ROCHESTER, Minn. – Sympathetic volunteers helped a Mexican immigrant elude federal deportation agents at the county courthouse. Volunteers ushered Francisco Javier Montoya, 40, into a fifth-floor conference room, closed the door and waited out ICE agents who roamed the halls searching for him. After 1-1/2 hours the agents gave up and left. The volunteers disguised Montoya in fresh clothes. Feigning to be just a couple of courthouse employees, one volunteer and Montoya took an elevator to the ground floor. Trying to look as casual as possible, they strolled to a vehicle waiting in a parking lot and drove off.
Why ICE wanted Montoya
Responding to President Trump’s grossly exaggerated claims of an invasion by millions of foreign criminals, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has gone into high gear and arrested hundreds of immigrants — 40,000-plus so far. They have been detained for deportation without judicial review. In some cases ICE agents have been told to arrest people not for any criminal violation but because they had written essays and opinion pieces that displeased Trump. In Montoya’s case, he was at the Rochester courthouse to plead guilty to a misdemeanor of harassment. He was sentenced to two years of supervised probation and fined $200. In lieu of the fine, he was given an option of community service. Although Montoya’s offense was only a misdemeanor, a federal database gave ICE enough information to dispatch a team to arrest him for deportation.
What next?
Montoya now is hiding, presumably with his family and children, ages 8 and 4. A KAAL reporter reached out to Montoya’s attorney, Kalen Best, about Montoya’s status. In question: Will ICE agents return to arrest Montoya at the site of his probation sentence of community service? The agency has cultivated a retributive don’t-mess-with-us reputation. Among others, Governor Tim Walz has characterized ICE as a latter-day Gestapo from the Nazi Germany era. To arrest Montoya, the agency sent a team of at least four agents from its Fort Snelling fortress 80 miles away. There may have been more than four agents, according to volunteers who assisted Montoya. Some agents, in mufti, blended in and were bard to identify. None, however, wore masks, which in some ICE raids has contributed to the terroristic Gestapo metaphor.
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Aiding and abetting
Montoya’s escape was facilitated by two advocacy groups:
> Indivisible 507.
> Community Organizing Power and Action Latinos.
David Perdomo, a COPAL organizer, said his organization’s goal was to ensure Montoya’s rights were protected: “Everyone has rights in every situation” The ICE agents did identify themselves as “feds” as they combed the courthouse for Montoya. Asked what they were doing, one agent said: “Working.” In other words: “None of your business.” The agents’ presence implied that they had an arrest warrant, but they didn’t show it. ICE agents typically carry an administrative document for an arrest, but these aren’t the usual judged-signed warrants in the American judicial system to prevent government abuse of individual rights. The ICE administrative warrants are from an ICE magistrate without external checks against abusive prerogatives.
Verbatim
Wendy Zuniga, COPAL spokesperson: “Courthouses should be places where justice is pursued — not where immigrant community members are put at risk. When ICE operates in these spaces, it creates an environment of fear and drives people away from engaging with the legal system. Victims, witnesses, and those seeking to resolve legal matters are deterred from showing up, threatening public safety and making it harder for people to trust our legal institutions.”
What locals knew
ICE made a courtesy call to Rochester police that its agents would be in town. This is a procedural necessity to prevent confusion and perhaps a tragic armed confrontation between local police and disguised federal agents. Also: The county provided an escort for ICE agents to the courthouse as an inter-agency courtesy. Both the city and county policing agencies denied any further complicity.