ROCHESTER — Friends and family of a Rochester man who was a recent kidney transplant recipient, now detained by federal immigration officials, say they have been told that, at last, he has his medication.
“It’s a game of telephone,” said Rep. Kim Hicks, who has been in contact with the man’s family.
The Hispanic man, whose car witnesses say was rammed and a window broken by immigration officials Thursday near Civic Center Drive and Broadway, has not seen an attorney as of midday Friday, Hicks said.
Hicks said she delivered antirejection medication to the Whipple federal building in Minneapolis, where he was taken after being detained.
However, an attorney who tried to visit the man but was denied access was told Friday that a medical note would be needed for the detainee to receive the medication. The family got a medical note and sent that to officials at Whipple, who then told family members the man had already been receiving the lifesaving medication, Hicks said.
The man told family members he was being transferred on Friday to a facility in Texas, but the attorney has been unable to confirm this.
“We’re still trying to identify what is and what is not happening,” Hicks said.
Although what is happening with the man while he’s in custody is unclear, Hicks said it’s clear that his detention raises questions about safety and civil liberties. The man is in the U.S. legally and was delivering groceries when he was detained Thursday, she said.
“I do not understand how picking up law-abiding immigrants who are following the process benefits anyone. I don’t understand how ramming a car and breaking their window benefits anyone,” she said. “This doesn’t align with Minnesota values or the Constitution.”
The case of transplant recipient is part of a larger narrative of ICE agents working in Minnesota against the wishes of Democratic lawmakers.
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota said she met Friday, Feb. 6 with Rochester Mayor Kim Norton, Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel, members of COPAL — an advocacy group that works on behalf of the Latino community — and a Rochester restaurant owner.
“I spoke with (Border Czar) Tom Homan yesterday about a draw-down of ICE agents and bringing an end to Operation Metro Surge,” Smith said. “Nothing yet has really changed.”
Smith said she’d like to see an end to the “random patrols of masked agents driving around and intimidating people.”
She and Pekel talked about the
school absenteeism related to ICE activities,
and how it takes extra effort to get kids to school. “Kids are not feeling safe,” Smith added.
She also talked to a restaurant owner she declined to name who talked about how the ICE raids are impacting his business because workers are afraid to show up for their shifts.
These kinds of personal stories, she said, are what she plans to take back to Homan to show him how ICE activities in Rochester and across Minnesota are hurting children, businesses and people’s overall lives.
“There continues to be this sort of aggressive behavior,” Smith said.
