MINNEAPOLIS -- The union that represents Minneapolis police officers Monday endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson, who used the occasion to criticize his DFL opponent for his stance on sanctuary cities.
Congressman Tim Walz has said if he's elected governor he won't interfere with cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul, which have separation policies on the books. Police officers in those cities have been told to concentrate on enforcing state laws rather than acting as extensions of ICE, the federal agency charged with tracking undocumented immigrants.
"We'd become essentially the safe space, the magnet for every illegal alien who wants to be protected from the federal government in any way, and that means not just illegal immigrants who wandered across the border, this means criminals, dangerous criminals," Johnson, a Hennepin County Commissioner and former state legislator, told KARE.
Lt. Bob Kroll, the Minneapolis Police Federation president, has strongly opposed the separation policy. And he criticized Mayor Jacob Frey a recent decision to place placards in every squad car, written in both English and Spanish, advising immigrants of their rights.
Immigration attorney Kara Lynum said the point of sanctuary laws is to help police and crime victims by promoting good community relations. She said those laws don't protect immigrants from prosecution if they break state and local laws.
"A sanctuary city or sanctuary state would just mean that local law enforcement and local officers would not be asking for someone's immigration status," Lynum told KARE.
"They would simply be enforcing our laws, which makes us all safer because everyone feels like they can call the police regardless of their status."
Many undocumented workers live in the shadows, and are taken advantage of by predators who know they fear deportation, and separation from their American-born children.
Walz, who was traveling Monday, issued this statement in response to Johnson's criticism:
"I am a father and a National Guard veteran, and I strongly believe in protecting our families and ensuring public safety. If someone commits a violent crime, they’re going to prison no matter who they are.
"I believe all Minnesotans are safer when local law enforcement focus their limited resources on local crimes being committed on our streets and in our communities, not on enforcing federal immigration laws."
Republican lawmakers at the State Capitol have tried unsuccessfully to pass bills that would penalize sanctuary cities, and President Trump has also threatened to deny federal funds to cities that don't arrest immigrants who hare in the country illegally and turn them over to ICE.