pastor, David Easterwood, who also serves as acting director of ICE's St Paul field office. Federal authorities arrested and charged six people in connection with the protest, including Minneapolis attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, independent journalist Georgia Fort and former CNN host Don Lemon. Levy Armstrong helped organize the protest and confronted church leadership during the service. In court filings, US Attorney General Pam Bondi alleges the group conspired to deny congregants the right to religious freedom and intimidated religious worshipers.

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Xan Holston: The two journalists charged, Fort and Lemon, say they were at the church to report, not protest.

Don Lemon: I'm not going to get in the middle of it, because I'm not here as an activist. I'm here as a journalist.

Xan Holston: Lemon live streamed the entire event, footage prosecutors later cited as evidence to secure an indictment. The cases raised questions about First Amendment protections, including whether journalists can be charged for covering protests inside houses of worship. A number of Minnesota news organizations have come out in support of Fort and Lemon. Levy Armstrong also says the arrests themselves and what happened to her after raises serious concerns. She says she and fellow protester teacher Chauntyll Allen were shackled at the ankles, wrists and waist, despite cooperating with federal authorities.

Nekima Levy Armstrong: As if we were hardened criminals and murderers. As someone who majored in African American Studies, I can tell you that that is the closest I ever felt to slavery in my life, being shackled as if I was a slave.

Xan Holston: After the arrest, the White House shared an altered image of Levy Armstrong, a move she says was meant to humiliate her.

Nekima Levy Armstrong: Crying and hysterical, exaggerating my features and darkening my skin. It is unacceptable and unconscionable, but it's on brand for a White House that specializes in cruelty.

Xan Holston: Allen says agents intentionally embarrassed her too.

Chauntyll Allen: They kept coming back to my cell and re-shackling me all the way up so that they could take me out and take these photo shoots with different ICE agents.

Xan Holston: The photos appear to be part of a broader pattern of public shaming. On social media, Attorney General, Bondi recently shared images of at least 16 people arrested in protest-related actions. Levy Armstrong's attorney says they are considering filing a defamation suit against the government. For North Star Stories, I'm Xan Holston.

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ANCHOR: The arrest of two journalists has raised new questions about press freedom and whether the actions taken were lawful. To help us unpack what this means, we're joined by Professor Jane E. Kirtley. She is the Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota and directs The Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law. Thank you so much for being here today, Jane.

Jane E. Kirtley: A pleasure.

ANCHOR: So based on what we know so far, what legal concerns does the government raise?

Jane E. Kirtley: If you were to read the indictment, you would see that what the government is arguing is that the presence of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort constituted a violation of two separate federal statutes. One of them is called the FACE Act, which prohibits people from conspiring to intrude, intimidate or threaten those that are seeking either services at reproductive rights clinics or at houses of worship. That's called the FACT Act. The other law is often referred to colloquially as the KKK Act. It has roots in a law going back to 1871 during Reconstruction, and it's intended to provide a basis to prosecute those who interfere with individuals exercise of their civil rights, and again, it has to do with intimidation or terroristic threats.

ANCHOR: So some who look at the video say the protesters and the journalists are interrupting the service and intimidating worshipers. Isn't that illegal?

Jane E. Kirtley: I think what's important to remember is that these laws are used very seldom in contemporary times, and, in fact, have never been used in the context of a house of worship. The other thing I would mention is that this church, like many churches, has a sign outside that says all are welcome. When the protesters came in, as I understand it, they came in, took their seats in the pews or the chairs, and actually engaged in worship before standing up and engaging in their protests. The journalists were there, taping, videotaping, recording what was transpiring. It appears that Don Lemon was persistent in asking questions of the pastor that was there. But to my reading of it, this does not rise to the level of threats or intimidation. It was disruptive to my mind. This is not what these laws were intended to address, because these laws are for conspiracies by vigilantes and others that are physically threatening individuals. I saw no sign of that. I think that it is conceivable that under Minnesota law, they might have committed the misdemeanor of trespass because they declined to leave when they were asked to leave. But to use laws like this is overkill for what ultimately, to me, is a fairly minor offense, assuming it's even a criminal act at all.

ANCHOR: There is the fact that the church leaders specifically asked the journalists to leave. What legal and ethical issues does that raise?

Jane E. Kirtley: Well, under the law, if you're invited into a place that is not a public forum, it's not government property, you are usually invited for a specific purpose, and if you exceed that purpose, you can be asked to leave. For example, if you go into a place like a Target store, you're invited there for the purposes of browsing and shopping, not to protest. And so Target as a private company would have the authority to ask you to leave, and if you refuse to leave, that would be trespass. I think we have a similar situation here. I think it is probably fair to say that the church did not anticipate disruption of their services, although I'm not a member of that church, and I don't know how disruptive their typical services are, but the point would be every right to go in there, but once you exceed the bounds of what you were invited for, you need to leave. And if you don't leave, that could be a misdemeanor trespass.

ANCHOR: So ethically should the reporters have stayed out of or in the back of the church, and would that have changed anything?

Jane E. Kirtley: Well, from an ethical perspective, I think it's always fair to ask if it is actually going to advance your role as a journalist, as a gatherer of news, to disrupt activities that are ongoing. I've had people comment to me that this was a case of journalists creating a story rather than covering a story. And I think reasonable people can disagree about what was going on in that context. What I think is significant is the fact that neither the journalists nor the organizers of the protest believe, or have actually just flat out, denied that the journalists were conspiring or involved in the planning or execution of the protests. So they were there as observers. I think you know, one of the things that I've heard people say is, well, they should have just stayed outside the church and recorded it from there. And of course, that would have been an option, and it would have been a really safe option from a legal perspective, but the question is, would they have gotten the story? And that's the toughest question for any journalist to answer, which is, what is the best way for me to proceed in order to get the story that I believe is a matter of public interest and public concern and is newsworthy?

ANCHOR: Well, thank you so much for your time today, Jane. Truly appreciate it.

Jane E. Kirtley: Thank you.

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ANCHOR: In other news this week, the Red Lake Tribal Council has moved to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, from entering the Red Lake Nation without a court order. In a unanimous 10–0 vote, the council passed a resolution barring federal officers from its tribal lands unless they arrive with a judge-signed warrant. Under the new policy, any federal officer carrying out immigration enforcement must first meet with Red Lake's Director of Public Safety, present a valid court order, and always be accompanied by a Red Lake officer while on the reservation.

Groups of protesters staged sit-ins at roughly 20 Target stores across the Twin Cities metro, calling on the retailer to bar ICE from its stores and parking lots. Crowds of up to 100 people sat down inside store lobbies and walked through the stores singing and chanting. Organizers say the actions were sparked by recent immigration enforcement activity at Target locations, including the detention of two employees and reports that federal agents have used Target parking lots to stage operations.

Nat Sound: "Target needs to grow a spine. Like, real harm comes from what happens in those parking lots. Real harm has happened in the store."

The protests follow a separate sit-in last month by about 100 clergy members at Target's corporate headquarters, where faith leaders said the company has a moral obligation to prevent its stores from being used for immigration enforcement.

Minnesota Republicans in Congress have introduced new legislation aimed at tightening election oversight in the state. The bill would block federal election funding for Minnesota unless the state releases its voting records, something state officials say they absolutely won't do. Congressman Pete Stauber says Minnesotans deserve confidence in their elections and argues state officials have so far refused to share requested records with the DOJ. The dispute stems from a January 2 letter from the Justice Department seeking the state's election data.

ANCHOR: After the break, how the current immigration crackdown has many transnational adoptees worried, and looking for answers

This is North Star Stories, Voices from Where We Live, produced by AMPERS, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. I'm Gracie J. We'll be right back.

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ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories. I'm Gracie J.

After weeks of aggressive federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota, fear and uncertainty are rippling through many communities. Including some of the thousands of transnational adoptees in Minnesota, navigating a unique legal situation. Producer Ngoc Bui has more.

Ngoc Bui: In recent weeks, Minnesotans have taken to the streets to call for the removal of federal immigration agents from the state, and around the clock, residents are patrolling neighborhoods and businesses to keep an eye out for those who may be targeted by ICE. Meanwhile, one group is using social media to spread the word about how they may be especially vulnerable in this moment. Minnesotans adopted from abroad are posting on platforms like TikTok and Facebook to alert other transnational or inter-country adoptees about how this current situation could impact them. One person who called her message a PSA pointed out that not all adoptees were granted automatic citizenship. Across the posts, the message to adoptees is clear. Make sure you have all your important documents in hand.

Gregory Luce: The fear is real. The fear is intense, and it is because they are perceived as immigrants.

Ngoc Bui: Gregory Luce is a lawyer and adoptee who heads the Adoptee Rights Law Center. He says he's seen a surge in requests in the last few weeks as immigration operations increased. Minnesota is home to many transnational adoptees, including the largest concentration of Korean adoptees in the country, according to the Minnesota Historical Society. While many would assume all inter-country adoptees received citizenship through their parents, that wasn't the case for some as a result of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.

[Nat Sound: "HR 2883, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to confer United States Citizenship automatically and retroactively on certain foreign-born children adopted by citizens of the United States."]

Ngoc Bui: This law was signed by President Bill Clinton and went into effect on February 27, 2001.

Gregory Luce: You had to be under 18 on that date in order to gain US citizenship automatically through your US citizen parents. If you weren't and you're already an adult, you still had to naturalize, which is a much more complicated process. So that's sort of the dividing line between those who have citizenship and those who may not.

Ngoc Bui: Some have lived well into adulthood before finding out they aren't US citizens. Even those who automatically got citizenship may not have gone through the process to get the documents to prove it without citizenship or paperwork. Some adoptees fear they could get caught up in the current administration's immigration enforcement actions.

Gregory Luce: I do believe that they are reasonably safe, but in what's become an arbitrary and often cruel and unpredictable process. We don't know.

Ngoc Bui: With this uncertainty, many adoptees are doing what they can to keep themselves safe. That includes making sure they have all the documents they need to prove their status. Christine Jung at Foster Adopt Minnesota has been helping adoptees with this process,

Christine Jung: So when they reach out and ask for that support, I give them a whole list of resources of how can they petition the county court where their adoption was finalized. Or here's the application form to contact the Department of Health to get their Minnesota birth certificate. Or how can they replace a copy of their citizenship documentation.

Ngoc Bui: Jung says having these documents in hand is important, not only right now, but also for the future.

Christine Jung: A lot of adoptees, when they get to the point of applying for financial aid, they need to show citizenship if you're trying to apply for a passport. A lot of times, they'll say, "Hey, can you show a copy of your certificate of citizenship?" If you're trying to apply for a Real ID in your state, it's also very important that you can show citizenship documentation.

Ngoc Bui: While it remains unclear as to how many adoptees have been or will be affected by these operations, Luce says these latest events could bring up long standing questions for some.

Gregory Luce: For adopted people, you have a deep sense of where do I belong? Who do I belong to? Where do I belong? And this deep sense of un-belonging is going to impact how they fear being removed from the country as well.

Ngoc Bui: For the moment, adoptees are finding community and support in each other as they navigate these difficult times. This is Ngoc Bui for North Star Stories.

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ANCHOR: Transnational adoptees are not the only community struggling to adapt to the current situation. To discuss what this means on the ground for the broader Asian community in Minneapolis, we're joined now by Sia Her, the executive director of the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans. Before joining the Council, Sia served as Education and Training Department Manager at the Hmong American Partnership. Thank you so much for joining us today. Sia.

Sia Her: Thank you for having me.

ANCHOR: So how are people in Minneapolis Asian communities dealing with the federal presence right now?

Sia Her: The best answer to your question starts with helping your audience understand who are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the state of Minnesota. Minnesota's API community has roots in more than 40 Asian and Pacific Islander nations. And when we look at how many ethnic groups come from each of these countries, we're looking at an incredibly diverse community. And so the ICE surge in Minnesota has impacted not just our community members in Minneapolis, but, you know, the seven-county metro area, as well as across the state.

ANCHOR: What are some of these specific communities feeling?

Sia Her: So the Karen and the Afghani communities that we at the council identify and talk about as emerging refugee experience communities, you know, with Operation PARRIS, they're at the forefront of that of ICE effort. And these are not criminals. These are not individuals who entered this country undocumented. The flip side of that is that they went through a very extensive vetting process administered by the United States Refugee Admissions Program. So for these communities, they've been, you know, they've been picked up by ICE. By the time we find out that someone has been picked up, they're in places like Texas. Whereas for other communities under our umbrella, more established communities, say, our Asian-Indian community, or even our Chinese community, certainly, the fear is very real. And you know, most community members understand that just because they're naturalized or were born here doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to remain untouched by the fear that other communities are experiencing. And so we and others on the ground, including our nonprofits, have been advising community members to carry a copy of their passport or their US nationalization certificate. They should have actual copies.

ANCHOR: You mentioned that fear. What changes have you seen in daily life, for example, in work, school or community participation with these communities?

Sia Her: I've seen what you and others have seen. We students are not going to school. Parents who have jobs are not reporting to their jobs. Community members, even some of the most educated under our umbrella. So say doctors, you know, your GI specialists, your neurosurgeons, they're reporting to us that they are just going to their worksite, and then as soon as the business day is over, they come home and they're shopping online for all of their groceries. If they need to be, you know, somewhere else, they ask themselves if they absolutely need to leave their homes right now. Community members are thinking very carefully about the reasons that would take them outside of their home.

ANCHOR: So because of that fear, what does your community and all these other communities, what do they need most from local leaders, schools, nonprofits, to feel safer and more supported during this moment in time?

Sia Her: You know, I've been incredibly proud of all of the nonprofits in Minnesota. Together, they make up one of the reasons why Minnesota has become a hub for some of the most vulnerable communities under our umbrella. And by that I mean the refugee experience communities. Our nonprofits, API led and non-API led, have been at the forefront of this. They've been working furiously to get out information. You know, we have asked community-based organizations that they need the Know Your Rights red card. People have offered to translate. People have offered API ancestry Minnesotans, as well as non-API ancestry Minnesotans, have offered to go grocery shopping for families. They've offered to take family community members to their medical visit. Minnesotans from all walks of life are responding to what they're seeing, which is that certain communities are experiencing a level of fear that they haven't experienced before, and as a result, they need the assistance of their neighbors.

ANCHOR: Sia, is there anything else you would like to add that I haven't asked yet that you think should be touched upon?

Sia Her: You know, I've heard from community leaders that, as they're out and about at places like Hmong Village, you know, Hmong Town, Asia Mall in Eden Prairie, that they're seeing, especially before this weekend, while they've seen that the number of Asian Americans that are out in those spaces have reduced dramatically, they're also seeing, you know, the presence of white Minnesotan families, mothers, fathers, children, grandmothers and grandfathers there. And community leaders have walked away from those spaces with the understanding that our white Minnesota neighbors and friends and colleagues are showing up in these spaces moreso than they've ever done because, you know, they recognize that the Asian American families are at home out of fear. So I just wanted to take the opportunity to point that out, because while this is certainly a time of fear for so many Minnesotans, it's also a time during which so many of us have stepped up to the plate and demonstrated that when the going gets rough, we're there for each other.

ANCHOR: Well, thank you so much for talking with us. Stacey, yeah, we really do appreciate

Sia Her: You're welcome. Thank you so much for the opportunity.

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ANCHOR: Taking a look at other headlines around the state, a deadly explosion in the northeast part of the state killed two residents and destroyed an entire building. Hermantown Police say the explosion was so powerful it was reportedly heard up to 12 miles away. Fire crews from at least seven departments rushed to the scene and contained the fire to a single six-unit building, but the blast damaged nearby structures. The Minnesota State Fire Marshal is now investigating what caused the explosion.

The U.S. House has narrowly passed a resolution that could reopen the door to a controversial copper-nickel mine near the Boundary Waters. That's according to AMPERS member station WTIP in Grand Marais. The resolution would overturn a 2023 order that withdrew federal minerals in the Rainy River watershed and canceled leases held by mining companies. Supporters say reversing the withdrawal would boost jobs and let mining move forward under existing environmental standards. Opponents say the vote puts copper processing ahead of local wilderness, outdoor recreation, and local businesses. The bill still has to pass the US Senate.

And we close this week with a call to support local business. Governor Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, DEED, are launching a new campaign called “Shop Local, Stand Together.” The initiative urges Minnesotans to support small, locally owned businesses, especially those that have seen fewer customers amid an increased federal presence in the state. DEED’s Commissioner calls the moment economically and emotionally difficult for many small businesses, particularly those that are immigrant-owned. Walz has declared February “Shop Local Month.”

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ANCHOR: That's all the time we have for today's program. If you missed any part of today's newscast, you can find this and past episodes at AMPERS.org. Or listen to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with more stories and voices from the North Star State.

OUTRO: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at AMPERS.org.