Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara depicted Mary and Joseph as “outsiders,” comparable to illegal aliens, as he criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
During a speech alongside Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) and religious leaders, O’Hara spoke about how it was a “very, very difficult time” for the communities in the city, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.
O’Hara stated that it was “sad” to see “so many” businesses that were closed or empty and compared what was happening to illegal migrants to “how outsiders have been treated for thousands of years.”
“We know this has been a very, very difficult time for our communities here in the city,” O’Hara said. “The fear that people are experiencing is real. As our Mayor has said, it’s been sad to drive down Lake Street and to see so many of our businesses either closed or empty. It’s hard to see the impact that this is having on everyone in our community.”
“It’s especially personal to me, having been raised a Catholic, to be in a Christian church this morning as we are approaching Christmas,” O’Hara added. “And, I cannot help but think of what is happening in our city today, and how that echoes with how outsiders have been treated for thousands of years. How Mary and Joseph themselves were considered outsiders and forced to stay in a barn.”
O’Hara continued to explain that the goal of the Minneapolis Police Department was to do what they “can to reduce fear, to reduce anxiety, and to try and help provide for public safety and uphold human dignity” in the city.
“The Minneapolis Police Department is committed to honoring the human dignity of every person in our community,” O’Hara added. “The Minneapolis Police Department does not participate in immigration enforcement, we do not care and do not ask people about immigration status. People in our community need to know that they can feel confident that when they need help, they can call 911 — and we will show up for everyone — and not be afraid to call because they think we might turn them over.”
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin responded to O’Hara’s words by sharing “a few of the dangerous creeps” ICE agents have arrested in the past few days. Among the people whom ICE agents have arrested are Vannaleut Keomany, 59, a “criminal illegal alien from Laos who was convicted of two counts of rape,” and Tou Vang, 42, a “criminal illegal alien from Laos who was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under 13.”
“How abhorrent and humiliating this Minneapolis Police Chief refuses to do his job and has allowed these pedophiles and rapists to terrorize Minneapolis and hurt the very people he swore an oath to protect,” McLaughlin wrote in her post.
Several people also took to social media to criticize O’Hara’s words describing Mary and Joseph as “outsiders” and pointed out that Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to “legally comply with a decree to register for the Census.”
“You can tell which grownups didn’t have to memorize the Christmas story from the Bible as kids,” Amy Curtis, a writer with Townhall, wrote in a post on X.
“Mary and Joseph traveled 90 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to legally comply with a decree to register for the Census,” another person wrote in a post on X. “The Bible does not exist for you to weaponize it when politically convenient.”
“This is the dumbest liberal argument to justify their murderous open borders,” another person wrote. “Mary and Joseph were legal residents going to their home region to be counted in the census. They were obeying the law, unlike illegals.”
“Mary and Joseph were literally obeying the law to be counted in the census,” another person wrote. “Quite unlike illegal alien invaders. The chief obviously never attended church or Sunday school.”
O’Hara’s comments come as he has previously warned his police officers that if they see ICE agents using “unlawful force,” he expects “them to intervene, or they’ll be fired.”
