Minnesota's braced for tense week as immigrant crackdown ratchets up

ALREADY shaken after the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration officer, Minnesota's Twin Cities yesterday braced for what many expect will be a new normal over the next few weeks as the Department of Homeland Security carries out what it called its largest enforcement operation ever.

- BY REBECCA SANTANA

Protesters screamed at heavily-armed federal agents and honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt their operations in one Minneapolis neighbourhood filled with single-family homes.

There was some pushing and several people were hit with chemical spray just before agents banged down the door of one home.

They later took one man away in handcuffs.

"We're seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighbourhoods," said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city council member. "They've definitely been out here."