ICE raid in Bemidji targets roofing workers, one flees into lake

ICE agents targeted roofing workers in Bemidji on July 16, scattering a crowd and sending one person into Lake Bemidji to swim away from capture. The scene unfolded in Bemidji, in Beltrami County, as federal immigration enforcement collided with an active construction area in the city on Lake Bemidji.

Bemidji police chief said he believed agents were targeting a construction site. Workers and bystanders ran as the operation moved through the area, and the flight into the water became the most dramatic moment of a day that quickly spread through local job sites and neighborhoods.

The Bemidji operation came about a month after a separate federal raid at another Bemidji construction site, where workers jumped off roofs to escape. That earlier episode, like the July 16 sweep, put construction crews at the center of an enforcement push that has now played out twice in the city.

At Villas at Vista North in Bemidji, several construction workers were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, leaving some families facing uncertainty. Another account from the operation said agents detained a number of people from construction and roofing crews working in the area, and a Leech Lake Band member described being detained during the sweep.

The arrests also hit employers directly. Roofing Contractor said the enforcement action left Rhino Roofing with a fraction of its workforce, underscoring how quickly a federal operation can strip labor from a local contractor. For a city where construction work is visible across town and seasonal projects depend on steady crews, the Bemidji raid left both workers and employers absorbing the effects in real time.