Jayapal, Omar Host Hearing on Trump’s Deadly Assault on Minnesota
Full video of the hearing can be viewed HERE.
ST. PAUL, MN — U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, and Ilhan Omar (MN-05) today hosted a shadow hearing titled Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Deadly Assault on Minnesota. Twenty-seven Members of Congress attended from across the country to conduct oversight.
“Today, I hosted the the sixth hearing in my series Kidnapped and Disappeared, to continue my congressional fact-finding duties at a time of intense trauma and terror for Minnesotans who are being subjected to the lawlessness and violence of ICE and Border Patrol agents,” said Jayapal. “We heard from incredibly powerful witnesses — members of the community who are standing up for their neighbors, and even who have been detained and had their rights violated for no reason. Instead of making us safer, Trump is deliberately escalating tensions in a city where crime rates have been declining. And the tactics are only accelerating. Let me be clear: this pattern of reckless, even lethal, use of force cannot continue, and we will do everything in our power to hold this Administration accountable and stop this lawlessness.”
“I was honored to host this crucial hearing with Rep. Jayapal,” said Omar. “The Twin Cities is under attack from the Trump administration. There is no modern precedent for this level of federal overreach, violence, and lawlessness carried out in the name of immigration enforcement. I’m grateful to my congressional colleagues from all across the country who joined us to raise the alarm and learn what has been happening on the ground.”
“Every Minnesotan has the right to feel safe and welcome. The actions of the Trump administration and Kristi Noem’s DHS are an attack on our state that is making our community more dangerous. ICE and DHS agents have threatened and assaulted workers in their workplaces, families on the way to day care, and students outside their schools. These actions must end,” said Representative Betty McCollum (MN-04). “At our hearing today, we heard from Minnesotans whose lives have been impacted by the Trump administration’s actions. I thank every one of our witnesses for sharing their testimony. I also want to thank my House Democratic colleagues for traveling to Minnesota’s Fourth Congressional District to stand in solidarity against Trump and Kristi Noem’s assault on our state. The appalling conduct at ICE and DHS starts with its leadership. Kristi Noem needs to go, and ICE must cease operations in Minnesota.”
This hearing featured testimony from a slate of local elected leaders, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Saint Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, followed by a panel of witnesses including Executive Director of the ACLU of Minnesota Deepinder Mayell, Executive Director of Unidos MN Emilia González Avalos, Executive Director of Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) Jaylani Hussein, Chief of Police of Mendota Heights Police Department Kelly McCarthy, and community members Patty and Mubashir.
“Our work aims to vindicate the rights of Minnesotans who have been victimized by their own government simply for exercising their First Amendment rights, to end the false sense of impunity that fuels the worst of federal agents’ misconduct, and to ensure that Minnesotans can assemble, observe, document and criticize – without fear of retaliation,” said Deepinder Mayell, Executive Director of the ACLU of Minnesota.
“I was made to feel scared and humiliated throughout the arrest process, and at the detention center, I was made to feel intimidated and as though my constitutional rights and biological needs didn’t matter,” said Patty, a community member. “After all that, I was released without charges, which makes it clear to me that this is more of a campaign to spread fear and terror than it is to enforce the law. My neighbors and I are collateral damage to the Trump administration’s political theater — a campaign to paint Black and brown people, and ‘liberals,’ as villains to distract from an unprecedented reign of corruption and criminality at the federal level, while at the same time making it clear to all of us — even U.S. citizens — that this administration does not and will not honor the basic constitutional rights to which we are all entitled.”
“At no time did any officer ask me whether I was a citizen or if I had any immigration status,” said Mubashir, a community member. “They did not ask for any identifying information, nor did they ask about my ties to the community, how long I had lived in the Twin Cities, my family in Minnesota, or anything else about my circumstances.”
“We have to acknowledge that the tactics being used by some ICE agents during Operation Metro Surge are reducing the public’s trust in local police, making the jobs of our cops harder, and making us all less safe,” said Chief of Police of Mendota Heights Police Department Kelly McCarthy.
This was the sixth shadow hearing in this series, each of which has focused on a different aspect of immigration oversight. The others have focused on detention abuses, Trump’s assault on Chicago, families that have been torn apart, unlawful third-country deportations, and efforts to undermine due process.
Jayapal and Omar were joined by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) and Representatives Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Becca Balint (VT-At Large), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Angie Craig (MN-02), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (IL-04), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Ted Lieu (CA-36), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Rob Menendez (NJ-08), Dave Min (CA-47), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Emily Randall (WA-06), Luz Rivas (CA-29), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and James Walkinshaw (VA-11).
Issues: Immigration