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.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #TimWalz #MIRAC #SanctuaryState

St. Paul, MN – On May 9, the day before Mother’s Day, 100 Minnesotans, from all generations, gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol with blue bunny hats in remembrance of Liam Conejo Ramos and the 4030 immigrants who were kidnapped during Operation Metro Surge.

Two months on from the drawdown of Operation Metro Surge, people came out to the Capitol to demonstrate their determination to fight back against the continuing attacks on immigrant communities. Protesters brought their own blue bunny hats or grabbed one made by the Conejo Rally organizers. The crowd of blue bunny hats made for an emotional visual as various immigrant rights advocates spoke to the crowd.

The event, dubbed the “Conejo Rally,” was co-organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and Families Against Military Madness (FAMM). The rally honored five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who in January was kidnapped by ICE agents along with his father outside their home in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. The two were then sent to the notoriously cruel Dilley detention center in Texas, where Liam became depressed and ill.

As images of the scared preschooler in his blue bunny hat stoked global outrage, a judge ordered ICE to release the pair, and they returned home on February 1; but the nightmare is not over, for them and many other immigrant families.

The federal government is still trying to deport Liam and his family and seems determined to retaliate against them for the attention their case has received. The Department of Justice successfully moved to end the family’s asylum claims, and now it has appealed the release of Liam and his father. Nonetheless, Liam and his family themselves attended the Conejo Rally, bravely keeping their story in the public eye.

Kevin Centeno, an administrator at Liam’s school stated, “We’ve seen children used as baits. I’ve seen parents taken just for taking out trash, going to work, dropping off their kids, or picking them up from school, or from everywhere they need. These parents are not a threat. These are working-class families. This is our community. We will stand together for those who cannot stand. We will not be afraid for those who are afraid, and we will fight back.”

Liz McLister, the co-emcee of the rally from FAMM told the crowd, “We know that the fallout from Operation Metro Surge is still impacting our neighbors in the form of PTSD, continuing detentions and deportations; and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, income and program cuts. We know ICE is still better funded than some countries’ militaries, and that it’s concentrating power behind the scenes as I speak! We know that someone has died in ICE detention every six days so far this year. The terror persists, albeit in less obvious ways.”

Manuel Pascual, the co-emcee of the rally from MIRAC, notified the crowd of the renewed threats made by “border czar” Tom Homan and the new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Last week at the Border Security Expo, Tom Homan boasted about the rate of kidnappings made by immigration officers, who are now making about 1200 arrests a day. He also explicitly threatened to send more agents to states and cities that restrict cooperation with federal law enforcement, which would lead to an increase in collateral arrests and violence courtesy of the federal government. Markwayne Mullin, for his part, clarified the Trump administration’s strategy of conducting mass deportations, but in a quieter fashion, with the DHS out of the headlines.

The people are also fighting back at the state level to uphold immigrant rights through a large coalition of immigrant rights groups called the North Star Alliance. Karen Wills, a member of the North Star Alliance Policy Team addressed the crowd and told them about the importance of getting Senate File 3699 passed in Minnesota, something the coalition has been working on. This bill is expected to be discussed this coming week, and would restrict immigration enforcement agents’ access to courts, hospitals, schools, and childcare centers.

In addition to passing bills like this, MIRAC members have been pushing for immediate action via an executive order issued by the governor to ensure immigrant communities get immediate protections.

Myrka Zambrano, who spoke at the rally on behalf of MIRAC, asserted, “We have already seen what the federal government is capable of. The time to act was yesterday. We need change now. Governor Walz has the power to make it happen. We are asking Walz to issue an executive order to make us a sanctuary state now. We are demanding no cooperation with ICE and local law enforcement. We are demanding all charges dropped against protestors. We are demanding justice for all of the victims of ICE terror.”

Zambrano continued, “And we want a statewide eviction moratorium. What we want is simple. We want Governor Walz to protect immigrants and all Minnesotans from federal violence and repression.” MIRAC’s upcoming actions will be aimed at pressuring Governor Walz and the gubernatorial candidates to uphold these sanctuary state demands.

The rally concluded with a speech from Liam’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. “As you know, we have gone through very difficult times, but thanks to your support, your messages, and your good wishes, we have pulled through. Thank you for being here. This is the symbol that represents all immigrants, ” Arias declared, holding up a blue bunny hat.

At the end of the rally, participants gathered on the steps in front of the capitol building with their blue bunny hats, chanting “Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here!”

#StPaulMN #MN #MIRAC #ImmigrantRights #SanctuaryState #LiamConejoRamos #OperationMetroSurge