St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday addressed the ongoing immigration crackdown in their cities and federal subpoenas brought against their them this week during a public discussion at the University of St. Thomas.

Two weeks after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a confrontation in Minneapolis, Her said she is “absolutely” concerned that something similar could eventually unfold in St. Paul as thousands of enforcement officers continue to make arrests in the Twin Cities.

“Every single time we get reports that there is a large gathering of ICE vehicles…  I say a prayer, hoping that it doesn’t end the same way,” the new mayor said during a “Breakfast with the Mayors” event moderated by KSTP news reporter Tom Hauser.

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, left, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, center, and moderator KSTP Reporter Tom Hauser, talk about the impact the ICE surge has made on the Twin Cities at the annual St. Paul Area Chamber and Minneapolis Regional Chamber Breakfast. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Both Frey and Her noted that it is difficult for their city police departments to contend with the presence of thousands of ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents when the Minneapolis police department has around 600 officers, and St. Paul has just under that number.

‘This isn’t about who is inflaming a situation’

Her and Frey also disputed characterizations of Minnesota officials’ rhetoric as stoking tensions in the state.

“This isn’t about who is inflaming a situation. This is political retribution, and our president has said that very publicly that that is what he is going to do,” Her said. “It doesn’t matter what we say or do right now … we are a target, and we’re going to continue to be a target, and let’s not forget that the aggressor is the federal government.”

Her, who took office earlier this month, said she was “surprised” when FBI agents arrived at the St. Paul mayor’s office Tuesday to deliver the subpoena seeking records in connection to a Trump administration probe into whether she and other Democratic Minnesota officials obstructed immigration enforcement operations.

“We are talking with our legal team and figuring out a path forward,” Her said in response to a question about what the city planned to do next. “This is not something that we … come across every day, so you want to make sure they really understand and comply.”

Immigration enforcement surge

The annual Breakfast with the Mayors event, organized by the Minneapolis and St. Paul Area chambers of commerce, shifted from its usual tone this year as Minnesota leaders’ conflict with the Trump administration remains in the national spotlight. Wednesday’s event focused largely on the immigration enforcement surge.

Her indirectly weighed in on this weekend’s storming of a St. Paul church service by anti-immigration enforcement protesters, who identified a pastor there as being in charge of the ICE field office in St. Paul.

The protest at Cities Church on Summit Avenue drew condemnation from national conservative figures, disapproval from Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and the threat of federal charges by the U.S. Department of Justice. Her said the federal government shouldn’t ask others to do things that it is not willing to do itself.

“That is an ongoing investigation, so I don’t want to comment specifically on that,” she said. “(But) if our federal government wants us to condemn the actions in one place, which I am very much willing to do, that means we also have to condemn the fact that ICE agents are not letting people get (medical) examinations … There are a lot of sacred spaces that we should be adhering to.”

Frey: Federal subpoenas ‘intimidation’

Frey called the subpoenas an attempt at “intimidation” and stood by what he called his city’s efforts to protect residents.

“You do not get to subpoena and federally investigate mayors because they speak up for their constituencies, which, by the way, is one of the core functions in our city charter,” he said. “You do not get to randomly yank Somali people and Latino people off the street because of the way that they look. You do not get to just ask for their passports because they happen to look like they’re not from here. By the way, if you’ve around Minneapolis and St Paul the last 25 years — they do look like they’re from here.”

Her and Frey did touch on some business-related issues, though largely as they related to the immigration crackdown and actions by the Trump administration.

Asked if they believed further negative media attention on the state would harm economic activity in the long run, Her said she believed long-term investors and developers, such as those working to revitalize downtown commercial real estate, understand that current political difficulties for the region will pass.

Though she expressed concern about the negative effects of ICE operations on local business traffic, which has seen declines in some areas of the Twin Cities amid the heightened enforcement presence.

“When consumers can’t consume, it impacts our taxes … But I don’t think that Trump and the federal government understand the economic impact this has on us,” she said. “Closing a business happens very quickly, but starting one up can take years, which means this is going to impact us, even if they were out here in another couple of months, this is going to have a lasting economic impact.”

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Frey urged shopping in Minneapolis’ “cultural corridors” and neighborhoods to help support local and immigrant business owners affected by the surge.

“They need us right now, Latino and Somali and Hmong and Southeast Asian owned businesses,” he said. “They need us to get them through this now. And so be there for them. I think that is of critical importance.”

The Timberwolves sent out season ticket renewals Wednesday and … prices are up.

That’s not unusual. Prices rise around the league year over year, but this isn’t a standard uptick. Timberwolves and Lynx CEO Matt Caldwell referred to it as a “pricing reset.”

Data suggests Minnesota is 29th in the 30-team NBA this season in average season ticket cost. Now, someone has to be No. 29, but you wouldn’t think it’s the team that’s been to consecutive conference finals and is again a legitimate contender in the Western Conference this season.

So Caldwell, who hs been on the job for five months, felt an increase was appropriate. Minnesota’s ticket prices plummeted over the previous two decades, in lockstep with the team’s performance.

Now that the team is better and demand to watch it in person has risen, the organization deemed it appropriate to increase the cost to do so. Minnesota’s current pricing more closely represents the previous two decades of results than the past two years.

Most tickets in the lower bowl — which is sold out this season — are increasing by at least 8%, with plenty of those seats increasing in cost by far more.

Price increases were largely structured to reflect supply versus demand. Minnesota also is looking for ways to add lower-level seating inventory for next season.

These increases still aren’t expected to push Minnesota even into the top 20 in the NBA in ticket cost, though that understandably won’t serve as much consolation to existing season ticket holders who will have to pay significantly more to enjoy the same experience next season.

The Timberwolves currently have roughly 9,000 season ticket holders. The team does plan on working with current season ticket holders to change seats for future seasons if they are unable to meet the new price point for their current spot. That’s because the Wolves don’t want to lose their fan base, and management acknowledges the remarkable atmosphere that currently exists at Target Center, particularly during the playoffs.

Minnesota has one of the loudest buildings in the NBA.

This 2025-26 campaign is the first season with Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez serving as the majority owners. They’ve committed themselves financially to date, with Minnesota’s roster resting comfortably over the salary cap and the organization working out a financial deal to bring Kevin Garnett back into the fold while also implementing a new, cinematic-style lighting system at Target Center.

Caldwell, who joined the organization on a 10-year deal, also noted the team hopes to work with the city to remain in downtown Minneapolis amid its early efforts to build a new arena, which figures to be a lengthy process expected to take at least five years, and likely more.

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More than 6,000 St. Paul public school students have registered to learn online in the past week as the federal government’s immigration enforcement operation continues.

St. Paul Public Schools’ temporary online learning option takes effect Thursday and the deadline for families to register was Sunday. All 69 district schools have been closed through this Wednesday to give teachers time to prepare an online curriculum. Students registering late for the virtual option may have a delayed start time. The district has 33,000 students in total.

The district introduced the temporary online learning option last week which allows students to register without transferring out of their school. Prior to that, students could request enrollment in the district’s online school if they felt unsafe attending class, which required transferring into SPPS Online School.

The percentage of students who have enrolled in virtual learning ranges from a low of 30% at some schools to up to 75% at others, said district superintendent Stacie Stanley. A school likely would need for 80% to 90% of its students to enroll in the option before moving to a fully-online option would be considered, Stanley said.

For information on the virtual learning program go to spps.org/virtual. For more information on SPPS policies on immigration issues go to spps.org.

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Federal enforcement impact

At a Tuesday night meeting board members reiterated the district’s desire and responsibility to take care of students in a time of unpredictability due to the federal enforcement activity. That includes helping students who have lost in-person classroom time catch up once they return to school, said board member Halla Henderson.

“I know that we don’t know when this will end, but I think being able to continue to reassure community that not only do we have your back, but we’re going to stand there with you and we’re going to do everything we can to protect you and to make you feel safe and to make sure that you have access,” Henderson said.

The district’s temporary learning plan will be reviewed weekly, with an end date depending on “when our children know that they can journey to and from school, when our families know that they can drop their children off safely at school, without having fear,” Stanley said.

Board members also have been working with the teachers’ union to ensure real-time virtual learning for students, citing negative impacts that virtual learning has previously had on students’ learning and mental health during the COVID pandemic.

More Spanish-speaking students absent

Approximately 55% of students who speak Spanish at home were absent from school last Friday, according to district data. That’s up from the average of 27.4% of Spanish-speaking students absent each day in the district between Dec. 1 and Jan. 8. More than 3,000 students in the district speak Spanish at home.

“ICE has been documented patrolling and targeting our language immersion schools and our immigrant dense neighborhood schools, specifically on the east side and north end,” said Sandy Velazquez, a district parent and a district Latino parent advisory council member, at Tuesday’s board meeting. “While virtual options are helpful, they do not erase the paralyzing fear parents and students feel. The fear that a loved one might disappear or, as we have already tragically witnessed, be killed.”

The presence of ICE does not just affect undocumented immigrants, Velazquez said.

“They target anyone ICE perceives as ‘other,’ whether because of their color of the skin, their accent or simply because they are standing in solidarity as legal observers,” Velazquez said. “Despite this, we see the helpers in our community. We are deeply grateful to the SPPS teachers and staff who are working overtime to support families torn apart by unjust attentions while trying to maintain normalcy for their students.”

Outreach to provide food

Meanwhile, the district also is working with community partners to make sure there is outreach to families, such as those who may need food resources as many opt to not go to work or school.

The board has also worked with state lawmakers so the district can develop a plan if U.S. soldiers are sent to Minnesota, Stanley said, something that is “not an experience that has happened in Minnesota,” in her lifetime.

“And so we are working very, very closely with our police department, their internal safety and security department to make certain that we can minimize – we are not going to be able to eliminate the trauma. Our kids are already traumatized,” Stanley said. “I receive email from students, literally – I think it would be appropriate to use the word begging – me to do something to remove the presence of ICE in our communities, not for themselves, for their friends, for their neighbors.”

Alli Kildahl with the St. Paul Federation of Educators’ immigration defense committee said the district also needs to do more to support staff working with immigrant families, online students needing access to school resources, such as school counselors, and staff who do not feel safe commuting.

That could include additional pay for bilingual staff, security for dismissal and arrival times and bus stops and financial assistance through the district’s office of Family Engagement and Community Partnerships, Kildahl said.

Board member Carlo Franco also called on the governor’s office to push for a temporary waiver on the state’s 15-day limit that requires school districts to unenroll students who have missed 15 consecutive days of instruction.

Statewide strike

Statewide, thousands of Minnesotans are expected to participate in a statewide economic strike this Friday.

However, schools will not close on Friday, officials said.

“Jan. 23 is a regularly scheduled school day for Saint Paul Public Schools. In this moment, the most powerful thing we can do for all of our students is provide the stability, safety, and continuity of their school community,” district officials said Wednesday.

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