Minneapolis residents shelter immigrant children separated from parents and sought by federal agents

When federal immigration agents pounded on the door of his Minneapolis home, the oldest son in a family of 10 knew he had to move his siblings to a safer place.

Their mother, a 41-year-old Indigenous Ecuadorian office cleaner without a known criminal record besides minor traffic offenses, had been detained in early January because she entered the country illegally. Her eldest children feared they would be next, leaving behind their 5-month-old brother and six other children under 16 years old.

''The immigration agents were knocking on our door very late at night, and that's when I became afraid,'' said the 20-year-old son, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear additional family members could face deportation. ''I'm afraid that I'll be taken and my brothers and sisters will be in the hands of the government.''

That's when the family contacted Feliza Martinez, a friend from church, who rallied a group of volunteers to quietly move them to a safe house in south Minneapolis.

Martinez is one of the countless Twin Cities residents aiding immigrants like Melida Rita Wampash Tuntuam's family, prompted by word-of-mouth appeals for help — mostly ordinary people appalled by the aggressive tactics of federal agents who have broken down doors without warrants and violently clashed with protesters during the Trump administration's crackdown.

As more than 2,000 federal agents scour Minneapolis-St. Paul for immigrants to detain and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reports more than 3,000 arrests since early December, residents have organized to monitor, disrupt and protest the crackdown in the streets and in less visible ways.

These Minnesotans have paid rent for immigrant families whose breadwinners are afraid to go to work, delivered home-cooked meals and arranged for regular check-ins and emergency custody arrangements to make sure children are cared for in case their parents are detained. Christian nonprofit Source MN has expanded its food bank program to provide for hundreds of sheltering immigrant families.

Leaving home to stay safe

Snow covered the street as the Wampash Tuntuam family arrived at the safe house. A stream of visitors brought snacks, baby supplies and coloring books for the children. They assembled bunk beds and carried in mattresses.

The younger siblings settled in quickly, nestling on the couch in pajamas to share a bag of Cheetos and opening a coloring book to draw butterflies. The house soon sounded like any other filled with the shrieks and giggles of small children at play.

But Wampash Tuntuam's older children, fidgeting on the couch, still worried about their future. They told The Associated Press that their mother gave the address of their rental home to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who said they wanted to send a social worker to check on the younger children. Instead, armed masked immigration officers appeared and surrounded the house twice.

''That's when we knew they hadn't sent a social worker but agents to detain us,'' recalled Wampash Tuntuam's 22-year-old daughter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she and three other family members have final orders of removal. Her 20-year-old brother and other siblings are working on obtaining legal status. The two youngest children are U.S. citizens.

But over the past two months, after watching videos of federal agents aggressively detaining her neighbors and working directly with children parted from their parents, she has changed her views.

''Being on the front line and what I have experienced and seen, I wish I would've never voted for him,'' Martinez said. ''What he's doing, it's not Christian. It's not my beliefs.''

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that ''ICE does not separate families,'' noting that parents are asked whether they want to be removed with their children or place them with a designated person.

McLaughlin said Wampash Tuntuam entered the country illegally in 2022 via the Texas border and later received a final order of removal from an immigration judge. She said Wampash Tuntuam received due process and the administration is enforcing the law.

Facing an uncertain future

The older children expect their mother will be deported at any moment and worry about what will happen to her five youngest.

''If they found out that the baby was alone, they may take him away,'' the 22-year-old daughter said. ''We have all grown up together. I saw my baby brother's birth. I am very scared they will take him away and I will never see him again.''

After their mother was detained, the 20-year-old son quit work at a restaurant to watch over his child siblings. He's still figuring out how to care for his infant brother, who has had to switch from breastfeeding to formula and struggles to sleep without his mother.

The 20-year-old said he once saw Minneapolis as a "beautiful city" offering opportunities for immigrants like him until the surge of federal agents. There are still good people here, he said, referring to the volunteers who sheltered his family.

But his younger siblings continue to ask when their mother will return. He comforts them by saying she's at the hospital and will be home soon.