Since the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surge in Minneapolis began in December, the wider world has witnessed its horrors through news coverage and social media capturing agents’ brutal treatment of immigrants and protesters. The federal government’s bullets, tear gas, and beatings have been on full display, laying bare the inhumanity of this incursion.
But too often the media gives the impression that conflict and resistance are limited to the places where ICE detains immigrants and the streets where protests break out. When in fact, no part of our city has gone untouched, and all of our lives have been affected.
With news of 700 agents leaving the state, and promises that “Operation Metro Surge” will soon end, I fear that attention on this crisis may begin to wane, even if the brutality continues. I want the rest of the world to understand the full toll the surge has taken, and even more important, the full scope of resistance, in large part so that other cities and states can prepare as the Trump administration pursues its anti-immigrant agenda nationwide…