Tom Homan says 700 immigration enforcement personnel will leave Minnesota
President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced a drawdown of 700 federal immigration enforcement personnel from Minnesota on Feb. 4.
A Louisville business is facing criticism after the owner told employees to “leave religion and politics at the door” when she received a note from a customer who said he was treated disrespectfully because he was a member of law enforcement.
Please & Thank You owner Brooke Vaughn told The Courier Journal that she sent the message to her management team Feb. 3 after receiving an email from a man, who identified himself as a police officer, saying he had been treated disrespectfully. In the email, the man said he was “greeted by a rude person” and got “evil looks from all of the employees.”
“REMINDER to leave your religion and politics at the door when you come to work for PLEASE & THANK YOU,” the message reads. “If you discriminate against anyone inside our shops, you are not meant to be a DAY MAKER and should consider a career elsewhere.”
A screenshot of the message was posted to Reddit around 1:30 p.m. Feb. 3, with the post saying it was sent after Vaughn received an email from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Vaughn said the officer who complained to her wrote that he was in uniform during his visit, but did not confirm if the man was an ICE agent.
Within hours of the message being posted to social media, Vaughn said she and other staff members started receiving several complaints, adding that she was forced to turn off the comment feature on the business’ Instagram page due to ongoing arguments.
“People are showing up at shops and calling our employees ‘fascists,’” she said.
Vaughn added that the store’s media accounts have also gained followers since the message was posted, but she was unsure if they were following to support the business or to “see [them] fail.”
The criticism comes after two U.S. citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, were fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protests. Thousands of federal immigration officers were previously sent to Minnesota in December, and President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced Feb. 4 that 700 immigration enforcement personnel would be leaving the state.
Metro columnist Joe Gerth contributed.
