ST PAUL, Minn. — As federal immigration efforts continue to stall, some Minnesota lawmakers have launched an effort to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation.
DFL legislators said they'll introduce a bill known as the North Star Act, which would essentially make Minnesota a sanctuary state for immigrants lacking documentation. Currently, 11 states and the District of Columbia have such laws in place.
"We know that citizens and noncitizen residents live side by side, and often within the same household. We should not waste resources chasing them down at the demand of Donald Trump," Sen. Omar Fateh, a Minneapolis Democrat, told reporters.
"And no Minnesotan should have to think twice about calling 911 because their car was stolen or their child has a medical emergency."
The exact language of the bill wasn’t available as of Thursday evening, but Sen. Fateh said the goal is to bar state and local governmental entities from sharing data with federal agents that are engaged in immigration enforcement.
DFL Rep. Sandra Feist of New Brighton, the lead author of the House version of the bill, said local units of government would still be allowed to share information in support of a criminal case. But they couldn't turn over information that would aid in the civil function of deporting people who are in the United States without permission.
"ICE could ask for information from schools about students and their families. Once this law passes, they will not be able to do so," Rep. Feist told reporters. "This is both important for how it would work, and also how people will feel in terms of trusting in their institutions."
Jesus Garcia Garcia appeared at the news conference in support of the bill. He was brought to Minnesota by his parents at the age of seven, and temporarily has legal status through DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act.
"This legislation would give me the peace of mind to fully engage in my community, and pursue my dreams without reservation," Garcia Garcia told reporters.
He's currently working on a Ph.D. in computational biology at the University of Minnesota while working as a Linux System DevOps engineer at the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute.
Even with legal DACA status, he said he still goes through rigorous checks at airports when he travels, but is mainly concerned about relatives who don't have the same protections.
"This bill will protect our families, our immediate family members," Garcia Garcia told KARE. "At this point, I wouldn’t be able to tell you details about my own family because I’m scared someone’s going to go after them. The North Star Act would allow us to come out of the shadows and do bright things."
Republican leaders warn the bill would make Minnesota a magnet for more undocumented immigrants at a time when government services are already stretched too thin.
"When I’ve talked to schools in my district, they are trying to meet the needs of students," Rep. Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring, the Republican House Minority Leader, said.
"An influx is going to be pressure on our schools, on our healthcare, on our food shelves. Housing is an issue also. That’s going to put more pressure on that."
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson echoed those sentiments.
"This has not been vetted, has not been thought through well enough," Sen. Johnson said. "And now we will have all these undocumented folks coming up here. It’s gonna be a huge burden on everyday Minnesotans."
Republicans insist immigration is a federal issue that the state should leave to Congress. Federal lawmakers were on the verge of passing a bill that would've addressed border security, but GOP senators withdrew their support after former President Donald Trump declared the bill didn't go far enough.
The legislature last session passed a long-awaited bill that allows undocumented immigrants to get Minnesota drivers licenses. Lawmakers also opened up the Minnesota Care subsidized health insurance program to people without legal status.
Supporters say that even with those improvements, many immigrants are just one routine traffic stop away from being deported and separated from their families in Minnesota.
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