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Immigration enforcement in Minnesota
Matt Mikus and Anna Paige
Appleton, Minn.

Dozens protest Appleton ICE detention facility in first weekend of operation

A rally followed the opening of the Appleton Detention Facility.
Demonstrators with signs opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement march along Minnesota State Highway 119 during a rally on Saturday in Appleton, Minn. The march followed an interfaith prayer vigil outside the Appleton Civic Center organized in response to the arrival of detainees at the Appleton Detention Facility, which opened earlier in the week.
Anna Paige for MPR News

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Local organizers say more than 70 detainees are at the facility that opened early last week. Clergy and community organizers gathered to demand more answers about the facility.

More than 70 protestors gathered for a prayer vigil and rally Saturday in Appleton after Immigration and Customs Enforcement began transporting detainees to the newly opened facility.

The protesters gathered to hold signs, sing and chant, asking for more transparency and expressing frustration at the immigration policies of the federal government. They also called for humane conditions, including access to food, clean water and communication with their families and attorneys.

Brian Wojtalewicz, an attorney in Appleton, said during a press conference before the rally they believe more than 70 detainees are being held in the facility. The Sahan Journal has reported the facility has up to 1,600 beds.

“We are not alone at being appalled that human beings have been imprisoned out here,” Wojtalewicz said. “What are their sins? Their sins are traveling thousands of miles to get better jobs, to get safe communities, to have their children live in safety, have their children get a decent education. That's their sins.”

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A rally followed the opening of the Appleton Detention Facility.
Lindsay Stambaugh stands on public cemetery land, as close as she can get to the newly-opened Appleton Detention Facility, on Saturday along Minnesota State Highway 119, following a press conference at the Appleton Cemetery. Stambaugh told MPR News she came with friends to attend the interfaith prayer vigil and rally, organized by the Prairie Alliance for Human Dignity. “I’m trying to reconcile in my mind that there’s a concentration in my home state and where my family had a farm,” she said of her grandfather, who grew up outside Danube, Minn.
Anna Paige for MPR News
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A rally followed the opening of the Appleton Detention Facility.
Yolanda Cisneros, of Unidos MN in Granite Falls, calls the crowd gathered at a rally in opposition of the Appleton Detention Facility to join her in a march around the block of the Appleton Civic Center on Saturday.
Anna Paige for MPR News
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A rally followed the opening of the Appleton Detention Facility.
Sally Lieberman, of Minneapolis, waves at traffic as she demonstrates along Minnesota State Highway 119 as part of a interfaith vigil and rally organized by the Prairie Alliance for Human Dignity, calling for the closure of the Appleton Detention Facility, on Saturday. “Caring about humanity brought me here,” Lieberman told MPR News.
Anna Paige for MPR News

Yolanda Cisneros, a member of Unidos MN in Granite Falls, said previous actions of Republican President Donald Trump’s administration and ICE require transparency due to lack of trust.

“There are still many questions that deserve answers," Cisneros said. "How many more are expected to come? What are the conditions like inside the facility? How are the detainees being treated? And what procedures are in place to ensure their safety and well being? These are not unreasonable questions."

Clergy and citizens, like Pastor Andrés Albertsen, also voiced concern for immigrant neighbors, not only inside the detention facility, but among their communities.

"The opening of this facility sends a painful message," Albersten said. "The policies that caused so much fear have not changed, and they continue to live with that fear. That fear has a human cost."

Observers noticed the facility, formerly owned by CoreCivic and vacant since 2010, began seeing higher levels of activity on Wednesday. The Department of Homeland Security stated in a release that the Appleton Detention Facility opened Nov. 9.

The former private prison has been controversial since ICE purchased the facility in August. KARE 11 reported the prison, which was for sale for $75 million, was purchased by the Trump administration for $495.6 million.

MPR News has requested a response from Homeland Security officials, which has not yet responded.