Minnesota Congressional Representatives forced out of Whipple Federal Building

Minnesota members of the United States Congress made an “oversight visit” to the Federal Whipple Building but were removed shortly after arriving.

Representatives Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig and Kelly Morrison on Saturday arrived at the Whipple Building, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) Agents have been operating out of the Twin Cities.

The visit came days after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis.

While the Representatives were allowed into the building, they said their visit was brief before they were forced out.

“We were initially invited in to do our congressional oversight and to exercise our Article I duties,” Omar said. “When we made it in, it was with the authorization of someone who has been here for a really long time, who understood that we had a congressional duty to enter the building and to see the facility. Shortly after we were let in, two officials came in and said that they received a message that we were no longer allowed to be in the building and that they were recinding our invitation to come in and declining any further access to the building.”