The US government has sent thousands of immigration and border patrol officers to Minnesota over the past few weeks — triggering a wave of protests. Officials have responded with arrests, tear gas and even bullets as the situation threatens to spiral wholly out of control. Reports suggest the latest crackdown by ICE agents included two Indian students who had been working at a prominent eatery in the city of St Louis Park.
Preliminary updates suggest the duo have been detained over alleged visa violations. Visuals shared online showed the ICE agents handcuffing and leading the men out of the restaurant. Reports suggest the incident took place on the afternoon of January 16 (US time) during a surprise check. They had reportedly questioned the restaurant staff before leading the two away.
Details remain scarce and no formal confirmation has been shared by American authorities. Speculative updates have however broached the possibility of the students working part-time under the table — something that’s not legally allowed under their visa conditions.
What is happening in Minnesota?
Protests have raged across Democrat-run Minnesota over the past month — taking a significantly violent turn in recent days. A major catalyst was the death of Renee Good on January 7 after she joined a neighbourhood patrol network of activists tracking and monitoring the activities of federal officers. ICE agents had fatally shot the 37-year-old US citizen at close range while she was behind the wheel of her car. The White House has been vehement in its criticism of Good and tagged her as a “domestic terrorist”. The Trump administration also ignored calls for an end to the ICE surge — instead sending hundreds of additional agents to bolster the roughly 2,000 already deployed in the city.
Resident accounts and videos spreading through social media suggest the agents are now conducting roving sweeps and arresting people without warrants. Reuters journalists reported that scores of agents have been spotted carrying weapons through residential neighborhoods while wearing military-style camouflage gear and masks to cover their faces. They are often met by residents blowing whistles and shouting at the officers.
The agents have also smashed car windows and pulled people from their vehicles — with one recent video showing ICE forcibly dragging a woman from her car while she repeatedly tells them she is disabled. Others were spotted confronting non-white US citizens in public spaces and demanding to see their identification before walking away, drawing angry jeers and accusations of racism from bystanders. According to reports, they have also used chemical irritants on protesters — sometimes firing orange pepper spray into faces at close range or igniting flash-bang grenades near groups in the street.
Immigration officers have also arrested legal refugees as well as US citizens who allegedly disrupted their work. Groups of agents have been spotted chased protesters — including at least one dressed in a giraffe costume — before wrestling them to the ground to detain them.
A US immigration officer also shot and wounded a Venezuelan man fleeing a traffic stop in Minneapolis on Wednesday. The US Department of Homeland Security claimed officers had opened fire after two people attacked the agent with a broomstick and snow shovel while he was wrestling with the Venezuelan. DHS also said he was in the country illegally.
Judge orders curbs on ICE tactics
A federal judge in Minnesota on Friday ordered that US immigration agents deployed en masse to Minneapolis be restricted in some of the tactics they have taken against peaceful demonstrators and observers, including arrests and tear-gassing. District Judge Kate Menendez issued an injunction barring federal agents from retaliating against individuals engaged in non-violent, unobstructive protest activity.