The Department of Homeland Security released a list of cities they claim are defying federal immigration law, including Minneapolis. 

These sanctuary cities “protect dangerous criminal illegal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in grave danger,” according to Homeland Security 

Around 495,000 immigrants resided in Minnesota in 2023, making up approximately 9% of the population, according to MN Compass. This population consists of those who are foreign-born, regardless of their citizenship status. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was spotted in south Minneapolis early this June at a taco restaurant. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said this instance was the first time he had seen the task force located in Minneapolis do any operation like that. 

“There is no one legal definition of what a sanctuary jurisdiction is,” said Julia Decker, a policy director for the Immigration Law Center of Minnesota. 

The center is a nonprofit organization that provides free legal services to low-income immigrants and refugees in Minnesota. The ICLM has served the community for almost 30 years and faces a high demand for services.

The idea of sanctuary is separation, she said. Immigration enforcement is a federal function. 

State and local authorities, such as the Minneapolis police department, are not legally tasked with immigration enforcement, and therefore, they sometimes make the legal choice not to check immigration statuses.

Decker said state and local police sometimes feel that asking about immigration status or participating in immigration enforcement erodes trust within the community. Sanctuary cities often have local police departments that take this hands-off approach when engaging with immigrant communities.

“We hit a record high with 59,000 people in ICE detention right now. It’s 140% of the actual beds that are available. Nearly 50% of them don’t have a criminal record,” said Decker.

When examining these statistics, there are many factors that come into play, such as why these people are detained, how they are treated while in congested housing and how immigration lawyers can do the work they need to for a record high number of people, Decker said.

Decker said the uncertainty of the future is something the lawyers on her team are focusing on. The administration has shown they are willing to break the law, and the ILCM team has really considered that when prepping for the future.

“We are lawyers, and we also think it’s complicated, and we are trying to figure out what it all means,” Decker said.