Minneapolis, MN – There have been some recent advances in the campaign to end cooperation between the largest county in Minnesota, Hennepin County, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The campaign has been organized by the Decriminalizing Communities Coalition, which brings together several local immigrant rights and social justice organizations.

On May 24, the Decriminalizing Communities Coalition sent a letter to Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson that was signed by over 300 Hennepin County residents requesting a meeting to discuss the need to stop his department’s cooperation with ICE. The coalition was made up of members from local groups including Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Jewish Community Action, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, Black Immigrant Collective, Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, Release MN8, and Unidos MN.

Representatives from the coalition had a virtual meeting with Sheriff Hutchinson and some members of his staff on July 14. In this meeting, the sheriff announced that as of June 9, his office is no longer collaborating with ICE. He explained this as meaning no more phone calls or notifications, no more providing jail rosters to ICE – essentially no more advance notice of any kind to ICE about people being released from the county jail. ICE has stopped calling Sheriff Hutchinson’s office and now considers Hennepin County non-compliant.

In the meeting, the sheriff’s staff also told coalition members that the final step in ending cooperation with ICE was the implementation of a written administrative directive dated June 9. Perhaps coincidentally, the directive is dated just two days after the coalition sent a message to the sheriff following up on their May 24 letter, and a day after the sheriff’s office contacted the coalition to schedule a meeting.

Members of the coalition acknowledge that this is not the end of their work, but that this is a big win, nonetheless.

Issues that the coalition will continue to fight for include: the full implementation of the directive and compliance by the entire sheriff’s department, ending or restricting ICE access to detainees, more formal policies within the sheriff’s department, the passage of a comprehensive separation ordinance by the Hennepin County Board to get ICE out of all Hennepin County matters, and clarification that any grants to Hennepin County from the federal government, including Justice Assistance Grants, do not contain any conditions calling for cooperation with ICE.

The campaign to end the collaboration between the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and ICE has been one that MIRAC has been fighting for for several years, as this collaboration has been a pathway to deportation for far too long. Since January 2020, MIRAC has partnered with other immigrant rights organizations in the Twin Cities to pressure the sheriff’s office to end their collaboration with ICE.

Mary Vanderford, a member of MIRAC who has been active in this campaign states, “I am encouraged that the Biden administration has changed some of the egregious policies of the previous administration. But, by no means, not all. Local officials need to hear from their constituents that we are not satisfied until all undocumented immigrants receive the same rights and protections as the rest of us. No one should be arrested for a minor offense, locked up in the Hennepin County Jail and later transferred into the hands of ICE.”

MIRAC, in collaboration with the rest of the Decriminalizing Communities Coalition, will continue to fight for a full end to collaboration between ICE and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

#MinneapolisMN #ICE #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee

Minneapolis, MN – Both Donald Trump and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke in Minnesota, April 15, and both were met with protest and disruption upon arrival. Trump spoke outside of a truck equipment company in the Twin Cities suburb of Burnsville and was met by activists denouncing his anti-immigrant policies and defending progressive Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

Jeff Sessions was met with even larger crowds as protesters outnumbered attendees at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, where he was slated to speak to a “sold out” crowd, but which ultimately had fewer than one-third of its seats filled.

The Sessions event was hosted by Minnesota Students for Liberty, CFACT, and the Minnesota Republic as part of their annual “Conservative Awareness Week.” He was scheduled to discuss the topic of “promoting conservative economics.”

In response, members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Minnesota organized a protest of the event. The protest was endorsed by the Anti-War Committee, Women Against Military Madness, and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee.

Protesters began to gather outside the entry gate of the Sessions event roughly 30 minutes before his scheduled speaking time. The University of Minnesota Police Department guarded the venue and had an extensive presence.

The protest began with a speech detailing the reactionary policies and actions that Jeff Sessions had taken as attorney general, as well as his earlier actions within the judicial system and Senate. A member of SDS stated, “We gather here today to show that we will not tolerate Jeff Sessions’ appearance, and we reject his reactionary agenda! We stand in solidarity with everyone who has been targeted by his bigoted, inhumane, and draconian policies.”

Roughly half way through the protest, demonstrators began a march that circled the surrounding Cedar-Riverside neighborhood and the Carlson School of Management in which Sessions’ event was occurring. Protesters chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, Jeff Sessions has got to go,” and “No cops, no KKK, no racist USA.”

As the protest continued to grow outside, activists inside the auditorium began to disrupt his speech. One by one, disruptors would read portions of a statement written by a member of MIRAC and would continue doing so until escorted out by the police. This tactic effectively prevented Jeff Sessions from speaking. Disruptors were greeted to congratulatory cheers from the protest as they were kicked out.

In total, roughly 100 protesters participated, dwarfing the actual attendance of the Sessions event.

#MinneapolisMN #ImmigrantRights #AntiWarCommittee #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #Antiracism #IlhanOmar #JeffSessions

Minneapolis, MN – Over 150 people marched on International Human Rights day, Dec. 10, in south Minneapolis demanding an end to Trump’s wars and his administration’s attacks on immigrants. The Anti-War Committee and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee co-sponsored the community march, which started at Powderhorn Park.

Marchers took over half of Lake Street, one of the busiest streets in Minneapolis, and marched past its immigrant-owned businesses chanting “No ban, no wall, sanctuary for all!” The Unlawful Assembly band brought up the rear of the march.

After the march there was a closing rally in the Powderhorn Park building. The program began with a performance by the Calliope Women’s Chorus.

Christine Hauschildt, from Anti-War Committee, spoke to the crowd, “The U.S.’s foreign policy and immigration policy are interwoven, creating a racist, xenophobic system where the same people that the U.S. is displacing with war are the people banned from entering the country. The Muslim ban is now in full effect. This Muslim ban – which the current administration has insisted is a ban to protect U.S. citizens – is nothing more than an attack on and stigmatization of Muslim people around the world.”

Hauschildt continued “The U.S.’s endless wars are an assault on human rights. These wars are often justified by ‘human rights abuses’ in other countries, when in fact the U.S. is the largest violator of human rights by being the largest perpetrators of wars and occupations. The endless wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria traumatize, displace and kill human beings every day. After such wars, the countries we claim to have ‘liberated’ never end up in a better position than before U.S.’s unwelcome military intervention.”

She concluded, “Human rights, and any real social change, can only be won by people’s movements. As an anti-war movement in the U.S., we must build an anti-racist, peace and justice movement that stands in solidarity with the peoples of the world, that sees that our liberation is linked to the liberation of others.”

William Martinez, from the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) also addressed the closing rally, saying, “The United States and its corporations have invaded, killed and raped the people of countries from South and Central America to the Middle East, causing a crisis of millions of migrants and refugees trying to come to the U.S. The Muslim ban, the criminalization of immigrants in the U.S., the murder of Blacks and natives at the hands of the police, are all violations of human rights, but they are not new. We must continue to fight these attacks on our communities and for our right to survive. On a cold day like today, it is the heart of the community that keeps us warm and gives us the power to take to the streets. Immigrant rights matter! Black rights matter! Native rights matter! Women's rights matter! LGBTQ rights matter! Trans rights matter! Homeless rights matter! Human rights matter!”

Sabry Wazwaz, a member of the Anti-War Committee and an outspoken Palestinian American activist, was the concluding speaker, “The state of Israel is important to the U.S. because it is a military base for them in the middle of the Middle East. And it keeps everything in the Middle East in chaos. The U.S. uses this chaos to control the resources of the region – especially the oil. Support for Israel is the one thing that Democrats and Republicans agree on.”

Wazwaz called out the U.S. for giving Israel $3.1 billion and for President Trump’s decision to call Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Wazwaz called for the U.S. to spend that money instead rebuilding inner city schools and the plumbing in Flint, Michigan.

Other speakers included JR Babick from Native Lives Matter, Daphne Brown from the Twin Cities Justice for Jamar Coalition, Gerardo Cajamarca, an SEIU organizer and Colombian trade unionist, and Maddy Henteges, a member of the Calliope Women’s Chorus.

The Anti-War Committee announced that their next action will be on Jan. 20, the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president, to resist his racist, sexist, xenophobic and pro-war agenda.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #ImmigrantRights #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarCommittee #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #InternationalHumanRightsDay

Minneapolis, MN – Immigrant rights activists demanded “Sanctuary now!” at the Minneapolis City Council meeting Oct. 6. The activists gathered outside of City Hall then made their presence felt in the City Council chamber, holding their banner and signs at the start of the council meeting.

The visibility action was part of an ongoing campaign demanding that the Minneapolis City Council quickly pass the Sanctuary Platform. Adopting the platform’s 13 demands would deepen Minneapolis' commitment to standing with immigrant communities that are under attack.

The Sanctuary Platform was initiated by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), and has been endorsed by many immigrant rights organizations, unions, social justice and religious groups. It has already attracted support from some current city council members as well as several of the candidates running for city council and mayor in the November election.

The platform was launched with a community press conference before the prior City Council meeting on Sept. 20. A day later, Hennepin County Sheriff Stanek sent a 3-page letter to all City Council members that can be read as both defensive and threatening. Stanek’s close cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the county jail is a target of some of the platform’s demands. Stanek’s letter says, among other things, “there is no sanctuary for criminals anywhere in Hennepin County” and brags that in 2016 his jail arranged for ICE to talk to approximately 2700 people detained in the county jail.

Stanek’s letter was made public by Minneapolis City Council member Cam Gordon (Green Party). That has focused wider community and media attention on Sheriff Stanek’s close cooperation with ICE that results in many deportations, directly undercutting the Minneapolis’ stated goal of being a safe city for immigrants.

Activists at the action vowed to keep the pressure on the city council and the mayor to unite against Stanek and Trump’s attacks on immigrants.

#MinneapolisMN #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #SheriffStanek

Minneapolis, MN – More than 400 people marched in Minneapolis, Nov. 23, to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to attack immigrants. Lake Street, the march route, rang with chants of, “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA,” “Build bridges, not walls” and “Trump eschucha, estamos en la lucha!”

The site of the protest, south Minneapolis, is largely populated by new immigrants from Latin America and Somali refugees. People jumped out of their cars to chant along or honked their horns in support.

The protest was sponsored by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), an immigrant rights organization in Minnesota. The march demanded, “Hands off DACA!” “Stop immigration raids and deportations!” “No border wall” “No anti-Muslim bigotry!”

Giselda Gutierrez of MIRAC said, “We had a great a event, a lot of people came out, we are going to have to sustain that kind of energy going into Jan. 20 and beyond. When we’re united and out on the street we can win just like we won in 2006 with a very Republican administration. We need to harness all our energy and now is not the time to be silent, now is the time to fight, now is the time to organize. I hope we have a huge turnout for Jan. 20 so that we can show everybody that we are not going to accept this as our new normal. On Jan. 20. ‘No Work, No School, No Business as Usual!’”

#MinneapolisMN #ChicanoLatino #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #DonaldTrump

Minneapolis, MN – Over 300 protesters rallied outside the Minneapolis Convention Center Aug. 19 as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came to Minneapolis for a private big-money fundraiser with rich supporters. Most of the Minnesota Republican Party distanced itself from the Trump event and the small group of attendees paid a minimum of $1000 to meet the candidate and represent rich right-wing extremists of the Republican Party.

The location and time of Trump’s fundraiser was kept secret until the day before the event. The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) called a protest focusing on Trump’s attacks on immigrants, which have been a centerpiece of his campaign. Trump has called for dramatically increasing militarization of the U.S.-México border and for deporting all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

MIRAC’s protest began with dancing by Kalpulli Ketzal Coatlicue, then continued with speakers from MIRAC, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, Anti-War Committee, Welfare Rights Committee, IWW, and others.

MIRAC’s No More Deportations campaign was explained, which is building a “Pledge of Resistance to Trump & Attacks on Immigrants.” This campaign is building the movement against Trump’s anti-immigrant politics, while making preparations to resist increased attacks on immigrant communities after the election.

Several other organizations and movements also had a presence outside of Trump’s fundraiser. Members of the Black Coalition and AR14 for Justice (a youth organization founded out of the fight for justice for Philando Castile) rallied at rear entrances, aiming to block Trump’s entry. At the front, protesters confronted Trump supporters as they climbed out of their limousines and made their way through the hostile crowd. Trump’s campaign had hoped to have a public rally in Minneapolis but according to news reports they were unable to pull a public event together due to concerns with how to deal with large protests.

After MIRAC’s rally, many protesters stayed and continued to confront the Trump and his supporters. Near the end of the event a group of loud protesters got in the doors of the Convention Center with a megaphone to denounce Trump and banged on the glass outside the event space. Others spray painted anti-Trump graffiti. Some Trump campaign signs and t-shirts were set on fire.

At the end of the event, around 100 protesters surrounded Trump’s motorcade. Facing off with police and heavily harmed security, they chanted, “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA!” Protesters delayed the candidate from leaving until police violently intervened to help Trump escape.

Jess Sundin, an activist with the Anti-War Committee and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, summed up the protest, “While most Minnesota republicans boycotted Trump’s fundraiser, forces from across the social movement here came together to shut down his reactionary message, and confront his supporters. Not one of them got into the Convention Center without being called out for supporting racism and Islamophobia. Even when they got rough, we never backed down. Youth, immigrants and Black folks were on the frontlines, the anti-war movement was here, everyone worked together to make this a powerful protest, from start to finish.”

Earlier in the day, two other organizations also protested Donald Trump’s presence in Minneapolis. Cosecha organized a “Wall Off Trump” protest for most of the day outside the Minnesota Republican Party office, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) had a press conference denouncing the Trump campaign’s rampant Islamophobia and recent attacks on the Somali-American community in particular.

#MinneapolisMN #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #Elections #DonaldTrump

Minneapolis, MN – More than 200 people gathered January 30 to celebrate the life of Twin Cities activist Gabriel Johnson-Ortiz, who passed away Jan. 17 at age 34 after a four-and-a-half-year struggle with brain cancer. His passing is a great loss to his family, friends and comrades from a variety of progressive political and cultural movements.

At the event, representatives of organizations in which Gabriel was active gave moving tributes, including William Martinez of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Lucila Dominguez of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha, Jess Sundin of the Anti-War Committee and Eric Angell of OccupyMN. Several musicians performed in Gabriel’s honor, including an Aztec danzante group and Maria Isa. David Mendez of the Palabristas and David Miller read poems written for Gabriel. Teresa Ortiz, Gabriel’s mother and also a member of the Palabristas, read a moving poem to close out the gathering.

A common theme touched on by all who spoke was that Gabriel was ever present in the movement for social justice. He seemed to be at every protest, event, meeting, party and concert. He transcended movements and issues and always greeted everyone with a smile and a hug. He seemed to know everyone, and those he didn’t know he quickly welcomed and befriended. Gabriel's tireless passion for social justice and solidarity never waned nor did his positive spirit, as he continued participating in political activities even while facing serious health issues.

Gabriel Johnson-Ortiz grew up partly in Minnesota and partly in Guatemala and in Chiapas, México. His family lived in Chiapas when he was a teenager during the mid-1990s. This was just after the Zapatistas had boldly announced themselves to the world by briefly seizing San Cristobal and several other major cities in Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas, rocking Mexico and inspiring people around the world. Gabriel embodied the Zapatistas’ rebellious spirit and desire to serve the people.

Gabriel was a fixture in the Twin Cities progressive political and cultural movements since he returned to Minnesota in the late 1990s. Among many other things, he was always involved in the immigrant rights movement and movements of Latino and immigrant workers, participating in the 2003 Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride, helping found MIRAC in 2006, and staying active in MIRAC and CTUL. He also worked for a period doing union organizing with hotel workers who were mostly immigrants.

Gabriel built solidarity with the people of Chiapas, with Latin America and with movements around the world. He regularly participated in anti-war protests in the Twin Cities and joined in for long road trips to national anti-war protests. He was a main Twin Cities organizer of the U.S. Social Forum. Gabriel stood with activists facing political repression, including Carlos Montes, the Anti-War 23 and others.

In addition to his political commitments, Gabriel also promoted Latin American music in the Twin Cities, contributing to local radio shows like KFAI's Corazon Latino, and frequently going to local music events. He also sometimes DJed, sharing his impressive music collection.

Though brought together by the tragedy of Gabriel Johnson-Ortiz's passing, the Jan. 30 event was more a celebration of Gabriel's life than a somber memorial. It brought together people from many political and cultural movements and organizations that don't often gather in the same room, but who came together to celebrate a friend and compañero who made a strong impression on all who met and worked with him.

Gabriel Johnson-Ortiz, ¡Presente!

#MinneapolisMN #Remembrances #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #CenterForWorkersUnitedInStruggleCTUL #OccupyMN #GabrielJohnsonOrtiz #Zapatistas

Saint Paul, MN – Chanting “What do we want? A license! When do we want it? Now!” more than 60 immigrant rights activists protested at the State Capitol on the opening day of the 2015 legislative session. They demanded that legislators pass a bill this year to give immigrants who live in Minnesota equal rights to get a drivers license like all other Minnesotans.

The protest was organized by the new One State One License Coalition, which includes organizations, unions and community members.

The group rallied outside on the Capitol steps, braving below-zero temperatures. Representative Karen Clark spoke to the protesters. Clark has championed the drivers license bill since 2009, and she thanked the protesters for being there and pledged to push to pass a bill this year for an unmarked drivers license. Other speakers included Maria Cisneros, one of the initiators of the Minnesota drivers license campaign in 2008; Luis Candela, who spoke about families that need to drive their children for medical appointments and emergencies; and Florencio Campos, a leader in the drivers license campaign.

When the outdoor rally finished, the protesters moved inside the capitol where they marched silently with fists raised, stopping in front of the House and Senate chambers.

Before the protest, members of the One State One License Coalition also talked to legislators about the need to pass a drivers license bill this year. Another group, Mesa Latina, also lobbied for drivers licenses on the opening day of the session.

The movement for drivers licenses in Minnesota is part of a nationwide movement demanding that states allow immigrants to get drivers licenses so they can drive without fear of harassment, arrest and deportation. While President Obama’s recent immigration executive action will help some people avoid deportation, those people are only protected temporarily and there are still an estimated 7 million people who won’t be covered at all. They will still be at risk of arrest and deportation every time they drive to work or to pick their children up from school. So struggles for drivers licenses at the state level are continuing. Recently there have been successes in several states including a huge victory in California, which just started issuing drivers licenses to immigrants this week after a years-long struggle there.

The question of whether to accept a ‘marked’ drivers license that’s significantly different than the license everyone else has emerged as a point of controversy in many states. Immigrant rights activists are having to struggle with resistant state legislators and federal Homeland Security officials. This controversy played out in California over the past year where activists struggled against proposals to make immigrants’ licenses a different color, and also struggled over whether to have a marking on the front or the back of the license which reads, “This card is not acceptable for official federal purposes.” During this controversy in California, State Sen. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) spoke out in the media against these markings saying, “covering the fronts of licenses with this information that Homeland Security is demanding would subject the holders to unnecessary discrimination and possible harassment.”

Other states debating drivers licenses for immigrants have also proposed substantially different licenses for immigrants, like in North Carolina where politicians proposed to add the words “No Lawful Status” in red on immigrants’ licenses, and in Alabama where officials proposed marking the licenses with “FN” for Foreign National.

The original Minnesota drivers license bill introduced in 2009 called for an unmarked drivers license, but the version of the bill that almost passed last year had been amended to be a drivers license that would be marked.

Immigrant rights activists have cautioned that police and other institutions could use such marked licenses to identify people’s immigration status and possibly use it against them. According to Marco Cruz Blanco, a member of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), “More than a driver's license to secure our roads, having an unmarked form of identification empowers individuals of diverse backgrounds to assert their cultural and ethnic identity against a system that too often racially profiles, resulting in unjust arrests or even deportation.”

In summing up the day, Florencio Campos of MIRAC said, “this protest helped kick off our work this year at the legislature. We let them know we are demanding an unmarked drivers license like any other Minnesota resident has. We’re working to make our communities and families more secure.”

#SaintPaulMN #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #OneStateOneLicenseCoalition

Saint Paul, MN – Immigrant rights activists protested outside Senator Franken's campaign office Sept. 11, to send the message, “No more deportations, no more delays, no more excuses.” After demonstrating outside, they marched into the office and presented their demands to three Franken campaign staff members. Several community members spoke passionately to the Franken representatives. They said Franken should make a public statement reversing himself and calling for Obama to take executive action now to stop deportations. The Franken staff members said they would pass what people said on to the senator.

The protest was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC). They protested Franken, a Democratic Party senator, because last week he and a few other Democratic senators publicly told Obama to delay taking executive action to stop deportation of immigrants. Because of the inability to move any pro-immigrant legislation through Congress and mounting immigrant rights protests around the country, Obama had promised to take executive action by the end the summer. But because of the Democratic senators' statements at the 11th hour, presumably prompted by election-season jitters, Obama announced he would once again delay action needed to stop deportations at least until after the November election.

MIRAC member Brad Sigal said, “You can always come up with reasons to delay taking action for justice. If it’s not elections, it’s something else. But the time is now to stop deportations – no more delays, no more excuses. More than 1000 people are deported every day, so this delay means 60,000 more people will be deported, on top of the 2 million people already deported under this administration. Minnesota can’t wait. We call on Senator Franken to join us in telling President Obama to take executive action to stop the deportations now.”

#SaintPaulMN #deportations #AlFranken #MIRAc #BarackObama #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee

Minneapolis, MN – Chanting, “Stanek says deportation! We say no!” 30 immigrant rights activists protested outside Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek’s reelection campaign fundraiser here June 4. Protesters marched around the busy downtown intersection of Nicollet and 9th Street for an hour, while chanting, handing out flyers and engaging the public. Stanek’s fundraiser was inside at the Minneapolis Downtown Council office. Two activists tried to enter Sheriff Stanek’s fundraiser but were immediately confronted by police, threatened with arrest and kicked out.

The protest was organized by the No More Deportations campaign of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC). Protesters were highly visible marching in the crowded Nicollet Mall area, educating the public about Sheriff Stanek’s role in deporting immigrants and separating families.

More immigrants are deported from Sheriff Stanek’s Hennepin County jail than any other in Minnesota. Stanek has also lobbied for anti-immigrant legislation at the state legislature. Stanek is running for reelection in November so he has been campaigning in many communities, including in the Latino community, smiling and waving on a float in the Cinco de Mayo parade on Lake Street.

Activists with MIRAC’s No More Deportations campaign say they will continue to pressure Sheriff Stanek until he agrees to stop cooperating with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s ‘hold requests’ on immigrants in the Hennepin County jail. The activists see this as a way to prevent deportations that separate families. 2 million people have been deported since President Obama took office in 2009, more than Bush deported during his entire eight years in office, and more than any other president in U.S. history.

While immigrant rights activists continue to push President Obama to take executive action to stop deportations nationally, campaigns are gaining momentum on the local level to pressure sheriffs to stop cooperating with ICE in detaining and deporting so many people. These campaigns have been successful in several major cities and counties around the country.

On June 4, the same day as the Minneapolis protest, there was a victory in San Diego county in California where Sheriff Bill Gore said in a statement, “The Sheriff's Department will no longer hold someone past their release date based on an ICE detainer alone.” A recent federal court decision has bolstered activists’ efforts to get local sheriffs to stop honoring ICE hold requests. The court decision held that a local jail had violated the Fourth Amendment by granting the detainer request without probable cause or a court-approved warrant.

#MinneapolisMN #Deportation #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee