Police Chiefs Warn ICE Stops Are Sweeping Up U.S. Citizens
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt (left), Saint Paul Chief Axel Henry (center) and Brooklyn Park Chief Mark Bruley (right). via Fox9
BY MN CRIME STAFF
Twin Cities law enforcement leaders say they’ve received a surge of complaints from U.S. citizens being stopped and questioned by federal immigration agents without cause.
Leaders of several local departments are warning the encounters are undermining public trust and raising civil rights concerns.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley, Saint Paul Police Chief Axel Henry and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt were among those who spoke Tuesday at a news conference in the Minnesota Capitol rotunda. All three said they support lawful immigration enforcement but are calling for stronger oversight after what they described as a shift in federal tactics over the past two weeks.
> Sign up for the MN CRIME newsletter
“We as law enforcement community have been receiving endless complaints about civil rights violations in our streets from U.S. citizens,” Bruley said. “What we're hearing is they're being stopped in traffic stops or on the street with no cause and being forced to demand paperwork to determine if they are here legally.”
Bruley said local departments began hearing similar accounts from their own off-duty officers.
“Every one of these individuals is a person of color who has had this happen to them,” Bruley said Tuesday.
He described one incident involving an off-duty Brooklyn Park officer who he said was stopped after passing immigration agents while driving.
“When they boxed (the off-duty officer) in, they demanded her paperwork, of which she's a U.S. citizen and clearly would not have any paperwork,” Bruley said. The officer attempted to record the encounter on her phone but it was “knocked out of her hands, preventing her from recording.”
Bruley said firearms were displayed during the stop.
“The officer had their guns drawn during this interaction,” he said. The officer reportedly identified herself as police in an effort to deescalate the situation. “The agents then immediately left after hearing this, making no other comments, no other apologies, just got in their vehicles and left.”
Bruley said the incident was not isolated: “Many of the chiefs standing behind me have similar incidents with their off-duty officers,” he said.
“This isn't just important because it happened to off-duty police officers,” Bruley said. “Our officers know what the Constitution is. They know what right and wrong is and they know when people are being targeted. And that's what they were.”
He said the reports coincide with a recent federal enforcement surge and warned the conduct is eroding years of trust-building work. “It has to stop,” Bruley said. “This behavior erodes the trust that these police chiefs have worked tirelessly for the last five years.”
Protesters take to the Powderhorn Park neighborhood in Minneapolis Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. MN CRIME PHOTO
Bruley said he doesn’t believe the behavior reflects federal agencies as a whole. “This is not widespread. This is a small group of agents within the surge in the metro area that are performing or acting this way,” he said, adding that he has heard from ICE and HSI agents who say the conduct described is not standard practice.
He said accountability has been difficult to obtain.
“When you call ICE leadership or you call border patrol leadership or you call homeland security leadership, they're unable to tell you what their people were doing that day,” Bruley said, adding that filing complaints is challenging. “The complaint requires identity of the agents. The agents don't have name tags on. They cover their face. They don't have body cameras.”
PHOTOS: ICE Protest Draws Thousands to Powderhorn Park
Asked what message that sends to the public, Bruley said “it makes them feel lost. It makes them feel concerned. It makes them feel fearful.”
Chief Axel Henry said Saint Paul has seen similar encounters involving city employees, though without firearms drawn. “Traffic stops that were clearly outside the bounds of what federal agents are allowed to do,” he said.
Henry said the chiefs are trying to avoid false narratives on both sides. “Some might say you're only speaking up because this is happening to the cops,” he said. “Others will say that we're speaking out against ICE and that means we want rapists on the street. Neither of those things are true.”
PREVIOUSLY: Prosecutors Seek Public Evidence in Renee Good Killing
He said the focus is on legality and civil rights. “If American citizens are being grabbed or stopped or seized, this can't happen,” Henry said. “We have to make sure that everyone's civil rights are intact.”
Sheriff Dawanna Witt said she’s heard similar complaints in Hennepin County and warned the impact goes beyond perception. “I am seeing and hearing about people in Hennepin County stopped, questioned and harassed solely because of the color of their skin,” Witt said. “This is not okay now and it's never been okay.”
She said public trust is directly tied to safety: “Trust means victims of violence feel safe calling 911. Trust means witnesses coming forward, crimes getting reported,” Witt said. “The trust is fragile right now and it is essential.”
Witt said the actions being described risk undoing progress made since 2020. “Since that time, local law enforcement has been doing the hard necessary work to rebuild trust within our communities,” she said. “What's going on now is stifling that progress.”
She called for accountability from federal agencies: “We demand more from our federal government, more professionalism, more accountability, more humanity,” Witt said. “We demand lawful policing that respects human dignity.”
During questions, Bruley said he does not believe the conduct is being directed from Washington but acknowledged he has no direct proof: “What actual evidence do I have? None other than agents that I've talked to,” he said. Bruley added that some federal leaders may not fully understand the impact of what’s actually happening on the ground.
PREVIOUSLY: ICE Agent Shoots Man After ‘Ambush’ Attack in Minneapolis
The chiefs said they are calling for more supervision of the federal surge and a clear path forward that allows immigration enforcement to continue lawfully without sweeping up citizens or fueling fear.
“We are trying to come together to say, ‘can we please find a pathway forward?’” Henry said. “Can we find a way to make sure that we can do these things without scaring the hell out of our community members?”
Authorities have not released the identities of the off-duty officers referenced during the news conference.
Near 24th Ave. N. & Lyndale Ave. N. in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. MN CRIME PHOTO
