Readers Write: Supporting immigration enforcement, U.S. Attorney’s office, ICE

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

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The page one headline in the Jan. 15 Star Tribune warns that, “Our community is in crisis,” and it is an accurate assessment of the chaos we are seeing play out in Minneapolis and elsewhere in Minnesota. But much more than President Donald Trump’s heavy-handed approach to immigration enforcement is to blame. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s demand that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sent here to enforce immigration law “get the [expletive] out of Minneapolis” is the kind of rhetoric we heard during the George Floyd riots, when many, including our local politicians, chanted “defund the police.” In both instances the rule of law, and the majority of residents who support it, suffer.

ICE agents are in Minneapolis legally and should be allowed to carry out their duties without interference. So far dozens of criminal illegal immigrants with convictions for crimes against women and children have been arrested. Yet these are met with harassment and interference preventing them from doing their jobs. Minneapolis’ policy regarding immigration enforcement is that of a sanctuary city. This means it will not cooperate in getting criminal illegal immigrants off the street. The notion that a city welcomes and protects them is an insult to the innocent residents, including its immigrant population, who simply want to raise their families and enjoy this beautiful city.

In my opinion, this goes a long way in explaining why, in the words of the headline, Minneapolis is “in crisis.”

Ronald Haskvitz, Minnetonka

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These leaders have failed us. Never mind the atrocious and historical level of fraud in Minnesota. Where are the protests of residents losing billions of dollars of our tax money to fraud — could this be a distraction to cover up or overlook this criminal activity? There are plenty of Minnesota residents who back ICE, as do I. To our leaders who have failed us: Get out of our state (or at least your office). You have done enough damage. Minnesotans deserve better.

Linda Sainsbury, Hutchinson, Minn.

As a city attorney I had dealings over the years with Dan Rosen, the Trump-appointed Minnesota U.S. Attorney. Rosen was an accomplished lawyer who represented property owners in condemnation matters and was a strong advocate for the constitutional property rights of citizens whose property was being acquired by the government. He was a well-respected member of the bar. Ironically, now as U.S. Attorney, he is facilitating President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s stonewalling of any inquiry into whether Renee Good’s constitutional right to life (seemingly more important then property) was violated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“By handing over investigation, Rosen betrays Minnesota,” Strib Voices, Jan. 13). While Bondi is a politician who happens to have a law degree, it is indeed sad when real lawyers like Rosen trade in their integrity and duty to uphold the rule of law in exchange for what, a few years as a U.S. Attorney? Or maybe he is auditioning for a job on the federal Appeals Court.

Rosen faced a big integrity test early in his tenure and utterly failed, but that’s what Trump does to those who join his circle. You have to leave your integrity at the door and so many, knowing that, walk through.

Thomas Scott, St. Paul

Frey is an attorney. Specifically, a civil rights attorney.

As such, he not only understands the Supremacy Clause, he also understands the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment, the Ninth Amendment, the 10th Amendment, the 14th Amendment and the relevant case law interpreting what these sections of the Constitution mean and what happens when they conflict.

As an attorney, Frey knows the Supremacy Clause is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for our federal government to violate constitutionally protected rights. He knows there are many other parts of the Constitution that support his statement telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement to “get the [expletive] out of Minneapolis” because it is trampling citizen, noncitizen and states’ rights that are protected by the “supreme law of the land” (aka the Constitution).

These protected rights even allow us to lecture our elected officials on things they are expert in, even though we are not.

Jerry Johnson, Eden Prairie

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In the continuing furor over the ICE agents operating in our state, a recurring point made by those supporting ICE’s presence is that it is legal and that apprehension of illegal immigrants is in fact the job of that department. While true, this is a distraction from the real issue: Are the violent tactics we’ve seen reported by a number of reliable sources legal?

Aside from the brutality with which some agents are conducting apprehensions, they are violating the civil and constitutional rights of innocent American citizens. Anyone with a shred of human decency will agree that this conduct must end. The ICE agents need to follow the standard rules of engagement that our police are subject to, and the agents who do not follow those rules and willfully terrorize our citizenry must be held accountable for their illegal activities.

Skip Senneka, Mound

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Perhaps it will never get that appalling here. There will likely never be gas chambers or Einsatzgruppen mass killings, but what we are seeing now is deeply traumatizing to the Jewish community, and it should, in fact, terrify all of us.