Readers Write: A divided Minnesota, ICE agents’ conduct, conservatism

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Thank you for the article “A divided state emerges as Minnesotans take sides” (Jan. 19). It is easy to see how the actions of people in Minneapolis could be difficult to understand.

I, too, was raised to respect uniformed officials. Even if my schoolteacher parents hadn’t gotten the message across to me, the farming community in which I grew up made it quite clear that respect for authority of all types is a key part of the fabric that makes society work. And I believe that to this day.

Thus, I have no difficulty understanding the point of view that if you get trouble from authorities, it could be presumed to have been your own fault. It absolutely makes sense — if certain other assumptions hold true. In the world I grew up in, authority was present for the purpose of helping the community thrive, and the agents of that authority would treat people with humanity, respect and even kindness.

However, I would ask my fellow Minnesotans to consider that this might not be the situation we are facing in Minneapolis currently. We have an absurdly large force apparently sent here with the intent of making us — all of us — fearful and uncomfortable as some sort of collective political punishment. And we have agents of authority who are not treating us with respect and humanity: In the world where I learned to respect authority, no officer would ever open an interaction with an unarmed, nonviolent person by shouting, “Get the [expletive] out of the car!”

So, at the very least, the present situation is more complicated than the way I (we) learned it. In fact, one of the most distressing parts of the situation is being forced to consider when and where respect for authority is appropriate. I didn’t want it to be that way; it was a lot easier the old way, when I could simply depend on authority as a guide for proper behavior. But that’s not the hand that we’ve been dealt.

Tom Schmitz, Minneapolis

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To the “mostly rocks and cows” crowd:

I understand your frustration! I grew up in central Illinois, which can be described as “black dirt, cows and a few rocks.” But its church pews were filled with men and women who had gone to war in defense of freedom and in defiance of dictators, tyrants and madmen. They respected those with different opinions (a Democrat might be your tractor repair guy!) and knew a patriot when they saw one. Get that chip off your shoulder and start loving your neighbor like your immigrant grandmother told you to.

Mary Steinbicker, Minnetonka

Born, raised and educated in St. James, Minn., I was interested to find out what small-town Minnesotans think about “Operation Metro Surge” but was disappointed by the lack of helpful follow-up questions. Everyone agrees “you’re supposed to listen” to police officers, but must obedience be perfect even in chaotic and terrifying situations? If so, is disobedience or imperfect obedience a capital offense punishable by summary execution? That’s the controversy.

Nobody wants “violent criminals” on the streets, but does crossing the border for a job constitute a violent crime? Everyone agrees “you cannot have a country without borders,” but should the border be secured with codified laws enforced equally for everyone or does it mean whites only? These are the relevant questions, and I need answers, because the “surge” is coming to Colorado soon.

Joan Jacobson, Lakewood, Colo.

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I take offense to the headline on the Star Tribune article that states, “State wrestling with its image.” As a lifelong Minnesotan, I love and am proud of my state. That said, I acknowledge we are not perfect and to this day have failed many of our citizens, particularly our communities of color. As to our current image, though, I could not be prouder of the image being put on display to the rest of the country and the world. That image being a state and a people who are bravely standing up for their neighbors, for their children and against a fascist federal government. That is an image that makes many of us proud.

I watched the local news on a recent evening and saw an elderly man being marched out of his house by immigration agents wearing only boxer shorts, a blanket and what look to be Crocs on his feet. Some of the narrative indicated that the door to the house was broken down and other damage was done to the house (“St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her ‘livid’ after ICE wrongly targets family friend, escorts him undressed into cold,” Jan. 19). Like several other similar cases, it was found later that the man was a U.S. citizen. Why not attempt to establish or disprove that fact at the time rather than march him out into the snow in very cold weather, inappropriately dressed?

It will be interesting to see how the president weighs in with his two cents, and how the secretary of Homeland Security spins this episode. Of course, they will find a way to blame the individual or state and local officials.

It strikes me how in many of these cases, the agents appear completely uncaring, damaging personal property (for instance, breaking car windows, leaving cars where they sit and, in one case, not even putting the vehicle into park, letting it roll down the street). Add to that the aggressive attitude and actions taken against the press, bystanders and peaceful protesters.

Is this a training issue, a character issue with the individuals being hired as agents or a combination of both? Every time there are no consequences for actions like this, the agents appear to be emboldened and operate with more impunity.

Make no mistake, I am all in favor of immigration reform and application of the law against illegal immigration with well-trained agents, but I’m dead-set against how this administration is performing that duty. As long as spineless politicians continue to kick the immigration can down the road and instead use it as campaign fodder, the current situation will get worse and worse.

Ron Bender, Richfield

Calling Jake Lang “a conservative influencer” is an insult to all self-respecting conservatives. No conservative I know — and I know many — would want to be associated with this Jew-baiting provocateur and peddler of antisemitic and white-supremacist tropes. The old European left used to say it had no enemies on the left. Whether that remains true is debatable, but I cannot conceive of a conservative saying anything of the kind when it refers to a man like Lang, who once stood outside the headquarters of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC with a banner reading “Make Jerusalem Christian Again” and threw silver chocolate coins and did a Nazi salute.

We live at a time when even slightly right-of-center views are often gratuitously labeled “far-right.” There but for the grace of God go I and many other conservatives living in America in 2026. But in Lang’s case the designation fits like a glove. He is simply not a conservative, and none of my fellow conservatives would have any truck with a man who said he was “one step below the Third Reich” and that the Holocaust was exaggerated. Hence, the incredibly small number of people who attended his “March Against Minnesota Fraud” on Saturday.