Oppose the Militarization of Immigration Enforcement at Fort Snelling

I am writing to urge you to oppose the use of Fort Snelling as a staging ground for mass immigration enforcement operations. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has authorized the Department of Homeland Security to use this historic site to house 500 to 800 Customs and Border Protection personnel, park 300 to 500 vehicles, operate five air assets, and store munitions. This represents an unacceptable escalation that threatens the safety and wellbeing of immigrant communities throughout the Minneapolis metropolitan area. Using a military installation with munitions storage and hundreds of armed personnel to conduct immigration enforcement transforms what should be a civil administrative process into a militarized operation. This approach does not fix our broken immigration system. It creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation that destabilizes families, disrupts social support networks, and damages the mental and physical health of community members who already face significant barriers to safety and stability. Fort Snelling sits on land stolen from Dakota people and was itself a site where Dakota people were imprisoned following the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Using this location specifically for aggressive enforcement operations against another marginalized population echoes the darkest chapters of American history. The parallels to slave patrols and other systems of racialized violence and control are impossible to ignore. We cannot address immigration challenges by repeating patterns of dehumanization and state-sponsored intimidation. Minnesota communities deserve immigration policies rooted in dignity, due process, and pathways to legal status, not military-style raids launched from federal installations. I ask you to publicly oppose the use of Fort Snelling for these operations, support legislative efforts to restrict military involvement in civil immigration enforcement, and advocate for comprehensive immigration reform that recognizes the contributions immigrants make to our state and nation. Our immigration system needs repair through humane policy, not escalation through force.