MINNEAPOLIS
For days, the sight of men dressed as utility workers in the lot outside his family’s Mexican restaurant filled Luis Ramirez with unease.
Their high-visibility vests and pristine white hard hats looked normal enough. But they wore the gear even while sitting in their car. When Ramirez, 31, searched for the Wisconsin-based electrician company advertised on the vehicle’s doors, he found nothing.
His suspicions were confirmed on Tuesday when the Nissan returned. Ramirez filmed his approach, capturing the moment the two men hid their faces. Beneath their yellow vests, the heavy outline of tactical gear was unmistakable.
“This is what our taxpayer money goes to,” Ramirez shouts in the video, gesturing toward the car. “Renting these vehicles with fake tags to come sit here and watch my business.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, did not respond to inquiries about whether the men were federal immigration officers.
But encounters like this are no longer isolated. Across Minnesota, reports of such ruses are growing, deepening a climate of fear within immigrant communities.
By James Kisoo
