When trying to bridge divides, we’re taught to start with common ground. So to my friends on the activist, socialist wing of the DFL, let me begin there: We share many of the same values.
I, too, am outraged that our nation is allowing masked officers to raid homes and arrest our neighbors without warrants. Our immigrant communities — documented or undocumented— deserve confidence that our police and first responders will treat them fairly, without fear of retribution. The National Guard has no place patrolling our city streets unless local leaders explicitly request their help. In short, I share your anger and passion about how the Trump administration is pursuing its anti-immigration agenda.
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But outrage, however justified, doesn’t excuse reckless policymaking. Recently, three of the four leading challengers to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — DeWayne Davis, Jazz Hampton and state Sen. Omar Fateh — signed a petition that demands, among other things:
- That no employee of the city of Minneapolis or Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) cooperate with federal agents from any federal law enforcement agency, for any reason.
- That MPD refuse to provide any supportive role — such as taping or crowd control —when requested by federal agencies.
- And that MPD officers issue citations rather than make arrests for minor violations in every instance allowed under state law.
These demands may sound bold, but they are dangerous and impractical. A total ban on any contact with federal agencies would mean city employees couldn’t work with the FBI on human trafficking, the ATF on gun violence or the Department of Justice on civil rights cases. That’s not resistance — it’s isolation.
Likewise, forbidding MPD from helping manage crowds when federal agents act in our city doesn’t make our community safer; it increases the risk of chaos and injury. And insisting that officers always issue citations rather than make arrests, no matter the circumstances, strips away their ability to use judgment in protecting both rights and safety.
I understand where these demands come from. Activists are deeply frustrated by federal overreach and a long history of mistrust of MPD. Many feel that only sweeping defiance will force real change. Many of us who oppose the Trump administration feel adrift and so any call for action seems empowering. But the instinct to make the loudest possible statement too often leads to policies that feel righteous yet fail in practice.
The socialist-progressive wing of the DFL has become more interested in symbolic confrontation than in the slow, often frustrating work of governance. Declaring noncooperation with federal agencies may generate headlines and likes, but it does little to protect our community or build lasting reform.
Minneapolis already has strong policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, and that’s a good thing. But those rules can be strengthened without resorting to blanket prohibitions that endanger public safety. We could, for instance, require public reporting whenever federal law enforcement seeks local assistance, so residents can see when and why coordination happens.
We could add clearer procedures ensuring MPD involvement is limited strictly to criminal investigations, never civil immigration enforcement. And can make clear that in our community law enforcement at all levels should not cover their face, hide their badge or actively seek to obscure their identity (as the petition advocates).
Related: Frey, Carter prepare for National Guard deployment they hope will not come
Let’s protect immigrants without compromising safety or turning city workers into pawns in a national standoff.
Thousands of Minneapolitans have understandably lost trust in MPD. They interpret any level of coordination between federal officials and the MPD as evidence of bad intent and political alignment. This is unfair and unhelpful. There are genuine signs of incremental progress in the long journey to MPD reform. Rejecting that progress out of hand serves no one. Moreover, asking our MPD officers to actively work against federal agencies, regardless of any context or complexity, puts our officers and our neighborhoods at risk.
Eric Molho lives in Minneapolis.
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