In a Facebook post shared last Friday, Metro Transit Police Chief John Harrington said, “This afternoon, community members and partners alerted me to a situation in which one of my part time officers was witnessed asking an individual whether he was in the state illegally. I immediately called for an Internal Affairs investigation to gather the details about this incident and to report back to me as quickly as possible.”

He added, “It is not the practice of the Metro Transit police to inquire about the immigration status of our riders.”

As The Washington Post points out, when Minneapolis declared itself a sanctuary city in 2003, a city ordinance prohibited city employees (including police) from inquiring about a person’s immigration unless it’s directly relevant to a crime under investigation.

A Transit Officer Questioned A Commuter’s Immigration Status, A Fellow Passenger Intervened

Show me your papers, brown person!