Oppose Federal Immigration Enforcement Abuses in Minnesota

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action against the unconstitutional federal immigration enforcement operations currently underway in the Twin Cities. What is happening in Minnesota represents a dangerous erosion of civil liberties and constitutional protections that demands congressional intervention. ICE and CBP agents are systematically violating the Fourth Amendment by breaking into homes without judicial warrants. A whistleblower revealed a secret ICE memo instructing agents they do not need warrants to forcibly enter homes, which constitutional scholar Steve Vladeck called "absolutely frickin' insane" and described as "massive, systemic Fourth Amendment violations." This is not isolated misconduct. At least eight heavily armed agents broke into a Hmong family's home without a warrant and arrested ChongLy Scott Thao, a naturalized citizen with no criminal record, in his underwear in sub-freezing temperatures while his grandchild watched. Agents were not interested in his citizenship documentation. DHS later claimed Thao matched the description of two sex-criminal migrants they were seeking, though one of those alleged targets was actually in a Minnesota jail the entire time, information that was publicly available. The lack of accountability has created a culture of impunity. After immigration agents killed Renee Good, no accountability followed. Instead, Good and her wife became subjects of investigation, leading to resignations by an FBI agent and half-dozen career DOJ prosecutors. Agents now commit abuses while being recorded, including firing chemical munitions into a family van that sent three children to the hospital and required CPR for a six-month-old infant. ICE operates under a quota system requiring 3,000 daily arrests to reach a one million annual target, incentivizing indiscriminate round-ups. Students are being arrested at schools, forcing Twin Cities schools to move to hybrid learning. Families are afraid to leave their homes for groceries. The administration has refused to give members of Congress access to their sites while issuing subpoenas to state and local officials critical of their work. The White House posted a doctored AI-generated image showing an arrestee crying when the original showed no such thing, representing the first example of an American government using AI to meaningfully misrepresent actual events with intent to deceive the public. I urge you to demand immediate congressional oversight, investigate these constitutional violations, and work to defund operations that violate the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens and residents.

First sent on January 29 by Jeffrey Barlow