Union members and employee groups at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport are sharing their experience as more federal ICE officers converge on the Twin Cities.
"Uber drivers are continuously harassed," says Sheigh Freeberg with the Hospitality Union "Unite Here" Local 17. "And snatched away, leaving abandoned cars behind. Their family is completely unaware of where they are."
The group says there have been at least two deportation flights each week, with two flights just Thursday alone.
"We know that six of our members on their way to work have been kidnapped and taken into custody by federal agents," adds the union's Geoff Paquette.
This comes as the Associated Press reports as many as 200 border patrol agents are being pulled out of New Orleans and sent to the Twin Cities.
The shift appeared to signal a wind-down of the Louisiana deployment that was dubbed “Catahoula Crunch” and began in December with the arrival of more than 200 officers. The operation had been expected to last into February and swiftly raised fears in immigrant communities.
The Trump administration has been surging thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers are taking part in what the Department of Homeland Security has called the biggest immigration enforcement operation ever.
Documents obtained by the AP indicated that federal officers stationed in Louisiana were continuing to depart for Minneapolis late this week.
“For the safety of our law enforcement, we do not disclose operational details while they are underway,” DHS said Friday in response to questions about whether the Louisiana deployment was ending in order to send officers to Minnesota.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.