What are Sanctuary Policies, Really?

The current narrative for why Operation Metro Surge has been so chaotic blames our (read, MN’s) “sanctuary politicians”. In a January 16th release from the White House, this is what’s stated: “Instead of working with the Trump Administration to uphold the law and protect public safety, the state’s Democrat politicians have repeatedly boasted of their so-called “sanctuary” status, encouraged resistance, and smeared ICE officers”.

I was curious if this was true, and not really knowing what a “sanctuary state” (or city, country, or policy) is, I did some research and this is what I found.

Definition and Minnesota State Stance

First, a definition from the American Immigration Council: “..under a sanctuary policy, state and local officials will limit their cooperation with federal immigration officials but do not actively prevent federal officials from carrying out their immigration enforcement duties“.

Minnesota, by legal definition, is not a sanctuary state. HF2860 was introduced to the house in 2023…but did not get the votes to pass. This bill would have legally made us a sanctuary state, but since it didn’t pass, the whole state of MN does not enforce these restrictions. Cities and counties, in some cases, do.

Had this bill passed, it would have limited local and state LEOs from arresting, detaining, or investigating individuals on the basis of a suspected immigration violation alone. The bill clearly defines that pursuing immigration violations is outside the scope of the local force, and the duty of the federal agency specifically designed to do that job.

Another reason Sanctuary policies are enacted is to make sure everyone feels safe to call the police. If an individual is undocumented but being abused by someone else, they can feel safe calling 911 to report this abuse without fear of the responding officers noting the caller’s status and initiating a deportation action.

Read this carefully because this is the most important part: The bill specifically stated that information requested by ICE and BP on an individual living in the state will only be released IF there is a legal arrest warrant or a court order. Not “Here’s the finger, feds, figure it out yourself”, it’s “Prove you have a valid reason before I hand over a resident of my state”.

The city of Minneapolis DOES have a standing Sanctuary Policy, as does all of Hennepin County. There are also more counties in MN that have adopted sanctuary policies, even outside of the metro area. The verbiage is the same, boiling down to “Our local force is here to enforce the local law and keep the peace. We don’t have the resources to enforce immigration law, but if you come to us with a legal warrant we are happy to help”. Again, not telling federal agents to heck right off, just that they need a real reason to have local enforcement assist.

There are other unrelated policies that make us immigrant friendly, like the “Driver’s License for All” initiative, which allows undocumented individuals to take the driver’s safety course and receive their legal driver’s license. In some cases, undocumented individuals may also qualify for state healthcare. These cases include emergencies and pregnancy care to name a few.

Assessing to Argument

Here’s why this is interesting: ICE and BP are here under the banner of removing the “worst of the worst”. I totally support that mission – if a human commits an act of violence against another human, my compassion for them ends. They deserve whatever comes to them. For the worst of the worst, it seems logical that a judge would be happy to issue an arrest warrant compelling our local officials and authorities to help out.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but the requirement to have a valid reason to seek out and arrest someone feels like a plus to me. If the federal government were to decide I’m guilty of a crime without evidence, I WANT my state to protect my rights if they come looking. For example, if the Federal Government asked the state of MN for a list of all people with, say, their firearm endorsements, I’d hope MN would ask for a warrant to get that information! The same principle applies if they’re asking for a list of all the immigrants in this state.

Another question I have is, why didn’t ICE plan for our local Sanctuary Cities and Counties to not support their mission? Why was it a shock that these areas didn’t roll out the red carpet for ICE? There being sanctuary policies here is not a new thing – Hennepin started enacting sanctuary policies back in 2003.

With that leading question, I’ll end this post. Through this little fact-finding mission, I feel more comfortable talking about Sanctuary policies and what they mean for immigrants, our Law Enforcement, and our officials.

GOBLESS.

P.S. this was a pretty dense post, so here’s a gif of an ICE agent eating shit on the ice.