(White text on a black background): Alex Pretti. Renée Good. Keith Porter Jr. Parady La. Heber Sanchez Dominguez. Victor Manuel Diaz. Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz. Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres. Geraldo Lunas Campos.

What ICE didn’t predict

  • Feb 2, 2026
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Nine people have been killed in ICE’s reign of terror this January alone. Since the start of last year, at least 53 migrants have died in a detention system that now holds roughly 73,000 people every day.

This isn’t a crisis of one federal agency. It’s border imperialism, brought home. Migrant criminalization, carceral control, and inland enforcement are part of the infrastructure through which power manages the fallout of its own extractivist design: ecological disruption, economic instability, war, and mass displacement.

And yet, the border regime is meeting something it didn’t fully predict: collective refusal, rooted in love, courage, and care.

In Minnesota and beyond, communities are responding not only with outrage but with organization: neighbors building rapid-response networks; unions and coalitions coordinating strikes and mass marches; clergy leading civil disobedience pray-ins. Mutual aid moving through meals and rides, childcare and school escorts, warming stations and street medics—as people learn to document, accompany, protect, and provide care. Across the country, more networks are taking root.

What’s emerging is the outlines of a different world—built not from walls, weapons, or cages, but from the bonds of solidarity among people who refuse to be governed by fear.

What matters in moments like this is not just how we respond to crisis, but what we build as we do: the relationships, skills, and forms of collective action and care that make our communities resilient and our movements powerful—now, and into the future.

Everyone has a role to play, wherever you are. Here are some ways to support the frontlines and join this rapidly growing movement.

Ways to Take Action

These actions span many roles—from resourcing frontline groups, to applying pressure on corporations and decision-makers, to building long-term community defense and resilience infrastructure.

SUPPORT THE FRONTLINES

Donate to frontline efforts in Minnesota
Organizers, and community networks in Minnesota are responding daily to raids, detentions, and other emergencies. This directory is compiled by activists on the ground and includes vetted ways to fund mutual aid and material needs, legal defense, immigrant rights groups, and impacted families.
https://www.standwithminnesota.com/

APPLY PRESSURE: ABOLISH ICE

Demand an end to funding and support for ICE.
ICE operates through public money and private contracts. These actions target both.

Check out ICE Out of Minnesota’s corporate accountability toolkit for more actions targeting Target, Home Depot, Enterprise, Hilton, Delta, and other companies with active ICE contracts.

BUILD SKILLS. BUILD PRESENCE. BUILD POWER IN COMMUNITY.

These trainings and toolkits are grounded in real frontline experience. They offer practical ways to document, accompany, protect, and care for people targeted by ICE.

Learn how to show up for your neighbors—and keep showing up:

→ ICE Watch & Community Defense Training
A 90-minute weekly virtual training led by organizers from States at the Core and Protect RP (Chicago).
Learn how to build neighborhood defense, document ICE activity, and respond collectively. https://statesatthecore.substack.com/p/community-defense-and-ice-watch

→ Guides & Toolkits
Step-by-step resources on:

  • what to do if you see ICE or Border Patrol
  • how to start or join a rapid response network
  • school patrols, documentation, reporting, and de-escalation

https://defend612.com/guides-toolkits/
https://linktr.ee/icewatchresources

→ Adopt-a-Corner Toolkit (NDLON)
Identify places in your community where day laborers and immigrant workers are most at risk. Commit to being there—regularly. Presence, consistency, and relationship-building are forms of protection.
https://ndlon.org/adopt-a-day-labor-corner/

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

Knowledge protects you and others. Share these widely.