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Dodge County Sheriff, MN — Last week our office had a visit from an SUV full of ICE Agents. These law enforcement agents were from different states, all with varied backgrounds and experience, all here to work in the Metro Surge enforcement operation here in Minnesota. The ICE Agents were explaining their frustration with an agitator who had been following them around for hours in the Rochester area. At one point they tried to explain to the agitator who they were looking for – a man wanted for murder and raping a child. The agitator ignored their explanation and continued to rant and rave that none of them care, suggesting that they just try to detain legal immigrants, and at one point stated, “if you were here to look for illegal violent immigrants that would be fine…that’s not what you are doing.” Apparently, the agitator wasn’t listening… The ICE Agents were looking for a man who’s wanted for pre-meditated first-degree murder, and for raping a child - he's apparently been on the run since the early 90s. The country the man is from has only recently been working with our federal government to take back some of these violent criminals who’ve been evading arrest by hiding here in the United States. I had the opportunity to talk to the agitator who called asking for all information discussed and a copy of the report from the “incident” with ICE at the Sheriff’s Office. I explained there was no “incident”, no report, and none of my conversations with ICE from that day are public. I was asked if this guy was so bad, why do we have “untrained” ICE agents looking for him – why weren’t “real” cops looking for this guy? I tried to explain local law enforcement doesn’t handle federal immigration laws with wanted criminals like this. The agitator stated, “the man they were looking for has not been in trouble since 1993.” I thought to myself - THE MAN MURDERED SOMEONE AND RAPED A CHILD! Who cares when it happened? IT HAPPENED! Somewhere there is a grieving family who has been waiting decades for closure after losing their loved one to a murderer. Somewhere there is an adult who was raped as a child and their rapist has been free for decades – an adult who I can only imagine has been waiting their entire life for justice and closure. I tried to explain that the ICE Agents decided to stop trying to find this bad guy because the agitator’s harassment and behavior impeded their work, and because they didn’t want to put the agitator in harm’s way either. So, they decided to head back to the Twin Cities. You can’t rationalize with irrational people. I know that, but I tried. Eventually, I gave up and explained there is no information to share about my contact with ICE and ended the call. Each of these agents were here from different states, all with families and friends back home, likely hoping and praying every day for their safety, especially hearing how agents were being treated here in Minnesota. These agents were trying to find a very bad man who planned and murdered someone – a man who also raped a child. How could this agitator honestly argue in favor of this man they were looking for because he hasn’t been in trouble since 1993? I don’t know. Blinded by or intoxicated by the anti-ICE movement? Wanting to believe so badly that all ICE agents are bad that they refuse to hear anything that may contradict that ideology? I was asked why were these ICE Agents in Dodge County? The truth? They called and asked if they could use the restroom. True story. I thought our staff was kidding me when they said they had ICE Agents on the line asking if it was ok for them to come in and use the bathroom. The agents explained to me that so many businesses and government buildings have told them they aren’t welcome in their buildings – they’ve had to resort to calling first to ask permission, even with law enforcement agencies. We live in sad times when federal agents feel they have to call local law enforcement for permission to use their bathroom. I have family on both sides of this. I have family who are in law enforcement and the military who support ICE – while they don’t always agree with their tactics, they understand immigration enforcement is necessary to keep our country and communities safe when it comes to violent criminals. I also have family who are minorities who are scared to death of ICE and have actively protested ICE - and with some of the ICE tactics we’ve seen used here in Minnesota during this surge, I can’t blame them for feeling that way. One thing both sides can agree on is that our immigration system is broken and needs a lot of work – there needs to be a clearer path to citizenship for good people who want to come to our country for a better life. But we need to remember these men and women serving as ICE agents aren’t responsible for the broken system, our government is. Many mistakes were made during Metro Surge. Mistakes made because of poor leadership all too often motivated by politics. There were many incidents with ICE and CBP Agents reported to local law enforcement that we did not agree with. Tactics and behavior that law enforcement groups like the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association called out during recent meetings with federal officials and legislators in St. Paul. Unfortunately, all the bad we’ve seen reported with this surge has completely overshadowed all the good that has also happened with this operation. A lot of very bad people who’ve been hiding in plain sight in our communities have been removed by ICE and are now being sent back to their countries to be held accountable for their crimes – likely preventing more crimes and more victims. That’s what most of these ICE Agents signed up for. They signed up to work for ICE because they believed in their mission to help make our country and our communities safer. Agents who signed up because they genuinely want to help remove bad people hiding in our country. Agents who want to help get closure for families, like the family of the victim who was murdered back in the 90s. What if it was your loved one that was murdered – or your child that was raped. Wouldn’t you want justice? Wouldn’t you want closure? Would it matter if it happened 3 years ago or 30 years ago? When you cross that line from protester to agitator and prevent ICE agents from being able do their job, you risk hurting a victim or family in another country praying for closure. Worse yet, by preventing ICE Agents from arresting violent criminals, you risk giving that criminal an opportunity to victimize another innocent person - an innocent person from your community, from your neighborhood, or God forbid from your own family. While we respect your right to protest we ask that you remember one bad ICE Agent doesn't make them all bad, there are always consequences to your actions, and there are always two sides to a story. Your Sheriff, Scott