ICE official says agents shouldn’t have targeted church

BY DENNIS GEISINGER

Pastor Patrick Hansel of St. Paul’s Evangelical Church, at 2742 15th Ave. S., Minneapolis, said a neighbor behind the alley of the church called to tell him that a number of SUVs were grouped in the church lot two weeks ago.

Agents for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had chosen the church lot as the staging area for the execution of several warrants related to a criminal investigation into an alleged prostitution scheme. The operation involved 25 illegal immigrants who had allegedly coerced women brought into the country illegally to work as prostitutes at eight brothels in Minnesota, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

“We’ve seen this kind of thing with immigration people before so I wasn’t surprised to see men putting on ICE jackets when I went out to talk to them,” Hansel said. He had just finished teaching a Saturday catechism class.
“I went out and asked them to leave,” Hansel said. “I asked them three different times. They either didn’t answer or said ‘no,’” he said.
“The last time I asked they said they would leave when Minneapolis police arrived,” the pastor continued. “The police never did show up so they ended up leaving in about 45 minutes,” he said.

Hansel's wife, a co-pastor at the church, is Chilean. Both are fluent in Spanish, so they make it their practice to minister to the local Hispanic community.
“That's who we’re trying to reach,” said Hansel. "These people come to me … I don’t ask them about their status,” he said.

Hansel said he had his suspicions about ICE picking his church parking lot as a place to begin a law enforcement action.

“It doesn't seem to be coincidental,” Hansel said.

Along with those netted in the alleged prostitution sting were five men, four Mexicans and one Ecuadorian, who were arrested for immigration violations, according to ICE spokesman, Tim Counts. “They [the five] have been placed in removal proceedings. They have a right to a hearing before a federal immigration judge, who will make the final determination on whether they are to be deported. Each person is given a list of local legal assistance organizations that offer free or low-cost legal representation, and they are given the opportunity to contact a consular official from their home country.”

“In retrospect, we could have chosen a more appropriate place to stage prior to the operation,” Counts said. “Likewise, it would have been appropriate for us to leave the property when asked to do so by the church’s pastor,” he said.
An ICE assistant special investigator with the Minnesota office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security named Mary Hernandez, second in command at the raid, was responsible for picking the church property as the staging area, according to Counts.

As for the women who U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose says were enslaved by the ringleaders of the sex trade scheme, their fate is in the hands of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or an immigration judge.
“Anyone may apply for asylum,” said Counts. “Because the investigation is ongoing, and for privacy reasons, we cannot discuss the disposition of these individuals,” he said.