Minnesota doctors/police chiefs decry ICE tactics, presence

By Mike Moen – Producer/Minnesota News Connection

Minnesota doctors and police chiefs are joining the chorus of voices describing community-level harms they say are being caused by the surge of federal immigration officers in the state.

In separate news conferences on Tuesday, health-care providers and police department leaders shed new light on the impacts of ICE agents pushing to accelerate deportations across Minnesota.

Dr. Janna Gewirtz O’Brien, president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Minnesota chapter, says when serving patients in Minneapolis, while ICE agents are visible at hospitals, including the one where she works, vulnerable families are afraid to get the care they need.

“We’ve seen moms that have called and said, ‘My baby’s having trouble breathing. I don’t know if I should come in,” says Dr. Gewirtz O’Brien.

As for local police, a group of department chiefs has described getting endless complaints from community members, including U.S. citizens, about ICE agents violating their civil rights.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump amplified his administration’s arguments that the Minnesota operation is capturing the worst violent offenders.

But some arrest data cited by the White House has been called into question, and the Minnesota Department of Corrections has said the public is being misled about certain cases.

Over the past two weeks, Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley says residents have often reported being stopped by ICE along the street or while driving, with no apparent cause, and being forced to show citizenship paperwork.

He adds that nonwhite police officers have also been subject to this treatment while off duty.

“If it is happening to our officers, it pains me to think of how many of our community members are falling victim to this every day,” says Bruley.

The situation in Minnesota has spurred an abolish ICE movement, but Bruley says he is not at that point.

He feels immigration enforcement is important, but only when done properly – and thinks what’s happening now needs to stop.

Meanwhile, O’Brien says she suspects the aggressive enforcement will result in lasting trauma for kids seeing it up close.

“When ICE enforcement occurs in or near places where children should be safe – like homes, like schools, like hospitals,” she said, “children experience fear that disrupts their sense of stability,” says O’Brien.