Senator Aric Putnam (DFL-St. Cloud) was joined by Minnesota agriculture leaders at a press conference on Monday, saying employees – both documented and undocumented – are staying home from their jobs at turkey plants and farms due to fears of ICE raids.
“People are genuinely experiencing this anxiety and this fear. This is about fear. Real cops don’t wear masks. That’s just the way it works,” Putnam said. “This is not a typical or reasonable law enforcement activity. It is one that is designed for fear, and thus the masks, and the mystery and the lack of coordination with local law enforcement.
“You can talk to your local sheriff out in the rural area and they have no idea where ICE is. That’s part of the plan, is that ubiquity. They could be anywhere, which means they’re everywhere. That has, I think, infiltrated, quite rightly, the psyches of so many people working on farms throughout the state of Minnesota.”