A Minneapolis pastor has described a climate of fear in the city after a major immigration enforcement operation, with one woman too terrified to leave her home for five weeks. Pastor Sergio Amezcua of Dios Habla Hoy Church delivered food to a Latino congregant who has been hiding inside since December, unable to work and running out of money.
The woman, who has lived in the US for 25 years and has a son with an American passport, said she cannot sleep at night and feels like she is in jail. She told of a man snatched from his job at McDonald’s, whose son cannot get medicine to him in detention. The Department of Homeland Security says more than 3,000 people have been detained in recent weeks, including children as young as five and US citizens.
Pastor Amezcua, who initially voted for President Donald Trump, said his church now feeds around 150,000 people, most too afraid to leave home despite some being US citizens or having legal status. He said attendance at Latino churches in Minnesota is down 80% and described the situation as feeling like “ethnic cleansing”.
The operation, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge”, has deployed thousands of federal agents to Minneapolis and other Democrat-led cities. The DHS called it a “huge victory for public safety”, claiming more than 3,500 “criminals” have been arrested. However, Minnesota’s attorney general has unsuccessfully sought to block the operation.
Disturbing footage has emerged of agents violently seizing people and firing on civilians. The DHS rejected allegations of racial profiling as “disgusting, reckless and categorically FALSE”, stating that immigration status, not race, is the basis for enforcement. An underground network of volunteers has formed, using encrypted messaging to support those in hiding.
