Minnesota Now

The Department of Justice has served subpoenas to the office of the Governor, Attorney General and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul. We learn more about the investigation into whether Minnesota leaders obstructed law enforcement during the immigration operation.

We talked to a Native physician about the health impacts for Native Americans experiencing the ICE operation.

Plus, a Venezuelan man in Minnesota was detained by ICE, even though he had legal status. We hear from his family.

Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner shared details of a frigid forecast.

And in our latest Out to Lunch, we talked to a local private chef and musician, who is combining those passions to make culinary harmony.

Twin Cities chef Ed Porter’s work is difficult to categorize. He has worked for high-end restaurants like Marcus Samuelsson's Aquavit. He was on the Netflix cooking competition show, "Pressure Cooker." Today, he's a private chef who blends his culinary talents with musical ones. He released an album under the name Chef Porter and paired it with a 12-course menu. He also has a podcast called “Taste Music Hear Food” where he talks with guests about both artistic pursuits.

In Minnesota Now’s series, Out to Lunch, we meet up with guests in their communities to get to know them better over a meal. This time, Ed Porter let us into his home on a frigid December day and cooked.

During the surge of federal agents in Minneapolis this month, MPR News has received several reports of Native Americans that were approached — and in a few cases, detained — by immigration agents. Tribal leaders from Oglala Sioux have not been able to verify those claims. But the situation has created fear in the community.

MPR News Native News reporter Melissa Olson spoke with Dr. Mary Owen, a physician at the Center for American Indian Resources in Duluth, about the health impacts of this moment in Minnesota for Native Americans.

The Trump administration is vowing to continue with what it’s calling a major immigration enforcement effort in Minnesota. The Department of Homeland Security said agents have arrested 3,000 people since last month — a claim that MPR News has not been able to verify.

Now, the Trump administration is asking state and local governments to hand over records that relate to federal immigration activity in Minnesota. That includes the offices of Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, Hennepin County and Ramsey County. Frey will appear before a U.S. District Court in a hearing on Feb. 3.

MPR News host Nina Moini also spoke with Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas, to make sense of it all.

This weekend, ICE agents broke through the front door of a U.S. citizen and detained him at gunpoint. Photos spread online of the man being led from his home with little clothing to protect from the freezing cold. We have details on that story.

Protesters interrupted a church service Sunday at a church where one pastor leads the St. Paul ICE Field Office. The U.S. Department of Justice is now investigating for potential violations of two laws. We talked with an expert about the FACE Act and the KKK Act.

We learned about Camp East Montana, the ICE detention center where a Minnesota man died last week.

And State Senator John Hoffman sat down with politics editor Brian Bakst for his first interview since being attacked in June.

Immigrant and legal rights groups are calling for the federal government to close the nation’s largest immigration detention center.

Three people have died in custody at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas. That includes Victor Manuel Diaz, who was arrested in Minneapolis and died at the detention center on Jan. 14. ICE officials believe his death was a suicide, according to a press release, but it's under investigation.

Attorneys in Minnesota said many of their clients who have been taken into ICE custody recently have been sent to Camp East Montana, sometimes within hours of arrest.

MPR News host Nina Moini spoke with Washington Post reporter Douglas MacMillan, who has been covering the detention center since before it opened in August.

The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into a protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul on Sunday.

Dozens of protesters entered Cities Church. One of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, leads the St. Paul ICE field office. Leading the protest was civil rights lawyer and prominent local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. The Department of Justice said it is looking at violations of what’s called the FACE Act.

It’s also looking to at the possibility of charging journalist Don Lemon, who was reporting on the protest, with the KKK Act.

MPR News host Nina Moini spoke with Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, to explain these two federal laws.

Federal immigration agents forced open a door and detained a U.S. citizen in his Minnesota home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him out onto the streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions, according to his family and videos reviewed by The Associated Press.

ChongLy “Scott” Thao told the AP that his daughter-in-law woke him up from a nap Sunday afternoon and said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were banging at the door of his residence in St. Paul. He told her not to open it. Masked agents then forced their way in and pointed guns at the family, yelling at them

MPR News host Nina Moini spoke with Sahan Journal reporter Katelyn Vue, who had a chance to talk to Scott.

We're following a second shooting by a federal agent in Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security said the man who was shot and wounded in the leg was fleeing agents. It led to protests with chemicals deployed by law enforcement last night.

President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops to what he said would put an end to protests in the state. We learn the legal ins and outs of the Insurrection Act.

And the family of Renee Macklin Good, the woman who was killed by an ICE officer last week, has hired a lawyer for an independent civil investigation of her death.

Plus, we learn about how businesses and a church are responding to the flood of ICE agents to Minnesota.

Renee Macklin Good's parents, siblings and widow have hired the same law firm that represented the family of George Floyd. Their civil attorney Antonio Romanucci said his firm is launching a civil investigation into Good’s death after she was shot and killed by an ICE agent in south Minneapolis last week.

Lauren Bonds is the executive director of the National Police Accountability Project. She joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about what the family's legal path could look like.