Dozens of immigrants detained by ICE going to court to request release
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Almost a month into the federal government’s immigration surge in Minnesota, it’s still not clear how many immigrants in the state have been arrested, detained or deported. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doesn’t release the names of most people who have been detained and doesn’t regularly update their tally of how many people have been arrested in the state.
But an MPR News analysis of federal immigration habeas corpus petitions gives a partial picture of the government’s approach, and a clue as to the fate of some of the detainees in an immigration system that is increasingly opaque.
Read more about people from MPR News’ analysis
- Attorney: Turkish citizen detained by ICE because of his ‘perceived ethnicity’
- Petition: Somali man came to U.S. to escape torture by terrorist group
- Father of two source of financial support for his family
- Karen refugee with suspended sentence for sex offense conviction detained during ICE check-in
- Woman detained by ICE on her way to pick up sick child, says attorney
- Father of U.S. Marine detained, flown to Texas before judge ordered his release
The court documents show that immigrants have been picked up at hardware stores, a gym, immigration hearings and during traffic stops, including one Somali woman who was arrested while picking up her sick child from school. Although many of the detainees are from Somalia or Latin American countries, the agency has also arrested people from countries like Vietnam, Turkey and Myanmar.
“People are terrorized” by immigration agents’ presence in local communities, which differs from past practices, where detainees were typically picked up from jails, said Julia Decker, policy director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.
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Although some communities have always been targeted for immigration enforcement, she said the way the federal government is exerting its power at the neighborhood level is unprecedented in the country’s history.
“This is not just people who maybe don’t have full legal status, but also includes people who have status. “Decker said. “What kinds of documents should I carry when I’m driving around in the city? What happens if I'm stopped as a citizen who is not white? How do I protect myself? What are my rights?”
Some of the detainees identified by MPR News have been in the country for decades and are married to U.S. citizens. One even has a daughter serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. Despite claims by ICE that the agency’s enforcement operations focus on the “worst of the worst,” many of the people detained have no criminal records.
That’s consistent with the agency’s actions in other states targeted for immigration enforcement surges. Under the law, immigration violations are a civil matter, not criminal.
ICE didn’t respond to requests for comment or an updated tally of arrests in the state since the enforcement action they call “Operation Metro Surge” began at the start of December. The last number the agency shared with the New York Times was 670 arrests in the state by mid-December. The number is likely much higher now.
“There is a narrative that the focus is supposed to be public safety risks, then why is there such a lack of transparency?” Decker said. “Who is actually being detained and what is happening to them?”
One tool that attorneys and immigrant advocates have identified is habeas corpus petitions. The petitions typically argue that the immigrant has been detained unlawfully or that their constitutional rights have been violated. They ask that the detainee be either granted a bond hearing, where a judge will consider releasing the detainee until the case plays out, or simply release the person.
MPR News has identified at least 56 habeas corpus petitions filed in the state in December by immigrants who have been detained. The detainees who filed habeas petitions represent only a fraction, less than five percent of the total number of people confirmed arrested in the state.
For the last 29 years, when a person was detained, they were allowed to explain to an immigration judge why they’re not a flight risk or danger to the community, and the judge could set a bond to release them while their case was pending, said David Wilson, managing attorney with Wilson Law Group. But that approach shifted this summer when the federal government adopted a different interpretation of the law.
Before July, Wilson said he had probably filed 10 habeas corpus petitions in the last two decades. Since then, he said his office averages 10 to 12 filings a week.
“It doesn’t guarantee that a person gets out, but it guarantees that they get heard,” Wilson said. “We’re making sure in these moments, that the fundamental concept that's so inherent in American justice, the opportunity to be heard, is being respected.”
So far in Minnesota, judges have been critical of the government’s arguments that these people should be held under mandatory detention. The government often argues that they’ve changed policies, allowing them to detain immigrants arrested inside the country the same as they would some applicants for admission who are detained at a port of entry. Federal judges across the country have rejected this approach.
“It’s recognizing, since 1996, ‘apprehension,’ meaning catching within the United States, is a completely different thing from someone showing up at a port of entry or an airport trying to get into the United States,” Wilson said.
In the vast majority of habeas cases in the state that have been decided, judges have granted the detainees’ petitions in whole or in part, either ordering the government to hold a bond hearing or ordering the detainee to be released. Some judges have also issued restraining orders barring the government from transferring detainees outside the state or country.
Judges have expressed frustration with the government’s arguments, noting that the agency has failed to comply with basic legal requirements like giving detainees notice that the agency’s earlier decision to release them had been revoked or failing to designate a country willing to accept detainees.
The government keeps making similar arguments even though they lose most habeas cases, because “for every case that we win in federal court, 10 more people probably give up or don’t have someone to file for them.” Wilson said the government is “winning the numbers game.”
Immigration attorneys said ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have been complying in Minnesota when judges order detainees released or require the government to hold a bond hearing.
Wilson said the question isn’t whether someone stays in the U.S. at the end of the day, but whether they get a chance to litigate their case without being detained as the law allows.
“Do they get to go home and see their children, maybe wrap up things, sell off some property, wind down their life in a meaningful way rather than just being pulled over on the side of road, ripped out of their car, thrown into a facility, flown halfway across the country and then finding themselves completely cut off from everybody with no notice?” Wilson said.
Here are some of the people who have been caught up in the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, according to court records. MPR News doesn’t typically name people who are detained without facing pending criminal charges.
Attorney: Turkish citizen detained by ICE because of his ‘perceived ethnicity’
A Turkish citizen was arrested in a Home Depot parking lot on Dec. 10.
The man has no criminal record and a legal permit to work. His attorney said he hasn’t missed any immigration court hearings since he’s been in the country. His attorney alleges the only reason for the stop was his “perceived ethnicity.”
The man entered the United States in 2023, was released on bond and has filed an application for asylum and an order barring the government from returning him to Turkey. Before his arrest, the Department of Homeland Security had already set a hearing on his removal for November 2027 and another for March 2026.
The man was detained in Kandiyohi County Jail in Minnesota before being transferred to a facility in Louisiana.
U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan ruled that ICE violated the man’s due process by holding him in custody. The court granted a restraining order barring the government from deporting him while his petition is pending. On Christmas Eve, Bryan ordered the man released no later than 1 p.m. on Christmas day.
Petition: Somali man came to U.S. to escape torture by terrorist group
A 27-year-old man of Somali descent, who his attorneys said is “likely stateless,” was detained on Dec. 4 while working out at a gym near his home.
The man’s attorneys allege that he was detained only “because he is Somali and happened to be spotted by ICE officers patrolling the area looking to arrest Somali individuals.” He was detained at Crow Wing County Jail.
He entered the United States in December 2022 and filed the next year for asylum, saying he’d been tortured by al-Shabab, which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and other countries. He was released by immigration authorities on his own recognizance.
The man’s attorney said he had attended all immigration hearings and obtained authorization to work in the country. He has no criminal history and didn’t violate the conditions of his release by immigration authorities.
U.S. District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell ruled on Dec. 18 that the government in this case couldn’t detain the man after releasing him from custody previously. He ordered the agencies to immediately release the man under his own recognizance.
Father of two source of financial support for his family
A native of Ecuador was detained by ICE agents while driving on Dec. 8.
He has been in the United States since August 2023, and had previously been released by immigration authorities on his own recognizance. In August 2024, he applied for asylum and asked for an order barring his removal under the convention against torture, which is still pending.
The man lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two young daughters, seven and two. His youngest daughter is an American citizen. His attorneys say “his family depends on him for financial support.”
He was held in Freeborn County Detention Center in Albert Lea, Minn. A federal judge overseeing the habeas petition ruled on Dec. 17 that the government needs to show cause for his continued detention.
Karen refugee with suspended sentence for sex offense conviction detained during ICE check-in
A Karen man who entered the country as a refugee from Myanmar in 2013 was detained near his home on Dec. 11. He’s been held at Kandiyohi County Jail.
The man had previously been convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct for an incident where his attorney said he drunkenly propositioned the 16-year-old daughter of a man he was staying with. He received an 18-month sentence that was suspended for five years and is required to register as a sex offender.
In 2021, an immigration judge orally granted his application to bar his removal under the convention against torture, and ordered his removal didn’t list any alternate countries. Since his release in 2022, his attorneys say he has complied with all conditions of supervision and had never missed an immigration hearing. He had been scheduled for an ICE check-in a few weeks after he was detained.
The federal judge overseeing the habeas petition ruled that the government must show cause for his detention, and ordered them to respond to the petition no later than Jan. 10.
Woman detained by ICE on her way to pick up sick child, says attorney
A Somali woman was detained by ICE agents on Dec. 4 while she was driving to pick up her sick child from school. Her attorneys allege that ICE agents told her they had a warrant for her arrest but didn’t produce it.
The woman had been ordered removed from the country, although not to Somalia, in April 2012. But she was released after the government failed to identify an alternate country. Her attorney said she’s complied with all immigration requirements for the last 12 years.
Her attorney argued that the government lacked authority to revoke her release and failed to comply with the legal requirements justifying detention.
U.S. District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell ruled on Dec. 19 that continued detention is only lawful when the person is likely to be removed in the foreseeable future, where the government has identified a location. He also said ICE failed to establish why they’d revoked her previous release or follow procedures for revocation.
Blackwell said in his ruling that her continued detention is “unlawful” and ordered her release. She was let out of detention on Dec. 20.
Father of U.S. Marine detained, flown to Texas before judge ordered his release
A native of Ecuador was detained on Dec. 8.
The man has been in the country for more than two decades and has no criminal history other than an arrest in 2002 for providing false identification. He’s married to a U.S. citizen and has children who are citizens, including a daughter who is serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.
The man previously received military parole due to his child’s service, but that expired in 2023. He has since filed an application for permanent residence, which is pending.
He was held in ICE detention at Sherburne County Jail but was later flown to a detention facility in Texas.
The man’s attorney asked for the government to hold a bond hearing, arguing that he has no criminal history that subjects him to mandatory custody.
On Dec. 22, U.S. District Court Judge Laura M. Provinzino ordered the government to hold a bond hearing. That hearing resulted in a bond of $5,000 and the man’s release.
