responding to

ICE in MinNesota

This is no longer about immigration. This is about human rights and human dignity. 

Most everyone can agree that our country's current immigration policies and practices aren't working, even if we don't agree on how they should be changed. The presence and actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol agents in our state, however, are negatively impacting individuals and communities daily. We are seeing videos of horrific encounters between federal agents and bystanders. We read stories of U.S. citizens being taken into custody as a result of racial profiling. We have neighbors who aren't leaving their homes. We've heard about children observing their parents forced into unmarked vehicles at bus stops and school pick-up lines; young people forcibly removed from their places of employment and a St. Paul man taken from his shower, forced into the Minnesota cold in just his underwear. We are no longer talking about immigration. Instead, we are experiencing a human rights crisis.

Jesus calls us to stand up to injustice and to help and support our neighbors.

The time is now.

 “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of [them]. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love [them] like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God." - Leviticus 19:33-34

What can i do?

  • Pray and connect with your church family (worship, small groups, service opportunities). We need the strength, stories and hope we can offer one another!
  • Check in with your friends, neighbors, family members and co-workers. Find out what they need and offer support.
  • Carry a whistle and use it to alert others to ICE activity, contact the Rapid Response Hotline (612-441-2881), narrate and record any incidents you observe, comply with instructions from federal officers (including putting your phone away, if absolutely necessary) and refrain from using language or acting in ways that escalate the situation further. 
  • Donate and/or deliver food to people who feel unsafe leaving their homes (Food Without Fear, ICA, Twin CitiesFood Justice, Sanneh). 
  • Help vulnerable families take care of their pets--including when an owner is detained by ICE--through the North Minneapolis Pet Resource Center (a program under the umbrella of My Pittbull is Family).
  • Volunteer with The People's Laundry to help Minnesotans clean their clothes if they feel unsafe leaving their home to go to a laundromat.
  • Encourage your place of business to become a Fourth Amendment workplace.
  • Make a financial donation to a GoFundMe page designed to help families in need of support. If you need help identifying a family to support, please reach out to Pastor Carrie via email. She will be happy to share specific sites with you.
  • Donate to organizations making a difference: 
    • Check out Stand with Minnesota, a directory compiled by activists on the ground, featuring nonprofits, mutual aid networks and crowdfunding links for specific schools, neighborhoods and families in need of supuport. If you want someone in the know to direct your donation to where it is needed most, contribute to the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund, a pooled philanthropic fund from the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota.
      • Among the options that Stand With Minnesota offers are funds for purchasing safety equipment or links to buy dash cams for legal observers documenting ICE activities. 
  • Get involved with advocacy groups like Isaiah and Indivisible, participate in a peaceful protest (MN50501) and/or attend a peaceful resistance training (Isaiah).
  • Get trained in order to help with community defense efforts. Look for legal observer training, constitutional observer training, Upstander training, or ICEWatch training offered by Monarca, by the DFL, and by many other groups. 
  • Sign up for a Signal rapid response group. (And if you're not sure how to do this, Pastor Carrie can help you.)
  • If you are bilingual or multilingual, organizations like the Immigrant Law Center and ICOM need volunteers to help accompany or translate for immigrants navigating the court systems (even if you don't have legal training). In addition, Freedom for Immigrants  is in need of multilingual persons to help run their national hotline for people in detention and their families. your time accompanying or translating court proceedings for immigrants.
  • If you are a lawyer licensed in Minnesota and want to help out, start with the Minnesota Immigration Legal Response Clearinghouse.
  • Consider civic engagement - vote, run for local office, contact your legislators about your concerns, show up at community meetings/forums, plan to caucus on February 3rd and think about becoming a delegate.
  • Build resilience - consider hosting book discussions utilizing texts like Brian McLaren's Life After Doom or Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass.

Food Without Fear

Are You in Need of Assistance?

MUMC is currently partnering with Food Without Fear to see that people afraid to leave their homes receive the groceries they need. Groceries include fresh meat and produce, personal items and essential non-perishables (e.g., chicken, laundry detergent, toothpaste, lentils, onions, tomato sauce, bread, apples and more). If you would like to get on the recipient list, please let us know by contacting Pastor Carrie at:  .

 

Interested in Contributing?

Grocery needs may vary from week to week, so be sure to check back often for the most up-to-date list of desired products to donate.

Interested in Volunteering?

Please email Pastor Carrie:  . 

Make a Financial Donation

 

If you witness AN INCIDENT

  • Call the Rapid Response Hotline to report an enforcement action by ICE in progress, and to request a legal observer: 612-441-2881. When reporting an incident, remember "1st Salute" to provide the most helpful information:
    • 1st Person Encounter -- Example: "I am witnessing a raid"
    • Size and Strength -- Example: "2 to 3 vehicles, ICE and local police"
    • Actions and Activity - Example: "They just picked up someone"
    • Locations and Directions - Example: "Minnetonka, parking lot of ______," and provide address, if known
    • Uniform and Clothing - Example: "Plain clothes with bulletproof vests"
    • Time and Date - Example: "4:45 PM, Thursday, January 22"
    • Equipment and Weapons: Example: "Body armor, K9 unit, armed officers)"
  • What to Document:
    • Names and badge numbers of federal agents and other officers, and what they do or say
    • Identifiable information of those being detained (name, date of birth, country of origin)
    • Contact information of anyone left behind
    • Where people are being taken
    • Warrant information

Resources

                

                                

                

                               


  • Call the National Lawyer's Guild for no-cost assistance: 612-444-2654.
  • Immigration legal services providers by state, county, or detention facility. Nonprofit organizations that provide free or low-cost immigration legal services are included in this directory: NAtional Immigration Legal Services Directory