Two Minneapolis residents who have been monitoring immigration officers’ actions during the Trump administration’s latest crackdown say they were detained without charge for several hours in distressing conditions, denied phone calls, and pressured to rat out protest organizers and people living in the country illegally.
The accusations leveled by Brandon Sigüenza and Patty O’Keefe suggest that the Department of Homeland Security is employing similar tactics in Minneapolis and St. Paul as it did during similar crackdowns in other U.S. cities. Federal officers are again using aggressive methods such as spraying chemical irritants, breaking car windows, and recording protesters.
According to organizers and the American Civil Liberties Union, immigration officers have also been surveilling activists, violating their First Amendment rights. Sigüenza stated an officer even offered him money for information about protest organizers. 'At one point, the officer said in vague terms that it looks like I’m in trouble, and he could possibly help me out,' he noted.
Both Sigüenza and O’Keefe experienced harassment and were detained at a federal facility where they witnessed disturbing conditions, including other detainees screaming for help and medical treatment being ignored.
'Just hearing the visceral pain of the people in this center was awful,' O’Keefe remarked. 'And then you juxtapose that with the laughter we heard from the actual agents.'
Upon their release, they still faced chemical agents that officers were using on protesters in the area. Sigüenza emphasized, 'We were not charged with a crime,' reflecting on an encounter that illustrates a troubling environment for those opposing aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.
Concerns have been raised regarding the broader implications of such detentions, indicating a need for reform in how immigration enforcement and detainee rights are managed in the U.S.
