ICE Tried to ‘Entice’ Minneapolis Activists Into Confrontational Tactics
Welcome to our news segment: TL;DR of Immigration News, for when the news is Too Long and you Didn’t Read it.
This is a weekly collection of immigration-related news stories. These bite-size summaries will keep you up to date without overwhelming your inbox.
In this week’s edition of TL;DR, we focus on what Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and its somehow-even-more racist and fascist spawn, ICE, have been doing and are planning to do with the $90 billion in taxpayer money that congress voted them between this year and last year.
This starts with recent revelations about CBP and ICE’s activities in Minneapolis earlier this year, both before and after ICE agents killed two American citizens, specifically the spying on explicitly non-violent organizers and infiltration of neighborhood groups. If these efforts strike you as shocking or unprecedented, we recommend learning about the history of government infiltration of left-wing activist organizations. It is long, sordid, and enraging.
_
Secret ICE Agent Tried to ‘Entice’ Minneapolis Activists Into Confrontational Tactics
This week, news broke that the US gov’t was spying on and attempting to infiltrate organizing groups, churches, and other formations associated with the resistance against the ICE and US military occupation of Minneapolis this past winter. Dubbed “Operation Puppetmaster” by the feds, both DHS and the FBI worked together to infiltrate among many groups including the Sunrise movement, a youth led organization that has long preached non-violence. According to the newly-revealed documents, the operation dubbed Operation Puppetmaster began just days after the killing of Alex Pretti, which itself occurred days after the killing of Renee Good.
Convinced that groups like Sunrise are being backed monetarily by some sinister communist force (because a majority of people couldn’t possibly disagree with what the feds are doing), ICE agents attempted to infiltrate Sunrise, going to their deescalation trainings and at times attempting to entice organizers into “discussing committing crimes.”
In addition to spying on Sunrise, DHS attempted to infiltrate local unions, immigrant-led non-profits, and a bicycle mechanic collective. None of these organizations were charged with crimes.
_
Federal surveillance of Minneapolis church may have violated court order
During Operation Puppetmaster, the Department of Homeland Security attempted to infiltrate a Minneapolis church. In doing so, DHS violated all standards of decency. And, as it turns out, the law.
DHS sent agents to undermine and spy on the resistance to the murderous rampage known as Operation Metro Surge. One of the institutions targeted, the University Baptist Church, was part of a group of churches that had previously won a temporary injunction forbidding federal agencies from taking immigration enforcement action at any of their churches.
The current administration revoked the DHS’ “safe locations memo,” meaning that there are no places off limits to ICE abductions. People have been taken from schools, from hospital beds, from churches.
But the resistance continues: Rev. Cody J. Sanders of University Baptist Church says that churches “have become a threat to those in power when we care for our neighbors, provide safe spaces for our community members to gather in peace, and strive together toward justice….We will continue to insist that solidarity with our most vulnerable neighbors is the way that we best follow the ways of Jesus in the world."
_
And in still further depths of depravity, DHS wants to spend $20 million for "thousands" of pairs of the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, "known as the G.L.O.V.E.", produced by Compliant Technologies.
At the push of a button, once a G.L.O.V.E. makes contact with someone's skin, it will "deliver a pain stimulus that typically helps an officer gain compliance within seconds," the AP says. What could possibly go wrong?
As quoted by the Forever Wars article, the user manual contains this warning:
“CD3s [the family of technologies to which the G.LO.V.E. belongs] may increase the affects [sic] that can cause sudden death. The longer the CD3 exposure, the greater the potential risk.”
Compliant Technologies’ user manual goes on to recommend “avoiding use of these devices on the following higher risk portions of the population”: “small children,” pregnant people, “the elderly, and the severely handicapped.”
All of whom, it must be noted, have been part of ICE’s round ups, detentions, deportations, and violent responses at peaceful protests. And, on top of this nightmare: the G.L.O.V.E. leaves no visible evidence of use.
_
CBP's $9 million plan to collect fines from deported people has no way for them to pay
CBP would like to spend up to $9 million breaking its own rules and potentially violating international law by attempting to charge people in other countries for their time in the US carceral immigration system. But, they would like someone else to do the hard work, please, including planning how to even carry out the project in the first place.
CBP recently opened bidding for contractors to track down people ICE has deported and collect debt those people had allegedly accrued in immigration detention in the US. When asked how this debt would be collected, how individuals would be identified, and other basic questions about the operation, CBP did the government equivalent of shrugging its shoulders.
_
Action items:
Support a Haitian family separated by deportation: Support Jean Family
Defense fund for Minneapolis Anti-ICE Organizers
Support the Prairieland Defendants being persecuted by the DOJ for standing up for their neighbors in detention
_
🌠This Sunday kicks off Never Again Action’s annual membership drive! Being an NAA member means consenting to our values (abolish ICE, no human is illegal) and optional, sliding-scale monthly dues to sustain our work. Consider becoming a member this week and receive a free sticker. Already a member? Text this brochure to 5 of your friends and invite them to join you: bit.ly/NAAMembershipGuide
_
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for next week’s roundup, drop us a line at neveragainaction@gmail.com.