Olson: As ICE sows chaos on Minnesota streets, protesters must keep safety front of mind

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

If there was any doubt, there is no more: An American citizen observing an immigration enforcement action is at high risk of arrest and detainment.

That’s what happened to Susan Tincher in north Minneapolis on Tuesday shortly after 6 a.m. Tincher went to observe an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation that was happening on her block. When she was told to move back, Tincher said she didn’t think it was necessary and didn’t follow instructions. She was pushed down by agents, handcuffed and taken into custody.

Tincher ended up at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building near the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport before she was released. She later said she sat “in a cell for a few hours with leg shackles on.”

In the video of her arrest, Tincher is heard loudly pleading with onlookers, “Help me.” The jarring arrest came amid increased ICE enforcement actions in Minnesota ordered by President Donald Trump.

Details are murkier about another recent ICE arrest that occurred Saturday at Augsburg University in Minneapolis where Jesus Saucedo-Portillo was detained while getting into his vehicle.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin countered that the agents had a warrant to arrest Saucedo-Portillo, whom she described as an unauthorized immigrant and a registered sex offender with a conviction for driving under the influence. She claimed Augsburg officials attempted to interfere with the detainment.

The two arrests show the high stakes and difficulty of monitoring and resisting the Trump administration’s targeted immigration enforcement effort in Minnesota.

In 2024, Trump appealed to voters in each of his campaigns with nativist views and the aim of taming immigration, especially at the country’s southern border.

Immigration enforcement in itself isn’t an unworthy goal, but Trump’s tainted the legal enforcement efforts with his dehumanizing and racist language, giving tacit approval to heavy-handed tactics.

Trump appears to want to instill fear, division and chaos, knowing that the turmoil tightens his hold on power. His approach to governance and immigration is terrifying even to those of us who are supposedly safe.

My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were also born in this country. My ancestors immigrated from northern Europe so long ago that I don’t know when, how or why they came here.

And yet here I am looking over my shoulder, fearful of the randomness, willing violence and unchecked aggressiveness of the Trump administration.

Tincher’s instinct to stand up for a neighbor is admirable. She seemed to want, at a minimum, to bear witness.

Even after the arrest, she was undeterred, telling Minnesota Public Radio, “It empowers me, I definitely want to do it more.”

That’s great, to want to help a neighbor at personal risk. But we all must follow the law. We can’t add to the chaos and sense of disorder.

In public spaces, we have the right to photograph anything in plain view, including law enforcement. On private property, the owner sets the rules, according to the ACLU.

If arrested, the ACLU advises to remain calm and to not physically resist. Those who expect to enter the fray by merely showing up and recording the incidents should spend some time considering how to respond to law enforcement at these scenes.

In Minnesota we are fortunate to have state and civic leaders at the highest levels who are willing to stand up to Trump.