ICE arrested 14 people on immigration violations in a raid at a St. Paul warehouse this week, the federal agency said Thursday.
Immigrant groups said Wednesday that they’d confirmed two people were detained and attorneys were working to determine if anyone else was taken into custody.
A statement from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson late Thursday was the first official confirmation of the number of people arrested.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s HSI and other federal law enforcement agents carried out a search warrant Tuesday morning at Bro-Tex Inc. on Hampden Avenue near University Avenue in the St. Anthony neighborhood.
Of the people arrested, one had past domestic abuse charges and one committed a felony by illegally re-entering the U.S., according to a Homeland Security spokesperson’s statement.
St. Paul City Council member Molly Coleman, who represents the area, pointed out that HSI stated Tuesday they were serving a search warrant “in furtherance of a federal criminal investigation.”
“What they initially reported as a targeted criminal enforcement action was in fact an identity-based raid on people who had done nothing but show up for work that day,” Coleman said in a Thursday statement. “Every one of these people is a member of our community; a member of a family; a neighbor; a loved one. The federal government lied about why federal agents were here. They detained people with no criminal record and with no evidence that they will receive the process they are due.”
HSI said in its statement that “worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to protect public safety, national security and economic stability while rescuing individuals who may be victims of labor trafficking or exploitation. These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and threaten American communities.”
The spokesperson also said “the employment of illegal aliens also incentivizes dangerous and illegal practices, including social security fraud.”
Bro-Tex’s website says they’ve been manufacturing and converting cloth and paper wiping products since 1923.
A person who answered the phone at Bro-Tex Tuesday morning said they had no comment and no one answered the phone during business hours Wednesday.
The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee in a Wednesday statement said they condemn “the kidnappings of the workers at Bro-Tex Inc., the arrest of a community observer, and the violence carried out by federal agents against peaceful demonstrators.”
The husband of a woman who was cuffed and taken into custody outside the business Tuesday wrote on social media that she’d been “peacefully protesting and filming.” She was held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling until she was released later in the day.
Coleman said federal agents “physically attacked our community members who dared to show up in defense of the immigrant community. I am devastated for our neighbors and for our city. We will continue to do everything we can do push back against this authoritarian behavior by the federal government, just as we will continue to stand with every single immigrant who calls St. Paul home.”
Some people swarmed vehicles driven by federal agents while yelling, “No justice, no peace.” Federal personnel sprayed protesters with a chemical irritant. A woman reported she was struck twice in the leg by rubber bullets.
Video also showed some people stood in front of moving vehicles and law enforcement shoved them out of the way.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
