Top Minnesota Corrections Official Denies State Is Releasing Dangerous Criminals

Immigration officials in Minnesota are engaged in a significant public dispute over the handling of undocumented individuals with criminal records, with state and federal authorities presenting dramatically different accounts of cooperation and compliance.

Paul Schnell, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections, has forcefully rejected claims by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that state authorities are releasing dangerous criminals into communities rather than turning them over to federal immigration agents. In an interview with CBS News on Wednesday, Schnell characterized these accusations as “fundamentally false” and expressed concern that such messaging undermines public trust.

“We cooperate with ICE and ICE detainers,” Schnell told CBS News. “We have, as a matter of policy, done that for a long, long time. How they can say otherwise is unbelievable.”

The dispute escalated after Marcos Charles, ICE’s acting executive associate director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, claimed on Tuesday that Minnesota officials were failing to transfer individuals to federal custody. Charles asserted that more than 1,360 ICE detainers were pending statewide.

ICE detainers are federal requests asking local law enforcement to hold individuals for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release from criminal confinement, giving immigration officials time to take them into custody for potential deportation proceedings.

Charles emphasized at a news conference in St. Paul that transferring individuals directly from secure facilities is preferable to street arrests. “The best solution is to turn them over to us in a safe, controlled setting like a jail or prison instead of releasing them back onto the streets,” he said, adding that releases put communities “where your children go to school” at risk.

However, Schnell maintains that such coordinated transfers are already standard practice and have been for years, both as departmental policy and as required by state law. According to Minnesota corrections data, 84 people were transferred directly from state prisons to ICE custody in 2023.

The most striking discrepancy involves the number of individuals subject to ICE detainers. To clarify the situation, Schnell said his department conducted a statewide survey, finding 301 individuals with active detainers—207 in state prisons and 94 in county jails. This figure is significantly lower than the 1,360 claimed by federal officials.

“We cannot explain how those numbers square,” Schnell said. “And nobody is sitting down with us to explain it.”

Despite repeated requests from state officials to reconcile this discrepancy, Schnell said DHS has provided no documentation showing missed transfers or compliance failures. “If we made a mistake, we would own it,” he said. “But to date, no one has shown us where we failed.”

When asked for comment on Schnell’s statements, a DHS spokesperson reiterated the agency’s position that hundreds of criminals have been released across Minnesota and that 1,360 people in custody statewide are subject to active ICE detainers. The spokesperson did not address the numerical discrepancy but pointed to six specific cases of individuals with criminal charges or convictions allegedly released in Minnesota, calling on Governor Tim Walz to “commit to honoring all ICE detainers.”

Schnell also noted that in some cases, it is ICE itself that chooses not to detain individuals after taking custody, instead releasing them under federal supervision or into the community. “We didn’t release them into the community,” he explained. “We released them to ICE.”

The commissioner further criticized DHS’s publication of “worst of the worst” lists highlighting individuals with serious criminal convictions, calling them “propaganda, in many instances.” According to Schnell, Minnesota corrections had coordinated with ICE to transfer custody of many of these individuals.

While acknowledging that compliance with ICE detainers varies at the county level, particularly in large jurisdictions like Hennepin County, Schnell emphasized that the Department of Corrections’ authority extends only to the state prison system, not local jails.

Despite the public disagreement, Schnell noted that day-to-day operational cooperation between corrections staff and ICE officers remains effective. “Staff to staff, operationally, this is working exactly the way it should,” he said. “Which is why I think their staff are probably equally confused.”

What Schnell seeks now is direct communication with senior DHS officials to reconcile data and messaging rather than continuing public accusations. “It’s in the best interest of public safety to get this right,” he said. “Rhetoric doesn’t solve anything. Facts do.”

This dispute highlights broader challenges in immigration enforcement, revealing a fragmented system where federal, state, and local authorities operate under different jurisdictions with access to varying data systems, often talking past each other in the process.