Judge orders ICE to allow clergy access at Whipple
A federal judge in Minnesota has ordered ICE to let faith leaders minister in person to immigration detainees held at the Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, tightening the leash on an agency already under fire for Metro Surge abuses in the Twin Cities. The ruling comes after local clergy and religious groups said they’d been blocked or heavily restricted from providing pastoral care and religious services to detainees at Whipple, despite repeated requests. The judge found that ICE’s current practices unlawfully interfered with detainees’ ability to exercise their religious rights and directed the agency to adopt a system that gives qualified clergy regular, meaningful access, rather than ad‑hoc or blanket denials. The order applies to Whipple — the metro’s central ICE court and processing hub — meaning detainees swept up in recent raids and held there must now be allowed contact with outside ministers, not just phone calls or video when ICE feels like it.
📌 Key Facts
- A federal judge in Minnesota issued an order requiring ICE to allow faith leaders in‑person access to detainees at the Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling.
- Local clergy had alleged that ICE blocked or sharply limited their ability to provide religious services and pastoral care to people held at Whipple.
- The court held that ICE’s practices unlawfully burdened detainees’ religious exercise and must be replaced with a system that grants regular, meaningful access to qualified clergy.
📊 Relevant Data
Minnesota is home to more than 80,000 ethnic Somalis, the largest community outside of Africa.
How Minnesota became the center of the Somali diaspora — Sahan Journal
Somali immigration to Minnesota began in the early 1990s, with thousands of refugees fleeing civil war in Somalia and resettling with the help of voluntary agencies like Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities.
How Minnesota became a hub for Somali immigrants in the U.S. — NPR
Somali-born immigrants in Minnesota have an incarceration rate of 5,030 per 100,000 for males aged 18-29, compared to 2,450 per 100,000 for U.S.-born males and 1,280 per 100,000 for non-Hispanic White natives (data aggregated from 2006-2024).
Yes, Somali Immigrants Commit More Crime Than Natives — City Journal
Over 99% of Somalis adhere to Sunni Islam.
Religion in Somalia — Wikipedia
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