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About a hundred people gathered outside Fort Snelling Immigration Court Monday, some holding signs that read “due process for all” and “no more deportations.”
The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, or MIRAC, organized the rally after its members reported several incidents in which plainclothes officers, presumed to be with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, detained immigrants in the hallway immediately after their hearings.
“On Wednesday, July 9, five MIRAC members accompanied a community member to his asylum hearing here in this building. We witnessed on this day, multiple vicious ICE kidnappings,” said MIRAC member Kelly Allen.
Immigrant rights advocates say in most cases they’ve witnessed, the person detained had just had their case dismissed by a judge, meaning their case is now terminated and they are subject to expedited removal proceedings.
Gloria Contreras Edin is an immigration attorney in St. Paul and said she has spoken with several clients who have been detained as a result of going to immigration court, and whose cases were dismissed by an immigration judge.
“We know that it’s happening. And when I go to immigration court, I also see many ICE agents who are now plainly clothed. They used to be clothed in their uniforms, but now they wear plain clothing and they are lined along the hallways of the immigration foyer, and then, of course, right along up to the doors of the immigration court,” Contreras Edin said.
She said in these cases, people are often detained without being served an arrest warrant. She said under the Immigration and Nationality Act, immigration officers can make “warrantless arrests” depending on the circumstances.
“Their ability to arrest someone really rests on whether they have reasonable suspicion to believe that the person is a non-citizen from another country, or that the individual may be here without status,” Contreras Edin said.
Contreras Edin said most of those being targeted have been in the United States for less than two years, including those whose parole was revoked, those who haven’t filed asylum applications, and even some who have.
She said she’s urging her clients to speak up if a judge dismisses their case, and to clearly explain why they oppose the decision.
Both immigration attorneys and advocates say the practice of arresting people at immigration court, undermines trust in the legal system and deters immigrants from attending their own court hearings — something they argue puts due process at risk.
At the rally at Fort Snelling Monday, Minneapolis City Councilmember Jason Chavez said he also worries about the effect such arrests could have on families.
“You have children of parents of immigrants who are scared to receive that call from their parents, knowing that one of their parents might be deported,” Chavez said.
ICE has not responded to MPR News’ request for more information.
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