SIBLEY, Minn. – The federal immigration enforcement agency ICE has been offering new contracts to Minnesota sheriffs to house detainees. The extent of the ICE project to line up more jail space isn’t clear, but Minneapolis television station WCCO has confirmed an offer in November to Sibley County in south-central Minnesota. It was in November that Donald Trump was elected president and promised sweeping crackdowns on immigrants and mass deportations. Since November ICE has been prioritizing targets for new mass arrests. It’s unknown whether Sibley County was on the ICE short list, but the country is 9% Hispanic – one of highest immigrant concentrations in the state. These mostly are people of Mexican extraction in agricultural jobs. According to the WCCO report, the ICE office in St. Paul reached out to Sibley County Sheriff Patrick Nienaber November to discuss “the benefits of working with ICE for possible housing.” Sheriff Nienaber declined the meeting. No law enforcement agencies in Minnesota have authority to act as immigration officers. A somewhat gray area in state law is local complicity with federal agencies to hold ICE detainees. Even so, there have been ICE contracts with these counties and perhaps others:
> Sherburne County (Elk River): 732 jail beds. Population 102,000, of whom 2,800 (3%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Freeborn County (Albert Lea): 138 jail beds, Population 3,800, of whom 3,100 (1%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Kandiyohi County (Willmar): 190 jail beds. Population 43,000, of whom 5,900 (14%) are Hispanic or Latino.
Reportedly the Sherburne County contract has lapsed. Here are data from Sibley County, which turned down the ICE proposal in November.
> Sibley County (Gaylord): 20 beds. Population 14,8700, of whom 1,300 (9%) are Hispanic or Latino.are Hispanic or Latino.
Nienaber. When ICE came knocking for jail space, he ignored it.
Trump crackdown
Since 2019 Trump has railed against immigrants from Mexico with tirades that suggested they all were murderers, rapists and drug dealers. The Trump assertions were overstated on their face and fit a white supremacist campaign theme. Raids that began with Trump’s inauguration week have included violent criminals but mostly were Hispanics whose misdeeds merely were a lack of documentation. Also: many held work permits that Trump invalidated when he took office. ICE itself acknowledged the new crackdown down went far beyond violent criminals. The agency said there were 165 non-criminal arrests and 1,000 removals or repatriations. To be sure, there were violent criminals but hardly a lot. Even the arrest of 16 Latino gang members, including four belonging to the bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua. ICE didn’t confirm whether any were of persons with pending criminal cases.
On ICE radar?
Here is breakdown of southeast Minnesota counties with population data from the 2020 census:
> Dodge County (Mantorville county seat): Population 11,000, of whom 1,100 (5%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Fillmore County (Preston): Population 21,000, of whom 200 (1%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Goodhue County (Red Wing): Population 47,000, of wom 1,800 (4%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Houston County (Caledonia): Population 19,000, of whom 250 (1%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Mower County (Austin): Population 40,000, of whom 5,100 (13%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Olmsted County (Rochester): Population 163,000, of whom 9,800 (6%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Wabasha County (Wabasha): Population 21,000, of whom 700 (3%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Winona County (Winona): Population 50,000, of whom 1,900 (4%) are Hispanic or Latino.
Southwest Wisconsin counties:
> Buffalo County (Alma county seat): Population 13,000, of whom 70 (0.06%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> LaCrosse County (LaCrosse): Population 120,000, of whom 1,2,00 (1%) are Hispanic or Latino.
> Trempealeau County (Whitehall): Population 21,000, of whom 2,700 (13%) are Hispanic or Latino.
NOTE: Hispanic figures in the census may below because many immigrants, fearful of deportation, don’t respond to questionnaires from the federal census agency.