Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:21:08.320><c> I</c> was detained by ICE agents downtown.
• I was detained by ICE agents downtown.
• Workers at major employers were detained. ICE vehicles became a common sight.
• Our district has also had elementary students, U.S. citizens born in this country, detained by ICE last
• Our district has also had elementary students, U.S. citizens born in this country, detained by ICE last

Committee: House Education Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Redmond, we’re seeing ICE detain U.S. citizens. If this, if...”
• “We’re seeing ICE detain U.S. citizens.
• ICE has beaten, detained, and even murdered American citizens.
• The thought that an Indigenous person would be stopped and detained by ICE does sound ridiculous.
• PD tells ICE, ICE could come to ram your family's door without due process if you are detained. ...ICE

Committee: House House Public Safety & Law Enforcement Committee of Reference

Summary: The Committee on Public Safety and Law Enforcement first heard SB 1032, which appropriates $1.5 million from the State General Fund to the Corrections Oversight Fund in FY27 to help operate the Independent Correctional Oversight Office. Supporters, including Justice Action Network, Representative Blackman, and a family member describing her son’s death in custody, argued the office is needed to address serious problems in the Department of Corrections, including mental health care failures, staff shortages, lawsuits, and the state’s federal receivership. Members largely agreed the office could improve transparency and accountability, and the bill received a due pass recommendation on a 14-0 vote with one absent. The committee then considered SB 1107, which creates an alternative certification pathway for honorably discharged U.S. veterans who served as military police to become Arizona peace officers through abbreviated training and recognition of prior military training. Members asked whether the bill would include equivalent roles from all branches, such as Air Force security forces, and staff said the bill is intended to track Department of Defense training standards. Supporters emphasized the value of recruiting experienced applicants to address public safety staffing shortages, while one member raised concerns about applicants with prior misconduct in other states. The bill passed with a due pass recommendation on an 11-1 vote, with two present and one absent. Finally, the committee heard SB 1055, which requires law enforcement to immediately notify ICE or CBP when arresting a person unlawfully present in the United States. The bill drew strong support from one proponent who framed it as a public safety and immigration enforcement measure, and strong opposition from the ACLU and several community members who argued it would chill crime reporting, burden local agencies, raise civil rights concerns, and risk wrongful detention of citizens and tribal members. Representative Cruz offered a strike-everything amendment that would instead restrict DOC inmate telephone contracts from generating revenue above operating costs; supporters said it would reduce costs for families and improve communication, but the amendment failed 6-8. The committee then returned to the underlying SB 1055 and gave it a due pass recommendation on an 8-6 vote with one absent.

Transcript Highlights:

• detention centers or ICE contracts.
• Your intent is to shut down the ICE detention facilities.
• Your intent is to defund ICE and get rid of ICE.
• Your intent is to defund ICE and get rid of ice.
• who have been detained and still have been detained, the deplorable conditions in which these facilities

Summary: The Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation heard several bills, most of them referred to the suspense file because of their fiscal impact. AB 2465 and AB 1675 would deny state grants, loans, tax credits, or other benefits to companies doing business with ICE or related immigration-enforcement agencies; both drew strong support from immigrant-rights, labor, and community groups, and opposition from CalChamber and industry groups that argued the bills were overly broad and could affect unrelated federal contracts. AB 1633 would impose a 50% gross receipts tax on for-profit private immigration detention facilities, with supporters saying it would hold companies accountable for dangerous conditions and opponents warning it was punitive and could disrupt detention operations. The committee also heard AB 2089, which would streamline the welfare property tax exemption process for affordable housing, and AB 2250, a cleanup bill to clarify hemp enforcement laws; both were supported by affected industry and advocacy groups, while county assessors and tax collectors opposed AB 2089 unless amended over workload and implementation concerns. AB 2172, which would allow counties to use a single-member assessment appeals commissioner for complex property tax appeals, was the only bill taken up for a vote during the meeting. Supporters, including Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang, said the change would reduce a large backlog and speed resolution of appeals; the committee adopted amendments and passed the bill 4-0 to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. The committee also heard AB 2319, creating a proposed post-production tax credit to keep film and television post-production work in California, with support from labor and industry representatives who said jobs and spending were leaving the state; the author said the bill still needed work on labor standards and the annual credit cap. Finally, AB 2403 was presented to create a commercial production tax credit to keep commercial shoots in California. The author and supporters said commercial production has declined sharply in the state and that other states are winning work through targeted incentives, while labor-backed witnesses argued the bill would protect middle-class jobs and local spending. The transcript ends during the presentation of AB 2403, before any vote or final action on that measure.

Transcript Highlights:

• how much of those 500 people that was detained was caused by HPD helping ICE to enforce the immigration
• how much of those 500 people that was detained was caused by HPD helping ICE to enforce the immigration
• how much of those 500 people that was detained was caused by HPD helping ICE to enforce the immigration
• how much of those 500 people that was detained was caused by HPD helping ICE to enforce the immigration
• Between October 2023 and October 2025, ICE placed detainers on approximately 132 individuals in custody

Committee: Senate Public Safety and Military Affairs

Summary: The joint hearing covered HB 1976, relating to dementia training for law enforcement, and HB 2443, relating to disaster services for people with disabilities and access or functional needs. For HB 1976, the Hawaii Law Enforcement Standards Board opposed the bill’s process and cost, arguing there was no documented training gap because existing CALEA accreditation already includes mental illness response training that covers dementia. Supporters, including the Alzheimer’s Association, AARP, disability advocates, caregivers, and several individuals, said dementia-specific training would help first responders better handle real-world encounters and avoid harmful misunderstandings. The committee later recommended passage with amendments, including changing mandatory language to permissive language in several places and removing a deadline for the first annual training cycle; the recommendation was adopted unanimously. For HB 2443, testimony was strongly supportive. The Disability Communication Access Board, the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Office of Wellness and Resilience, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, and individual testifiers said the bill would strengthen emergency planning and response by adding a Disability Integration Specialist and better integrating people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs into disaster preparedness, sheltering, and FEMA coordination. Several speakers emphasized recent storms and rescues as evidence of the need. The committee recommended passage with amendments, including changes based on Attorney General comments and adding specialized communications and comprehensive communications planning provisions previously contained in another bill; that recommendation was also adopted unanimously. The transcript then moved to a separate mini hearing on HB 1768, relating to immigration enforcement. Supporters, including the ACLU of Hawaii, the Legal Clinic, the Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, argued the bill would prevent local law enforcement from entering 287(g)-type agreements or otherwise participating in federal immigration enforcement, citing civil rights concerns, community trust, and the need for police to focus on local public safety. One testifier raised concerns that local cooperation could help avoid mistakes in enforcement, while supporters responded that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and that local agencies should not be deputized for civil immigration arrests. The excerpt ends amid extended member questions and discussion, without showing a final vote on HB 1768.

Transcript Highlights:

• Today, teenagers who are detained by ICE write, 'More than 60 days I've been here.
• And during the surge, they were used as a tool by ICE to be able to unlawfully detain thousands of Minnesotans
• This bill would stop the practice of ICE using jails to unlawfully detain people and stop the practice
• </c><01:04:11.280><c> from</c><01:04:11.599><c> 2016</c> detained at the request of ICE from 2016 detained
• </c> have found themselves being detained. have found themselves being detained.

Bills: HF4077 , HF3798 , HF3886

Committee: House Elections Finance and Government Operations

Transcript Highlights:

• But the fact remains that the ICE agents are not primarily detaining in dangerous situations by their
• We know that ICE is using Plymouth Detention Center as a way station, keeping immigrants detained there
• ICE arrests in Massachusetts are up 336%, and nearly 80% of those they detain have no criminal history
• This past summer, in less than six weeks, 34 of our constituents were detained and arrested by ICE on
• It is the threat of ICE agents arresting and detaining them, whether legally justified or not.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on the Judiciary

Summary: The Joint Committee on the Judiciary held a lengthy public hearing on a wide range of civil rights, immigration, hate crimes, and reparations bills. Chair Edwards and Chair Day opened with strict testimony rules, including two-minute limits, written testimony options, and decorum requirements. Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell testified in strong support of S. 1126/H. 1920, the Combating Hate in the Commonwealth bill, saying Massachusetts needs stronger tools to address rising hate and bias incidents. Her Civil Rights Division chief explained that the bill would give the division civil investigative demand/subpoena power, expand civil rights enforcement, close loopholes in the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act, add protected classes to the hate crimes law, and require better hate-crime data reporting. The committee also heard support for H. 1954 on access to counsel in immigration proceedings, H. 4684 on law enforcement identification and public trust, and H. 1927 to exonerate individuals accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. Several bills focused on discrimination and civil rights enforcement. Supporters of S. 1248 on organizational standing said fair housing nonprofits need explicit authority to bring discrimination complaints in their own names, especially as federal protections are under attack. On H. 1246, advocates urged adding sex and gender as protected classes in the hate crimes statute, arguing women are not protected under current state law. H. 1820 drew testimony for protections against height and weight discrimination. H. 1995 would regularize sentencing for hate crimes by requiring diversity awareness training for both convictions and continuances without a finding, and H. 1056/H. 1589 would broaden hate-crime victim standing and require restitution to be used to repair harm. H. 1886 would clarify that defense-based social service staff are exempt from mandated reporter obligations when working under attorney-client privilege. The committee also heard testimony on H. 1889/S. 1064, a bill to eliminate disparate impact. Environmental justice advocates, fair housing attorneys, and community members argued that neutral policies can still produce discriminatory outcomes and that Massachusetts should allow state-court claims and a private right of action to address them. Committee members raised concerns about litigation floodgates, punitive damages, and the scope of protected classes, while supporters said the bill would mainly target systemic harms and injunctive relief. Additional testimony supported H. 1922/S. 119, the Fair Investment Act, which would create civil rights protections in venture capital and other investment settings for founders and investors, especially women and minority entrepreneurs. The hearing also included testimony on H. 1683, the Sex Trade Survivor Act, which would expand vacatur and expungement relief for trafficking survivors, remove archaic offenses from the code, and create an interagency commission; supporters emphasized reducing barriers to housing, employment, and reentry. Finally, the committee heard extensive support for H. 1753/S. 1181, establishing a commission to study reparations in Massachusetts. Testifiers described the state’s history of slavery, redlining, and ongoing racial disparities, and urged the committee to report the bill favorably. No votes or final actions were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Redmond, we're seeing ICE detain U.S. citizens. If this, if...
• We're seeing ICE detain U.S. citizens.
• ICE has beaten, detained, and even murdered American citizens.
• PD tells ICE, ICE could come to ram your family's door without due process if you are detained.
• ICE could come to ram your family's door without due process if you are detained.

Bills: SB1032 , SB1055 , SB1107

Committees: House Public Safety & Law Enforcement , House House Public Safety & Law Enforcement Committee of Reference

Keywords: corrections oversight, funding, state budget, criminal justice, reform, immigration enforcement, law enforcement, illegal aliens, state legislation, civil penalties, peace officer certification, police certification, law enforcement licensing, Arizona POST, peace officer standards and training, military police, veterans, honorably discharged, veteran hiring, abbreviated academy

Bills: SB1450 , SB1458 , SB1232 , SB1238 , SB1325 , SB1209 , SB1362 , SB2072 , SB1451 , SB1540 , SB1581 , SB1535 , SB1266 , SB1927 , SB1460 , SB2084 , SB2182

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Keywords: criminal court costs, court fees, fines, assessments, waiver, ability to pay, indigent defendants, post-release relief, probation compliance, parole, deferred sentence, suspended sentence, restitution, child support, municipal court, district court, criminal justice reform, court debt, legal financial obligations, fee waiver

Transcript Highlights:

• And not just for detention, but also for the ICE arrests that we're seeing.
• In fact, we know that over 600 children have been detained by ICE so far.
• the nation have been abandoned by ICE or detained.
• the nation have been abandoned by ICE or detained.
• laborers, street vendors, and domestic workers detained.

Summary: The hearing opened the Select Committee on Latina Inequities, hosted in Assembly District 43 at Los Angeles Mission College. Chair Celeste Rodriguez and Assembly Member Mia Bonta framed the committee’s purpose as examining Latina economic status and policy barriers, with this hearing focused on the federal administration’s effects on Latinas, the economy, immigration enforcement, and the social safety net. The chair also highlighted California’s equal pay efforts, including SB 642, and described the hearing as a forum to identify legislative solutions. The first panel, led by HOPE, presented findings from its National Economic Status of Latinas report. Speakers said Latinas are a major economic force in California but face persistent inequities, including the state’s largest wage gap, higher unemployment, high uninsured rates, student debt, and affordability pressures around child care, housing, and education. Testimony emphasized that many Latinas are weighing whether degrees or certificates are worth the cost, that entrepreneurship can be a path to mobility but is limited by lack of capital and technical support, and that policy changes such as SB 642, dual enrollment, financial literacy, mentorship, and access to retirement tools could help. The second panel focused on immigration enforcement and Latina safety in the workforce. Advocates and researchers described ICE raids, racial profiling, detention conditions, and the chilling effect on work, school attendance, health care access, and daily life. Speakers from the ACLU, UCLA LPPI, SEIU Local 99, worker centers, Inclusive Action, and CHIRLA said Latinas and immigrant workers are concentrated in essential sectors such as child care, agriculture, construction, domestic work, and street vending, and that enforcement is causing lost wages, family separation, and trauma. They urged stronger state oversight of detention, more legal services, protections for worker centers and street vendors, cash assistance and rental relief, and continued support for rapid response networks and community-based organizing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Stop ICE.
• Just over the weekend, we learned that ICE detained a two-year-old girl and sent her to Texas despite
• A five-year-old, Liam Conejo Ramos, was detained where ICE used a preschooler as bait by telling him
• A Navajo man detained by ICE in Peoria, Arizona, despite having ID. ICE agents continue Arizona.
• into hospitals, without having ICE raid schools, without having ICE raid churches.

Summary: The House convened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, approval of the prior journal, and recognition of Dr. Pamela Murphy as Doctor of the Day. Members also introduced a number of guests, including Deacon Ernie Gonzalez, local Prescott officials, Arizona Game and Fish commissioners, and advocates from the Alzheimer’s Association. A proclamation was read designating January 26, 2026, as Arizona Aviation Day, with remarks highlighting the aviation industry’s economic impact and the presence of airport and aviation representatives in the gallery. The clerk then read a long list of bills that had been first read or referred for printing, and a second-reading calendar covering measures on water and energy, education, elections, taxes, housing, veterans, public safety, and other topics. No floor votes on those bills were taken during this segment. Representative Gress also read a resolution recognizing National School Choice Week and praising Arizona’s school choice programs, including charters and ESAs. Much of the remainder of the session consisted of members’ personal privilege remarks responding to violence and immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota and elsewhere. Speakers from both parties and several senators and representatives condemned ICE tactics, described constituent fear and family separations, and called for constitutional rights, due process, and accountability. Representative Sandoval requested and the House observed a moment of respectful silence in memory of Alex Pretty and Renee Good. The House then received committee and caucus announcements and adjourned until 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, January 27, 2026.

Transcript Highlights:

• Stop ICE.
• Just over the weekend, we learned that ICE detained a two-year-old girl and sent her to Texas despite
• A five-year-old, Liam Conejo Ramos, was detained, where ICE used a preschooler as bait by telling him
• And they certainly haven't stopped there: a Navajo man detained by ICE in Peoria, Arizona, despite having
• into hospitals, without having ICE raid schools, without having ICE raid churches.

Transcript Highlights:

• We need ICE out of our communities.
• </c> ICE out of our state. ICE out of our state.
• I had a ICE agents in our hospitals.
• And they're not obtaining healthy food for fear of being detained by ICE.
• And they're not obtaining healthy food for fear of being detained by ICE.

Summary: At this meeting, Senator Matt Klein and a group of Minnesota physicians and medical organizations described what they said was escalating ICE activity in and around hospitals and clinics, and argued it is deterring patients from seeking care and interfering with medical work. Speakers from emergency medicine, pediatrics, the Minnesota Medical Association, obstetrics/gynecology, and family medicine said patients are avoiding appointments, missing follow-up care, and in some cases suffering serious harm because of fear of detention or family separation. They emphasized that emergency departments and other health care settings should remain safe spaces where care is based on medical need, not immigration status. Several speakers gave examples they said showed actual patient harm, including missed prenatal and pediatric visits, delayed treatment leading to sepsis, perforated colon, burst appendix, and a patient with cancer who was detained and moved without medications. Pediatric and OB/GYN speakers focused on trauma to children and families, including fear of bringing children to appointments, requests for home births, and patients refusing transfer for higher-level care. Family medicine and emergency physicians also said staff morale is low, some workers are afraid to come in, and the situation is affecting diverse health care teams across the state. The discussion also touched on legal and policy questions. Speakers said they have tried calling police, hospital administration, and security to remove ICE agents from private patient areas, but reported that agents refused to leave. They said ICE may be allowed in public spaces but should not be in patient rooms or during private exams, and suggested there may be a role for legislation to codify best practices for law enforcement interactions in health care settings. No votes were taken; the meeting consisted of testimony, questions from reporters, and calls for collaboration and for ICE to stop enforcement activity in health care settings.

Transcript Highlights:

• I tell you what: we make sure this never happens again, because right now ICE is unable to detain and
• issued a detainer after he committed these crimes because ultimately, if ICE had been aware and then
• This legislation requires ICE to issue detainers and take custody of illegal aliens who commit crimes
• issued a detainer after he committed these crimes because ultimately, if ICE had been aware and then
• </c><01:17:44.800><c> for</c><01:17:45.000><c> the</c> Ice didn't Lodge a detainer for the Ice didn't

Bills: HR29

Keywords: Okinawan immigration, cultural heritage, historical contributions, sister city relationships, military history, education, cultural identity, Okinawan Americans, Okinawa, Hawaii, Japanese American, immigration anniversary, diaspora, Asian American history, Pacific Islander, sister city, sister state, Kenjinkai, karate, World War II

Transcript Highlights:

• ICE says, you know, you committed that burglary and you shouldn't be here, so we're going to put a detainer
• When we are talking about immigration detainers, when somebody is booked into a jail and ICE says, hey
• They'd be in ICE within 48 hours.
• They'd be in ICE within 48 hours.
• If we notify ICE at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, this person's bonded and ICE comes and picks them up

Committee: Senate Appropriations

Summary: The Appropriations Committee took up SB 2B, a major immigration bill by Senator Gruters, described by supporters as a Trump-aligned package to strengthen Florida’s role in immigration enforcement. The bill would create a grant program for local law enforcement, expand jail-ICE agreements beyond sheriff-operated jails, establish a chief immigration officer and a state immigration enforcement council, require more coordination on E-Verify and detention-bed reporting, allow immigration status to be considered in bail decisions, increase penalties for certain offenses tied to illegal reentry and voting, and repeal in-state tuition waivers for undocumented students. Much of the sponsor’s presentation and debate emphasized focusing on criminal offenders, improving coordination with federal authorities, and using state resources to support detention and enforcement. Committee questioning focused heavily on the tuition-waiver repeal, reimbursement for jail costs, E-Verify coverage, and whether the bill could lead to street-level immigration enforcement in schools or churches. Senator Smith, Senator Pizzo, Senator Polsky, Senator Sharief, and others challenged the tuition repeal as unfair to students who were brought to Florida as children and argued for grandfathering current students or studying the fiscal impact first. Senator Fine defended the repeal as ending a state subsidy for people who are not lawfully present and argued the change would save tens of millions of dollars. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri testified that the bill was limited to jail-based enforcement, said there was no current street-level 287(g) program in Florida, and stated he did not believe the bill raised concerns for law enforcement or schools/churches. A representative of the Florida Supervisors of Elections supported the voting-related section, while a Florida Highway Patrol representative said state agencies would need additional funding if they were expected to take on more enforcement duties. The committee adopted Senator Gruters’ late-filed amendment correcting a drafting error. Senator Smith’s amendment to require an OPAGA study on the tuition-waiver policy was withdrawn after discussion, and his handwritten amendment to delete the repeal of in-state tuition for undocumented students failed on a roll-call vote. The bill then advanced as amended, with several members speaking in debate both for and against it. Supporters framed it as a focused public-safety and enforcement measure; opponents criticized the special-session process, the cost, and the tuition repeal’s impact on students already enrolled.

Transcript Highlights:

• detention centers or ICE contracts.
• Your intent is to shut down the ICE detention facilities.
• Your intent is to defund ICE and get rid of ICE.
• Your intent is to defund ICE and get rid of ice.
• I, for one, have seen and heard from my residents who have been detained and still have been detained

Committee: House Revenue and Taxation

Transcript Highlights:

• for detaining, holding ICE detainees.
• detainer on that and there's an ICE detainer on that person.<01:14:40.480><c> All</c><01:14:40.480><
• </c> cruiser and it turns out there's an ICE cruiser and it turns out there's an ICE detainer. detainer
• </c><01:15:48.640><c> this</c> will let ICE know that they detain this will let ICE know that they detain
• c> detainer</c> see that there is a ICE detainer see that there is a ICE detainer uh<04:33:34.959><c>

Committee: House Criminal Justice and Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• There are, I think, two court of appeals cases which have held that if you hold the detainers from ICE
• </c> solely on federal immigration detainers. solely on federal immigration detainers.
• So uh ICE ICE agents attempted to &gt;&gt; Yes.
• </c><03:16:34.880><c> detainers</c><03:16:35.359><c> and</c> respondents based on ICE detainers and respondents
• based on ICE detainers and warrants.<03:16:36.640><c> That</c><03:16:36.880><c> is</c><03:16:37.279>

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• who had entered the country illegally and turn them over to ICE.
• Now, ICE was always active and still is.
• So it's not necessarily that we're turning them over to ICE.
• If that person is detained for some type of criminal violation, and—” “If that person is detained for
• And they'll go back and they'll sit on ice.

Committee: All ALC-GAME & FISH/STATE POLICE

Summary: The committee first heard from Arkansas State Police leadership about the agency’s role in federal immigration enforcement. Colonel Mike Hager said State Police has completed 287(g) training for all but 12 officers and is authorized to assist ICE in limited circumstances, but is not an immigration enforcement agency. He emphasized that troopers only make immigration-related notifications after lawful stops or arrests for other offenses, and that the agency uses discretion and chain-of-command approval for any planned operation. Members asked about how immigration status is determined, whether stops are tracked, whether local agencies are participating, and whether there are costs or reimbursement mechanisms; Hager said the agency began tracking encounters in September and had 48 detentions since then, most tied to other criminal violations such as DWIs or domestic violence. He also said there were no current planned immigration operations beyond assisting federal partners. The committee then received an update from Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Director Doug Schoenrock on wildlife management areas, waterfowl habitat, and related infrastructure. He reported that most moist-soil units and green tree reservoirs were flooded or near normal, with one new pump not yet operational and a vandalized Ed Gordon/Point Remove pump back in service since December. He also said the Lake Conway dam and water-control work were progressing, with a public meeting scheduled at Mayflower High School. Questions followed about dock removal notices, maintenance on other water-control structures, and a recent fatal boating accident at Baumito WMA, which Schoenrock described as a high-speed collision in flooded timber and said the agency was working on a safety memorial effort with the victim’s widow. A substantial portion of the meeting focused on duck season, drought conditions, and criticism of the Flyway Federation’s push to restrict hunting over standing corn. Schoenrock said Arkansas remains the nation’s top duck-hunting destination, but drought and warm weather have reduced water availability and caused ducks to move north; he cited survey numbers showing 1.4 million ducks in the state at the end of December but a much lower January count. He argued that standing corn is legal and that federal habitat and water policy, not Arkansas law, drives long-term duck populations. Members raised concerns about changing migration patterns, the role of private clubs, federal regulation, and the possible effects of wind turbines and solar panels on waterfowl; Schoenrock and Commissioner Chris Caldwell said the commission is studying those issues, including a University of Arkansas at Monticello project on avoidance behavior, and that no immediate regulatory changes were announced. The committee took no formal vote and adjourned after the presentations and questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• And there was a detainer request by ICE to detain that person, but that municipality had a policy to
• not cooperate in any meaningful way whatsoever with that ICE detainer request.
• And there was a detainer request by ICE to detain that person, but that municipality had a policy to
• not cooperate in any meaningful way whatsoever with that ICE detainer request.
• , you know, act on that ICE detainment.

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• ICE has detained four Columbia students, including two from elementary school.
• When I heard ICE agents detain someone on a main road in Woodbury, a road I drive every day to get my
• Should I take my kids to eat at a restaurant when I know ICE might show up violently to detain our neighbors
• As many of you know, uh, one week ago today, our little Liam Kjo Ramos was detained by ICE.
• And we all we've all detained by ICE.

Summary: The meeting focused on the impact of recent ICE enforcement activity in Minnesota, especially on schools, students, and families. Speakers, including legislators, superintendents, a school board chair, teachers, parents, and a student, described fear in immigrant and non-immigrant communities, increased absenteeism, disrupted school routines, and broader trauma affecting children’s mental health and learning. Several speakers said students were staying home, families were avoiding bus stops and public places, and educators were taking on extra duties such as transporting students, delivering food, and helping with housing and remote learning options. Testimony included specific examples from Columbia Heights, Fidley Public Schools, Rochester, and Maple Grove. Speakers reported detained students and family members, canceled in-person classes in some districts, expanded virtual learning, and sharp attendance declines; one superintendent cited more than 530 additional daily absences in Rochester and large increases in excused absences among multilingual, low-income, Asian-American, and Latino students. A parent and student speaker described organizing neighborhood safety efforts and a planned student walkout to demand safe busing, suspension of a policy that unenrolls students after 15 consecutive absences, and a pause on standardized testing. The speakers repeatedly called for ICE to be removed from schools and from Minnesota, and urged elected officials to act to protect children and educators. One senator reflected on democracy, liberty, and freedom from fear, linking the situation to the purpose of public education. No formal committee vote or legislative action was taken during the excerpt; the session ended with a transition to questions and a call for community responsibility and support.