Readers Write: ICE and the rule of law, Operation Metro Surge, protest tactics

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

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If you want to do something about lawless immigration enforcement, do this. Call your congressional representatives and tell them to support the Bivens Act and the ICE and CBP Constitutional Accountability Act. The Bivens Act would allow citizens to recover damages for constitutional violations by federal officials. The Constitutional Accountability Act would recognize that federal, state and local law enforcement agencies should have the same civil liability for officer misconduct that private employers have for their employees under the legal doctrine “respondeat superior.”

No matter who the victim is, courthouse doors should be open.

Harold Richter, Minneapolis

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In the rush to destroy the personal lives of individuals it seems that the bosses at the Department of Justice are destroying due process and the rule of law (“ICE caseload crushing, judge told,” Feb. 6). This collateral damage threatens everyone, regardless of political affiliation. The obvious answer is to limit the lawless behavior of federal agents whose actions are causing the unlawful detention of individuals. Judges must sanction the leadership by backing up their orders with consequences for the open defiance we are witnessing. Throw a few of these leaders in a cell for a few days and let’s see if the armed street thugs currently terrorizing the population get the message. Sometimes a 2x4 upside the head is required to get the attention of the mule.

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I acknowledge the viewpoint that Minnesotans and their elected leaders should obey the law and cooperate with the enforcement of immigration statutes. The problem is that federal immigration agents continually break the laws they are supposed to uphold, defying the Constitution and courts that protects us all.

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Control agents assault, arrest or deport U.S. citizens, they break the law. Also illegal are the detentions and deportations of asylum-seekers and others who have prior federal permission to be in our country. These residents have been vetted and complied with U.S. laws in order to live here. Immigration requirements cannot simply be ignored or changed without going through the appropriate legal process.

ICE even breaks the law and its own policies when undocumented immigrants it detains are denied access to attorneys or due process. Arrestees are housed in the Whipple Federal Building and other locations under deplorable conditions that do not remotely meet legal requirements or ICE’s own mandated standards.

Most of the dangerous criminals, a very small percentage of immigrants, who were the pretext for the surge, have already faced legal consequences from local Minnesota law enforcement and courts. Those who were imprisoned have been handed over to authorized federal agents. Minnesota has been cooperating with ICE for years.

Randall Croce, St. Paul

Regarding “Minnesota sheriffs group, border czar Tom Homan negotiating blueprint for federal drawdown” (StarTribune.com, Feb. 3): To the extent that any proposed solution to Operation Metro Surge conflicts with Minnesota state law as interpreted by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, well, the Minnesota Legislature can change state law in the legislative session that begins this month.

Karl Olson, St. Louis Park

Border czar Tom Homan spoke to Americans from Minneapolis last week. He announced two minor changes, not due to “unprecedented cooperation” with police, but because polling on immigration enforcement portends a disastrous midterm election outcome for Republicans.

Maybe Homan’s expectation is that Minnesotans will forget that one of his own shot a nonimmigrant citizen who was pulling away when he stepped in front of her vehicle. Shot her in the head. According to our highest officials, her killer is “immune” from prosecution. We won’t forget that or the videoed killing of a disarmed protester lying facedown on the ground, by a cohort of Border Patrol agents. Ten shots in his back.

Homan’s minor remedies are no solution for our deep wounds. ICE needs a radical overhaul. Top officials need to be removed and replaced with leaders who respect the Constitution and who will impartially investigate and discipline misconduct by agents. Properly vet and retrain agents to follow our laws. End masking and photographing of protesters. This would begin to repair an agency that has earned the disapproval of over 60% of voters.

Until this happens, Minnesotans need to continue documenting, peacefully protesting and caring for our vulnerable neighbors.

Sandra Urgo, Bayport, Minn.

Commentary writer Matt Dowgwillo (“Minnesota deserves good policy, not political theater,” Strib Voices, Feb. 6) urges Minnesotans to drop the heated rhetoric and focus on goals — as in, a discussion of what the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol surge is trying to accomplish, what should it cost and how we would measure outcomes.

Here’s the problem. The policies that are tearing our state apart were cooked up by an aging narcissist who brags about his wildly inconsistent dictates (President Donald Trump); lying, amoral opportunists who embrace cruelty (Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem); and a trio of jingoist sadists who proudly trumpet their hatred of nonwhite immigrants (White House adviser Steven Miller, Corey Lewandowski and Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino). Oh, and then there are the “influencers” who alter video and post laughable lies (whistles are a dangerous weapon, etc.). They are all united by a lust for absolute power and the corruption that goes with it.

Since the Republican Party of Minnesota dare not confront the whipped-up MAGA base, there is no chance for a rational discussion of goals for immigration policy. The only way out of this is for Minnesotans to fight back by supporting our neighbors and documenting the abuses; it will take way too long, but in the end, kindness, compassion and the truth will win out.

Philip Deering, Minneapolis

I read the Feb. 4 letter “We need to convert, not insult,” decrying the “hatred and vitriol” he witnessed from the protesters at the Whipple Federal Building. I have been to Whipple and witnessed the passion and anger of the protesters. And participated in it. Yes, I would yell that if my grandmother or my pastor were nearby, and they would, too. It is cathartic to have a place to bring your fury. The occupants of that building need to understand that we are not going anywhere, and we will protest them to our last breath. These jackbooted thugs have brought it on themselves. I’m sorry if this writer’s delicate sensibilities were offended, but he should realize that if ICE agents had showed up at his polite, uplifting protest, the crowd would have turned on them with the same language as they were using at the Whipple Building.

So quit clutching your pearls and understand that we are there to exercise our First Amendment rights so they don’t get taken from us.