Minnesotans march in response to Homan’s ‘draw down’ to show that the fight continues
By Jessica Lotze and Sophie Breen
On February 15, Minnesotans gathered in Northeast Minneapolis in response to Tom Homan’s announcement that Operation Metro Surge would be coming to an end due to “unprecedented cooperation” from local and state law enforcement agencies and made it clear that the fight is not over.
Communities who have been protecting each other from ICE and Border Patrol on the ground believe there is a different reason for the retreat – Minnesota’s determined resistance proved too logistically and politically costly for the Trump administration. Nonetheless, organizers caution that expanded collaboration between local agencies and ICE presents a new front in the continuing fight.
On the sunny day, protesters marched down a corridor of immigrant-run businesses in Northeast Minneapolis demanding “ICE out of Minneapolis without compromise.” Neighbors cheered from windows, people came out of restaurants and shops to show support, and bystanders hugged protesters as they passed by.
The protest was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) with endorsements from a variety of immigrant rights groups including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN), Asamblea de los Derechos Civiles, Reviving Sisterhood, the Minnesota Immigrant Movement, among others.
Myrka Zambrano of MIRAC spoke to protesters, “Real safety does not come from press conferences and photo ops. It’s fought for by people like us who continue to show up every day. Who see through their lies. We cannot afford to relax just because the language has changed. This moment demands courage. Real safety comes from us — from solidarity, from vigilance, from refusing to abandon one another.”
Rachel Storm of the Anti-War Committee emphasized how pervasive ICE’s surveillance has become. “The DHS has partnered with Palantir, an American tech and AI company, to create IMMIGRATION OS: a software to track and deport immigrants. This same technology has been used in the West Bank and Gaza to identify and target Palestinians, as a part of Israel's genocidal settler colonial project.” The Minnesota State Board of Investment, the organization tasked with managing the state’s pension program, continues to hold investments in Palantir.
Speakers called for lawmakers to make Minnesota a sanctuary state, ban all 287(g) agreements with ICE, and to ban county jails from sharing information with ICE.