St. Paul, MN – On March 22, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and other grassroots organizations held a rally outside of the Minnesota Governor’s Residence to pressure Governor Walz to issue an executive order that would ban cooperation between ICE and state and local law enforcement.

The rally was in the wake of Operation Metro Surge, which subjected the entire state of Minnesota to a reign of terror by federal agents for nearly three months.

MIRAC member Myrka Zambrano stated, “Our so-called leaders have confidently stated that the metro surge is over. The media has moved on. Our voices are being suppressed. But nothing has changed. In the so-called ‘aftermath’ of their invasion, what is very clear is that the fight has just begun. Thousands of families are still starving. Many people will lose their homes or be evicted, through no fault of their own. Our children are traumatized. Our businesses have lost tens of millions of dollars. All of this is a direct result of our leaders' lack of action and accountability.”

La’Taya Taylor, a member of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) told the crowd, “We need to put the political power to hold police accountable in the hands of the people, not in the hands of these highly paid politicians who don’t represent our interests. Lastly, we call on Governor Walz and all state legislators to heed the demands for a sanctuary state now. Ban any and all cooperation with ICE, defend protesters from political repression, provide justice for victims of ICE terror, keep ICE off state property, ban secret police, and implement a statewide eviction moratorium.”

José Luis Méndez, a member of Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, called attention to the death toll of immigrants in ICE detention since Trump took office. Thus far, federal immigration enforcement has stolen the lives of 47 immigrants, whether through reckless murder or criminal negligence. The Legalization for All network, which MIRAC is part of, will uplift their names during the nationwide No Kings protests on March 28 to ensure that their deaths will not be swept under the rug.

Méndez continued, “And it’s not just about being here in the United States. We want more freedom here in the U.S., but we want more freedom in South America, in the entire continent, and in every single continent of this world.” He followed this by condemning the U.S. for bombing Venezuela and starving Cuba.

Alissa Washington, the founder of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council, then spoke to the complicity of the local justice system, reporting how immigrants within the system have been directly transferred to ICE detention centers after serving their time. “Think about that,” Washington said. “You do your time in this state. You serve your sentence, and instead of going home to your family, you get handed off to another system. Another punishment. That is not justice, that is a pipeline, and we reject it.”

Drew Edwards, one of the Black community leaders facing federal repression after protesting against Cities Church, which hired an ICE official to lead the congregation, stated, “We’re not going to put the immigrants as a scapegoat for the ignorance of America. We’re not going to scapegoat transgender brothers and sisters. We’re not going to scapegoat Iranians. We’re not going to scapegoat all these other brothers and sisters, and we’re not going to find somebody to scapegoat for the ignorance of white supremacy, and the ignorance of imperialism, and the ignorance of capitalism. We’re not going to do that.”

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC #OppressedNationalities

Saint Paul, MN – Members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) held a press conference in front of the office of Governor Tim Walz, March 11, to demand immediate action from state leaders to make Minnesota a sanctuary state. MIRAC announced their new campaign aiming to pressure Governor Walz to sign an executive order that will use every power at his disposal to protect immigrant residents.

In the wake of Operation Metro Surge, activists are wary of the announcement by border czar Tom Homan of “unprecedented cooperation” between local and state law enforcement agencies and ICE.

Speaking on behalf of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J), Jae Yates stated, “We are sick and tired of ineffective leadership from the DFL and broader Democrat establishment. Ultimately, state leaders left the people of our state to fend for themselves during this crisis. Democrat politicians were willing to use this crisis to improve their images with heartfelt statements on camera, but have shown little political will to actually protect residents from ICE.”

MIRAC has already joined dozens of organizations across Minnesota working to pass sanctuary state legislation, but knows that immigrant residents can’t afford to wait. They will push for a gubernatorial executive order because there is a need for an immediate response to the urgent threats and hardships faced by thousands of the state’s residents.

Speakers outlined the demands of the campaign, some of which include: Banning all collaboration between local agencies and ICE; protecting sensitive locations from immigration enforcement; prohibiting the use of state property by federal agents; banning face coverings and requiring all agents to clearly display their agency affiliation; defending protesters against political repression by demand that state and federal prosecutors drop all charges against ICE observers and anti-ICE protesters; arresting and prosecuting the killer agents and federal agents who violated laws around warrants and excessive force; providing justice for victims of ICE terror through financial assistance, and implementing a statewide eviction moratorium.

MIRAC member Myrka Zambrano stated, “The people of Minnesota will not stand for spineless leadership that make compromises and sell us out. We make no compromises when we fight for our neighbors in the streets. We want action and we will hold leaders accountable for our livelihood and that of our neighbors.”

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC

St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Immigrant Right Action Committee (MIRAC) led a lively rally, of about 100 people, February 24, in frigid temperatures outside the governor's mansion in the Summit Hill neighborhood of Saint Paul to demand that Tim Walz take action to ensure real sanctuary for all Minnesotans.

A major focus was the call for the governor to ban 287(g) agreements across the state. These insidious programs deputize local law enforcement to work for the deportation machine by hiding kidnappings within the shadows of local squad cars and jails.

As elected officials and the mainstream media attempt to sell the narrative that the threat of ICE terror is no longer active in Minnesota, demonstrators refused to let the violence slip into the background..

Morgan Budiandri of MIRAC stated, “You know who's not able to just forget? My coworkers who are still afraid to go to work. My friends whose moms and dads have been deported and sent hundreds of miles away. My neighbors who have been tear gassed, brutalized and killed.”

Budiandri continued, “this system cannot be reformed. It is rooted in violence and terror. It needs to be abolished completely. It needs to take its ugly head out of Minnesota once and for all!”

As the sun went down, protesters cheered, chanted, waved signs, and jumped up and down to stay warm in the dropping temperatures. Chants of “Walz, eschucha! Estamos en la lucha!” echoed down the street.

Alissa Washington, founder of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-Sentenced Families Council, addressed the governor directly: “Governor Tim Walz, we are watching you. Minnesota does not belong to ICE. Our counties are not holding cells for federal raids. Our communities are not bargaining chips. For years, Black, brown, and indigenous communities have asked for real leadership. Real protection, real courage. And too often what we got is hesitation, compromise and political calculation.”

“To our Minnesota community, we love you, and we're in this fight for the long haul,” said MIRAC member Sophie Breen. Minnesotans continue to come together to protect their neighbors and stand in solidarity with immigrants. The people demand that Governor Walz declare Minnesota a sanctuary state, ban all 287(g) agreements, and prohibit county jails from sharing information with ICE.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC

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.

#MN #MIRAC #ImmigrantRights #ICE

Minneapolis, MN – Over 1000 union members, immigrant rights activists and supporters marched through Minneapolis’ Whittier neighborhood on Monday, February 16, to demand an end to ICE’s occupation of the city and for the defense of immigrant rights.

Marchers held dozens of banners with slogans like “ICE our now,” “Legalization for all,” and “Killer ICE off our streets.” The march began at Stewart Park, crossed a highway where the supportive honks of passing traffic temporarily drowned out the marchers’ chants, and ended at the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street, where Alex Pretti was murdered.

Pretti was shot repeatedly in the back while held down on the ground by masked federal agents agents, after stepping between the agents and a woman who they were attempting to pepper spray.

The march was headlined by the Minnesota AFL-CIO, and was endorsed by many local unions, including AFGE Local 3669, AFSCME Council 5 and Council 65, ATU Local 1005, IATSE Local 13, IAM District 77, IUPAT District Council 82, LiUNA Minnesota and North Dakota, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, Minnesota Nurses Association, NALC Branch 9, SEIU Locals 26 and 284, UFCW Locals 1189 and 663, and UNITE HERE Local 17. Many community organizations endorsed the event and turned out their membership to march as well, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations — MN (CAIR-MN), 50501 Minnesota, Reviving Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE), Women’s March Minnesota, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).

Speakers were unanimous in driving home the message that ICE occupation of Minnesota has not ended. Manuel Pascual, a member of MIRAC, spoke to the crowd from the back of a truck as the marchers took the streets, saying, “Just days ago, federal officials announced the end of Operation Metro Surge. Let’s be clear — that did not happen because they suddenly found compassion. It happened because people across Minnesota organized, spoke out, marched, and refused to stay silent. It happened because immigrant communities and allies showed courage. It happened because resistance worked.”

However, Pascual continued to note that the community fight against ICE continues, and spoke to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s agreeing to “unprecedented” levels of state collaboration with ICE, without details of this agreement being made public. Pascual said, “What we are seeing now is not a victory lap from those in power. It is a shift in strategy. A quieter approach. Deals being made behind closed doors. Policies that risk embedding ICE deeper into our local systems — into our jails, into policing, into everyday encounters — where harm becomes less visible but no less real. We must say clearly: we will not be fooled.”

Organizers noted that a decreased ICE presence in Minnesota also does not mean that the battle against ICE has ended on a national scale, and that just as millions marched across the country in solidarity with Minnesota, Minnesota will march in solidarity with any future city to see a large-scale occupation by ICE.

When the march arrived at the site of Alex Pretti’s murder, organizers handed out flowers to attendees so they could lay them in tribute at his memorial. The crowd was asked to repeat these slogans after the emcee: “We have a duty to fight for our freedom! We have a duty to win! We have nothing to lose but our chains!”

MIRAC plans to take their demands for an end to ICE terror and for legalization for all directly to Governor Walz, with a rally outside the Minnesota Governor’s Residence at 1006 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 24.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #Labor #AFLCIO #AFGE #AFSCME #ATU #IAM #MIRAC #CAIRMN #FRSO

St. Paul, MN – On the evening of February 6, hundreds of protesters gathered outside of Governor Tim Walz’s mansion. The event, organized by The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), was held to demand that elected office holders do not sell out for ICE.

The rally responded to the announcement from “Border Czar” Tom Homan that 700 of the 3000 federal agents currently occupying Minnesota would be leaving. A decision that came after private meetings that included Governor Tim Walz. Homan stated that this decision was made due to the “unprecedented” level of cooperation between counties and federal law enforcement. But twin cities residents showed up, demanding that there be no cooperation between elected officials, and the federal entities who want to kidnap and terrorize residents.

Chants of “The people united will never be defeated!” rang through the streets as cars honked in support as they drove by the crowd outside the mansion. MIRAC member Robyn Harbison asked the crowd: “Is this the best result that Governor Tim Walz and other elected officials can come up with after meetings behind closed doors with Tom Holman? Shame!”

Alissa Washington from The Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Family Council Minnesota stated, “This is a moment of choice. This is a moment history will remember, and we are saying clearly do not sell us out!”

Homan also met with the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association and Minnesota County Attorneys Association to discuss a basic ordering agreement (BOA). This would allow county jails to hold immigration enforcement targets for up to 48 hours after their scheduled releases from state custody and give ICE “reasonable access to all detainees and inmates” for the purposes of immigration enforcement. The BOA deprives individuals of due process and violates state law. Eight Minnesota counties had already signed similar 287(g) agreements with ICE prior to Homan’s arrival.

Elected officials continue to show that they can be bought and bullied by Trump. MIRAC is insisting that Governor Tim Walz and other representatives of the state refuse to cooperate with ICE and federal law enforcement agencies. MIRAC demands an end to deportations and legalization for all.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MIRAC

Minneapolis, MN — In freezing temperatures with wind whipping around downtown Minneapolis, hundreds of protesters huddled near the front doors of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office to rally against a proposed $170 billion in additional funding for ICE.

With the current administration pouring millions of dollars, thousands of heavily armed agents, and a staggering volume of chemical weaponry into a violent occupation of Minnesota dubbed “Operation Metro Surge,” Minnesotans continue to stand their ground against political repression no matter the weather.

The event was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and included speakers from the Anti-War Committee, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, and the Council on American Islamic Relations Minnesota.

Kelly Thomas from the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice said, “Amy Klobuchar has a long history of not doing the right thing. She loves prosecuting Black and brown youth but protecting killer cops. Shame! She says she wants ICE out of Minnesota but isn’t willing to support the Palestinian people as they resist their own occupation and ongoing genocide. Shame!”

Myrka Zambrano of MIRAC said, “It seems that our leaders have forgotten who it is they serve. They do not serve a federal agency, they do not serve a king, they serve us, their constituents. They have a responsibility to us and we will hold them accountable!”

Congressional leaders are currently negotiating a number of funding packages as they attempt to reach a federal budget agreement by January 30 and avoid another government shutdown. As of yet there is no agreement on the funding package for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). The negotiation of this particular bill will determine whether additional billions of taxpayer money is allocated to these agencies.

MIRAC is calling on Minnesota’s members of Congress to reject any bill that includes funding for ICE and CBP, demanding “Not one more cent for ICE! Stop the deportations! Legalization for all!

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #Klobuchar #MIRAC #TCC4J #CAIRMN

Minneapolis, MN – ICE has committed its second open murder of 2026 in the Twin Cities, with the fatal shooting of a legal observer on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis on the morning of January 24. The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), quickly had members on the scene to document and began planning a vigil for the fallen community member.

The shooting was witnessed and documented by several bystanders, some of whom were then detained by ICE. In a widely circulated video from one bystander, five to six ICE agents can be seen swarming, tackling and pistol-whipping a community member. As the civilian kneels, surrounded by agents, one agent shoots him. The agents then begin to back up, and at least one of them shoots the community member several more times as he lies motionless on the ground.

Local authorities have since confirmed that the victim is dead. The Star Tribune has identified him as 37-year-old Alex Jeffery Pretti of Minneapolis.

This killing comes after the January 7 murder of Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good, who an ICE agent shot multiple times after she stopped her car to document agents’ activities in her South Minneapolis neighborhood. The next week, ICE agents nonfatally shot a Minneapolis resident in North Minneapolis.

At all three incidents, and throughout the surge of ICE brutality that has terrorized Twin Cities communities, local law enforcement, including Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, have responded to ICE violence by acting as a security force for the perpetrators, pointing their boots towards Minneapolis residents while federal agents leave the scenes of their crimes without consequence.

No arrest has been made or charges brought against Jonathan Ross, Good’s killer, nor against the agent who committed the shooting the following week, nor the agents whose tear gas nearly killed a six-month-old, nor the agents who recently kidnapped a five-year-old and a two-year-old, nor any of the agents who have racially profiled, stalked, assaulted, battered and unlawfully detained people of color and their neighbors over the past months.

Since the murder of Alex Pretti on January 24, thousands of protesters continue to mobilize near the site, chanting “ICE out” and “The people united will never be defeated!”

MIRAC called for a rally the evening of January 24 to bring people together after the latest ICE murder. Speeches emphasized the need for immediate action to remove ICE, without the National Guard interfering with protests.

Charlie Berg, an organizer in the Climate Justice Committee and a Freedom Road Socialist Organization member, said to the crowd, “Alex Pretti was executed in broad daylight by these occupier pigs.” Addressing politicians controlled by billionaires, he added “The only way this ends is with ICE to getting the fuck out of our city. You've been warned.”

“We are on a precipice,” says MIRAC member Owen Lubozynski. “The agents of an authoritarian regime are terrorizing and disappearing our neighbors, brutalizing observers, injuring journalists and killing with impunity. Any leader who is against this must do everything in their power to impede our country’s plunge into dictatorship while they still can.”

City and state officials responded to the righteous anger of community members by calling out the National Guard. But Minnesotans have not been deterred or scared away from gathering at the site of Pretti’s murder.

“It is us, even when we are scared, when our hearts are heavy, full of emotion, that we work to fight for what is right. While they teargas us and shoot at us, it is our community members that come to our aid. Do not forget that. Our community has shown resilience, has shown love and generosity in the face of danger. It is us that keeps us safe!” said Esper Garcia from MIRAC.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #KillerICE #AlexPretti #ReneeGood #MIRAC #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – On January 21, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) held a press conference outside Mayor Jacob Frey’s office to respond to the federal agents’ ongoing assault upon the people of Minneapolis, and to demand that city officials prosecute the violent agents harming our communities, rather than the people reacting to that harm.

This call to action is a follow up to the “Real Sanctuary Now!” campaign, in which MIRAC pushed the mayor and city council to enact stronger safeguards against collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE.

Among the petitioning, rallies and other actions to push the campaign forward, MIRAC organized a sit-in in Mayor Frey’s office on October 28 to demand that the mayor not only pay lip service but take concrete steps to protect immigrant communities of Minneapolis. Instead of engaging in dialogue with the community organizers waiting in his office, Mayor Frey chose to let the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) arrest all 11 of them. Since then, city prosecutors have used their time to uphold trespassing charges against the activists over months of negotiations, until the sit-in participants agreed to be fined for petty misdemeanors.

MIRAC organized the press conference to highlight the city prosecutors’ and MPD’s prioritization of the suppression of dissent over the preservation of the rights the people of Minneapolis. A MIRAC member who participated in the sit-in, Owen Lubozynski, stated, “every time MPD is dispatched to a scene where community members are responding to ICE violence, the officers’ boots are pointing at us. Never have we seen them standing on the side of Minneapolis residents. Never have we seen them facing the state-sponsored terrorists who represent the greatest threat to our civil rights and our safety.”

Angel Smith-El, a member of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, provided further context by pointing out that “the Minneapolis Police Department has never been held accountable for police terror, or assisting the residents of Minneapolis when it comes to police crimes or domestic abuse,” and so we must have community control of the police to guarantee real accountability and non-cooperation between MPD and federal agents.”

The council member for Minneapolis’s Ward 2, Robin Wonsley, expanded upon MPD’s failure to protect the community by recalling that in 2023, “a council member requested MPD to block off streets here in downtown in response to Somali youth, apparently causing a ruckus in the downtown area around the Fourth of July. We saw cement barriers go up to prevent youth from accessing that. Why aren’t we seeing the same rapid response from the MPD to put up blockages to protect our neighbors as well from federal ICE agents? That’s the request that has been posed to the mayor’s office that has not been complied with.”

Owen Lubozynski points out, “Regular people are out patrolling for ICE, observing them, documenting them, and chasing them out of our neighborhoods. And we are also giving our neighbors rides to work and to school, delivering groceries, organizing fundraisers, guarding neighborhoods and local businesses. We are taking care of each other.”

In response to concerns from the press about the ways regular people are fighting back against ICE, Erika Zurawski, co-founder of MIRAC, stated that “We would never condemn any type of protest, or protester, for the way that they want to show their reaction and their objection to the Trump administration and to how these ICE agents are destroying communities and kidnapping people out of their vehicles. ICE agents are being violent actors in this; they are the only ones bringing violence into our communities. Anybody who objects and opposes this violence, we will not condemn them for protesting against these atrocities.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC #ICE

Minneapolis, MN – The People’s Action Coalition Against Trump (PACAT) organized a massive mobilization to protest Jake Lang’s planned “Crusader March,” where he announced that he would burn a Quran on the steps of City Hall before marching into the predominantly Somali Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

He and a handful of other racists were confronted by extreme cold weather. They were shut down and chased away by an overwhelming crowd of at least 1000, who answered PACAT’s call for a “Protest to defend our neighbors!”

Lang is a January 6 rioter pardoned by Trump; he is a reactionary provocateur making a name for himself through social media stunts targeting Muslims. Lang announced his plans to march in Minneapolis over a month ago, falsely claiming he had a permit for the City Hall rotunda.

Since that announcement, Trump unleashed Operation Metro Surge, bringing some 3000 federal agents to carry out abductions and deportations, in the name of immigration enforcement. Community anger at the operation has only grown since the murder of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross last week.

Organizers from Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, and the Anti-War Committee gave speeches and led chants on the mic, as Lang huddled in a city hall window recess well across the street. As the massive crowd chanted and shouted, it was impossible to hear any of the hate Lang tried to spew.

Lang was pelted with water balloons, sprayed with silly string and super soakers. As he grew increasingly frustrated, several members of the American Indian Movement appeared on the scene, and that seemed to be the last straw for Lang. Unable to be heard, or to burn any Qurans, Lang turned heel and was chased back to his hotel by a crowd that refused to tolerate his pro-ICE anti-Muslim message.

Lang has since taken to social media, claiming he was “literally lynched by an anti-white mob.” He continued, “I’m at the hospital now getting staples in my skull… Nearly ripped limb from limb in Minneapolis!!!!” He asked his racist supporters to send him money for his hospital bill and future security.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #JakeLang #Reactionaries #Nazi #MIRAC #USPCN #PACAT #Feature

On Wednesday, January 14 at about 7:00pm, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Community (MIRAC) received reports of an ICE shooting at 6th St & 24th Ave in North Minneapolis. Reports confirm a community member was shot in the leg by ICE thugs. He is alive, but was taken away by ambulance. As the events unfolded, ICE officers also denied medical care to a pregnant woman present inside the home.

The Minneapolis Police Department taped off the scene. However, when observers, elected leaders and press turned out, they began to depart and were fully cleared from the area around 8:40pm. Dozens more ICE agents arrived on the scene.

ICE terrorized the community by deploying flash bangs, tear gas, and pepper balls. ICE agents shot fireworks at protesters in a clear effort to distort media reports and defame community members who showed up to decry their brutality. Surveillance drones and choppers circled the area.

State Troopers were eventually deployed to the scene and MPD officers returned in riot gear by 10:00pm. An unknown number of protesters have been arrested.

Minneapolis Chief of Police Brian O’Hara and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey used a press conference to try to blame protesters for ICE violence. This is shameful. Anything short of total condemnation of ICE makes MPD complicit in this attack on our community. MIRAC will continue to demand stronger protections and a real sanctuary city.

MIRAC condemns state violence and terror. We reject statements by local officials attempting to denounce protests as unlawful. We must be clear: there is violence and there is resistance to violence. They must not be equated. If elected officials want to help – get violent agents out of our city and out of our state.

MIRAC condemns ICE as an agency of liars. Every time they open their mouth, they are caught in another lie. Their fabricated version of events must never be accepted. We must call out and denounce their intentional misinformation.

MIRAC stands in full solidarity with the community that was attacked this evening by ICE! ICE out of Minnesota now!

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MIRAC #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – On January 11, over 50 people rallied to demand an end to state terror from Minneapolis to Palestine.

Attendees waved Palestine and Venezuelan flags in the busy intersection of Hennepin Avenue and Oak Grove on the corner of Loring Park and displayed a banner on the pedestrian bridge over I-94 reading “Free Palestine: End ethnic cleansing.”

Minneapolis has once again become the epicenter in the struggle against state terror. Earlier this month, the Trump administration deployed 2000 ICE agents to Minneapolis. As a result of the escalated ICE presence, on January 7, ICE agents killed Renee Nicole Good, who was protecting immigrant community members. The crackdown on civil liberties and human rights in the U.S. mirror the experiences that Palestinians encounter in the West Bank daily.

Cece Maves, a member of the AWC stated. “Renee Good was denied medical care on the scene. She was called a ‘domestic terrorist’ by our government before her body was even laid to rest. It reminds me of the raids in the West Bank that Palestinians still face to this day, where emergency services are denied, and the victims of violence are immediately villainized by Israeli forces.”

Dr. Christine Harb, a member of USPCN told the crowd, “On January 6, my brother sent me videos from Birzeit University in the West Bank, where Hamas has no control or jurisdiction, of Israeli soldiers raiding the school with tear gas and wounding dozens of students who are simply pursuing their education. On January 7, ICE raided Roosevelt High School here in Minneapolis, terrifying students and their teachers to the point that kids don’t want to go to school anymore.”

Allison Gunderson, a member of WAMM and the AWC ended the rally, stating, “As anti-imperialists, we know these events don’t happen in a vacuum. We know they are all rooted in one cause: U.S. imperialism. Every innocent life taken in Palestine, every innocent life taken defending the Bolivarian Revolution, and every innocent life taken by the hands of ICE and MPD all serves to feed the same bloodthirsty machine that will continue to lash out and cause chaos and violence until it is put down like the sick dog that it is! So we have one job: and that is to keep showing up and keep strengthening the solidarity between these struggles!”

The event was organized by the Minnesota Anti War Committee (AWC) and included speakers from the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), and Women Against Military Madness (WAMM).

This protest took place just a day after a massive anti-ICE rally, showing that Minneapolis continues to show up to fight back against state terror both here and abroad.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #AWCMN #WAMM #USPCNMN #MIRAC

Minneapolis, MN- The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) led a historic march of 100,000 people through Minneapolis to honor the life of Renee Nicole Good and to demand ICE out of Minnesota. The gathering was not only a show of grief and anger, but a powerful declaration of collective resistance.

On the morning of January 7, community member Renee Good was observing a raid and was murdered by an ICE agent. Good was known as a devoted mother and a neighbor who believed deeply in protecting her community. On the night of her murder, thousands gathered at a vigil and rally organized by MIRAC to mourn her loss.

In the days that followed, the city became a living memorial. Community members marched through neighborhoods, laid flowers at Goods’s memorial, and mobilized together to demand concrete action to remove ICE from Minneapolis. While city leaders spoke from podiums and expressed solidarity, the people were clear that words alone are not enough, demanding real action. No meaningful steps have yet been taken by most officials to ensure that immigrant communities are protected from further ICE terror.

The January 10 march began with a rally in South Minneapolis in Powderhorn Park, not far from where Renee Good was murdered, and in a neighborhood that is highly organized in its resistance to ICE. Rapid Response groups constantly patrol the neighborhood and let ICE know they are not welcome in the city.

During the march, speakers gave voice to the urgency and moral clarity of the moment as tens of thousands of people continued to pour into the streets for hours on end.

Noah Schumacher of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) told the crowd, “I think we have some demands, am I right?! are here today to demand ICE get out of MN. We are here today to demand an end to the mass deportations of our immigrant siblings. We are here today to demand Governor Walz tell his National Guard forces to stand down and not repress the people’s movement! We are here today to demand justice for Renee Good, a mother and poet who was murdered in cold blood for trying to protect her neighbors. We are here today to demand an end to the blatant attacks on Black and brown people.”

Dieu Do, a member of MIRAC stated, “You don’t send 2000 agents to a state where you’re meeting your quota. You don’t ask for backup when you’re winning a fight. People see through their deception, and they know their days of terrorizing our communities are coming to an end. Because no matter what resources they have, they can’t outlast our movement. We believe in each other. We believe in this fight. And we believe we can win – because we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.”

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar addressed the crowd from the sound truck as the march continued to flood Lake Street stating “They came to terrorize, abduct and deport Somali immigrants here in Minnesota…As they lose their minds trying to intimidate us, I see every day, every single day, neighbors trailing these violent people who are trying to intimidate us under the guise of law enforcement and saying no matter what you do to me you can arrest me or not I am going to document your illegal actions. Because if there is no accountability today there will be accountability tomorrow.”

The immigrant rights movement continues to grow with each march, vigil and act of solidarity. As MIRAC continues to fight back against ICE in the streets, the group is also building for their 20th annual march on May 1 for International Worker’s Day, which they expect to be their biggest march yet. The movement to protect our immigrant brothers and sisters is growing, and justice will be won!

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ReneeGood #ICE #MIRAC #TCC4J #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – At about 10 a.m. on January 7, ICE agents swarmed Portland Avenue and 34th Street, preparing for an operation despite Minneapolis’ new stronger separation ordinance. An observer was sitting in her car when ICE agents swarmed her while yelling aggressively. One agent came to the front of her car with his gun, and shot her in the head through her windshield, killing her. The victim has been identified as Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother.

Observers were on the scene and witnessed the murder and continued to stay as a massive amount of agents swarmed in. HSI, ICE, FBI and ERO were on the scene as well as the Minneapolis Police Department and Hennepin County Sheriffs. Gregory Bovino, the senior official of US Border Patrol, was present as well.

Since the morning of January 7, there has been an ongoing presence at 34th and Portland, including a press conference led by the Council on American Islamic Affairs (CAIR) and an evening rally and vigil led by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC.

Over 10,000 people attended MIRAC’s protest to honor Good. Opponents of police violence and their organizations were in high attendance, such as Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J), Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, BLM Twin Cities, and more. Indigenous community leaders with the American Indian Movement and Indigenous Protectors Movement opened the program with music.

“ICE agents do not get to come into our city and murder community members who are out here trying to keep our communities safe!” says MIRAC member Montana Hirsch, adding that Good, “did nothing wrong. We stand by her and we will fight for justice. The people are not going anywhere. ICE out of Minnesota!”

Many cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Detroit, Jacksonville and more plan to have emergency actions and protests in response to Good’s murder through January 11, as part of the Legalization for All Network’s call to action. Cities throughout the country, regardless of past occupation with ICE and National Guard or not, are ready to continue protesting and letting ICE know they are not welcome anywhere.

MIRAC’s next protest is Saturday, January 10 at 1 p.m. at the northwest corner of Powderhorn Park (10th Avenue and 32nd Street, Minneapolis) to demand ICE out of Minnesota and to hold Minneapolis leaders accountable to uphold the separation ordinance. Killer ICE off our streets!

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #KillerICE #ReneeGood #MIRAC

Minneapolis, MN – With wind chills bringing temperatures below zero, 15,000 Minnesotans took to the streets in Minneapolis on Saturday to demand ICE get out. The protest was organized by a large coalition of immigrant rights groups and unions in response to an upsurge in attacks by ICE in the past month in the greater Twin Cities area. Many of these attacks have focused on the Somali community after Trump’s racist call for mass deportations of Somali Minnesotans.

Community members have witnessed ICE agents drag a pregnant woman through the streets, shoot pepper balls and tear gas at responders, smash car windows and kidnap people in broad daylight. During the coldest and darkest time of the year, the people have been chasing these federal agents all over the Twin Cities, militantly fighting back, letting them know they are not welcome here.

The march was organized by a large coalition that included unions and immigrant rights group such as Minneapolis Federation of Educators Local 59, SEIU Local 26, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), UNIDOS, Comunidades Organizando el Poder y La Acción Latina (COPAL), Minnesota 8 (MN8), Immigrant Defense Network (IDN), Council on American-Islamic Relations, among others.

The march included three trucks with multiple speakers from different organizations and unions. The front truck included fiery chants and speakers led by MIRAC members. MIRAC speaker Myrka Zambrano said, “We march here so they know that there is resistance. Here and all across the country, we want ICE out of our cities and we will scream it as loud as we need to!”

Emcees kept the energy high for the nearly one and a half mile march, with chants uniting the crowd against ICE. Protesters marched below a freeway bridge and echoes of “Chinga la Migra” boomed as they neared a Somali mall.

Speakers highlighted support for Somali neighbors amidst racist attacks from the Trump administration. Jaylani Hussein of CAIR-MN addressed protesters, “You showed up today! You came out today knowing it was going to be cold! You showed up for your neighbors, for your friends, for your teachers, for your union brothers and sisters. You came out today to show that Minnesota will not let ICE divide us!”

Tracy Molm of the People’s Action Coalition Against Trump (PACAT) said, “In PACAT we believe our struggles and fights against the reactionary and racist policies of the second Trump administration must be met with action. While we have many different struggles, we are united in our commitment to fight back and shut it down!”

MIRAC emcees concluded the march by inviting protesters to shop at the many immigrant-owned businesses on Lake Street that have been struggling due to the recent attacks on their community. Their call to action invited the crowd to show up and take the streets with MIRAC for their 20th anniversary May 1 march in 2026.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC #PACAT #ICE #CAIRMN #MFE9 #SEIU #MN8 #UNIDOS #IDN #COPAL #CJC #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday, December 9, at least 100 immigrant rights advocates packed the Minneapolis sanctuary ordinance public hearing to demand a stronger separation between the Minneapolis Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Community members witnessed the Minneapolis Police Department assist ICE in an operation in the community on June 3 and spoke up against this collaboration.

The groups Minnesota Immigrant Movement and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) organized community members to show up in support of immigrant rights.

Testimonies demanded a stronger sanctuary ordinance that prohibits cover-ups, collusion and crowd control, with real consequences for officers who violate the city’s sanctuary ordinance. Members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee delivered 2890 petition signatures to the city council in support of these demands.

Pressure from immigrant rights activists has already made an impact, with Mayor Jacob Frey releasing an executive order stating that certain city property cannot be used to stage civil immigration enforcement activity. This order came after organizers staged a sit-in at the mayor’s office. Public pressure also led to MPD Chief O'Hara ordering officers to intervene to prevent violent ICE misconduct.

Miguel Hernandez, a member of MIRAC, testified, “The voices of our immigrant leaders are being pushed into hiding and I hope I can do them justice – we knew this was coming. In a year’s time, history tells itself. 2 million people who looked like me in the 1930s were taken, even if they have this,” gesturing to his passport. In the background, activists held signs that read “ICE out of Minneapolis.”

On Thursday, December 11, Minneapolis city council members voted unanimously to support this stronger sanctuary ordinance. Mayor Frey has five business days to either sign it off or veto it.

If you are a Minneapolis resident, call Mayor Frey in support of this stronger separation ordinance.

Immigrant rights groups, including MIRAC, will continue to stand up against ICE and let them know they are not welcome in Minnesota. The fight doesn’t end here!

#MinneapolisMN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MIRAC

Minneapolis, MN – On December 8, despite subzero temperatures and snow, 300 people gathered at Mayday Plaza for a rally in solidarity with the Somali and Afghan communities in Minneapolis. The event was organized by the Free Palestine Coalition, with a wide range of grass roots organizations participating in the event.

The event was organized in response to the racist rhetoric that has been directed at the Somali community from the Trump administration. While ICE has been active in Minnesota since at least June of this year, the Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to direct ICE agents to also focus on detaining members of the Somali community. The Twin Cities has the largest concentration of Somalis in the United States.

“It’s been an incredibly emotionally taxing time,” said Malika Dahir, one of the event organizers. “We are a small community in a large landscape of the United States and in Minnesota quietly living our lives, and now we’re on a national stage getting national exposure being identified and targeted based on how you look. I’m also getting reports from our community members of people who just look Somali, whether they’re Ethiopian or Kenyan – getting picked up and targeted.”

The event happened less than 12 hours after a mosque in Prior Lake caught fire, although the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Montana Hirsch, an organizer with the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) stated, “We did have a recent win – Jacob Frey made an executive order last week that said ICE cannot use public parking lots or ramps to stage raids! This is not Frey doing this out of the goodness of his own heart. This was won after MIRAC and other immigrant rights groups and all of us fought for this. We sat in Frey’s office, got thousands of petition signatures and demanded this! This is a win that only happened because we fought for it!”

Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Minnesota branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said, “We have heard multiple – and it’s been reported by local channels as well – of incidents of sexual assault, incidents of police brutality that has been committed by ICE through this operation. We are learning of family separation of children, of U.S. lawful residents. We believe this is the tactic of the ICE operation.”

Protesters expressed commitment to continue to protest if these attacks continue.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #Somali #ICE #Afghan #Trump #MIRAC

St. Paul, MN – Dozens of Minnesotans gathered in the pouring rain on Tuesday, November 25 to show their solidarity with those affected by federal immigration raids. The Trump administration is launching racist attacks through ICE in Saint Paul. Meanwhile there are no official protections for the most vulnerable against this violence.

The rally by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) took place outside of Bro-Tex Inc. in Saint Paul. It is a manufacturing company where an ICE raid took place one week earlier on November 18. There was another federal raid by ICE at a residence in the city’s East Side on the morning of the rally. ICE arrested one resident of the home, and then three more observers. There were several injuries from the “non-lethal munitions” deployed by federal agents and the Saint Paul Police Department.

The protest sought to demonstrate community support for families whose loved ones were recently detained by federal immigration officers. Karla Alarcon is one of those whose father is still in detention after being arrested at the Bro-Tex Inc. operation.

Alarcon said, “Every family impacted has a history, a dream, a purpose, and a place in this community. And today Minnesota has a choice to make: are we a state that allows families to be torn apart in broad daylight? Or are we a state that stands up and says, ‘Not here! Not to our people!’”

Alarcon called upon politicians at all levels to take action to prevent more families from going through the same trauma.

MIRAC member Miguel Hernandez spoke of how local police escalate tensions during raids, like the morning November 18. Police used tear gas, pepper balls and other violent crowd control tactics.

Hernandez said, “It’s a lot better when the police are not around. They showed up today and we saw the clear difference of violence. It escalated way faster and way more aggressively with more police.”

Hernandez highlighted the demand “Real Sanctuary Now!” The movement is urging stronger sanctuary policy in the Twin Cities to keep local police from collaborating with for the safety of everyday residents. 

Other organizations represented among the speakers at the rally were West Side Community Organization, Anti-War Committee, and Minnesota Workers United.

At the end of the protest MIRAC urged attendees to join them at the Minneapolis City Council hearing on December 9 at 1:30 p.m. to pack the room and demonstrate support for a proposal to amend the city’s separation ordinance in accordance with the needs of the immigrant community.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC #ICE

St. Paul, MN – At around 8 a.m. on November 18 immigrant rights organizations received reports of federal immigration agents staging in a public park gearing up for what turned out to be a large raid at Bro-Tex INC., a paper distributor in Saint Paul.

Immediately after getting the report, members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), as well as others, arrived on the scene and followed the officers to the Bro-Tex building. After confirming Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ICE presence, MIRAC put out an urgent call for observers to come to the scene. Within the hour, hundreds of community members showed up, chanted, and put their bodies on the line to show ICE that they are not welcome in Saint Paul.

What unfolded was what responders believe to be solely an immigration related raid. Protesters linked arms attempting to block ICE vehicles from leaving the scene with detained workers. ICE and federal law enforcement agencies used tear gas and pepper ball guns on the crowd, injuring multiple people. They ran into protesters with their cars, including one person who was using a cane. The officers grabbed people, then pushed and threw them onto the pavement in an attempt to break the human chain and drive away. Responders reported seeing officers from HSI, ICE, FBI and DEA.

“We saw clearly today how Trump is using every federal agency at his disposal to carry out his inhumane mass deportation campaign. The strong force of resistance that came out today proves that people will never buy into his anti-immigrant hate speech. More than not buy it, we won’t tolerate it. Families were destroyed today. We will do everything in our power to destroy their ability to carry out their work in the future,” says MIRAC member Esper Garcia.

The federal agents eventually broke through the crowd of responders, driving off with kidnapped workers, all of whom were undocumented. Some of their family members were on the scene, confirming what happened. The crowd dispersed and an all clear was publicized as activists began the process of tracking down those who were taken, later finding out that approximately 13 workers were taken into immigration custody at Saint Paul’s ICE headquarters and one protester was even arrested by a U.S. marshal and detained there for hours before being released with no charges.

When ICE enters our neighborhoods, the people are ready to stand up and fight back. The people of the Twin Cities showed that they were ready to kick ICE out of their cities, just like when ICE was present at another federal raid in Minneapolis on June 3. This time, federal agents pushed through the line of protesters by deploying tear gas, pepper balls, physical force and even hitting some protesters with their vehicles.

More and more people are getting trained on their rights and on how to respond to an immigration raid because they are ready to take to the streets and demand ICE out.

On November 19 protesters noted absence of the Saint Paul Police Department, which was very different from the federal raid that happened in Minneapolis in June, where Minneapolis police were on the scene taping off streets from the beginning and harassing community members throughout, claiming they were there for “crowd control”. MIRAC’s main campaign is currently to strengthen the separation ordinance in Minneapolis that says local law enforcement cannot assist ICE.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MIRAC

Minneapolis, MN – At a packed November 14 press conference outside the Minneapolis Public Service Building, community advocates and three Minneapolis City Council members joined the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) in calling for the city’s upcoming police contract to finally include real penalties for officers who collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or violate the city’s separation ordinance.

The press conference was called to continue to advance MIRAC’s current “Real Sanctuary Now” campaign, in which the group has been demanding a stronger separation ordinance in Minneapolis, which would prohibit local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration agents in any manner.

MIRAC member Myrka Zambrano, who opened the event, stated, “We need the new MPD contract to include real, enforceable consequences for any officer who collaborates with ICE or violates our separation ordinance. This is not a complicated request; it is a necessary one.”

Much of the press conference centered on the June 3 militarized federal raid in South Minneapolis, where residents reported that Minneapolis police officers stood alongside federal agents during the operation.

“What happened on June 3rd showed us the cost of having no accountability,” Zambrano said. “A militarized federal force stormed our community and MPD officers stood with the agents instead of with the residents they are sworn to protect.”

For MIRAC, the lesson is straightforward: without consequences written directly into the contract, these violations will continue.

Three city council members—Robin Wonsley (Ward 2), Jason Chavez (Ward 9), and Council President Elliott Payne (Ward 1)—spoke at the event, each emphasizing that meaningful accountability must be embedded directly into the police federation contract.

Council Member Robin Wonsley criticized the city’s long-standing failure to enforce its own separation ordinance, which has remained essentially untouched for two decades.

“I stand with our immigrant neighbors who are demanding that we update a 20-year-old separation ordinance meant to protect our most vulnerable residents,” she said.

Wonsley continued, “Mayor Frey can codify these consequences today. I asked him and the chief to do so in January, and they declined. If we can spend $20 million on a police contract, we can demand accountability in that contract.”

Council President Elliott Payne said, “We are not in a time of technocratic details — we are under assault by an authoritarian regime that has set aside due process to terrorize our community.”

Payne continued, “We need to use all the authority we have at the local level to stand up to a federal administration that doesn’t see the humanity in every one of our residents.”

Council Member Jason Chavez, a co-author of the proposed updated separation ordinance, made clear that contract language—not just policy—is essential. “I’m the proud son of Mexican immigrants, and I stand with our immigrant community asking for a strong police union contract,” said Chavez. “We need language in the contract that codifies violations of the separation ordinance. That is a line I will hold.”

Longtime organizer Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB), reminded attendees that public access to police contract negotiations exists only because her organization sued the city 25 years ago.

“For 25 years, we have worked to change the police federation contract,” Gross said. “The only reason the public can attend contract negotiations is because we sued the city to make those meetings accessible.”

Gross criticized the city for giving police a 21.7% raise in the last contract without pairing it with stronger disciplinary standards, stating, “That was shameful.” Gross added, “Legal research shows local law enforcement can arrest ICE agents if they violate the law — and we are demanding that this be included in policy and in the contract.”

With negotiations for the new MPD contract underway, the press conference made the community’s expectations unmistakable. Advocates, residents and council members all called for binding, enforceable consequences for officers who collaborate with ICE or violate sanctuary protections.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC