MN8 + Local MN Fundraisers For Southeast Asian Families Impacted By ICE And Immigration

 

Reposting from MN8 (see the FB site here):

Southeast Asian families in Minnesota are hurting. On top of the chaotic ICE activity throughout the state, families are left struggling to make rent, provide for their little ones, and access legal help. bit.ly/MN-SEA-FUNDRAISERS

Please consider donating to our ongoing list of fundraisers for local SEA families impacted by immigration. Anything and everything helps, please share widely!

Standing with Thi Dua for Justice and Healing

From the gofundme:

Thi Dua Vang came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam, seeking safety, stability, and the hope of a better life. She followed every legal requirement, arrived with all proper documentation, and was lawfully admitted into the country. She did everything right.

Despite this, on January 8, 2026, Thi Dua was suddenly and unjustly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.). Without warning, her life was thrown into chaos. After spending 24 hours in a temporary facility in the Twin Cities, she was transported far from her family—first to the El Paso Detention Center in Texas, and then to the Houston Processing Center. She remained detained for nearly two weeks, separated from her loved ones, frightened, and unsure of her future.

During her bond hearing on January 20, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security representative was unable to give any reason for her detention. The judge ordered that she be released on bond. However, she was not actually released until the next day, January 21, 2026. 

Even then, her ordeal continued. I.C.E. did not notify her family or coordinate her safe release. Instead, she was let out alone onto the streets of Houston around 8:00 PM—exhausted, scared, and with no support. Her husband and brother, who had already begun the long drive from Minnesota, arrived around 11:00 PM. For three long hours, Thi Dua had to fend for herself in a completely unfamiliar city at night.

This wrongful detention has deeply traumatized Thi Dua and her family. They had to hire legal counsel to fight for her freedom, placing a heavy financial burden on them. On top of the emotional toll, Thi Dua lost her job because of her detention. The family is now trying to rebuild from the ground up—emotionally, financially, and physically—but the road ahead is difficult.

They are doing their best to regain stability, but the damage has been profound. Any financial support you can provide will not only help this family rebuild their lives, but will also support any future legal representation that Thi Dua may need as she continues navigating her immigration case and works to secure lasting stability in the United States. Your generosity will ease the heavy burden they are carrying and remind them that they are not alone in this struggle.  

AAPIP Twin Cities Rapid Response Fund + AAPIs United In The Twin Cities

The Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy Twin Cities announced the launch of an AANHPI-specific Twin Cities Rapid Response Fund that will help organizations continue to provide important services including:

• Urgent, basic needs: Organizations providing immediate support such as food, housing stabilization, transportation, health care access, and other essential services.
• Legal support and protection: Organizations offering legal defense, due process support, rights education, and navigation assistance, particularly for individuals and families facing deportation orders.
• Offering wrap-around and adaptive support: Organizations delivering holistic services such as know-your-rights education, mental health and wellness support, community safety planning, and other emerging or unmet needs as conditions evolve.
• Working collaboratively within community ecosystems: Organizations that coordinate with partners and informal networks to ensure services are responsive and culturally appropriate, recognizing that deep collaboration during this moment is needed.

More from their site:

Since December 2025, the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area (also known as the Twin Cities) has been the site of "Operation Metro Surge, " the largest immigration enforcement deployment in U.S. history. Over 3,000 federal agents have made more than 3,400 arrests across the region.

The Twin Cities is home to the largest urban Hmong population in the United States and home to the largest concentration of Karen in the country. We are experiencing the greatest rise in large-scale detention and deportations of Southeast Asian groups (Hmong, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Lao, Karen) in U.S. history. Many other Asian Minnesotans, including people from South Asian communities have also been detained. Asian Minnesotans make up the largest immigrant population of any racial group in the state.

AANHPI-led and AANHPI-serving organizations are responding: providing legal defense, food assistance, know-your-rights education, and emergency support. These organizations speak the languages of these communities, understand the cultural nuances, and most importantly are trusted in their communities. However, they have been consistently under-resourced with only 0.13% of philanthropic dollars in the Twin Cities supporting AANHPI causes and organizations. Most AANHPI community organizations operate with fewer than five staff and budgets under $500,000.

Our AAPIP Twin Cities Chapter Leaders and other AANHPI local community leaders asked AAPIP to create infrastructure that could move money quickly to AANHPI organizations. This fund is our response, a temporary rapid response fund built in partnership with those leaders to fill an urgent funding gap.

How the fund works:

• Grants will go directly to AANHPI-serving nonprofits in the Twin Cities.
• Funds will be distributed with urgency.
• An Advisory Committee of local community leaders guides distribution decisions.
• All grants are unrestricted, allowing organizations to deploy resources where they're needed most.

People can contribute to the AAPIP Twin Cities Rapid Response Fund at https://aapip.app.neoncrm.com/campaigns/aapip-twin-cities-rapid-response-fund or contributions can be made directly to AANHPI-serving organizations listed at https://aapiunited.net.

Theater Mu Pauses Lunar New Year Cabaret Fundraiser Due To ICE Activity And Safety Of Community

Below is their press release from Feb 2nd.

Dear Mu Family, 

As ICE continues to target Minnesotans, Theater Mu has decided to pause plans for the Lunar New Year Cabaret Fundraiser, scheduled for Feb. 22nd. While we are saddened by the loss of a gathering, we must prioritize safety, and recognize that this moment calls for care, solidarity, and action as the Twin Cities grieves and joins together to protect our neighbors and our democracy. 

Lunar New Year bids farewell to the old year and points us to focus on family and good fortune. To honor this, we are temporarily pausing our own fundraising campaigns and invite you to support local immigrant-owned small businesses, give a mutual aid gift, sponsor a meal for a family in need, and continue advocating, observing, protesting, boycotting, and creating kickass art in support of not only our AAPI communities, but also our Somali, Latine, and Native and Indigenous communities. Resources can be found at Stand with Minnesota and the Minnesota Council for Nonprofits, and by following our stories on social media. 

Grace Lee Boggs writes, “Movements are born of critical connections rather than critical mass.” Mariame Kaba reminds us that hope is a discipline, an action, a renewable practice. We send you shared resilience, hope, and deep connections. 

When we can gather together again in safety, we will celebrate the action, freedom, and breakthrough that the Year of the Fire Horse brings for all of us in the Mu Family. 

Yours in arts and solidarity, 

The Staff, Directors, and Board of Theater Mu