On Monday, we reported that the Trump administration had begun sending hundreds of federal agents, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, to the Twin Cities area of Minnesota — with plans to deploy approximately 2,000 agents in total — and not even a full week has passed before citizens, advocacy groups and city officials have begun reporting incidents involving agents running wild and unrestricted through Minneapolis communities, and perpetuating some of the same violent, disorderly and inhumane acts they’ve been accused of in Chicago, Charlotte, Portland, Los Angeles and other Democrat-run targets of the MAGA-fied federal government.
Obviously, the shooting on Wednesday, in which an ICE agent shot and killed a woman now identified as Renee Nicole Good, is dominating the headlines, and for good reason. It is just the latest example of the unabated and dangerous tactics ICE uses on the streets. Their violence against American citizens goes unchecked, and for every story that makes headlines, there are likely hundreds that don’t.
Another incident in which ICE agents invaded a hospital emergency room, seeking to detain someone they presumably suspected of being undocumented, happened nearly a week before the deployment was announced.
According to CBS News, community members, community organizers, and health care workers in Minneapolis are outraged over ICE agents being allowed inside the Hennepin County Medical Center’s Emergency Department for more than 24 hours and handcuffing a patient to their bed, all without a judicial warrant.
State Rep. Aisha Gomez (D-Minneapolis) confirmed that on Dec. 31, ICE agents were confronted and removed from HCMC, once it was clear they had no cause to be there.
“Our Hennepin County commissioners worked with leadership of the hospital, including the leadership of security, established that there was no judicial warrant, and told them that they had to leave, and they left,” Gomez said.
According to the Sahon Journal, HCMC also released a statement of its own, which basically echoed Gomez’s confirmation.
“Regarding reports of a patient who arrived last week, we are limited in the information we can share because we have a legal duty to protect patient confidentiality,” the statement said. “We can confirm that any federal agents arriving with a patient presented appropriate identification, adhered to our established processes, and left after Security asked for documentation to support their continued presence.”
However, Unidos MN — a non-profit that describes itself as “a grassroots organization that builds power with Minnesota’s working families to advance social, racial, and economic justice for all” — reported that ICE agents weren’t removed from the facility until a full 24 hours after they arrived, which would indicate that any action taken to remove the agents was far from swift. Also, it’s worth noting that HCMC’s statement doesn’t explain why the agents were allowed to enter an emergency department room without a warrant in the first place, let alone why they were allegedly allowed to handcuff a patient.
At any rate, the event drew a large protest on Tuesday.
From the Sahon Journal:
About a hundred health care workers, including HCMC staff, elected officials and immigration advocates gathered outside the HCMC Emergency Department Tuesday calling on hospitals and businesses to adopt policies to protect immigrants seeking services in their buildings. They’re asking hospitals to prevent immigration officers from entering their facilities without a proper arrest warrant.
“Being in a hospital is already traumatic enough,” said attendee Janna Gewirtz O’Brien, a doctor and president-elect of the Minnesota chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Having fear and a sense that they are unsafe or that their family members will be detained is completely unacceptable.”
“Hospitals should never ever treat a patient the way that this patient was treated,” Luis Argueta, communications director for Unidos MN, said Tuesday. “Down to shackling someone at the bed, that’s something that you would do if a prisoner had to be sent to a county hospital, not someone who has a different status other than citizen.”
It’s worth noting that just one day after Tuesday’s protest, an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis. And while the Department of Homeland Security has backed its agents as usual, claiming the woman weaponized her vehicle against the agent who shot her, witnesses claimed that’s not what happened, and city officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, said “the presence of ICE is causing chaos in our city,” not making it safer.
And, again, the federal occupation in Minneapolis has only just begun.
SEE ALSO:
Woman Shot And Killed By ICE During Crackdown In Minneapolis
Trump Sends 2,000 ICE Agents In Minnesota Immigration ‘Crackdown’