We Will Just Be Waiting To See What Happens...

There's definitely more to talk about as far as what this has meant for us here in MN. For immigrants. For those that have already been told they are not trusted right away.

What it has done to the mental state and psyche of communities here.

The fallout of an operation that never should have happened in the first place.

But for now, like others, I am glad to hear the official statements from this week, but like others as well, don't trust what this administration and those under it are saying until we actually see it.

Because we all know what they've said before.

And again, let's not forget about Operation PARRIS, the re-evaluation of immigrants and refugees, remaining ICE agents here--but also those in other states.

This secret police needs to be stopped.

Of Course They Lied About The Shooting Involving Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis

From Politico:

“A joint review by ICE and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements,” Lyons said in a statement. “Both officers have been immediately placed on administrative leave pending the completion of a thorough internal investigation…. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is actively investigating these false statements.” Agents had initially said that two men — Alfredo Aljorna and Julio Sosa Celis – assaulted them with a broom and a shovel before one of them shot Sosa Celis. But that account was quickly called into question, and prosecutors now say “newly discovered evidence” contradicts the officers’ story.

From NPR:

DHS initially said the officer fired a shot to "save his life" after being "ambushed and attacked" by three immigrants with a snow shovel and a broom handle during a "targeted traffic stop." Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, the subject of the traffic stop, was injured after getting shot in the leg. Another Venezuelan man, Alfredo Aljorna, was also accused of attacking the officers. However, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen on Thursday dropped the charges against them.

Dropped. The. Charges.

Mayor Kaohly Her On The Recent Incident And ICE Activity In Saint Paul

From the Mayor's Facebook page:

The incident today at Selby and Western underscores the fact that ICE is still present, causing chaos, and putting residents at risk in Saint Paul. I want to thank the residents who continue to show up and keep watch over their neighbors. I also want to thank the Saint Paul Police for staying on the scene to clean up and ensure those impacted received assistance. Because of the reckless way that ICE is running their operation, one person ended up in the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, and several bystanders had their cars damaged. This is just another incident that tells us loud and clear: Operation Metro Surge needs to end immediately.

ICE Will Be Gone? It's Toned Down? Sure...Meanwhile In Saint Paul A Couple Of Hours Ago An ICE Related Crash With Three Cars

From Andrew Karre via Facebook:

The Loft Literary Center + Milkweed Books: Minnesota Writers Respond 2/26/2026

From the Loft Literary Center:

SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, Feb 26 at 6:30 p.m. Come to the Loft at Open Book for Minnesota Writers Respond: a public literary event in support of immigrant rights and in response to the current ICE crisis in our neighborhoods.

Featured writers include Curtis Sittenfeld, Michael Kleber-Diggs, Sarah Ghazal Ali, Lara Mimosa Montes, Halee Kirkwood, Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, Claire Wahmanholm, and Jessica Nordell.

Presented in partnership with Milkweed Books. Pay-what-you-can tickets and more details coming soon.

https://loft.org/events (check back soon!)

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.

Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano Is Released. Liam Conejo Ramos Returned Home. Two Other Colombia Heights Elementary School Children Were Just Released. But Now What?

I have been beyond grateful to hear that Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano and her mother were released from the ICE detention center in Texas. That Liam and his dad returned to MN so they can start to process and heal from what has happened to them. How two siblings in second and fifth grade from the same Colombia Heights elementary school as Liam Ramos, were released after a week of being detained. 

Because that is at least something, even though it never should have happened in the first place.

Because there are others that do not get returned. That do not get to be together as families.

But what happens next? What new processes are being put in place so that this doesn't happen again to anyone? Who's giving the guarantee that families aren't going to be broken up?

That a 5 year-old doesn't get used as bait and then detained. 

Tell me what's really going to change.

The only way that really happens, because no one has shown otherwise, is for ICE and Operation Metro Surge to be done. 

And until then, I don't know what else we can do but fight.

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

Owner Christina Nguyen Of Hola Arepa And Manager Naomi Rathke On ICE Search And Intimidation

Some Of The Weapons Being Used On Protesters By ICE After The Alex Pretti Shooting

These pictures were taken on Nicollet in front of Eat Street Dentists after the initial standoff between the first wave of protesters and federal agents. These pictures are not only for documentation but to familiarize other community on the types of weapons being used so they can gather more information on type and size (albeit no one should assume these are the only types of cannisters being used).

Taking a page from Hong Kong protesters, these look like they should fit underneath orange cones to direct the smoke and then use water to extinguish them.

In Video: Clips From The Alex Pretti Protest On 1/24/2026

While I will post more on the Alex Pretti protest/vigil, here are two videos of the protest that were taken on 1/24/2026 down at Eat Street on Nicollet Ave.

Alex Pretti Protest - "Say His Name" Chant - 1/24/2026

This video is from the Alex Pretti protest after he was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Nicollet Ave on Eat Street and contains a clip of crowd chanting "Say His Name".

Alex Pretti Protest - Combined Chant Footage - 1/24/2026

Warning: This video is from the Alex Pretti protest after he was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Nicollet Ave on Eat Street and contains strong language. This video is a small compilation of clips of three different chants: Ice Out (2x from different views) and Say His Name.

A First Post

Welcome to those who have found there way here. 

This blog is initially designed to document the protests and other activities and news around the ICE occupation here in MN; for articles and other op-ed; archival purposes.

As the site is just getting up and running, and there have been to multiple protests and vigils, posting will sometimes be, not always in chronological order of what may have already happened.

Stay safe out there.

Adam, Saint Paul, MN