MINNEAPOLIS — The mayor of Minneapolis said Sunday that sending active duty soldiers into Minnesota to help with an immigration crackdown is a ridiculous and unconstitutional idea as he urged protesters to remain peaceful so the president won't see a need to send in the U.S. military.
Daily protests have been ongoing throughout January since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers.
Three hotels where protesters have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were staying in the area stopped taking reservations Sunday.
In a diverse neighborhood where immigration officers have been frequently seen, U.S. postal workers marched through on Sunday, chanting: “Protect our routes. Get ICE out.”
Soldiers specialized in arctic duty told to be ready
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers based in Alaska who specialize in operating in arctic conditions to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, two defense officials said Sunday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans, said two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders.
One defense official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act.
The rarely used 19th century law would allow him to send military troops into Minnesota, where protesters have been confronting federal immigration agents for weeks. He has since backed off the threat, at least for now.
"It’s ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “It is not fair, it’s not just, and it’s completely unconstitutional.”
Thousands of Minneapolis citizens are exercising their First Amendment rights and the protests have been peaceful, Frey said.
“We are not going to take the bait. We will not counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos here," Frey said.
Gov. Tim Walz has mobilized the Minnesota National Guard, although no units have been deployed to the streets.
Hotels protesters said are connected to ICE close
At least three hotels in Minneapolis-St. Paul that protesters said housed officers in the immigrant crackdown were not accepting reservations Sunday. Rooms could not be booked online before early February at the Hilton DoubleTree and IHG InterContinental hotels in downtown St. Paul and at the Hilton Canopy hotel in Minneapolis.
Over the phone, an InterContinental hotel front desk employee said it was closing for the safety of the staff, but declined to comment on the safety concerns. The DoubleTree and InterContinental hotels had empty lobbies with signs out front saying they were “temporarily closed for business until further notice.” The Canopy was open, but not accepting reservations
The three hotels have been the site of protests with demonstrators saying federal agents were staying there.
IHG did not immediately return requests for comment Sunday.
US postal workers march and protest
Peter Noble joined dozens of other U.S. Post Office workers Sunday on their only day off from their mail routes to march against the immigration crackdown. They passed by the place where an immigration officer shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, during a Jan. 7 confrontation.
“I've seen them driving recklessly around the streets while I am on my route, putting lives in danger," Noble said.
Letter carrier Susan Becker said she came out to march on the coldest day since the crackdown started because it's important to keep telling the federal government she thinks what it is doing is wrong. She said people on her route have reported ICE breaking into apartment buildings and tackling people in the parking lot of shopping centers.
“These people are by and large citizens and immigrants. But they're citizens, and they deserve to be here; they've earned their place and they are good people,” Becker said.
Republican congressman asks governor to tone down comments
A Republican U.S. House member called for Walz to tone down his comments about fighting the federal government and instead start to help law enforcement.
Many of the officers in Minnesota are neighbors just doing the jobs they were sent to do, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told WCCO-AM in Minneapolis.
“These are not mean spirited people. But right now, they feel like they’re under attack. They don’t know where the next attack is going to come from and who it is. So people need to keep in mind this starts at the top,” Emmer said.
Across social media, videos have been posted of federal officers spraying protesters with pepper spray, knocking down doors and forcibly taking people into custody. On Friday, a federal judge ruled that immigration officers can't detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who aren't obstructing authorities, including when they're observing the officers during the Minnesota crackdown.
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Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed.
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