Human Rights Watch has released a comprehensive report detailing human rights abuses by the government during this winter’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, which the group alleges also violates international human rights treaties that the U.S. is signed onto.
The 186-page report highlights how government agents stopped or detained thousands of people during the surge, including many U.S. citizens or people approved to live and work in the United States. The group alleges that many of the arrests made by federal agents were arbitrary, race-based and violated residents’ human rights.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent an extensive response to the report to MPR News, which disputed Human Rights Watch’s findings. The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment on this report.
“This story only reveals how the media manipulates data to peddle a false narrative that DHS is not targeting public safety threats,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said. “Nationwide our law enforcement is targeting criminal illegal aliens — including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles and terrorists.”
Researchers documented a court case involving 23 residents who were allegedly stopped by federal agents for race-based reasons, including one citizen of Somali descent who believed she was stopped for wearing a hijab and the color of her skin.
“Many arrests or detentions appear to have been the product of racial profiling that violates the right to nondiscrimination, while others appear to have violated the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, including the rights of human rights defenders,” according to the report.
A Homeland Security spokesperson said in an email that allegations their agents use racial profiling are “disgusting, reckless and categorically FALSE.”
Human Rights Watch also spoke to observers who were arrested after agents said they were “impeding” by following them, including those who had their vehicle windows smashed and were thrown to the ground and arrested.
“The threats and excessive use of force by federal agents terrified residents and had a chilling effect on their exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” according to the report.
The group also seeks to counter claims from federal officials that they were targeting illegal immigrants with criminal records. Human Rights Watch researchers found that the majority of the immigrants detained had no criminal record, which MPR News and other news organizations have also reported.
Homeland Security disputed those numbers, alleging that more than two-thirds of immigrants arrested in the United States have criminal or pending criminal records, although they didn’t provide a source for that number. The Transactional Access Records Clearinghouse, which pulls together public documents and data, reports that about 70 percent of those detained nationally currently have no criminal record.
Researchers with the organization also spoke to people who were detained and who reported unhealthy conditions in detention facilities including overcrowding, dirty cells and a lack of access to health care. Attorneys and detainees also criticized the government for failing to immediately comply with court orders to release detainees. The report also found that detainees were often denied access to their attorneys while in detention, all of which Homeland Security has denied.
“At Whipple, many individuals were subjected to overcrowded dirty cells, continuous shackling and bright lights, and they had to sleep on cold floors without beds or bedding,” according to the report. “The conditions Human Rights Watch documented at Whipple violated the prohibition against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
Lawmaker decries conditions at Whipple
The report details the government’s response to Minnesotans who organized against them or observed them, which included surveillance, harassment and arbitrary arrest. It also documents the excessive force that agents routinely used against residents, including the use of chemical munitions, smashed car windows and the shooting of three Minneapolis residents.
A Homeland Security spokesperson said the First Amendment protects speech and assembly, “not rioting.” They defended the actions of agents as necessary to “protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.” The spokesperson also defended the killing of Renee Good, saying that the agent “fired defensive shots.”
MPR News covered numerous incidents where federal agents used force or chemical munitions on peaceful observers during the surge. A federal judge also took actions to temporarily ban the federal agencies from arresting or using chemical weapons on peaceful observers.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the government, and elected officials like prosecutors, to take steps to hold officials and agents who violated people’s rights during the surge accountable for violations of state criminal laws, violations of observers constitutional rights and unlawful surveillance.
The organization is also calling for both the U.S. Congress and the Minnesota state government to hold hearings to investigate what occurred in Minnesota over the winter. They also recommend that the United Nations make recommendations to the U.S. government to ensure accountability for human rights violations. Among the group’s recommendations to Congress is that they pass legislation restricting the use of masks and unmarked vehicles by federal law enforcement.
“Accountability has also been curbed by the widespread use of unmarked vehicles and face coverings by federal immigration agents, making them unidentifiable, potentially emboldening their abusive behavior and making it more difficult to report,” according to the report.
The organization’s staff interviewed 136 people for the report, including immigrants, attorneys and government officials. They also analyzed 52 videos and photographs taken during the surge after confirming they were real.
Human Rights Watch has requested access to the Whipple Federal Building, where many detainees are held, but have not received a response from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The group has also sent summaries of the report to federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but has not received a response.
