Dozens of Shakopee residents fear eviction after losing income due to ICE surge
By Conor Wight
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MINNESOTA (WCCO) — The way Mary Hernandez describes it, the effort to keep families off the street in Shakopee, Minnesota, is like trying to keep your head above water.
“We can’t keep up,” Hernandez said.
As the executive director of the Shakopee non-profit Mi CASA, Hernandez has found that her work hasn’t slowed down at all since the announced end of Operation Metro Surge in February. The armed raids and worries about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents disguising themselves in the community are no longer day-to-day issues, but ensuring people still have a roof over their head is a constant battle.
The problem in Shakopee mirrors what neighbors, advocates and politicians have described in the Twin Cities, Columbia Heights and beyond: fear of ICE kept people home for too long. It meant that they lost their jobs, meaning they couldn’t pay rent.
“I call it a big black hole because there’s no end to it and there’s really not enough assistance to do that,” Hernandez said.
In various communities throughout the metro, neighbors have established online fundraisers to help cover rent for families in need. Hernandez and Mi CASA are attempting to fill that role in Shakopee and other parts of both Scott and Carver counties. She said about 90 families are in need; that’s in addition to about 500-600 families that the organization and its volunteers deliver groceries to weekly.
The philanthropic Wilson Foundation is now stepping in. Its president, John Wilson, told WCCO on Sunday that the grantmaking foundation is wiring $300,000 to Mi CASA to help cover rent. The foundation is matching funds elsewhere, including Minneapolis, after becoming inspired by grassroots rental assistance efforts in Columbia Heights.
Hernandez said it’s like a prayer answered, but said unless families can reestablish incomes, the money will only cover the area for about two months.
“Nobody was prepared and nobody saw this coming,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez described the fear in the community as crippling. She said that she got requests from some neighbors to help take out the trash or collect mail from mailboxes, saying that for some, walking the length of the driveway was simply a “no go.”
Earlier in March, the Minnesota state Senate approved $40 million in emergency rental assistance. House Republicans stated that the measure would not get approved in their chamber.
Democratic Rep. Brad Tabke of Shakopee said that he is hoping further debate will allow the state legislature to approve rental assistance.
“I hope that the state will be able to get that done and move that forward but i don’t think anybody should count on it,” Tabke said.
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