Volunteers aid ICE detainees released from Whipple
A new volunteer group called Haven Watch has sprung up outside the Whipple Federal Building in the Twin Cities, where ICE detainees are released at all hours, often without their phones, winter coats or a way to get home. Founded by a metro-area mother who first came with her two sons to support demonstrators, the group now stations volunteers in orange vests to watch for people leaving detention and offers burner phones, rides, a warm place to sit, and help with basics ranging from food and car seats to rental assistance. Volunteer Sarah Haraldson describes driving home men in tears after short detentions and says her own experience as the adoptive mother of a naturalized Ethiopian son fuels her fear that people can be "picked up and put in that building based on the color of [their] skin and nothing else." Haven Watch is actively seeking more drivers and donations as Operation Metro Surge continues to cycle people through Whipple into a cold metro night with little federal support for safe reentry.
đ Key Facts
- Haven Watch formed "a couple of weeks ago" after a local mom and her sons saw ICE detainees leaving Whipple without phones or rides.
- Volunteers in orange vests provide burner phones, warmth, transportation, and material aid such as food, car seats and rental assistance to recently released detainees.
- The effort is a direct community response to Operation Metro Surge, which has demonstrators outside Whipple daily and is pushing detainees back onto Twin Cities streets in winter with minimal support.
đ Relevant Data
Somali immigrants in Minnesota commit crimes at a rate two to five times higher than natives, based on apples-to-apples comparisons adjusting for misleading statistics.
Yes, Somali Immigrants Commit More Crime Than Natives â City Journal
Somali Minnesotans contribute approximately $8 billion to Minnesota's economy and pay about $67 million in state and local taxes annually.
Economist: Immigrants contribute $26 billion to Minnesota's economy â MPR News
The migration of Venezuelans to the United States has been driven by economic and political instability in Venezuela since 2015, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Venezuelan Immigrants in the United States â Migration Policy Institute
Venezuelan immigrants commit substantially fewer crimes than the native-born population in the United States.
Venezuelan Migration, Crime, and Misperceptions â Brookings Institution
The Somali population in Minnesota constitutes about 2% of the state's population but is overrepresented in certain fraud and crime statistics due to concentrated resettlement and poverty rates.
Somali Immigrants in Minnesota â Center for Immigration Studies
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