Limiting federal law enforcement access to child care facilities fails along party lines

Anna Stallman, a parent of a student at a south Minneapolis Spanish immersion school, set a scene for legislators Wednesday.

“Little ones, excited to start their day, hands held by parents, stood in horror as masked agents in tactical gear with guns aggressively pulled a staff member out of her car and hauled her off in unmarked vehicles.”

This happened without a warrant at the onset of Operation Metro Surge, Stallman said.

Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura

Similar stories were told by over a dozen parents and educators who testified before the House Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee in favor of a bill looking to limit law enforcement access to child care centers.

Sponsored by Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura (DFL-Mpls), HF3415, as amended, would prohibit child care staff from letting a federal immigration enforcement officer enter a child care facility without a signed warrant authorizing the arrest of a specific individual in the building. It would also require staff to ask officers for valid identification and a written statement of purpose.

The bill failed via an 11-11 party-line vote.

[MORE: Read written testimony]

Some Republicans took issue with the language centering on child care staff rather than agents who break the law.

The Fourth Amendment should prohibit access to any private facility without a warrant, said Rep. Bjorn Olson (R-Fairmont). “Asking the people who watch our children to stand like Gandalf and say, ‘You shall not pass,’ that’s concerning to me.”

The U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause prohibits the state from regulating federal officers themselves, so the bill looked to provide guidance to child care staff, Sencer-Mura explained.

“Heck, I want the Constitution to be followed, but what happens when the Constitution isn’t being followed?” said Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega (DFL-St. Paul).

The sole testimony against the bill came from David Zimmer, public safety policy fellow for the Center of the American Experiment, who wrote in a letter that the bill would “inappropriately regulate the legal authority of federal agents.”