Minnesota Now

The two Border Patrol agents who fatally shot Alex Pretti have been identified. And there are measles cases at the Texas detention center holding families from Minnesota. We talk with two reporters who cover use of force and immigration detention.

It's been two months since the federal government began sending thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota. We checked in with people who have been responding.

We find out what this time has been like inside one immigration law office, and we talked with the leader of emergency response in Minneapolis.

Plus, a therapist will join with insight on the mental health impacts of this moment.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Everything is Peaceful Love” by Bon Iver and our Song of the Day was “Pop Song” by Karate Chop, Silence.

A large part of the cases of people detained — at times unlawfully — by federal immigration officers has played out in the courts. MPR News has reported that the federal government has quickly moved detainees to other states. That’s made it difficult for families and attorneys to locate them.

And judges from across the Midwest are coming in to help keep up with a constant stream of challenges to those detentions.

MPR News host Kelly Gordon spoke to Gloria Contreras Edin, an immigration lawyer based in St. Paul, about those challenges.

It’s been two months since the federal government began deploying thousands of federal agents to Minnesota. Rachel Sayre is the city of Minneapolis emergency management director. She has coordinated emergency resources for residents.

MPR News host Kelly Gordon spoke to her about some of the impacts she has seen.

ProPublica has identified the two Customs and Border Patrol agents who shot at Alex Pretti as Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez. They have been put on leave.

Additionally, 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father are back home in Minnesota after being released from the Dilley detention center in Texas. But for families still there, DHS has confirmed actives measles infections inside.

MPR News guest host Kelly Gordon spoke with Shannon Heffernan and Anna Flagg, journalists with The Marshall Project, to talk about their reporting on children in detention and federal law enforcement use-of-force.

It’s been two months since the federal government began what it calls “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. Besides spreading fear amongst immigrants and many documented instances of violence and racial profiling, the surge has led many Minnesotans to jump into a remarkably large network of advocates, lawyers, constitutional observers and mutual aid providers. While these helpers have made headlines worldwide, many are getting tired. The Immigrant Defense Network has been operating beyond its capacity for weeks, and there’s not yet an end in sight.

The Immigrant Defense Network helped band together more than 100 organizations to assist struggling families and defend immigrants’ constitutional rights. In January, the network registered an average of 2,000 volunteers per week to deliver food, give at-risk families rides, go to court hearings, and translate documents.

“The scale is unimaginable,” Edwin Torres Desantiago, Immigrant Defense Network manager, said. “We have rapid response around the clock, seven days a week. We are actively responding to a case every six minutes across the state of Minnesota.”

Torres Desantiago said that to many staff and volunteers, their work feels like a nonstop sprint.

“A lot of us are tired, but we know that in this moment we need to keep defending and protecting our neighbors.”

“We are living with the reality that this is no longer a couple-week operation like it was in other cities,” Torres Desantiago said. “We are now expecting and creating the infrastructure that this is something we have to sustain for an unforeseeable future.”

Torres Desantiago said that even if the there was a sudden decrease in ICE agents in the state, his organization would still work around the clock for months to help with the ripple effect the operation has had on tens of thousands of Minnesotans.

White house border czar Tom Homan made his first remarks in Minnesota. He said he's focusing on a drawdown of agents. Plus, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is running for Governor of Minnesota. We get the latest.

Millions have watched videos of the ICE killing of Alex Pretti. One was filmed by a bystander, known to many simply as "the woman in the pink coat." Hear her experience.

And school districts are offering a virtual learning option for students who are too afraid to leave their homes right now. We cover that and a changed school grading system with St. Paul School's superintendent.

Plus, musicians in the state are taking to the stage with original protest songs to meet this tense moment. We hear some of those.

The TV drama "Heated Rivalry" has become a global sensation. It follows the story of two professional men’s hockey players who fall in love and hide their romance from the world.

For many fans, the fictional story is a huge step for LGBTQ+ representation in men’s professional sports. And it inspired Andover native Jesse Kortuem to publicly come out as gay.

MPR News host Emily Bright spoke Kortuem about growing up gay in the Minnesota hockey community and the impact the show has had on his life and the sport of hockey.

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to stop arresting and detaining lawfully resettled refugees in Minnesota under a program known as Operation PARRIS. The temporary restraining order also requires the immediate release of refugees currently detained in Minnesota, and the release within five days of those transferred to a Texas detention center.

The ruling comes in a class-action lawsuit brought by refugee advocacy groups, who argue the arrests are unlawful.

Michelle Drake is an attorney based in Minneapolis with Berger Montague, that is helping lead the case. She joined Minnesota Now to talk about the judge’s ruling.

After much anticipation she would run, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is now a candidate for Minnesota governor. The race was thrown up in the air after the sudden exit of Gov. Tim Walz in early January. Klobuchar has a clear shot to the fall ballot on the DFL side, while Republicans sort through a crowded field.

MPR News host Emily Bright spoke with MPR reporter Ellie Roth to tell us more about the announcement and its potential effects on the upcoming election season.

White House border czar Tom Homan made his first public remarks Thursday after arriving in Minnesota earlier this week to oversee federal immigration enforcement. Homan is assuming leadership of the surge of federal agents from Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who had been the face of the operation.

MPR News host Emily Bright spoke with MPR's Estelle Timar-Wilcox, who was at this morning's news conference, about what she heard.