ICE agents arrest Latino father driving his kids in Richfield
A father was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as he was driving with his two children last weekend in Richfield.
The 41-year-old Latino man was pulled over and detained on Saturday, Dec. 6, around 12:40 p.m. at 77th Street West Frontage Road and Bryant Avenue South, near the Shops at Lyndale.
It's not clear for what reason his vehicle was stopped. Bring Me The News reached out on Friday to ICE for comment on the incident and the man's immigration status but has not received a response.
It comes amid an intensifying of operations by ICE in the Twin Cities, targeting undocumented immigrants as part of "Operation Metro Surge."
Officers from the Richfield Police Department were dispatched to the scene to stay with the kids, an 11-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, until a family member picked them up just before 2 p.m., according to an incident report obtained by Bring Me The News.
In a video posted to social media, the girl can be heard sobbing in the background after her father was taken into custody, while an ICE agent tells the boy to put his hands on the dashboard and asks whether he can drive the car.
A GoFundMe has been created by the man's wife, Elodia Alonzo, who Bring Me The News understands does have legal status to reside in the U.S. She says that her husband had turned 41 the day before and was returning home to celebrate his birthday when he was stopped.
A community member informed Minnesota Rep. Mike Howard of the incident as it was unfolding. He responded to the scene to ensure the kids were safe and the family was provided resources.
"It was very clear that these kids were both brave and traumatized by this experience of their father being ripped from them," Howard said, praising the man's teenage son for staying calm and recording video of the encounter.
Such encounters are heightening fear throughout the community, according to the DFL representative, whose district spans Richfield, the MSP airport campus, and a small part of south Minneapolis.
"The ripple effects of what they're doing is being felt by our families, our kids, our businesses, and our broader Richfield community," Howard said.
He's also heard reports of ICE agents targeting places where Latino people are known to gather and threatening witnesses to arrests in Richfield, including an observer whose vehicle was surrounded by agents in the parking lot of Roosevelt Park on Sunday.
But, at the same time, Howard has been encouraged by how community members have supported each other in recent weeks.
"These ICE agents that have sort of dropped into our community, they will leave at some point," he said. "And the strength and resilience of our community that's being created, that's deepening, that will remain and only grow stronger."
The Richfield Police Department does not enforce federal immigration laws, like many other agencies throughout the Twin Cities, including in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
"All residents of our city deserve to live in peace and safety regardless of their immigration status," Richfield Mayor Mary Supple said in a statement earlier this month. "To the members of our immigrant community, please know that you are a valued part of Richfield and that your well-being and safety remain a priority for the city."
