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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 10 taxpayer dollars requires us to not be silent on this. Arden Hills is home to international businesses. They have diverse work forces and they like living here and walk to work. We need to be affirmatively against these ICE actions if we want those businesses to continue to invest and grow here. Growth will happen in the communities that are actually taking a affirmative statements. She said we have beautiful communities that are being eroded and the fabric is disappearing. Our parks aren't being used as much. It's not the cold weather. It is because people are afraid. If residents want to donate or provide any kind of mutual aid, they are going to other communities to do it because we aren't organized here. She said in 75 years when this chapter of history is written, there will be newspapers, websites and history books that list which cities did and did not make statements affirmatively countering ICE's use of our property. It would be a shame to know that any of us was here and Arden Hills isn't on that list. Regina Newton, Arden Hills — She thinks we are here because we have educated ourselves. There are a lot of people that haven't educated themselves and will deny a lot of the things spoken today. The part that she wants to stress is transparency. She heard things tonight that she wasn't aware of. She knows there are people who have no desire to know more. It's hard to know where to go, to know more. Many people, including her, aren't on social media. People aren't hearing what they need to hear. We've talked about immigrants and people of different colors. There were three natives detained in Minnesota, a week after Renee Good died. People don't even know that. They don't understand where operations are or the severity of the infractions. Many of us know because we're paying attention. There is no mechanism to reach out to those who don't have a way to know. She's asking for transparency. If we can find a way to work with one of the other cities and look at ways to create greater transparency about the activity and also what's actually happening to the citizens. How many people have been unlawfully detained? She doesn't know what that looks like because we have taken an objective stance. She is proud of everyone who is here. She is also scared for people. People in her own family just refuse to pay attention. She is saying this from the perspective of a grandma who is an immigrant from Panama who wouldn't come tonight. Her grandparents met and fell in love at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis. Her grandmother worked in the Sears building, where she works now, that's a part of the Midtown Global Market. Many of those businesses won't survive. Everything said tonight is 100% on. How do we help other people to understand the situation? Part of what we're tired about is the polarization. She's tired of having to explain what a fact is. People are asking what can ICE do and what are they not allowed to do. That is great place to start. Giving information about that, in an easy objective way. People may not understand they can't use tear gas. People don't know what they don't know. We hear riot and protest used to describe the same activities. She said we need help reaching across the aisle because at our hearts. She thinks we would all be appalled but if people know what's actually happening. Kurt Weber, Arden Hills — He is speaking as a member of the public. These are his comments. They are not Council comments. He wants to speak to the difference between normal law enforcement activity and what we're seeing now. This is an invasive and aggressive operation. The distinction matters. Immigration enforcement is a civil process. Agents conducting civil immigration enforcement are not peace officers and don't have general police powers. Civil authority does not allow random traffic stops, broad street encounters or detaining people simply to check papers. When those tactics occur, they raise serious constitutional concerns and we can't allow this behavior to become normalized. What concerns him are the large scale, civil immigration operations that go far beyond normal practice. An operation that resembles drag net policing creates fear and confusion and then seeks to criminalize dissent or resistance by local governments and residents. The operation undermines public trust and makes communities less