Shakopee, MN - Following reports of ICE’s proposed plans for a 1,500 person detention facility at the Opus Group’s River Valley Business Park in Shakopee, State Representative Brad Tabke (DFL - Shakopee) released the following statement:
“Shakopee has been a focus of ICE’s unjust operations in recent weeks, abducting our neighbors and sowing fear in our immigrant communities. Now, the federal government desires a brick and mortar foothold by forcing the construction of a detention facility right here in town - adding to the fear, intimidation, and lawlessness.
“You don’t need to crack open a history book to understand how horrific it is for an unaccountable pack of masked agents to disappear residents by the thousands and hold them indefinitely in rotating locations. ICE wants Shakopee to house the latest facility where they can hide Minnesotans from the families and communities they were ripped from.
“We continue to see a widening gap in the reality of what the federal government is telling us and what Minnesotans can see with their own eyes. No one in Shakopee is asking for this. No one voted for this. To try and build this facility without the community’s voice involved highlights ICE’s complete disregard for Minnesotans.
“We are building a coalition of city, county, law enforcement, and business leaders to fight this and urge Opus to not lease or sell these buildings to the federal government. Join us.”
###