As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities ramp up all over Minnesota, it appears many innocent and legitimate US citizens are being targeted merely for their skin color. A couple of ICE and Border Patrol arrests have raised concerns, because one of them involves a teenager who even carried a US passport in his pocket, leading many to question who exactly is safe against the federal agents.
The incident occurred in a particular Target branch in 6445 Richfield Pkwy, Richfield, Minnesota, around January 8. Several Border Patrol agents stormed Target’s premises, nabbing two Target employees in the process. But what really made the arrest more concerning is how one of the men arrested was shouting, “I’m literally, a US citizen,” and was later identified as a 17-year-old US citizen based on his US passport.
Sadly, it didn’t matter to the Border Patrol agents as they dragged the teenage US citizen into their car to detain him while the Target shoppers looked on helplessly. Some witnesses thankfully tried to help the detainee, asking for his name during the struggle. According to the friends of the detainees, both men were actually US citizens, and they were allegedly released eight hours after the arrest, likely thanks to the US passports in their pockets.
It’s not clear why exactly Border Patrol agents dragged and arrested the two Target employees, but some speculations online have pointed to their skin color and racial profiling as the motivation for the arrest. Regardless of the cause, however, it appears even US passports don’t matter much now, seeing as Border Patrol still chose to detain the Target employees.
People online are condemning the Border Patrol’s actions
Of course, across Minnesota, there have been several arrests or instances of violence under similar circumstances, from innocent DoorDash drivers to even high school students. Some of the arrests and violence even took place before the death of Renee Good at the hands of an ICE agent.
Meanwhile, some commenters were pointing out just how absurd the situation is, where some darker-skinned people now need to have US passports in their pockets, and even then, they might still get arrested. “So it’s suspicious when someone doesn’t have their papers, and it’s also suspicious when they do,” questions a commenter.
Earlier, in 2025, a Somali-American woman from Utah even kept her passport taped to her forehead to deter any ICE or Border Patrol agent from profiling or arresting her. Still, it might not be enough, as even legitimate US citizens are under threat of getting profiled or harassed by ICE or other federal agents; one supposed Caucasian nurse was even arrested last year after refusing to answer questions.
