St. Paul, MN – On Saturday, September 26, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and dozens of community members protested at the Governor’s Residence to demand that Tim Walz sign an executive order making Minnesota a sanctuary state. The rally also brought attention to there being only 100 days remaining of Walz’s term as governor, adding a sense of urgency to the call for Walz to address the demands.

Protesters raised that ICE is still violating the rights of Minnesotans and tearing families apart. One of the demands of MIRAC’s sanctuary state campaign is to ban on 287(g) agreements, which deputize local agencies to act as appendages of ICE, investing cops with federal immigration enforcement powers, which can include stopping, interrogating, arresting and transporting immigrants based purely on immigration status – or the perception of such.

“Tim Walz, we need a sanctuary state now!” stated Hazel Wilde from MIRAC “He has time to act and nothing to lose. He’s even equipped with a template to follow. Governors Healey and Sherill of Massachusetts and New Jersey have already enacted protections in their states. Minnesotans have consistently demonstrated our demands. It’s time to listen to your constituents!”

Jae Yates from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) called out the governor for trying to profit from Metro Surge, stating, “How morally bankrupt do you have to be to be talking about writing a book about the occupation, while your constituents are still suffering from it? How morally bankrupt do you have to be to hide in your mansion, while immigrant families who run the economy of the state; who are workers in every sector. Every single industry in this country is supported by immigrant labor. And yet, instead of caring about these people as human beings. Instead of saying ‘let me help your community,’ we are shutting down programs that are meant to help people recover; and then we’re hiding from our constituents who want something to be done? It’s shameful!”

This protest was part of a call to action from the Legalization 4 All Network in response to four instances of ICE violence in the past week: on September 17, Edgar Borromeo Cabrera-Gomez was run over by an ICE vehicle in Georgia, breaking his leg and spine; on September 18, Carlos Josue Marchena died in a Louisiana detention center after being denied access to diabetes medication; on September 20, Mario David Coronado Juárez was killed in a car accident while fleeing from ICE agents in Michigan; and on September 23, ICE agents in Texas shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez then took him into custody bleeding, with the bullet still in his body.

Alissa Washington, of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council, told the crowd, “Governor Walz, families need to know what you are going to do. When you are going to do it. And how you intend to protect people when ICE comes for them. We should not have to stand outside your residence to make the safety of our families a priority!”

The protest was also supported by Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, a faith-based organization.

After the speaker program concluded, protesters affixed signs that read “100 days left” and blue bunny hats to the fence in front of the mansion, representing Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old boy who was detained by ICE in Minnesota in January, and all children affected by federal immigration enforcement.

The organizers urged attendees to sign and share their petition for the sanctuary state campaign that can be found online at miracmn.com.

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