It seems any time someone crosses paths with ICE in Minnesota, it’s at the very least uncomfortable or deadly. People have been stopped for as little as driving through their neighborhoods by paranoid agents who think they’re being followed. One couple on TikTok shared their own experience, one of them being pestered by ICE for simply existing in a parking lot. The reason for the interception? ICE agents said the couple was “staring” at them, which apparently was enough to make them suspicious.
TikToker Melperg shared a tense interaction with ICE, which took place in a Home Depot parking lot. They had been stopped by agents, who approached the vehicle. Mel has her passport up, as does her partner. And not to be a stickler, but that’s being pretty generous. They didn’t even have to do that.
Unfortunately, the ICE agent immediately starts getting mouthy with them, demanding the keys to their vehicle. That’s not even standard practice for police forces without a warrant.
“I don’t gotta give you the keys.” Mel’s partner, Jason, puts the keys on his dashboard instead.
When the ICE agent asks again, the couple rightfully asks for a reason. They don’t give one; in fact, they drop that lie entirely and go on to ask them if they’re U.S. citizens. Mel, with her passport in hand, says, “I’m show you my passport, ain’t I?”
ICE asks Jason who the vehicle belongs to, and he explains he’s borrowing it from a friend. The agent doesn’t understand that people sometimes borrow vehicles from friends and says, “The car you’re driving? You should have it registered in your name.” So borrowing a car is a problem now? I bet every one of those ICE agents had to borrow a buddy’s truck.
They get accusatory with him and then bring up a totally different issue: Mel and Jason were apparently “staring” at them. Mel asks the ICE agents, “So we can’t stare?” and they try to tell her, “We didn’t say that.”
The ICE agent explains, “The car you’re driving comes back to someone who has no status in this country. That’s why we’re stopping you.”
He then goes back and forth with them over the fact that, when they pulled into the parking lot, Mel and Jason kept staring at them. The ICE agent adds, “Then you guys drive behind us, which is suspicious as well,” before sending them off with a lazy “good day.”
One commenter pointed out, “They were tryna find any excuse to do something.”
Another stated, “Instantly trying to get you to give him the keys without even explaining anything yet just goes to show they had NO good intentions.”
One jokingly added, “They’re all so emotional.” They shared their frustration as if it were a therapy session.
