Federal Immigration officers have ramped up what was already considered a significant presence in Minneapolis amid protests in the wake of the shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7. That incident has heightened safety concerns in communities across the state, including New Ulm, about what would happen if ICE arrived in town.

“Our police department will always protect the public,” said New Police Chief Dave Borchert. “It doesn’t mean that we can interfere with another agency’s legal process. However, ICE agents are federal law enforcement with jurisdiction within the USA and territories. If we interfered with the legal process of them enforcing immigration, that would simply be inappropriate, unsafe and potentially criminal. Having that said, if an ICE agent breaks any law, then we would take enforcement action against the involved person. Nobody is above the law.”

Borchert said the New Ulm Police Department is working closely with the State of Minnesota in monitoring the situation and attending daily briefings remotely. Those meetings include the attendance of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) Superintendent, police chiefs and sheriffs from across the state, and the commissioner of public safety.

Presently, there has been no ICE activity in New Ulm, according to Borchert. However, there was recent ICE activity in Brown County in which people were interviewed but no one was taken into custody and ICE left the area without incident.

“We are getting some of the best and most specific data available at the time,” Borchert said of daily briefings with state and local leaders. “We also openly discuss current challenges and best solutions to resolve them within our jurisdictions. Also, discussion of how we can best work together to best support and protect our residents.”

Usually when ICE is planning a visit, Borchert said they give local law enforcement a heads up, typically a week’s notice. But that has not been currently happening and it is not legally mandatory for ICE to give prior notification.

“I don’t know the rationale; it might simply be that this is a large federal immigration enforcement project and they simply don’t need local help because they have plenty of resources,” he said. ” ICE hasn’t been requesting assistance. However, past practice was to assist them by crowd control and security. We are certainly willing to assist in this capacity and hope to keep everyone safe.”

Should ICE visit the area, Borchert advises all encounters to be peaceful. He said when encountering ICE, it is important to stay calm. For those protesting, any interactions Borchert said should involve staying cool and collected and remaining nonviolent.

“There is no permit required to demonstrate in public within the City of New Ulm,” Borchert said. “However, participants still need to follow Minnesota Law, while demonstrating. For example, protesters shouldn’t block roads or sidewalks (this is against the law). The protester can certainly be standing on the sidewalk but are required by law to allow pedestrians to pass unobstructed. We have had recent protests from a local group in 2025 and they really followed these laws/rules very closely. Overall, the demonstrations were very well run and we had very few/minimal incidents.”

Ultimately, the goal involving any ICE interaction, Borchert said is safety. If an altercation with ICE occurs or a situation is escalating, Borchert recommends calling 911. For residents with concerns or questions, Borchert said call the New Ulm Police.

“Please remain peaceful and calm,” Borchert said of any ICE interaction. “Unfortunately, things can escalate when individuals react aggressively. We understand that this can be a nervous reaction and explainable; however, it definitely creates unnecessary tension at the time of the incident that hopefully can be avoided.”