Augsburg University’s president on Monday condemned the detention of a student by federal immigration agents on campus over the weekend, calling the encounter a violation of the university’s private property and its values.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in an unmarked vehicle followed a student into a parking lot on Augsburg’s Minneapolis campus on Saturday afternoon, and attempted to detain them. The confrontation, which unfolded in view of students in adjacent residence halls, raised immediate questions about the agents’ authority and conduct, Augsburg President Paul Pribbenow said.
“We’re on our own here,” he said. “This is happening, and we have no recourse.”
Pribbenow has been an outspoken advocate for immigrant and refugee students throughout his tenure. Earlier this year, he joined a coalition of college presidents in signing a letter opposing President Donald Trump’s efforts to exert political influence over higher education institutions.
While ICE has authority to detain individuals in public spaces, Augsburg is a private university where agents cannot enter or make arrests without a judicial warrant. The parking lot, though ungated, is likewise private university property.
“It was done on private property, without a warrant,” Pribbenow said. “From our perspective, that is illegal.”
Staff from Augsburg’s Department of Public Safety and residence life responded and immediately requested a judicial warrant, Provost Paula O’Loughlin wrote in a campuswide email Saturday evening.
Additional agents soon arrived, “pointing weapons at the crowd and pushing witnesses back” as students recorded the scene, she said. When a senior administrator again asked for a judicial warrant, agents refused, saying they did not have one.
