Citizen Portal
Sign In

Mankato residents describe fear and ask county to act after ICE enforcement at community center

Blue Earth County Board of Commissioners · January 21, 2026

Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts

Subscribe
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Two public commenters described a Jan. 15 enforcement action in a community center parking lot and urged the board to use its platform: one recounted community trauma and local healing efforts, the other urged the board to call for ICE to leave Mankato and to provide public information on rights.

During public comment at the Blue Earth County board meeting on Jan. 20, two speakers described local impacts from an immigration enforcement action and urged the county to respond.

Sue Lake, a Mankato resident and member of the Vine community, told the board she did not witness an 'ice raid' in the Vine parking lot on Jan. 15 but received immediate reports and photographs from class participants who saw two men detained. Lake described shock, fear and a loss of safety among members and organized a facilitated community meeting for emotional support and planning. She said participants remain uncertain about the status of the detained men and asked for community support and mutual‑aid efforts. "What do we do now? Where do we go?" Lake asked the board and the room, describing a mix of anger, helplessness and a desire to organize help for vulnerable neighbors.

Shelley Hins of Faith in Minnesota urged the board to use its platform: she asked the county to call for ICE to leave Mankato, to stop local funding for ICE activities, and to publish public‑information materials explaining rights for citizens and noncitizens. Hins said Faith in Minnesota is organizing a Jan. 23 action and asked for board assistance in outreach.

Board members thanked the speakers and noted the public‑comment process (the board does not take direct action during comment). Staff said the board would take comments back to staff if follow‑up were needed.

Next steps: The board did not vote on policy actions during the meeting; staff may review the comments and bring forward options if the board directs follow‑up at a later meeting.