Why it's practically impossible for Minneapolis cops to help ICE
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Minneapolis cops work crowd control following the shooting death of Renee Good. Photo: Nick Halter/Axios
Even if Mayor Jacob Frey wanted his city's police officers to help the Trump administration with immigration enforcement, it'd be just about impossible to do it.
Why it matters: Frey's resistance to President Trump's demand for local ICE support set the president off on Wednesday, threatening to disrupt what had been 48 hours of de-escalation between local and federal officials.
The latest: After Trump criticized Frey and said he was "playing with fire" by not enforcing immigration law, the mayor shot back and posted on social media that he wants his police "preventing homicides, not hunting down a working dad who contributes to MPLS & is from Ecuador."
Friction point: Minneapolis has a separation ordinance that bars police from undertaking "any law enforcement action for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws."
- Minneapolis Police Department officers can control crowds at immigration raids, but coordinating this response with federal officials could be problematic under the ordinance.
Between the lines: Frey and the council are unlikely to weaken an ordinance they updated just last month.
Reality check: Even without the ordinance, it wouldn't be feasible for MPD to take on additional duties because it's already stretched thin.
- Before George Floyd's murder in 2020, the city had nearly 900 sworn officers. Hundreds quit or retired after days of rioting and looting, and staffing levels bottomed out around 550 officers.
- It took years — and hefty compensation increases — to get staffing back to 600 last summer, which is still well below the city-charter-mandated level of 713.
Meanwhile, as many as 4,000 federal immigration agents have been in the state at times.
What they're saying: "I'm mortified at [MPD having only] 600," former police chief Janeé Harteau told Axios. "You can't even really manage 911 calls, let alone do investigations, proactive policing, crime prevention, community policing — everything. They're barely keeping their head above water."
- Harteau, who resigned in 2017 but stays in contact with her former colleagues, is worried that a department already on fragile footing could be hurt by another large exodus due to the stress of the last several weeks.
Zoom out: Trump officials have also said they want jails and prisons to hold inmates who have immigration detainers, but state officials have said they already alert ICE when they're being released, and holding them longer would violate laws.
- "The issue becomes when they have a lawful reason to be released on bail, released by judicial order, the jail cannot hold that person beyond that point in time," Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said at a recent news conference. "That's the fundamental issue. There is not a lack of cooperation. There is just some legal boundaries."
Attorney General Keith Ellison said when jails and prisons are releasing detainees, "ICE just has to show up and do its job," or else the state courts are exposing themselves to liability if prisons and jails continue holding inmates.
Yes, but: Some county jails, including Hennepin County's, do not honor ICE detainers, according to Fox 9.
What we're watching: Top legislative Republicans have already vowed to revive legislation that would essentially override local "sanctuary" policies and force county officials to notify ICE of undocumented immigrants who are arrested on suspicion of violent crimes.
- But that bill is expected to face resistance at the narrowly divided Legislature, as Democrats prepare their own proposals to strengthen legal recourse for people whose rights are violated by federal agents.