Minneapolis joins Weekend of Action Against Immigration Detention Centers
Minneapolis, MN – On the morning of Saturday, June 13, scores of protesters gathered at the corner of Lake Street. and Bloomington Avenue in South Minneapolis to stand in solidarity with people held in immigrant detention centers and against the persecution of anti-ICE protesters. Organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), the bannering action was held as part of a national weekend of action in coordination with the Legalization for All network.
The rally emphasized local demands aimed at pushing Governor Tim Walz to issue an executive order to restrict all law enforcement agreements that follow state law 287(g).
Although Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a legal opinion restricting individual sheriff's offices from independently entering into agreements with ICE or other federal agencies to perform immigration arrests, seven counties in Minnesota – Cass, Crow Wing, Itasca, Kandiyohi, Freeborn and Jackson – have county commission-approved agreements to hand over detainees suspected of having immigration violations to ICE. But Minneapolis residents showed up to spread awareness of continued abuses under the guise of various federal operations and to demand that Governor Walz use executive powers to end all cooperation with the federal entities who want to kidnap and terrorize Minnesotans.
Chants of “¡No más deportaciones!” and “No one is illegal! All power to the people!” rang through the streets as cars honked in support as they drove by the busy intersection that was witness to the beginnings of increased federal immigration operations since June 3 of 2025, more than six months before the infamous Operation Metro Surge officially began.
MIRAC member Mira Altobell-Resendez spoke to the crowd, “ICE is still here kidnapping our family and neighbors early in the morning and late at night! Governor Walz could end this with a stroke of his pen!”
Alissa Washington from The Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Family Council Minnesota stated, “Too often, the same communities harmed by policing, incarceration, detention, surveillance and criminalization are excluded from the decisions being made about them.”
Arroyo Burns García-Torres of Hands Off Latin America Committee (HOLA) of Women Against Military Madness said, “We know people are dying in detention. We know they are deprived of medical care. We know they’re being punished without fair trials.”
Drake Myers, a rank-and-file member of Minnesota Federation of Educators, remarked, “Every educator has felt the terror of the attacks firsthand in their own families, neighborhoods and classrooms. During Operation Metro Surge students and staff were abducted, even on school grounds, schools were stalked relentlessly and sometimes even teargassed, with classrooms missing more students every day!”
The renewed outrage comes in solidarity with the hunger striking detainees in Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center, New Jersey, where over 70 protesters have also been arrested since May 31.Many media outlets widely praise Governor Mikie Sherill’s use of executive powers to rebuke ICE’s invasion of the Garden State, while grassroots organizers felt betrayed by the use of State Police to control protesters.
Given the threat of the possible reopening of Appleton Prison for ICE use in Minnesota; MIRAC demands that Governor Walz and all state and local representatives work to ban 287(g) agreements, ban immigration enforcement agencies in and around schools, hospitals and houses of worship, ban immigration enforcement agencies using state property, ban face coverings and require visible ID for all law enforcement officers, defend anti-ICE protesters against political repression, provide justice for victims of ICE terror, and implement a statewide eviction moratorium.