Investigation of St. Paul police after ICE raid delayed; immigrant defense fund established

The St. Paul City Council Wednesday continued to grapple with the impact of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The council delayed by one week an investigation into St. Paul police officers’ conduct at the scene of an ICE raid last week that erupted into skirmishes with protestors and witnessed officers injuring at least one journalist

But the council on Wednesday approved $300,000 to help immigrants with court costs as part of the 2026 budget — the largest amount the city has ever contributed to support immigrants’ legal costs.

The city will contribute $175,000 to an immigrant defense fund, which St. Paul has used to partner with the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota to help immigrants who are facing deportation, if they cannot afford their own attorneys.

Another $125,000 will go to help immigrants working through the naturalization process to get United States citizenship.

The actions come as many in the Twin Cities worry about heightened immigration enforcement, following two raids in St. Paul and rhetoric from Trump targeting Minnesota’s Somali community.

A Nov. 25 raid in St. Paul saw city police use pepper spray and shoot rubber projectiles on a crowd that included activists and reporters in an East Side neighborhood.

The City Council had planned to vote Wednesday to call for an investigation into officers’ conduct. But the vote was delayed until Dec. 10 as staff refined the language of a resolution to formalize the request for an investigation.

Funding for immigrants’ legal costs was proposed by the City Council in November, before two recent raids in St. Paul, but federal agents have stepped up immigration enforcement across the country.

St. Paul has funded immigration defense in some years with one-time funding, most recently with one-time public safety aid the Legislature approved in 2023 for Minnesota cities. Mayor Melvin Carter initiated the fund in his first term.