Immigrant Rights Organizations Call for More Local Government Action

Transcript

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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.

ANCHOR: In today's stories, a southeastern diocese faces new legal challenges for abuse. Then, immigrant rights organizations call for more local government actions. And, two Minnesota college hockey players get international attention.

I'm Chantel SinGs.

The Diocese of Winona is facing three personal injury lawsuits for alleged clergy sexual abuse dating back 50 years. The cases fall under Minnesota's Child Victims Act, which reopened the door for historic claims. Last month, an Olmsted County jury awarded 7.6 million dollars to a survivor who alleged abuse by a former priest in the 1970s. The cases will be handled through the diocese's bankruptcy trust, which was set up to compensate abuse survivors. Church officials say they expected more claims and believe the fund is large enough to cover them.

Next, as deportation numbers rise across the country, a coalition of more than 90 organizations in Minnesota is calling on local governments to step up. Xan Holston has more.

National Press Conference audio: "We come together here in a moment when there are escalating immigration raids across the country, ripping apart families."

Xan Holston: At the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota's office in Minneapolis, Ryan Perez addressed a small crowd gathered to hear a new proposal, a resolution that calls for solidarity with immigrant families.

Ryan Perez: Whereas the Trump administration has called for the largest mass deportation program in US history, seeking to separate 3000 families per day.

Xan Holston: Perez is organizing director at COPAL — Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action. The resolution calls on local governments across Minnesota to take a public stand to reject mass deportations and family separations and to explore policies that limit local cooperation with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. COPAL is part of the Immigrant Defense Network, a coalition of more than 90 organizations helping introduce the resolution with city leaders in Minneapolis, St Paul and Columbia Heights.

Ryan Perez: This is our first wave of resolutions, but we know again, it's a conversation starter, and we have city council members across the state reaching out to us right now.

Hwa Jeong Kim: The policy is federal, but the consequences are felt locally. Cities and towns across Minnesota must be having conversations about protecting immigrant families.

Xan Holston: St Paul City Council Vice President Hwa Jeong Kim said federal policies harm not just immigrants but entire communities.

Hwa Jeong Kim: Their plan funds more cages than homes, more detention centers instead of healthcare or public education. They are scapegoating our immigrant families and paying for their cruelty on the backs of working class families.

Xan Holston: The Trump administration's proposed federal spending plan gives $75 billion to ICE over four years that would allow the agency to more than double its detention capacity and expand its deportation operations. According to CBS News, nearly half of the people detained by ICE have no criminal record in Minnesota. ICE arrests have doubled compared to this time last year, jumping from 441 to nearly 900 in six months.

Hwa Jeong Kim: Now our neighbors are being denied citizenship for minor mistakes on their records 20 or even 30 years ago, and that places them directly in the sights of ICE.

Xan Holston: Organizers say the impact on immigrant communities can't be overstated. Fears of arrest are leading families to avoid crucial activities like going to medical appointments and work for fear of arrest. As a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, Sarah Silva knows those fears well.

Sarah Silva: As someone who has lived in the shadows of the system, I can tell you it comes with costs.

Xan Holston: She works with CAPI, the Center for Asian and Pacific Islanders. Silva has lived in the US since she was a child, but she says the fear of separation never goes away.

Sarah Silva: It is not free to live here for us. We do pay taxes, and it is very, very unstable and scary every single day.

Xan Holston: Minneapolis, Columbia, heights and St Paul are all expected to vote on adopting the resolution in the coming weeks. For North Star Stories, I'm Xan Holston.

ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.

Two sophomores from the University of Minnesota Duluth hockey team are playing in the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase. Defenseman Adam Kleber from Chaska, a Twin Cities suburb, and Max Plante, a forward from Hermantown, which is a little west of Duluth, will be playing alongside players from Canada, Finland and Sweden. The World Junior Showcase serves as an evaluation for athletes trying to represent their respective teams at the World Junior Championships this winter. The week-long World Junior Summer Showcase takes place this week at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.

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HOST: 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 dot org.