Overview: Congressional Oversight at Whipple
Contributing Writer Izzy Canizares reports from Fort Snelling, where high-profile lawmakers press federal agents for answers on local ICE operations, just as a caravan of transport vans departs for deportation flights.
As Reps. Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal held a press conference outside the Whipple Federal Building on July 24, a parade of immigration transport vehicles was seen leaving the building, met with outrage from local protesters. This came as the two lawmakers reflected on their tour of the facility and shared what they saw.
“Today, when we went into Whipple Detention Center, we saw that there were dozens of people that are being held, being processed to be deported out of the country,” Omar said. “We were able to get information on the different countries of origin and how that process is going to play out.”
Omar announced she would be conducting a congressional oversight visit with Jayapal of the Whipple Detention Center on Wednesday. The visit comes weeks after a surge of ICE killings around the country, including the deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Guerrero.
Despite being unable to speak with any of the detainees being held, Omar and Jayapal described seeing them in holding cells, some with 10 to 12 people to a cell, with a maximum of 30. They were separated by country of origin. According to Omar, one cell was for Laos, another for Mexico and a third for “non-Mexican Latino” countries.
“I was shocked to see that everyone in here has leg restraints. That is not a common practice in holding facilities and detention centers or even in jail,” Jayapal said. “We saw one individual who was in a cell by herself with leg restraints and ankle chains on her, and she was by herself. Apparently that is the practice when you are picked up to when you are released. It feels very inhumane to me that we would be having those ankle chains on people from the time they’re picked up to the time that they’re released.”
During the press conference, four ICE vans were seen with detainees inside, being transported to the airport. The caravan of vans was met with outrage from community members picketing outside the facility. According to Jayapal, DHS officials told them the detainees would be transported to a facility in New Orleans before being deported.
“The primary place they told us they were taking them is to New Orleans, and that is where they will be deported from,” Jayapal said. “I think for me, we have been trying to make sure that we are shining light on what’s happening. We are trying to ensure accountability through our hearings, through these visits to detention centers.”
When asking these questions, Omar said the agents they spoke with began acting increasingly uncomfortable and upset.
“We were able to also ask direct questions that seemed to frustrate the agents that we had the opportunity to have a conversation with. Simple questions like, ‘How many people does HSI have currently in the state?’ ‘How many ICE agents do we have? Are we back to the normal numbers that we used to have before Metro Surge?’ Simple questions,” Omar said. “Simple questions like that drew frustration and fury from them, not understanding that we are simply doing our jobs as members of Congress.”
The way ICE agents have conducted immigration arrests may have changed since Metro Surge, but the congresswomen’s visit shows that despite the lack of visibility, ICE has not stopped taking people from Minnesota’s streets.
“We are also seeing master hearings that are forcing hundreds of people to be heard in one day. What that does is many people have representation for years, and when their attorney has to represent 10 people at the same exact time, they can no longer represent them,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-MN. “We are seeing that complication happening. Every single day, attorneys are now learning about the case in a matter of days rather than having months to prepare for that client in an effort to represent them.”
Hussein also highlighted other tactics that have been reported, including delaying mail to ensure people do not show up to their court date, in an effort to deport them.
“You know how horrified the nation was, especially Minnesota, with Operation Metro Surge. This is another version of that operation,” Hussein said. “While we were witnessing with our own eyes on the streets as that surge happened, we need that same type of accountability.”
Izzy Canizares is a contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. He welcomes reader responses at isabellacani0102@gmail.com.