Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Sunday that sending active-duty soldiers to Minnesota to help with an immigration crackdown would be unconstitutional, calling the idea “ridiculous.” Speaking as daily protests continued in the Twin Cities, Frey urged demonstrators to remain peaceful so President Donald Trump would not see a need to send in the U.S. military.
Frey, who spoke on CNN’s State of the Union, said: “We will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government.” He added that, in his view, it is “not fair, it’s not just, and it’s completely unconstitutional.”
The mayor said thousands of Minneapolis residents are exercising their First Amendment rights and that “the protests have been peaceful.” He said protesters are not going to “take the bait,” saying: “We will not counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos here.”
The comments came after the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and St. Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers, according to the Associated Press report. The report said protests have continued daily throughout January since the increase began.
The AP report also said three hotels where protesters have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were staying stopped taking reservations Sunday. It listed the Hilton DoubleTree and IHG InterContinental hotels in downtown St. Paul, and the Hilton Canopy hotel in Minneapolis, saying rooms could not be booked online before early February at those properties.
Over the phone, an InterContinental hotel front desk employee said the property was closing for staff safety and declined to discuss specific concerns. The AP report said the DoubleTree and InterContinental had empty lobbies with signs indicating they were “temporarily closed for business until further notice,” while the Canopy hotel was open but not accepting reservations.
The hotel closure statements included comments from IHG Hotels & Resorts spokesperson Taylor Solomon, who said in a Sunday statement that the owner decided to temporarily close the hotels to prioritize guest and team member safety given ongoing safety concerns. Solomon also said all guests with existing reservations can contact the hotel team for assistance with alternative accommodations.
In the same neighborhood where immigration officers have been seen frequently, the AP report said U.S. postal workers marched Sunday and chanted: “Protect our routes. Get ICE out.” The march included Peter Noble, who joined other U.S. Post Office workers on his only day off, and told reporters he has seen officers driving recklessly and putting lives in danger.
Another letter carrier, Susan Becker, said she came out to march on the coldest day since the crackdown started because she wanted to tell the federal government she believes its actions are wrong. The AP report said Becker added that people on her route reported ICE breaking into apartment buildings and tackling people in the parking lot of shopping centers, and that she described the people targeted as “by and large citizens and immigrants” who “deserve to be here.”
The report said Noble and Becker passed the site where the Jan. 7 confrontation ended with the shooting death of Renee Good, described in the article as a U.S. citizen and mother of three.
The Associated Press report also said Republican U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer urged Gov. Walz to tone down comments about fighting the federal government and instead help law enforcement. Emmer told WCCO-AM that many of the officers in Minnesota are neighbors doing the jobs they were sent to do and said the issue “starts at the top.”
Separately, the Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers based in Alaska who specialize in arctic conditions to be ready if Minnesota is targeted for possible deployment. Two defense officials, speaking anonymously to discuss sensitive military plans, told the Associated Press that two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division were given prepare-to-deploy orders, and one official said the troops would deploy to Minnesota if President Donald Trump invoked the Insurrection Act.
Walz has mobilized the Minnesota National Guard, the AP report said, although no units have been deployed to the streets. The article also said the rarely used 19th century Insurrection Act would allow the president to send troops into Minnesota, and that Trump had backed off the threat at least for now.
The AP report noted that videos have been posted online alleging that federal officers used pepper spray, knocked down doors, and forcibly took people into custody. It also said a federal judge ruled Friday that immigration officers can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who aren’t obstructing authorities, including when they’re observing officers during the Minnesota crackdown.