Public Testimony to the Metropolitan Airports Commissions in Opposition to Deportation Flights and to Demand Safety for Immigrant Workers at the Airport
December 15, 2025
Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel
My name is Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel and I am a pastor at Lyndale United Church of Christ.
We are in the midst of a moral crisis. “Operation Metro Surge” began by the President calling Somali Minnesotans “garbage.” A big influx of ICE agents, driving in unmarked cars, are detaining our neighbors. Some of those detained include citizens, targeted because they appear to be Somali or Latinx. One man was detained from his minivan, his two small children left behind alone, crying. One student was detained at Augsburg, and the staff and fellow students demanding to see a judicial warrant had guns pulled on them. One white woman serving as a legal observer was detained for five hours, her wedding ring cut off. ICE agents berate legal observers or those seeking to protect their neighbors (including derogatory remarks to women about their bodies or obnoxious promises to “dedicate my next arrest to you”), tackling Minnesotans in the snow, using tear gas on observers.
This is happening at MAC, too. Immigrant workers are being abducted from MAC property and deportation flights are happening at MSP.
Much of this is done in the name of a distorted and diseased Christianity. As a Christian pastor, I cannot sit by. I cannot let this happen. Not in my name. Particularly in this season of Advent, when we as Christians are called to give birth to compassion and justice, to welcome the stranger and stand against oppression, I am compelled to witness today. In my own life, Somali and Latinx neighbors are helping to keep my 90-year-old mother with dementia alive through their care. Our Somali and Latinx neighbors bear the image of God.
My friends, now is the time for all of us to stand up. Now is the time for all of us to do whatever is in our power to do the right and moral thing. We must act with compassion and courage.
For example, in King County (WA), ICE flights are live-streamed and a list of flights is published. Why not here at MSP? As MAC commissioners you can expose the actions of the federal government happening right here in our airport. You have the moral obligation. Use the power you have and, please, ACT. I promise you that we will stand with you.
WCCO TV did a pretty good story about it here: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/immigration-enforcement-metropolitan-airports-commission/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h
December 15, 2025
Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel
My name is Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel and I am a pastor at Lyndale United Church of Christ.
We are in the midst of a moral crisis. “Operation Metro Surge” began by the President calling Somali Minnesotans “garbage.” A big influx of ICE agents, driving in unmarked cars, are detaining our neighbors. Some of those detained include citizens, targeted because they appear to be Somali or Latinx. One man was detained from his minivan, his two small children left behind alone, crying. One student was detained at Augsburg, and the staff and fellow students demanding to see a judicial warrant had guns pulled on them. One white woman serving as a legal observer was detained for five hours, her wedding ring cut off. ICE agents berate legal observers or those seeking to protect their neighbors (including derogatory remarks to women about their bodies or obnoxious promises to “dedicate my next arrest to you”), tackling Minnesotans in the snow, using tear gas on observers.
This is happening at MAC, too. Immigrant workers are being abducted from MAC property and deportation flights are happening at MSP.
Much of this is done in the name of a distorted and diseased Christianity. As a Christian pastor, I cannot sit by. I cannot let this happen. Not in my name. Particularly in this season of Advent, when we as Christians are called to give birth to compassion and justice, to welcome the stranger and stand against oppression, I am compelled to witness today. In my own life, Somali and Latinx neighbors are helping to keep my 90-year-old mother with dementia alive through their care. Our Somali and Latinx neighbors bear the image of God.
My friends, now is the time for all of us to stand up. Now is the time for all of us to do whatever is in our power to do the right and moral thing. We must act with compassion and courage.
For example, in King County (WA), ICE flights are live-streamed and a list of flights is published. Why not here at MSP? As MAC commissioners you can expose the actions of the federal government happening right here in our airport. You have the moral obligation. Use the power you have and, please, ACT. I promise you that we will stand with you.
WCCO TV did a pretty good story about it here: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/immigration-enforcement-metropolitan-airports-commission/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h
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