A crew of roofers working in St. Paul were taken into custody Thursday in an apparent immigration enforcement raid, according to a state representative and a St. Paul City Council member.
Rep. Athena Hollins, who represents the area, said in a Facebook post that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were in unmarked vehicles in St. Paul’s North End where they “snatched up a whole crew of roofers who were minding their own business, doing their job.”
“Neighbors demanded the agents to identify themselves and they did not, leaving neighbors feeling confused who was present or if it was SPPD,” Councilmember HwaJeong Kim, who represents Ward 5, said on Facebook.
The St. Paul Police Department was not involved in any way, according to a department spokesperson.
“I want to be very clear, St. Paul police officers will always identify themselves when asked. This is our policy,” Kim said.
Hollins posted that the roofers “weren’t breaking the law, they weren’t dangerous gang members or drug dealers. They were working – contributing to our society and our neighborhoods and our economy. … These raids are not about safety – they are about cruelty and control.”
ICE officials did not immediately return a Pioneer Press request for comment.
Operation Twin Shield
Thursday’s news comes days after immigration officials said they discovered significant immigration fraud in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area during “Operation Twin Shield,” which kicked off Sept. 19.
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The operation’s efforts focused on site visits to verify information people had submitted in immigration cases, such as marriage and family-based petitions, employment authorizations and certain parole-related requests. The operation looked at 1,000 possible fraud cases and involved more than 900 site visits and in-person interviews. Out of those, there was evidence of 275 suspected fraud cases.
Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow said officers encountered “blatant marriage fraud,” overstays and other visa abuses, and people claiming to work at businesses that may not exist. The agency did not say how many more cases than normal it analyzed. A news release said four people had been apprehended but that the number might increase as investigations are completed.
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