Saint Paul, MN – In one of the first known protests organized since the widespread implementation of ‘social distancing’ and ‘shelter-in-place’ with the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, a car caravan lined Summit Avenue outside Governor Tim Walz’s mansion in Saint Paul to demand immediate release of all immigrant detainees in Minnesota jails.

St. Paul, MN – On February 19, the House Subcommittee on Local Government voted to pass House File 3060. HF 3060 is a bill that would end contracts that local jails in Minnesota have with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain people facing civil immigration charges. Currently several county jails in Minnesota have contracts with ICE to hold hundreds of immigrants facing deportation.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people protested Saturday, February 1, outside the Federal Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis to condemn Donald Trump adding six more countries to his administration’s travel ban.

In 2019, we saw workers take to picket lines and we saw mass movements hit the streets in the U.S. and around the world. And when there’s an upsurge with lots of people hitting the streets, you can bet it will be accompanied by protest music. This year has been no exception.

Elk River, MN – Immigrant rights activists mobilized to the Sherburne County commissioners' meeting at 9:00 in the morning Tuesday, December 3 in Elk River, a town of around 20,000 people an hour northwest of Minneapolis. They held signs throughout the meeting, and several of them spoke passionately during the public comment section of the agenda, appealing to the commissioners to stop participating in and profiting from immigrant detention in the Sherburne County Jail.

Photo essay from the refounding conference of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago, November 22-24, 2019. Photos by Brad Sigal.

Minneapolis, MN – A few hundred protesters blocked off all roads outside of the Whipple Federal Building here at a 'Never Again is Now' protest July 30, shutting down business as usual to demand that the government close the concentration camps at the U.S.-México border.

Massive community outpouring fills hearing and packs two overflow rooms

Saint Paul, MN – Hundreds of immigrants and supporters filled the Minnesota State Capitol on February 28 for the first committee hearing of House File 1500, the ‘drivers license for all’ bill. The hearing room quickly filled to capacity, as did two overflow rooms. After more than two hours of public testimony and debate, the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee voted to pass the bill and refer it to the House Ways and Means Committee for the next step in the process.

Minneapolis, MN – Protesters gathered Wednesday evening, January 9, in frigid weather, on Lake Street in south Minneapolis to say no to President Trump’s border wall and his racist attacks on immigrants. The protest was organized on less than a 24-hour notice by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).

Minneapolis, MN – More than 60 people gathered January 8, at 7:30 a.m., for the monthly vigil outside the Whipple Federal Building in solidarity with immigrants facing immigration court and deportation there.