This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Minnesota, where protests continue as the Trump administration sends more federal immigration agents into the region in what local officials have likened to an “invasion.” It was a week ago today when an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and an award-winning poet.
This is a brief snippet of the scene outside the Whipple Federal Building in Saint Paul Tuesday, where masked, armed agents repeatedly attacked protesters.
PROTESTER 1: You’re not going to say anything? You’re not going to say anything.
ICE AGENT 1: Get on the ground!
ICE AGENT 2: Get back!
ICE AGENT 1: Get on the ground! Get back!
ICE AGENT 2: Get back!
ICE AGENT 3: Get on the ground! Get on the ground!
PROTESTER 2: Back up!
PROTESTER 3: Back up!
ICE AGENT 4: Back up! Back up! Back up!
ICE AGENT 5: Back up! Get back!
ICE AGENT 6: Back up!
ICE AGENT 7: Back up! Back up! Back up! More! More! More!
ICE AGENT 6: Back up!
PROTESTER 4: Who are you going to kill today? Who are you going to shoot? Take off your mask if you’re so tough! Take off your mask!
AMY GOODMAN: The Minnesota Star Tribune reports the number of federal agents now in the Twin Cities dwarfs the size of local police. The size of the federal force is expected to soon reach 3,000 officers. That’s bigger than the 10 largest metro police departments combined in the Twin Cities.
On Monday, the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul sued the federal government. This is Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
ATTORNEY GENERAL KEITH ELLISON: Deployment of thousands of armed, masked DHS agents to Minnesota has done our state serious harm. This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota, and it must stop. DHS agents have sown chaos and terror across the metropolitan area and in cities across the state of Minnesota.
AMY GOODMAN: To see our interview with Attorney General Ellison, go to democracynow.org.
There is also growing opposition from within the federal government to the Trump administration’s tactics in Minnesota. Six federal prosecutors in the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney’s Office have resigned over the Justice Department push to investigate the widow of Renee Good — that’s Becca Good. In Washington, D.C., five senior prosecutors in the criminal wing of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division have resigned in protest over the DOJ’s decision not to investigate the ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, who fatally shot Renee Good.
We’re joined now by Hwa Jeong Kim, vice president of the Saint Paul City Council, also member of the Immigrant Defense Network.
Thank you so much for being with us. First off, can you talk about the lawsuit that’s being heard in court? The significance of what Saint Paul and Minneapolis — called the Twin Cities, for our global audience — is demanding right now, the ICE force dwarfing the number of police in the Twin Cities?
HWA JEONG KIM: Yeah, I think what we’re seeing is that our constitutional observers and the firsthand accounts of our neighbors is working. We are providing evidence that shows just indiscriminate, unconstitutional violence coming from federal agents in the Twin Cities.
AMY GOODMAN: So, what exactly, Hwa Jeong Kim, is the Saint Paul City Council calling for now? We just heard that last clip of protests, when people are saying, “Take off your masks.” I mean, the issue of everything from the Minneapolis mayor saying, “Get the f— out of Minneapolis,” to ICE, to talking about what they’re allowed to do in the city. And what is your sense of the level of cooperation, or not, of the local police department, Minneapolis and Saint Paul being sanctuary cities?
HWA JEONG KIM: Yeah, I mean, we have a separation ordinance that’s been in place for many years, and the Saint Paul City Council is looking at strengthening that language, just like the Minneapolis Council passed in their city recently. We, unfortunately, had an incident on Rose Street, where residents and myself witnessed what we believe to be cooperation, where our Saint Paul police officers helped secure a scene and helped escort ICE agents out. So, there is always opportunities to strengthen our laws and use every lever that we can to continue to protect our residents.
And I think the lawsuit is very, very clear: We don’t want ICE in our neighborhoods. They are violent, they are creating chaos and terrorizing our immigrant neighbors, and they are not keeping anyone safe. And, in fact, they are bringing danger on our streets every single day.
AMY GOODMAN: Earlier this week, you wrote on Facebook, quote, “To my North Enders, we are seeing a continuous presence of federal agents in our neighborhood. We have had additional community observers present throughout our neighborhood. And vulnerable folks should be very careful. Our neighborhood eyes and protection is working. It is working. We had several of our neighbors kidnapped today. Take precautions.” Can you elaborate on why you’re using the word “kidnap” and what precautions people can take?
HWA JEONG KIM: They’re racially profiling neighbors and just taking them off the streets. We have accounts of folks walking down the sidewalk getting scooped up, neighbors getting pulled out of vehicles. And so, it is not about whether or not they have a warrant. That has never been the case. It’s always been about violent racial profiling in our streets.
And so, right now we’re encouraging our neighbors to be really careful. I myself am carrying around two forms of ID. I’m a naturalized citizen. Neighbors are also considering not going to work, not sending their kids to school, not going grocery shopping, not going to the laundromat — the very simple things that just keep families going. Lack of child care is incredibly important right now for families. So, we’re really hoping to tap into those mutual aid networks to support families in this time. And it’s difficult, as someone that’s watching and hearing and is very tapped into rapid response, to hear the number of people that are taken every hour here in the Twin Cities, in good conscience to tell folks that it feels safe to walk out on your street today.
AMY GOODMAN: In addition to the massive influx of ICE agents, you have now President Trump said they’re revoking TPS status for Somalis — you have a large Somali community in the Twin Cities — and that they will also denaturalize Somali citizens. And they’re going to do mass deportation? What do you understand is going on here? They would have to leave by February, he said.
HWA JEONG KIM: So many of our Somali neighbors are citizens. And so, I think this is incredibly — this is an incredibly dangerous tactic, as we see them attempt to strip away TPS statuses for many communities. And many folks know, here in the Twin Cities, Somali folks are incredibly important to the fabric of our neighborhoods, and not just because of the value that they bring, but because they are humans and that deserve dignity and protection. And the vast majority of our Somali neighbors are citizens.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell us about the Saint Paul mayor recently saying, “I wasn’t born here. I’m carrying my passport card and my ID with me all the time, because I don’t know when I’m going to be detained”? Her family fled Laos for the United States when she was 3. Your response?
HWA JEONG KIM: Yeah, Mayor Kaohly Her is a close friend of mine. I myself, my partner is trans. We’ve been carrying around two forms of ID for many, many months. And it was a conversation that I personally had with her, as well. Folks that look like us and look like our communities that we serve and our neighbors are very afraid right now. And even if you are a citizen and you are not white, it is an incredibly fearful event leaving the house every single day and stepping onto the streets of our city. And yeah, we see a lot of our neighbors stepping up to make sure that we’re protected, that we have eyes on each other, and that we’re supporting each other to the best of our abilities in this really difficult time.
AMY GOODMAN: Faith and labor leaders and groups in Minneapolis are calling for a general strike January 23rd. Are you supporting this?
HWA JEONG KIM: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So much great organizing is coming from our labor unions, and even with SPFE. Our Teachers Union stood up an incredible program to help protect our students. So, yes, I’m incredibly supportive. I’m signed on, and I plan on participating.
AMY GOODMAN: Final comment on the loss of the six experienced attorneys in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis who have all just quit, followed by five attorneys in the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., because President Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche has said they won’t be doing a civil rights investigation into the death of Renee Good? If you can talk about the loss of this experience and these attorneys who would be involved with an investigation into Renee’s death?
HWA JEONG KIM: Yeah, I think a lot of folks are putting everything on the line to do what’s right. I think what’s resonating with me in this moment is seeing those resignations, knowing that there’s a line in the sand that folks are unwilling to cross, because the bottom line that a lot of us feels, that there’s there’s no one coming to save us. And that feels really scary, but also empowering, because if it’s up to us, and we draw the line in the sand, and we have the ability to follow through and be accountable to our constituents, to protect them and ensure that immigrant communities and families are safe, we should absolutely do everything within our power and everything within our privilege to do that. And so, seeing them stepping down, I think, is an incredible sign of where the value set and the moral line is for folks right now that are attempting to keep our community safe.
AMY GOODMAN: Hwa Jeong Kim, I want to thank —
HWA JEONG KIM: And that we’re not going to —
AMY GOODMAN: Go ahead.
HWA JEONG KIM: We’re not going to just step down — we’re not just going to turn a blind eye, but we’re doing everything in our power.
AMY GOODMAN: Hwa Jeong Kim, vice president of the Saint Paul City Council, also a member of Immigrant Defense Network.
When we come back, what happens when ICE hires agents with minimal or no screening, then sends them into the streets armed and masked? We’ll speak to a journalist who applied for an ICE job and was offered it without even a background check. And we’ll look at the rapid expansion of ICE detention in Trump’s first year in office. Stay with us.
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AMY GOODMAN: “Rise Up,” here on Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
