Minnesota Business Community Grapples with Closures, Staffing Shortages as ICE Surge Continues
More than 700 businesses in Minnesota are closed today as part of a statewide day of action protesting aggressive immigration enforcement actions that have swept up U.S. citizens and undocumented immigrants alike.
Organizers have dubbed 23 January the “ICE Out of Minnesota Day of Truth & Freedom,” which is encouraging people to not go to work, retail stores, or schools and instead participate in a day of non-violent action.
“Minnesotans are coming together in moral reflection and action to stand together against the actions of the federal government against the state of Minnesota,” according to a mission statement from the group. “The ICE ‘surge’ that cost the life of Renee Nicole Good is violating the Constitutional and human rights of Americans and our neighbors. It is time to suspend the normal order of business to demand immediate cessation of ICE actions in Minnesota, accountability for federal agents who have caused loss of life and abuse to Minnesota residents, and call for Congress to immediately intervene.”
Roughly 3,000 U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel, including from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), are deployed in Minnesota for Operation Metro Surge for an indeterminate amount of time. DHS says that the operation is meant to target undocumented immigrants with criminal records and claims that it has arrested 10,000 people as part of the effort.
Local officials, however, have disputed that focus after DHS activity resulted in the arrests and detainment of U.S. citizens and legal residents. The state of Minnesota, the City of Saint Paul, and the City of Minneapolis have filed a joint lawsuit to end the surge and activity that they consider unconstitutional.
“Minneapolis didn’t ask for this operation, but we’re paying the price,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “When federal actions undermine public safety, harm our neighbors, and violate constitutional rights, we have a responsibility to act.”
In Minneapolis, “ICE Out” organizers are hosting a peaceful march and rally today near Target Center—the complex that is home to Minnesota’s professional basketball teams and is sponsored by one of the largest employers in the state. The “ICE Out” website calls for supporters to push Target to demand an end to the surge in Minnesota and exercise its rights to deny entrance to on-duty ICE agents without judicial warrants. Target did not respond to Security Management’s request for comment on this article.
Beyond the major retailer, immigration enforcement activity has had a significant chilling effect on the business community in the Twin Cities area—which refers to neighboring cities Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Michael Logan, CEO and president of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, says that members of the hospitality sector have reported a 40 to 80 percent drop in business since Operation Metro Surge began on 6 January.
Businesses in Minneapolis are seeing a reduction in foot traffic, employees who are changing their commute patterns or not coming to work at all out of fear of being detained by ICE, and concerns about civil unrest, he adds.
“We are a place that’s not very far out from the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and what happened subsequently to that tragic event insofar as riots and burned-out corridors in our city,” Logan adds. “Many of those corridors are the same cultural corridors today that are experiencing a reduction in business.”
Members have also been contacting the local chamber for resources on what their rights are as business owners when dealing with ICE activity, Logan says. Many have had questions about what their property rights are and how to define public space or common space versus private space.
These definitions are extremely important because ICE has the legal right to enter public spaces, speak with people in them, listen to others’ conversations, and arrest people without the property owner’s consent. For instance, ICE agents can move into the entrance of a retail establishment, speak to the people there, and arrest them. ICE agents do not generally have the legal authority, however, to enter private spaces—such as an employee breakroom or back office—without a judicial warrant or the owner’s permission.
In some instances, ICE agents will issue forms known as administrative warrants or ICE warrants that direct them to arrest a named individual for alleged violations of federal immigration law. These forms are not judicial warrants, though, and do not allow ICE agents to enter non-public areas without permission.
The chamber co-hosted a webinar yesterday with the American Business Immigration Coalition to provide education materials for members about property rights and ICE’s authority. The training was designed for employers across industry to provide them with tools to safeguard their business and their employees.
The topic was of increased interest after the Associated Press (AP) reported this week that some ICE agents have been instructed that they have the authority to enter private residences without a judicial warrant. The AP obtained the memo that outlines this authority and allows agents to “use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections and upends years of advice given to immigrant communities.”
Alongside providing resources to members, Logan says that the chamber is working with the Federal Reserve and economic development organization Greater MSP to assess the aggregate economic impact Operation Metro Surge is having on business activity at the local, regional, and state level. This objective data can then be used in conversations with policy makers and even members of the Trump administration about how immigration enforcement is impacting the economy, Logan adds.
“Everybody should care about that,” he says. “I don’t care what viewpoint you come at from an ideological standpoint. If economies are shrinking, frozen, and impacted dramatically, that should be a concern.”
Operating through times of uncertainty without the ability to plan is not a good environment to do business in, says Logan, adding that there is a sense of uneasiness right now in the business community due to the unpredictability of how long Operation Metro Surge will last. Many of those concerns were brought to the forefront during a breakfast meeting on Thursday that the chamber hosted with the mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, which roughly 500 people attended.
“Whether you’re a large company or whether you’re a sole proprietor—and everything in between—I think our members and the businesses that are in this community now feel uneasy,” Logan adds. “Irrespective of your political ideology, I know that there are people that absolutely support the ICE enforcement action to remove criminals and illegal immigrants. But they also, too, would say it’s impacting their business and the sooner that comes to a conclusion, the better.”
This new effort with the Federal Reserve and Greate MPS was initiated after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in a Minneapolis neighborhood and the business community started to notice a shift in local activity. Protests and demonstrations were increasing in Minneapolis and concerns about civil unrest were rising as federal authorities declined to investigate the officer who killed Good.
Logan says he’s encouraging people to keep the temperature down and to act civilly towards one another during this time. But he adds that accountability is important, too.
“Where there are actors that are doing illegal things—whether that’s throwing objects at law enforcement or damaging federal property—those are criminal acts that they should be held accountable for,” Logan says. “So too should ICE for violating Constitutional rights if in fact they do so.”
Ahead of today’s major protest, Logan says he believes the activities will be largely peaceful. Many businesses are willingly closing in solidarity or being forced to close for lack of employees. Schools have also closed or moved learning online for the day due to frigid weather moving through the area. Logan adds that he does not anticipate the day’s activities will “change the hearts and minds” of ICE and CBP leadership, but he does understand the importance of people wanting to send a message.
“I think Minnesotans have shown up in a really great way and demonstrated how we can do it peacefully and out of love, as opposed to disruption,” Logan explains. “It’s going to be impactful and particularly, I’m worried about it being impactful to the negative on the economy for that day, but we understand why those who are motivated to stay home or to protest instead of working are doing it.”
ICE responded to Security Management’s request for comment on this article but was unable to provide information on its policies and procedures for conducting operations at business locations by press time. This article will be updated if that information is shared.
