Front Lines
From Our Daughter in Minneapolis
I’ve been wanting to reach out to share information and also provide ways to support, if you are interested in knowing. This letter will be a bit long, so if you want to just know how to support, scroll to the bottom. I’ve included a few ideas down there on what to do and how to donate funds if you have the ability. Feel free to forward this onto anyone you’d like.
Schools
ICE agents are targeting diverse schools across the Twin Cities—circling schools during parent drop-off and pick-up, following buses to abduct parents at bus stops, detaining staff and parents on school grounds, and tear-gassing students on school property. Agents deliberately choose drop-off and pick-up times to drive by slowly, windows open, watching and intimidating families.
My kindergartner and second grader attend a Spanish immersion school where roughly 90 percent of families are Hispanic. The school is located two blocks from where Renee Goode was killed by an ICE agent on January 7, 2026. A few nights ago, my five-year-old couldn’t fall asleep because he was afraid he was “going to have a nightmare that [his eight-year-old brother] was arrested and he wouldn’t see him for five years.”
Children have been kept indoors for recess and ushered inside quickly when ICE threats arise nearby. Most recently, ICE has begun picking up minors—in some cases deporting children, in others using them as bait to draw out parents. Absences are up 20-40 percent across schools; in my kids’ class, about half of students are absent or participating in virtual learning. They are scared. We are scared. We are living in fear of our government.
ICE agents have infiltrated messaging chats used by parents and teachers to organize for safety and mutual aid. They approach parent patrols at schools undercover, posing as like-minded volunteers to gather intelligence on how communities have organized to protect schools. Fake mutual-aid sites have been created to collect information and disrupt organizing and support. Parents and community members engaged in this work are being identified by ICE or ICE supporters and threatened online or at their homes. ICE agents have also shown up at homes (not mine, to my knowledge) to photograph license plates and make their presence known.
Healthcare
ICE agents are entering safety-net hospitals, including patient rooms, without regard for privacy or basic decency. One account described ICE agents accompanying patients to the bathroom and even remaining present during bathing. Nurses and hospital staff are scared—for themselves and for their patients. Local medical staff and physicians report that ICE presence has terrified patients and led many to delay or avoid seeking critical medical care.
Mental Health and Daily Life
Mental health across the city is suffering. Families living in fear of ICE are not leaving their homes, keeping curtains drawn all day, afraid to even take the garbage out. For those of us who are documented, daily life still involves vigilance—watching passing vehicles, scanning surroundings, staying on alert. Citizens of color, including my adopted cousin from India, feel compelled to carry documentation at all times. Many citizens of color have been harassed, abused, or detained when they did not have documentation on their person. Beyond individual and community safety, we are acutely afraid for our democracy and moral fabric as a country.
General Conditions
At times, it feels like we are living in a police state; at other times, it looks more like a war zone. Chemical agents are used indiscriminately and inappropriately. There are widespread reports of physical abuse, including punching, kicking, stomping, and pistol-whipping. Restaurants and stores lock their doors, unlocking customers one by one to keep those inside safe.
There are currently more ICE agents than police officers in the Twin Cities. Racial profiling is extreme—anyone who appears Hispanic or Somali is stopped and aggressively assessed. Police chiefs have spoken publicly about being overwhelmed by reports of civil-rights abuses, including from many of their own off-duty officers of color.
The killing of Alex Pretti was a ruthless state execution on our streets. Video of the killing contradicts White House and DHS narratives, and I urge anyone relying on those accounts to watch the footage themselves. This is close to home: Alex was killed in front of my favorite record store while going out for Saturday donuts. My family and I were there just last week.
What We’re Doing
For the past several weeks, parents have organized—forming patrols around schools to keep staff, parents, and kids safer; organizing rides for families afraid to walk to bus stops or drive to school; and coordinating mutual aid for groceries, legal aid, and rent support.
People are organizing within their micro-communities. We quietly support families through our hockey community. We patrol our school and support mutual aid. Every neighborhood has its own patrol group where ICE sightings are shared so legal observers can respond quickly.
The general strike and march on Friday were inspiring, with hundreds of thousands participating. Over 100 clergy were arrested protesting deportation flights at the airport. This past weekend, neighborhoods across the metro held vigils for Alex Pretti—people across the city standing with candles in -15° temperatures.
Minneapolis and Minnesotans are not standing down. We are peacefully resisting what many here view as an illegal invasion and occupation of our city and state.
What You Can Do
Don’t look the other way. What’s happening in Minnesota is likely to come to other liberal cities next. Help spread awareness across communities and across the political spectrum.
Start organizing locally: attend or host Constitutional Observing trainings; build mutual aid networks for school and activity ride shares, grocery delivery, and rent assistance.
Call your representatives and demand action to reduce ICE funding back to prior levels and stop unconstitutional and inhumane tactics. The One Big Beautiful Bill significantly increased ICE funding, and there is a Senate vote coming up on January 30 that could reduce that funding. Call daily through then—especially if you live in a Republican district or state. Here is one resource:
https://5calls.org/
How You Can Support Financially
Send funds to Minneapolis families impacted by ICE: givebutter.com/rent4mplsfamilies (vetted).
Support the organizations doing the training, organizing, and legal support:
· Monarca
· Immigration Law Center of Minnesota
You do not need to, and can’t, do everything. But the antidote to the powerlessness we are experiencing is to do SOMETHING.
*** Photo by Chad Davis. https://chaddavis.photography/sets/ice-in-minneapolis/
All local, state and Federal law enforcement agencies whose officers/agents are required to carry firearms are required to have "Deadly Force" policies and to provide proper training and qualifications in the use of said firearms. Most agencies also require training in the carry and use of "less than lethal" weapons.
There is a whole lot more to this issue and what goes into the actual investigation of each and every incident concerning the discharge of a weapon outside normal training exercises.
Exactly one year ago I was caring for my then 8-year-old grandson in coastal Oregon. He, like your grandchildren, attends a Spanish immersion school. After dropping him off, I went into the attendance office to meet the administrators. There were two very emotional Hispanic women, surrounded by several children. The women handed over copies of their children's birth certificates as proof of their birthright status, as well as lists of relatives and trusted friends who is would assume custody of these children if the women were picked up by ICE.
The children were clearly terrified. I was terrified for them. I hope their families are still together.