Twin Cities letter carriers hold protest demanding ICE off post office property
Minneapolis, MN- On December 14, over 100 postal workers and supporters braved subzero temperatures to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) using post office parking lots as staging areas. The action was organized by rank-and-file members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 9, which represents Minneapolis workers.
After a short rally at the Lyndale neighborhood post office, protesters marched down Lake Street over 1.4 miles to the Powderhorn neighborhood post office. The march went through the heart of one of Minneapolis’ major Latino communities, which has experienced intense ICE surveillance and attacks.
The action comes in the wake of Homeland Security’s “Operation Metro Surge”, which has rapidly expanded ICE terror against Twin Cities immigrant communities.
In a speech during the action, Stefan Seaberg, a NALC member and postal worker who delivers mail within the Powderhorn neighborhood, noted, “I shed actual tears while walking my route the other day after seeing the telltale signs of the customers I love living in fear. Folks locking the doors of their businesses and taking their names off their mailboxes.”
ICE’s actions have not only terrorized the immigrant communities Minneapolis that postal workers serve but have also endangered postal workers by using their workplace as a staging ground.
Minneapolis postal workers marched in the extreme cold to not only demand ICE off postal property, but to stand in solidarity with their immigrant neighbors. Concluding their speech, Seaberg exclaimed, “When I say all workers must stand together, I mean all workers! Are we going to fall for the lies that immigrants are the source of our problems? No! Are we going to let ICE terrorize our communities? Hell no!”