To the Mayor of Faribault and members of the City Council, 

I ask you  to prioritize economic stability for everyday people. Providing emergency housing funding to the Community Action Center would help keep many families economically stable in Faribault without causing a major upset to the market. This funding is measured, responsible, and transparent with a partner like the Community Action Center.

There is real economic impact here, both for employers and for the social safety net. When families lose housing, employers lose workers; businesses lose customers; taxpayers absorb higher costs. In addition, keeping people stable is the best crime prevention strategy. Stable housing keeps employees working, children in school, and neighborhoods secure.

Providing funding in this instance is not an additional tax since it is state dollars already allocated.

Is it a temporary solution? Yes. But this is a temporary problem, as we expect a troop drawdown and clarification of ICE policy so fear will be less widespread. The fix is short-term, but the repercussions of not providing funding would be long-term.

The City Council provides funds to housing developments and redevelopments. Providing funds to the Community Action Center would be even more direct and just as transparent.

I hope the economic argument is enough to convince you to fund this request from the Community Action Center. However, I recognize some on the Council may require more information regarding the broader context of this request.

The current reduction of economic activity--such as working, shopping, and paying bills--is not exclusive to our immigrant community. It is not just immigrants or criminals who are scared of ICE. Fear is leading many people to economic catastrophe, including U.S. citizens.

I recognize that the Faribault Police Department does not assist ICE. Therefore, I am not asking you to consider immigration policy. It is outside the scope of city government. But the impact of immigration policy is real, and that context is important for understanding the economic risk you face by not funding emergency housing. 

Please, do not let whatever personal opinions you have about federal immigration policy impact your decision regarding Faribault’s economy.

If you are curious why so many innocent people have been missing work, I will do my best to briefly explain.

I have heard many verifiable stories from my neighbors in Faribault: legal residents, immigrants following the process of becoming a legal resident, naturalized citizens, and even natural-born citizens have been swept up by ICE agents. This includes people I know personally. This includes family.

Masked men in unmarked vehicles, with no form of identification nor standard uniform, have torn families apart without due process. Children have been left without any parents or family to care for them. In some cases, cars have been left running with children in their car seats, left behind while ICE takes their parents away. And it is important to remember that these captures are often faulty. As I said, many individuals who are not criminals and are--indeed--citizens have been taken by mistake. This happens not once or twice, but hundreds of times just in the last two months. ICE is currently unaccountable, disorganized, and tearing communities apart.

In Minneapolis, a family of U.S. citizens was driving in their neighborhood. They were not breaking any laws. They were not protesting. They were driving home from a youth basketball game. A tear gas canister was thrown under their van and burning fumes filled their vehicle. Trapped in a car seat, their six-month-old was the last to be evacuated. The infant stopped breathing and life-saving CPR was required. Their health, and the health of their three siblings also in the vehicle, may be permanently impacted. Their parents glimpsed the very near death of their baby. In one moment, they were going about life as usual. In the next, the unbreathing limp body of their infant was being resuscitated on the side of the road.

Whether or not you have felt fear, your neighbors certainly have. And they have had ample, verifiable reason to fear random violence over the last two months.

Many longtime residents of Faribault--people I have known my whole life--have been carrying their passports with them at all times. They have been afraid, because of the color of their skin, that they may be wrongfully targeted.

But surely, I hear you ask, they would be released once they proved their innocence? Not necessarily.

Evidence has shown for years that ICE is not discerning when it comes to their arrests. WCCO reports that less than 14% of the 400,000 people arrested by ICE in 2025 had violent criminal records. According to the American Immigration Council, in the last year arrests of people with no criminal record increased by 2,450%.

What happens after someone is detained by ICE?

Importantly, they do not see a judge. They are not provided a lawyer, since immigration is a civil offense and not a criminal one. They are detained while their case is processed, which can take years. According to the National Immigrant Justice Center, in 2023, 90% of people in ICE custody were held in private, for-profit prisons.

According to Physicians for Human Rights, “conditions would meet the definition of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under international law.” Some immigrants were held in solitary confinement for up to two years.

According to the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, people who refuse forced or coercive labor in detention face “serious harm,” including solitary confinement in private prisons. In private prisons, toothpaste and feminine hygiene products are only provided to people who agree to work.

According to a PBS report citing the National Center for Youth Law, children are given moldy food. No medicine is provided. Measles outbreaks have occurred in detention. Drinking water contains mold and algae.

According to the ACLU, beatings and sexual assault are occurring in ICE detention. Insufficient food is provided. Detainees are forced to wade through human excrement because basic toiletries are not provided.

More people died in ICE custody in 2025 than in the previous four years combined.

This is why even innocent people and United States citizens fear ICE. There is no guarantee that due process would protect them from being lost in a for-profit prison. Because, with ICE, due process does not exist.

I encourage you, as your neighbor, to read more about this from a trusted news source. If you need help finding information, I am happy to help.

The facts show that many people have reason to fear ICE, regardless of their immigration status.

The facts also show that a massive surge in evictions and housing instability would wreak havoc on our local economy, which impacts everyone regardless of immigration status.

Whatever moves you to do so, I hope you will approve emergency housing funding for Faribault.

Signed,

Your neighbor and voter

cthiele@faribaultmn.gov;

adoumbouya@faribaultmn.gov;

mbarnes@faribaultmn.gov;

rross@faribaultmn.gov;

Pvansluis@faribaultmn.gov;

jrowan@ci.faribault.mn.us;

mayor@faribaultmn.gov;

jkinser@faribaultmn.gov