St Paul Mayor Kaohly Her claims ICE agents asked residents 'where the Asian people live'

ST PAUL, MINNESOTA: St Paul Mayor Kaohly Her spoke out during a field hearing on immigration, criticizing the impact of ICE operations on her city. She also recalled a troubling interaction in which ICE agents asked her where “the Asian people” were located. 

The Friday, January 16 event was hosted by Minnesota Rep Ilhan Omar, who urged ICE agents to leave the state after an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

Kaohly Her's comments on ICE agents' actions in St Paul 

Her described her interactions with ICE agents during the congressional field hearing. She said that residents of St Paul have reported that ICE agents are using racial profiling to make arrests.

“We've received reports of federal law enforcement officers going door-to-door asking people where the Asian people live right in our very own city,” Her said.

She added, "I myself have received advice to carry my passport with me because they may try to target me based on what I look like as well."

For context, Her, the first woman, Asian American and Hmong American to serve as St Paul’s mayor, also said residents are scared to live and work in the city.

She reported, "Beyond the immediate and tragic human toll of rounding up our residents based on what they look and sound like, the economic impacts on our city are far-reaching and likely unquantifiable in the near-term."

She added that business owners "have dropped 60%, that's if they're even able to stay open at all." St Paul Public Schools have offered e-learning for the next month after parents and children expressed concerns about ICE operations, according to Her.

Her then said ICE agents have reportedly used tear gas on students and children during operations in Minneapolis. She also claimed, "We are ground zero for Trump’s war on America, a war on our democracy, on our freedoms, on our rights as Americans."

Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal condemn Trump admin over ICE deployment

Lawmakers and officials on Friday titled their special panel hearing “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Deadly Assault on Minnesota.”

Congresswoman Omar also criticized federal agents for how they treated residents, including US citizens. 

“Dozens of US citizens have been taken into custody and released hours later,” Omar said. "We have yet to see charges materialize, because in nearly all instances, no federal charges are possible."

She added, "Abandoned cars with broken windows have become a normal sight of daily life in the Twin Cities."

Washington state Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal also took part in and chaired the panel. As senior whip of the House Democratic caucus and chair emerita of the progressive caucus, Jayapal condemned the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.

“The Trump administration has targeted and terrorized people of all immigration statuses, including US citizens, violating constitutional rights and court orders, destroying our existing immigration system and eroding all of our rights,” she said.