Teen refugee held overnight in hotel room by ICE agents

Originally Written by: MPR News

A girl living in central Minnesota says immigration authorities separated her from her family and detained her overnight in a hotel, where she was forced to share a room with federal agents.

The teen entered the United States legally as a refugee. Her account is included in a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security.

Because she’s concerned for her safety, the girl’s attorneys redacted her name and country of origin from the written declaration that she filed in federal court. The filing lists only her initials, A.A.

The teen revealed in the filing that she lives in St. Cloud and is a junior in high school. She came to the United States in 2023 with her mother, father and four younger siblings.

The girl writes that on Jan. 13, she was driving her father’s car to school when at least two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles pulled her over, and four to five ICE agents got out and approached her. The teen told them that she’s a minor and offered proof by handing them her driver’s license.

She said that the agents handcuffed her in the street and forced her to abandon her father’s vehicle, which he relies on as a ride share driver.

The teen writes that ICE agents had said they planned to take her to Texas or Illinois, but they soon learned that a judge had ordered she not be moved outside Minnesota.

At the Whipple federal building near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, one agent told the teen to call her family and ask them to pick her up. But the agent said that if they came, ICE would send the entire family to Texas. The girl writes “My family decided not to come and pick me up as a result of this threat. ICE decided to take me to a hotel.”

The family is not accused of any criminal wrongdoing. Their attorney, Michelle Drake, said in a phone interview with MPR News on Monday that ICE weaponized the family’s love for their daughter.

“Refugees are people who have not been in this country very long, and they are escaping from authoritarian and totalitarian governments that do things like kidnap part of your family to get you to come down for an interrogation,” Drake said.

The teen spent the night of Jan. 13 at the hotel with two agents. Drake said that both agents were female.

The girl writes that she had her own bed, but not her own room. She does not allege that the agents sexually or physically abused her. And she does not name the hotel where she was imprisoned.

The agents returned her to the federal building the next day, where Drake picked her up around midday. The girl writes that at no time did anyone from the government try to interview her about her refugee status or the purported reason for her arrest. The teen says she’s afraid to leave her house.

DHS did not respond to the teen’s allegations in any court filings. MPR News emailed the agency for comment and to ask if detaining unaccompanied children in hotels with federal agents is a regular practice and whether department policy allows it.

A spokesperson asked to see the teen’s declaration, which is a public document. MPR News sent the redacted declaration to DHS on Tuesday afternoon, but the department has yet to respond.

The teen’s statement is included in a class action case in which refugees from Africa, Asia and Latin America allege that ICE illegally arrested and detained them as part of Operation PARRIS.

DHS said last month that the operation is “a sweeping initiative reexamining thousands of refugee cases through new background checks and intensive verification of refugee claims.”

Refugees already go through a rigorous vetting process before they’re admitted to the United States, which U.S. District Judge John Tunheim noted in a temporary restraining order that he granted on Jan. 28.

Tunheim’s directive allows DHS to continue reviewing refugees’ asylum claims, but it prohibits the agency from arresting or detaining them as part of this process. Plaintiff’s attorney Michelle Drake said on Tuesday that it appears DHS is abiding by the court’s order.