St. Paul mayor responds to unrest triggered by federal immigration raids

Geoff Bennett:

The Trump administration is ramping up its aggressive approach to immigration as it begins its second year.

The Associated Press reported today that an internal memo shows some new federal immigration officers have been trained to forcibly enter homes without a judge's warrant, a sharp reversal of guidance that protected constitutional limits.

That comes amid news that ICE's latest surge has targeted the state of Maine. At least 50 people were arrested there earlier this week. Some top local officials have condemned ICE's aggressive approach, including Portland Mayor Mark Dion during a news conference today.

Mark Dion, Mayor of Portland, Maine: While we respect the law, we challenge the need for a paramilitary approach to the enforcement of federal statutes. What we have been concerned with as a council is the enforcement tactics that ICE has undertaken in other communities, which to our mind appear to threaten and intimidate populations.

Geoff Bennett:

In Minnesota, there's been no letup in ICE's surge there now in its third week. Today, a federal appeals court put a hold on a lower court's order that had restrained federal immigration agents' use of force against peaceful protesters.

State and local officials are continuing to push back against the federal presence in the Twin Cities. And more details are coming to light about a naturalized U.S. citizen with no criminal record, according to his family, who was arrested and detained by ICE in an incident that went viral.

Chongly Scott Thao, a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota, was later released and spoke recently about the ordeal after he was pulled from his home out through the snow.

Chongly Scott Thao, Detained By ICE:

So I just said, OK, let's open the door, see what they want. And then, suddenly, there's guns pointed at us. I was like, whoa. Then, suddenly, they just handcuffed me. They didn't ask for my I.D. or anything until after they handcuffed me.

Geoff Bennett:

And we are joined now by Kaohly Her, the mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Thank you for being with us.

Give us the latest picture of what's happening right now on the ground in your city with federal immigration enforcement. And is there any coordination between ICE and local law enforcement?

Kaohly Her, Mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota: So there is no coordination between ICE and local law enforcement. We are not informed when they go out on their assignments or who they're targeting. We do not get that kind of information.

And I think that that is what is causing the environment on the ground right now. People are afraid. They are frustrated. They are angry. But, I mean, there's also a lot of hope that we see on the ground as well with the love and the care and the kindness that people are showing each other. And so I feel hopeful about what can be the outcome, even if it feels like there's despair all around us right now.

Geoff Bennett:

The police chief of the Minneapolis suburb Brooklyn Park said that off-duty police officers of color had been targeted by ICE, at least on one occasion with guns drawn.

Are St. Paul officers seeing that kind of activity?

Kaohly Her:

We are seeing accounts of off-duty officers being stopped by ICE. This is not an isolated incident of in the Brooklyn Park area. We have heard accounts across the state of law enforcement being stopped by ICE.

Geoff Bennett:

I also want to ask you about this incident in St. Paul where protesters disrupted a church service where one of the pastors is an ICE official.

At this moment, when tensions are already high, do you believe entering a house of worship during a service is an acceptable form of protest or does that cross a line?

Kaohly Her:

You know, there is an active investigation into that situation. I wouldn't -- police did arrive on the scene, but by the time they got there, the individuals who disrupted the service were already gone.

So I can't expand too much on really that particular situation, but I will say that, for me personally, I am somebody who is a person of faith. I'm a Christian. I think that places of worship are sacred spaces. But I have said this before, is that, if our federal government and our friends from the other side of the aisle want us to respect sacred spaces, which I believe are churches, a place of worship is a sacred space, that means that we have to also respect other spaces, such as hospitals, places of which people are needed to get exams or needed to be treated because of the hands of ICE have been injured.

That means that schools, where children are present, should be off-limits. And so I think that it is really important that if there's going to be call for respecting sacred spaces, then our federal government and the agents of the federal government should be respecting those sacred spaces as well. That is the only way that we're going to bring calm and order back to our city is if everyone on both sides of the spectrum agree that they're going to respect sacred spaces.

Geoff Bennett:

You are among a number of Democratic state and local officials to receive a Justice Department subpoena tied to an investigation into alleged disruption of ICE operations.

What's your reaction to being subpoenaed and how will your office respond?

Kaohly Her:

Yes, I mean, I wasn't surprised by it.

Our president has stated very clearly that he -- that there's retribution to be paid by states and municipalities that do not agree with him. And so -- but we remain committed to protecting our residents, our neighbors and our communities. It doesn't change the process or our actions moving forward.

But, yes, I wasn't surprised by it.

Geoff Bennett:

How do you intend to respond?

Kaohly Her:

I mean, we are having our legal team look at it right now. I mean, we will -- we are law-abiding citizens. We will comply with this subpoena.

But it doesn't mean that it's lawful what has been done and what we have been served with. But we will comply and we will work with our legal team to figure out the best steps forward.

Geoff Bennett:

What do you want people to know about what's happening in your city right now and how the folks you represent are responding?

Kaohly Her:

I mean, I think it's important for people to remember that they should not just believe in the rhetoric from their sides of the party, that the -- what I'm hearing out there is, if people would just comply with the law, that if they would just not resist, that if they were here legally, that they have nothing to worry about, that they shouldn't be scared.

And that is just not true. I mean, ICE has made it very clear, the federal government, HSI, has made it really clear that anybody in the path of anything that they're -- any task that they're executing on or any mission that they're executing on in that, they are fair game. And so we're allowing people to target based on the way someone looks and the way that they sound.

And now we have incident after incident after incident of American citizens being detained and being injured at the hands of ICE, people with no criminal record at all. We are hearing more of those cases than actual situations where somebody had a criminal record or is a danger to our communities, that we are hearing less of those stories and more of just everyday Americans being targeted.

We should not listen to the rhetoric of just our own sides of the party and hear the real stories of individuals who have been impacted. And I want people to know that this administration can punish our city and can punish our state, but they will never break our spirit, and that we will show and continue to love each other and create networks to support each other and that we will continue to show kindness to those who are the most hurt by what this federal government is doing.

We will continue to be Minnesotans.

Geoff Bennett:

Kaohly Her, the mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, thanks again for your time this evening.

Kaohly Her:

Thank you for having me.