Life in the USA, is in many instances a nightmare! This post displays what life is like in the once great State of Minnesota.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Whipple employee says protesters repeatedly followed her from work, placed tracking device on car

A contractor who works at the Whipple building says she has been followed several times after leaving work and, in one instance, discovered a tracking device placed on her vehicle.

By Jenna Gloeb April 21, 2026 alphanews.org

Left: A car idling near the Whipple Federal Building. Right: The same vehicle following the employee, according to the driver.

 Imagine going to and from work each day past a steady stream of protesters waving dildos, blowing whistles, and hurling vulgar insults at you — simply because you work in the same building as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

That is the reality dozens of people face every day outside the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis — and now, one worker tells Alpha News the harassment is no longer confined to the premises.

A contractor who works at the Whipple building and asked not to be named says she has been followed several times after leaving work and, in one instance, discovered a tracking device placed on her vehicle.

She said similar incidents prompted a department within the Whipple building to begin logging license plates, vehicle descriptions and details of each encounter in a shared spreadsheet viewed by Alpha News.

“We’re getting a lot of reports,” she said. “They’re just following everybody — anyone who pulls out of the lot.”

A protester holds up his middle fingers during a protest outside the Whipple building in February. (Photo by Chris Birt) 

 The employee, who does not work for ICE, said the incidents have occurred at least five times while driving home from work, following what she described as “complete harassment” as she exits the premises.

“They call me Nazi and Gestapo and yell, ‘F-ck you, get out of here,’ and flip me off every time,” she said.

She said the repeated incidents have created a growing sense of fear among employees.

“People are afraid to come to work,” she said. “I get anxiety every time it’s time to go home.”

The claim comes days after a violent confrontation at the same location made national headlines. On April 11, Savanah Hernandez, a reporter for Turning Point USA’s Frontlines, was assaulted by protestors outside the Whipple building.

‘Every time I switched lanes, he switched lanes’

The employee described what she believes is a coordinated effort, with individuals stationed near the building alerting drivers when vehicles leave the parking lot.

“They sit there and wait for someone to drive by,” she said.

In one instance, she said a driver mirrored her movements as she tried to get away.

“Every time I switched lanes, he would switch lanes,” she said, adding that no matter what turns or exits she took, the vehicle continued to follow.

“I called 911, and they directed me to go to the closest police department, which was the 5th Precinct. I exited 35W to 31st Street, and they continued to follow me. I missed the first turn, and they followed me around the block but kept going when I pulled into the police station. The passenger had a red face covering, white hat and sunglasses,” she said.

She has since installed dashcams on the front and rear windows.

The latest incident, she said, involved a black sedan captured on her dashcams (top photo), parked along a road near the Whipple building where she says the “chasers” wait for employees to leave the building.

She said the vehicle began following her as she drove away.

Having had enough, she said she pulled over on Minnehaha Ave., got out of her car and yelled, “Quit following me,” at which point she said the vehicle quickly drove away.

Tracking device claim raises further concerns

In what may be the most serious allegation, the employee said a tracking device was discovered on her vehicle after her phone repeatedly alerted her to an unknown device detected near her.

At first, she dismissed the notifications, assuming they were coming from nearby traffic. But the alerts kept appearing, even during a shopping trip with her teenage daughter.

When they returned home, they decided to search the vehicle.

“My daughter found it,” she said.

She said the device was located under the frame near the rear passenger door, concealed inside a small magnetic case — an image she later documented in photos shared with Alpha News.

Tracking alert, tag and holder it was placed in 

 She said the device was turned over to federal investigators for analysis, but she has not received any results.

Alpha News asked whether anyone in her life might have a reason to track her vehicle. She said there was not.

“There’s nothing in my personal life that would warrant that whatsoever,” she said.

Activist network confirms license plate was tracked

The employee said she also reached out to an activist network known as “Stop ICE,” which tracks license plates of individuals believed to be connected to immigration enforcement activity.

She contacted the group to see whether her license plate had been listed in its database — and discovered that it was.

According to emails reviewed by Alpha News, members of the network confirmed they had her license plate in their system and said it had been removed upon her request.

“They told me they took it off,” she said. “But I’m still being followed.”

For the employee, the experience has left her questioning how far such tactics may go.

“I don’t understand the point,” she said. “It’s so scary. We don’t know when it’s going to end.”

Operation Metro Surge — which fueled many of these protests — ended in February.

Alpha News visited the Whipple Federal Building to cover the end of Operation Metro Surge, where protesters shouted “Go f–k yourself” and other expletives at a vehicle driving in.

Law enforcement response

The employee told Alpha News she contacted the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office about being followed, but she said she was told that for law enforcement to get involved, it would require a pattern involving the same vehicle repeatedly following her.

“They are telling me that they have to have a pattern, like the same car following me several times,” she said.

She said the vehicles have been different in each instance, which she believes may be an attempt to avoid establishing a pattern.

Alpha News reached out to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, which said it has received multiple reports involving suspicious activity, including individuals being followed.

“HCSO has taken a few reports from people who have reported suspicious activity including individuals being followed. At this time, at least one incident is under investigation. If someone feels unsafe or is witnessing suspicious activity, we advise that they call 911. There has been at least one arrest on a harassment charge stemming from a following incident from Fort Snelling,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

 

Let's hope the SCOTUS decides on the right side of The Constitution of the United States. If they don't - We the People - means nothing.

 

What ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ really meant

To really understand the 14th Amendment, we must examine a little-known but crucial aspect of Civil War history.

Larry Moore | April 21, 2026 www.americanthinker.com

The Supreme Court is now considering a fundamental question: Is a person born in the United States automatically a citizen?  The answer turns on a single phrase in the 14th Amendment: that a person born in the United States and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is a citizen.  The language appears simple.  The history behind it is anything but.

To understand what that phrase meant, we must revisit a part of American history that is often overlooked if not outright hidden.  The conventional narrative portrays the Civil War–era North as uniformly noble and anti-slavery.  And it is true that many Northern states abolished slavery well before the Civil War.  But now, the rest of the story.

After ending slavery, several Northern states enacted laws that made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for free black people to remain within their borders.  These laws required proof of freedom; registration with authorities; and, in some cases, the posting of substantial financial bonds.

Consider Ohio.  After abolishing slavery, it required free black individuals entering the state to present proof of freedom, something a runaway slave could not produce, and they had to post a bond, typically $500.  In today’s terms, that is roughly $14,000.  For a family of six, that would amount to approximately $84,000.  The practical effect was obvious: Most newly freed individuals could not afford to stay.

Other states followed similar paths.  Indiana imposed registration and bonding requirements and ultimately prohibited black immigration altogether.  Illinois required proof of freedom and later barred black settlement entirely.  Iowa imposed bond requirements.  Oregon enacted laws ordering free black residents to leave and prohibiting future settlement.  Michigan required registration and bonding.

These were not isolated policies.  They formed a broader pattern: the legal exclusion of free black people from most of the North.  This context also sheds light on the origins of the Underground Railroad.  Whereas it is commonly associated with escaped slaves fleeing the South, the reality was that early migrants were freed black individuals who had been effectively driven out of Northern states.  With few viable options, many went north to Canada, where such restrictions did not apply, while slaves escaping from the South were not welcome to stay and had to keep moving to Canada.

At the same time, other Union-aligned states were still slave states.  Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware all permitted slavery until the end of  the Civil War.  The division between “free” and “slave” states was more complex than modern accounts often suggest.  New England states abolished slavery early but did not free those in bondage, so there were older blacks still enslaved.  In reality, the Northern states were not as sympathetic to black freedom as portrayed by history.  There were even national proposals, such as the colonization movement, that sought to resolve the issue of slavery by relocating black Americans abroad, most notably to Liberia.  These efforts, though supported by some political leaders, were largely rejected by black Americans themselves.

Against this backdrop, the 14th Amendment emerges with greater clarity.  The amendment’s Citizenship Clause was designed to resolve a specific problem: the legal status of formerly enslaved people, almost all of whom had been born in the United States by 1860 and lived under its laws, and were unquestionably subject to its jurisdiction.  Yet prior to this amendment, they could have been denied citizenship and deported, as was done in many Northern states.

The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” was not incidental.  It was intended to confirm that those who were born in a state but were not citizens, nor owed allegiance to any other sovereign, and were fully subject to U.S. law, were in fact citizens.  In the context of its adoption, that meant ensuring that black Americans could not be excluded, displaced, or denied citizenship, as had been done in many Northern states.

The 14th Amendment was, at its core, a preventive measure.  It would not allow the United States as a nation to do as the Northern states had done: to free black residents, then push them out, whether through bond requirements, exclusion laws, or financial barriers.

 

This post explains how the method of 'parole' is used to accommodate immigration. Numerous 'methods' are provided within immigration policy; parole is one of them.

 

Wife of active-duty U.S. Army soldier detained by ICE in Texas at immigration appointment

By Camilo Montoya-Galvez CBS News 4-20-26

An active-duty U.S. Army soldier who has served in the military for 27 years, including in Afghanistan, said he still does not "understand why" his wife was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week in Texas.

In an interview with CBS News Sunday, Sgt. First Class Jose Serrano, 51, said his wife, Deisy Rivera Ortega, was arrested by ICE on April 14 during an appointment at an immigration office in El Paso.

Rivera Ortega, who married Serrano in 2022, has been in the U.S. for over a decade, since 2016. She was granted a legal protection in 2019 that prohibits her deportation to her native El Salvador, U.S. immigration court documents show. But the Department of Homeland Security told CBS News that Rivera Ortega entered the U.S. illegally, and Serrano said his wife has been informed she could be deported to a third country, like Mexico, where she has no ties.

 U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Jose Serrano and his wife, Deisy Rivera Ortega, in an undated photo. CBS News

ICE's online detainee tracking system indicated Rivera Ortega was being held at the agency's El Paso processing center as of Sunday evening.

"I don't really understand why, because she followed the rules of immigration by the T since day one," Serrano said, noting his wife had an active work permit at the time of her arrest.

"I love the Army. (The) Army helped me out for almost 28 years. It's not the Army, sir. It's ICE," Serrano said later in the interview. "ICE is out of control right now, sir, taking away rights, as soldiers, that we have."

If his wife is sent to Mexico, Serrano said he would likely not be able to see her without jeopardizing his military career, given restrictions on service members traveling to Mexico.

"We don't know nobody in Mexico," he said. "Plus, as a military, we're not allowed to go to Mexico."

Serrano, who was born in Puerto Rico, said his wife's detention has exacerbated his mental health challenges, noting he has been treated previously for a traumatic brain injury, PTSD and depression.

"Since this happened, I'm sleeping only two hours a day, two hours a night," he added.

ICE detentions like these are increasing

Historically, ICE has exercised its discretion to refrain from arresting immediate relatives of U.S. service members, absent national security or public safety concerns. But detentions of immigrant spouses and parents of U.S. service members have become more common under the second Trump administration, which has eliminated Biden-era limits on ICE operations and broadened who is eligible for arrest and deportation.

DHS has said those cases have involved people with deportation orders or who are otherwise in the U.S. illegally.

In a statement to CBS News, DHS said Rivera Ortega was ordered deported on Dec. 12, 2019, after receiving "full due process." It also called her a "criminal illegal alien" from El Salvador, saying she was convicted of illegal entry into the U.S., a federal misdemeanor offense. 

"Rivera-Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal," DHS added.

Government documents reviewed by CBS News show Rivera Ortega was summoned to the El Paso immigration office for an interview related to an application for Parole in Place, a special program designed to offer deportation protections to military spouses or parents who are in the U.S. without legal status. If granted, Parole in Place can also help those spouses or parents obtain legal permanent residency.

Serrano said he submitted a Parole in Place application on behalf of his wife last year, and that the case remains pending. He added that he told officials at the immigration office about his military service before his wife was detained last week, and that he was not given an explanation following the arrest.

"They really don't care, sir. They said 'we cannot send her to El Salvador, but we gonna send her to Mexico,'" he said.

In December 2019, an immigration judge granted Rivera Ortega protection under the Convention Against Torture, a United Nations treaty designed to protect people who could be tortured if deported. That protection has blocked her deportation to El Salvador and allowed her to obtain a permit to work in the U.S. lawfully. Serrano said his wife had been working at the two hotels inside Fort Bliss before her detention. CBS News reviewed her military ID, which labels her the spouse of an active-duty Army soldier.

Those granted protection under the Convention Against Torture are simultaneously ordered deported, though that deportation is deferred. And while the protection shields beneficiaries from being sent to their native countries, it does not offer them a pathway to U.S. citizenship or prevent the government from deporting them to third countries.

Over the past year, the Trump administration has expanded detentions of individuals granted those limited immigration protections, seeking to deport them to countries that are not their own.

Matthew Kozik, an attorney helping Serrano and his wife, said he filed a habeas petition in federal court, arguing that Rivera Ortega's detention is unlawful. "I served the Army as a judge advocate for 10 years. And as a judge advocate and a combat veteran, bronze star service member, what is going on is absurd," Kozik said.

Danitza James, a U.S. military veteran and president of the group Repatriate Our Patriots, said ICE's actions were creating "uncertainty" for service members and their families.

"When the promise to protect those who serve is delayed, military readiness suffers, because a force cannot be mission-ready when its families are left in limbo," she said.