On the corner of Bloomington and 31st Street in South Minneapolis, workers with Metro Transit and allies held up a sign that read, “Minnesotans were abducted here.
On the corner of Bloomington Avenue and 31st Street in South Minneapolis, workers with Metro Transit and allies held up a sign that read, “Minnesotans were abducted here.” It was the morning of January 14, and they were part of a press conference protesting a violent detention at the bus stop in broad daylight on January 10, witnessed by a Metro Transit bus operator. Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 1005 says a driver witnessed ICE create a chaotic scene, blocking traffic, removing individuals from their cars, and blocking the bus from proceeding through the intersection. It was part of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown on Minnesota that has sent masked, armed federal agents throughout the state.
Metro Transit workers are calling on ICE to not interfere with transit operations, according to a press release from ATU 1005. David Stiggers, president of the union, said at the press conference that ICE activity in Minneapolis is “a throwback to the darkest times of human history, 1940s Germany.”
In another incident, a Somali-American Metro Transit worker was detained on December 2, according to the union, and was held in ICE detention for over a month. The bus operator was transferred to Iowa and then Nebraska, then returned home on January 6, according to the union, which says his detention was unlawful.
Stiggers said that the current protocol allows Metro Transit bus drivers to refuse to open doors for anyone they may see as a threat to the safety of the driver or passengers. If ICE agents approach a bus, Metro Transit bus drivers have the right to not open the doors, as masked and armed agents without identification pose a safety risk both to the bus operator and passengers. “If it’s better for you to keep the door closed, keep the door closed,” Stiggers emphasized.
He added that there is little Metro Transit can do to limit ICE’s access to the light rail, as the doors open automatically at each stop.
Isabela Escalona
“Unchecked power leads to unthinkable suffering,” ATU 1005 president David Stiggers said, and the union will “oppose any federal action that impedes Metro Transit activity.”Rafael Valle, a Metro Transit mechanic and previously a Metro Transit bus driver for 10 years, noted that many Metro Transit workers are people of color and immigrants, and fear being detained on their way to or home from work. Valle described himself as “not much of a politics guy,” but said the escalation of ICE’s tactics of “running around scaring anyone who isn’t the right color” is harming communities of color and immigrants.
Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, president of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation (MRLF), also spoke at the press conference. “Workers of every industry are being indiscriminately arrested; teachers, construction workers, bus drivers, cooks, cleaners, and servers, all across our city,” she said.
The MRLF has a fund to support people who are currently in detention, serving both union and non-union workers, Glaubitz Gabiou explained. “All the families we are working with right now have been illegally detained. These are people who should never have been arrested in the first place,” she said.
She said that most of the detainees they are working with were “whisked to the Whipple Building” and “most are being taken down to a camp in the middle of the desert in Texas.” She adds that, “Until they get down to that camp in Texas, we can have no contact with that detained member—legal, family, or otherwise.”
Glaubitz Gabiou emphasized that most of the people they are supporting in detention were arrested on their way to or home from work. “This is undermining the vibrancy of this community that we have built over these years,” she said. Glaubitz Gabiou went on to call-out the silence and complicity of some Minnesota businesses and employers: “The employer class is saying nothing about their workers. They are doing nothing to protect their workers.”
Unions and other community organizations announced a day of “no work, no school, no shopping” on January 23 to oppose ICE operations across Minnesota. While Metro Transit contractually cannot strike on January 23, Stiggers emphasized that the union endorsed the event and that they encourage workers to take part in other ways.
Isabela Escalona
On the corner of Bloomington and 31st Street in South Minneapolis, workers with Metro Transit and allies held up a sign that read, “Minnesotans were abducted here.“Unchecked power leads to unthinkable suffering,” Stiggers said, and the union will “oppose any federal action that impedes Metro Transit activity.”
The press conference was met with sustained honks in support from drivers passing by the corner where the Metro Transit driver witnessed the abduction. Local coffee company, Peace Coffee, was also seen providing the Metro Transit members and allies in attendance free cups of coffee following the press conference.