Hundreds of immigration rights activists descended on a federal building where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke about immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities on Friday.
Scores of clergy, union members and students joined residents from across Minnesota to speak out against Noem and President Donald Trump, who has launched a massive immigrant detention and deportation campaign across the country.
“No more Minnesota Nice, we don’t want your fascist ICE!” the crowd chanted.
Dozens pounded drums and blew horns, and clergy members led the crowd in singing songs such as “This Little Light of Mine” and “We Shall Overcome.” Part celebration of resistance, part angry protest, the demonstrators were the loudest shortly after 4:30 p.m., when Noem’s remarks to the media were scheduled to begin.
Sahan Journal covered Noem’s press conference from a livestream after being denied entry.
Noem’s appearance in Minnesota comes as federal immigration enforcement is deploying en masse in cities across the country, including Chicago and Portland. Those cities have agents from ICE, Border Patrol and other federal agencies conducting large-scale operations to detain and attempt to deport immigrants.
Many protestors told Sahan Journal they are worried about a large-scale immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.
Among them was Minneapolis resident Halima Ahmed, who felt drawn by her Muslim faith to come to protest Noem’s visit. She doesn’t want to see large numbers of masked federal agents in the streets in Minnesota, and felt she couldn’t be idle.
“That is my concern, especially with everything they’re doing in Portland and Chicago, and she’s the face of that,” Halima told Sahan Journal.
The Rev. Teresa Pecinovsky, of the First Christian Church in St. Paul, said clergy felt drawn to the event to hold true to the Christian value of welcoming strangers. Many clergy are helping parishioners who fear losing family members to ICE, she said.
“I believe that all God’s children deserve to feel safe,” Pecinovsky said.
Khalid Omar of Apple Valley said he fears an increased ICE presence in Minnesota. Trump talked about going after criminals on the campaign trail, but Khalid said it’s clear that many immigrants who followed all the rules are being targeted, including those with green cards.
“We need to make sure we push back against a Trump administration that is weaponizing ICE,” he said.
His friend, Bloomington resident Anas Ali, said he is concerned about DHS attempts to deport students on visas or with green cards who have spoken out against U.S. support of Israel’s war in Gaza.
“It’s not right,” Ali said.
Midday rally called for organized resistance
Organizers of a midday press conference denouncing Noem’s visit and the Trump administration expect hundreds to protest the event this afternoon. Amidst chants of “ICE out!” and “Step up, fight back!” activists said the visit could be a sign of increased ICE activity in Minnesota and vowed to organize against it.
“They’re taking away the very thing that lets us be great — new blood, new immigrants,” Kalani Matos said through a megaphone as he rallied the crowd against ICE. “We’ve basically known all along that this was coming and we’ve been doing our best to prepare for it.”
Attendees of the midday rally told Sahan Journal that they feel organizing and participating in community action is the best way to make their voices heard. At one point, the crowd turned and collectively raised their middle fingers at the federal building, which hosts Minnesota’s Immigration Court and an ICE office.
Minneapolis resident Noa Kim heard about Noem’s visit through the Minnesota Immigration Rights Action Committee (MIRAC). Kim sees the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown as fascist and scary. Participating in mass protests helps, she said, and direct action against Noem feels like a step up from the No Kings protests that have occurred in Minnesota and across the country.
“I think community is the only thing that’s going to protect the cities,” Kim said.
Z Akhmetova said she feels strongly opposed to Trump’s immigration policies. The St. Paul resident was born in Russia and immigrated to the United States as a child. Immigrants deserve a chance to be here, Akhmetova said. She heard about the protest through a neighborhood group and believes it’s important that people show up so the government can see how large the dissent movement is.
“It makes me feel a little less despair to be in a crowd of people,” Akhmetova said.
The rally included speakers from several groups, including immigration and reproductive rights groups, and climate and anti-war organizations that are banding together under the People’s Action Coalition Against Trump. All decried various Trump administration policies, and vowed to step up to resist a large-scale ICE operation if it comes to the Twin Cities.
Being connected to neighbors and like-minded people is key to resistance, Matos said. Being organized will help communities that face large-scale immigration enforcement to warn people of ICE activity and support families who are impacted, he said.
The intent Friday is to mobilize a large group of people to show the Twin Cities is prepared to protest at a large scale, he said.
“It’s my hope that we get so many people here today that the Trump administration says, ‘We were going to send troops to Minneapolis, but we don’t want that smoke,’” Matos told Sahan Journal.
Minnesota has yet to see mass deployment of ICE agents, but increased immigration enforcement presence has been documented. In early October, ICE arrested a crew of roofers from El Salvador and Honduras working in St. Paul’s North End, drawing community protests.
On Sept. 30, immigration officials announced they had conducted 900 site visits and in-person interviews in the Twin Cities in an effort to clamp down on alleged immigration fraud carried out through marriage and student visas. The effort, dubbed Operation Twin Shield, claimed to have uncovered 275 cases of suspected fraud.
A June federal law enforcement raid on a Mexican restaurant in south Minneapolis drew hundreds of protestors and sparked chaotic scenes on Lake Street. The raid included dozens of federal agents, including ICE personnel, in paramilitary garb, but was not tied to deportation efforts.
