By Doyinsola Oladipo
NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Hundreds of unionized workers in Minneapolis, including those at hotels, restaurants and an airport, are still staying out of sight as they wait to see if U.S. immigration enforcement tactics change in coming weeks, a union official said.
Federal agents have said they would take a less confrontational approach, and would focus on immigrants with criminal charges or convictions, amid widespread criticism of the Trump White House’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts.
Despite that promise, many who work in hotels, restaurants and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport remained fearful of encountering Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, either at their place of work or in public, according to the Unite Here union.
One-third of U.S. hospitality industry workers are foreign-born. Unite Here Local 17 said that in the Minneapolis area, some workers are too afraid to leave their homes as ICE continues to carry out operations.
U.S. border czar Tom Homan, newly appointed to lead the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, said ICE would target people with prior arrests or convictions, but that its agents would still be allowed to arrest someone with no conviction if they encountered them.
He said he would look to reduce the 3,000-strong force of agents deployed to the city, depending on “cooperation” from state and city leaders.
Reuters could not establish the number of ICE agents currently deployed in Minneapolis.
“There’s just a different level of fear in the hotels,” said Christa Sarrack, president of Unite Here Local 17, which has up to 7,000 members in the region’s hospitality industry.
“Regardless of immigration status, regardless of the color of their skin, they’re scared to go into the rooms because they know that this is a group of people that have proven time and again to be violent.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, did not respond to a request for comment.
The administration’s approach has drawn widespread criticism, particularly since ICE agents killed two U.S. citizens in separate incidents in January.
Unite Here said it had about 200 members who were avoiding public places, and was directly providing support like food and money for rent and utilities to many of them. The union said it did not ask its members about their immigration status.
HOTEL WORKER ARRESTED
On January 19, ICE agents staying at the Hilton Homewood Suites in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park arrested a refugee from Nicaragua who worked at the same hotel, after assuring his boss he would not be detained if he reported to work, according to a federal court filing.
The worker, identified in a court filing as Darvin M., was sent to a detention center in El Paso, Texas, despite having a valid work permit and an application pending for permanent residency.
His attorney did not respond to requests for comment or say whether he had been released following a judge’s order. Hilton Worldwide Holdings did not respond to a request for comment.
ECONOMIC STRAIN
ICE’s presence is straining economic activity in Minneapolis. Businesses are losing about $10 million to $20 million a week in revenue, the Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development department estimates, with some businesses reporting a nearly 80% revenue decline year-over-year in the past two months.
“That is nothing short of catastrophic for many of our businesses, workers and families,” said Erik Hansen, CPED’s director.
About 90 Minneapolis businesses, including restaurants, hotels and retail shops said fear or stress was affecting operations, with 72 reporting staff absences, according to a January survey of about 100 businesses by Meet Minneapolis, the city’s destination marketing firm.
“Until there is real accountability and ICE is off our streets, the members will not feel safe,” said Sarrack.
(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; additional reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by David Gaffen, Ethan Smith and Stephen Coates)
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