The surge of federal immigration agents has forced many families to remain inside for weeks, living in fear of roving ICE patrols snatching people off the street
José hasn’t left his house in Saint Paul for 29 days – not to shovel the snow at his driveway, not to fix up the car.
When the car needed an oil change, he video-called his wife, Sara, from inside so he could walk her through it. “I’ve only been from the bedroom to the living room,” he said. He’s afraid to even get near the front door.
Amy and her two kids have not stepped outside their apartment building in south Minneapolis in two weeks – not since Amy’s husband, Chris, was detained by immigration officers. They haven’t gone to the park, or the grocery store. They’ve played hide-and-seek and tag in the wide hallways of their building – but they won’t go past the lobby.
The Trump administration launched its “Operation Metro Surge” in the Twin Cities in early December – sending thousands of federal agents to arrest immigrants at bus stops, grocery stores and churches. The agents have killed two US citizens, and taken in their dragnet not only undocumented immigrants, but also refugees and others with legal statuses, tribal citizens and permanent residents.
