Protesters decry ICE raid at St. Louis Park plant: ‘Our people are afraid to work’

Three dozen protesters gathered Wednesday evening outside HardCoat Inc. to protest the arrest by federal agents of seven employees at the St. Louis Park company last week.

What happened at HardCoat “wasn’t a one-off situation,” said Chenda Hing, an organizer with Minnesota Eight, which fights to end detention and deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“All around the state, our people are afraid to work, are afraid to be out in public, and afraid to open their own doors at their own homes,” Hing said.

The identities of the men arrested at HardCoat have not been released, and it’s unknown how and why ICE decided to conduct enforcement at the company.

But Ryan Perez, organizing director of immigrant advocacy group COPAL, shared a Feb. 10 company notice (provided by a former HardCoat employee who witnessed the arrests) indicating that the company would conduct an I-9 audit — a review of its records to confirm its employees are eligible to work in the United States, to ensure compliance with ICE requirements.

An employer that finds an employee lacks the proper legal paperwork usually just terminates their job, according to Perez.

“But instead what happened is that ICE obviously conducted a raid,” he said.

“I want businesses and workers to think really seriously about what is the protocol they have when ICE enters,” Perez said. “How do customers feel safe? How do workers feel safe going to work right now? … We can’t live in an environment of fear. It’s not good for Minnesota.”

Michael Kelner, owner of HardCoat since 2007, could not be reached for comment. The company is a specialized coating business that has been operating since 1974 and serves the aerospace, defense, medical and commercial industries.

Employers must make a good faith effort to determine if workers are legally allowed to work in the United States. They must file I-9 forms for every employee who establishes either U.S. citizenship or who is a legal immigrant with work status. They are required to check identification such as a valid passport, permanent resident card or a foreign passport that contains a temporary work stamp. Companies may face significant fines from immigration authorities if they knowingly hire unauthorized workers.

Hing said that after her friend’s father was detained by ICE at HardCoat, the man’s family dropped everything to fight for his freedom.

“When one of us is taken by ICE,” she said, “all of us are hurt. Right now, I’m thinking of the people who have been detained, how many of them haven’t been able to contact their families, how long they’ve been stuck in detention, and the small pockets of joy that have been taken away from them.”

Minnesota Eight organizer Kevin Huynh read a statement from a man identified only as Carlos, the nephew of a HardCoat employee who was arrested by ICE.

“That evening, I had to go pick up his car from his workplace. … When I opened up the glove compartment and saw his photos in there, I felt like maybe I’ll never see him again,” Carlos said in the statement. “I felt a lot of sadness and uncertainty.”

He added: “My uncle is one of the most innocent, kind, deserving people I know. Ever since he was detained, I’ve been very nervous for everyone. When someone like my uncle is grabbed by ICE, it makes me feel like everyone is at risk. It’s unfair that people have to go through this. The vast majority of people are coming here for a better life.”

According to Carlos’ statement, people are very scared and “that’s what they want us to be, to be scared, to not have a job, to not go out, but we need to ... show them we are here. We need to protest and make our voices heard.”

Dee DePass of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.