An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employee has been caught in a Minnesota sex trafficking sting at a time when federal immigration authorities are under increased scrutiny. The Trump administration responded on Wednesday, November 19, after the arrest of Alexander Steven Back, an auditor with ICE from Robbinsdale, Minnesota, claiming he was hired in 2022 under former President Joe Biden,
An ICE St. Paul spokesperson told Newsweek, “Alexander Back was hired under the Biden administration in 2022 and worked as an I-9 auditor. Back was not and has never been a law enforcement officer. Following his arrest, ICE immediately placed Alexander Back on administrative leave. ICE is working with local authorities as well as conducting its own investigation via the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility.”
Who is Alexander Back?
Back, 41, was among 16 men who were arrested in a Minnesota trafficking investigation. The suspects were accused of attempting to solicit a minor for sex, police said. ICE is cooperating with local authorities and conducting an internal probe too, a spokesperson said.
According to Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges, the three-day ‘Operation Creep’ started on November 5. It targeted individuals seeking to purchase sex from a 17-year-old girl.
{{/usCountry}}According to Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges, the three-day ‘Operation Creep’ started on November 5. It targeted individuals seeking to purchase sex from a 17-year-old girl.
{{/usCountry}}Most of the men came from the Twin Cities area, Hodges said. He added that not all of them have been formally charged yet.
Among the other suspects are a Metro Transit bus driver, an employee of the Brown County Historical Society, and a staff member of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Hodges confirmed. The men range in age from 18 to 49.
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A criminal complaint obtained by People revealed that Back responded to an advertisement offering prostitution services on November 13, placed by officers conducting a sting operation. An undercover officer, posing as a teenager named Bella, texted him, "U ok if I'm a lil younger than my ad says... just wanna be honest.”
"Sure,” Back allegedly replied.
"K cause I am 17 and one guy got hella mad at me," the officer replied.
When Back asked if they were "with the cops,” the officer assured him that they were not, and then gave him an address in Bloomington.
Police arrested Back and seized his phone after he arrived in a vehicle registered to his wife.
Hodges said of Back, "When he was arrested, he said, 'I'm ICE, boys.' Well, unfortunately for him, we locked him up."
Back has been charged with a prostitution-related felony offense of hiring or agreeing to hire a person reasonably believed to be under the age of 18 but at least 16. He was initially booked into the Hennepin County Jail, but was later released on a $75,000 bond. He is due in court on December 17, a Hennepin County court spokesperson said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and police departments from Eden Prairie, Richfield, and Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport assisted in this investigation. Hodges said that some of the cases resulting from this sting could be referred to federal prosecutors.