Is Ice arresting kids and priests?
Executive summary
Reporting from multiple outlets shows two related but distinct phenomena: law enforcement arrested roughly 100 clergy members who were protesting ICE at Minneapolis–St. Paul airport (those arrests were carried out by airport and local police, not ICE) [1] [2] [3] [4], while ICE itself has been carrying out enforcement operations in Minnesota and elsewhere that have detained migrants — including highly publicized cases involving children and arrests near or on church property that have prompted controversy [5] [6] [7].
1. Clergy arrested at MSP were protesters, detained by airport/local police
Coverage across DW, CBS Minnesota, Fortune and local outlets consistently reports that about 100 clergy members were arrested while blocking access to Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport during anti‑ICE demonstrations; the arrests were described as misdemeanor citations for trespass and failure to comply and were handled by MSP Airport Police and Bloomington/local law enforcement rather than federal ICE agents [1] [3] [4] [8].
2. Federal authorities have separately arrested protesters and brought charges
Federal prosecutors and the Department of Justice have also been active: federal arrests and civil‑rights related charges were brought against organizers of a protest inside a St. Paul church that targeted a pastor alleged to be an ICE official, with the DOJ saying it would investigate and press charges in that matter and federal agents having arrested several activists in connection with the church incident [9] [10] [11].
3. ICE enforcement has detained migrants — sometimes near churches and sometimes involving children in public reporting
Reporting documents ICE operations that resulted in detentions in Minnesota and elsewhere; a high‑profile image and reporting about a five‑year‑old, Liam Ramos, being detained by ICE has reverberated nationwide and been discussed in live coverage, and separate incidents of men being detained on or near church grounds in California have sparked complaints from clergy and parish officials [5] [6].
4. Disputed facts and competing narratives around “arresting priests” and church entries
Where coverage diverges is on whether ICE entered sanctuaries or arrested clergy as clergy: church leaders and activists assert ICE has conducted detentions on or adjacent to church property, while ICE and some officials have disputed claims that agents entered sanctified spaces to make arrests, saying in at least one California case that a traffic stop occurred in proximity to a church parking lot and accusations that ICE “entered a church to make an arrest” were false [6].
5. How the reporting can be misread — who is doing the arresting matters
The headlines and social posts can conflate two things: arrests of clergy who were protesting (handled by local/airport police) and ICE detentions of migrants (handled by federal immigration officers); that conflation has led to viral claims that ICE is “arresting priests,” but the sourced reporting shows clergy were primarily arrested as demonstrators outside the airport while ICE’s operations focused on migrants and enforcement targets [1] [2] [3] [4] [8].
6. What this leaves unanswered — limits of available reporting
Sources document specific incidents and the heated political context — including federal prosecutions of protesters and disputed images and claims — but do not provide comprehensive national data showing ICE systematically arrests clergy as a category, nor do they settle every disputed tactical detail about where particular detentions occurred; those gaps mean definitive, nationwide claims that “ICE is arresting priests” are not supported by the current reporting, while documented ICE detentions of migrants (including child‑related incidents reported locally) are confirmed [5] [9] [6].