A tense scene outside the Whipple Federal building at Fort Snelling over the weekend, with three Democratic Minnesota Representatives, Angie Craig, Ilhan Omar and Kelly Morrison, attempting to tour the facility which is a staging area for ICE agents.
They had gone inside the building but left after about twenty minutes.
"We let ICE know, Department of Homeland Security know that they were violating federal law. They do not care that they are violating federal law," Rep. Craig said.
Officials with Homeland Security say the action by the three Democrats was improper because they didn't give the required seven days notice of their visit.
"As far as we knew, it came out after our visit," Rep. Morrison told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News Monday. "Members of Congress didn't know about this new rule, House leadership didn't know about it, House counsel didn't know about it, the American public didn't know about it, and Kristi Noem, ICE agents at the facility didn't know about it when we were there. They'd never referenced that."
The three say they were invited to inspect the Whipple building which has been the headquarters of ICE activities activity since the start of Operation Metro Surge in December in the Twin Cities, and the site of several protests since the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last Wednesday.
"What happened today is a blatant attempt to obstruct members of Congress from doing their oversight duties," Rep. Omar said after being ousted from the site.
Morrison says the entire visit was strained and ICE officers at the sight seemed confused.
"They briefly let us in for about two to three minutes," Morrison explained. "We were not allowed to speak with any of the detainees. We didn't really get a lot of straight answers to any of our questions and then very abruptly, several ICE agents demanded that we leave."
On Sunday, Politico reported that the day after the Renee Good shooting, Noem "quietly ordered" new restrictions on congressional visits to immigration detention facilities.
That order, which went into effect on Thursday by the Trump administration and revealed in court late on Saturday, would force lawmakers to seek a week’s advance notice before visiting ICE facilities.
Craig wrote on social media that President Trump and Kristi Noem’s DHS is "trying to hide the truth again."
"The Trump Administration wants Minnesotans to ignore what we’ve seen with our own eyes and what we know to be true: that ICE has gone rogue in our state and they’re making us less safe," Craig wrote. "They can lie all they want, but we will not back down from holding this Administration accountable and doing everything in our power to protect the rights and safety of Minnesotans."
Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.