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.  

Renee Good Memorial Feb 7th Powderhorn Park 1-3 PM

From https://bit.ly/MPLS-Feb7

Happening Saturday: Please join the First Peoples of Mni Sóta Makoce and the Good Family for a public memorial ceremony on Saturday, February 7, at Powderhorn Park, where we will mourn Renée, Alex, and all those we've lost in this occupation.

Memorial ceremony led by Chief Arvol Looking Horse begins at 1 pm, followed by community singing, poetry, and more. Special invitation and care for those who have witnessed violence, loss, or ICE abductions.

In collaboration with: NDN Collective, Brave Heart Society, Indigenous Protector Movement, American Indian Movement, Freedom Trainers, Sunrise Movement, Project South, AND MORE.

Learn more at: https://bit.ly/MPLS-Feb7

*ASL Interpretation available
*Accessible seating available
*Alcohol and drug-free space

#ICEOut #ICEoutofMN #AbolishICE #NoOneIsIllegalOnStolenLand

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.

Mayor Kaohly Her Of Saint Paul Signs Ordinance Restricting ICE From City-Owned Property

This is from the press release at https://www.stpaul.gov/news/mayor-kaohly-her-signs-ordinance-respond-federal-ice-activity-saint-paul:

Mayor Kaohly Her has signed Ordinance 26-5, passed by the Saint Paul City Council, to respond to increased federal ICE activity in Minnesota. The ordinance prohibits law enforcement staging or operational activity on city-owned property, restricts access to non-public city spaces, and codifies the City’s December 19, 2025 cease-and-desist directive to federal law enforcement to leave City property.

Published On: February 5, 2026 Contact Matt Wagenius matt.wagenius@ci.stpaul.mn.us

SAINT PAUL, MN – Mayor Kaohly Her today signed an ordinance passed by the Saint Paul City Council aimed at responding to increased federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Minnesota.

The new ordinance, developed in collaboration between the Mayor’s Office and the City Council, prohibits law enforcement staging or operational activity on city-owned property, restricts access to non-public city spaces, and codifies the city’s cease-and-desist letter dated December 19, 2025, which directs federal law enforcement to leave city-owned property.

Mayor Her released the following statement:

“When I was sworn into office one month ago, I pledged that Saint Paul would set clear rules for federal immigration enforcement. No one could have predicted that less than a week later, Operation Metro Surge would begin and masked agents would flood our city, using violence and intimidation against our residents.

This action honors that promise by strengthening and clarifying our city’s expectations, and making it explicit: city property is not for immigration enforcement. Our city parks, libraries, and service centers are trusted resources for our community, and they must stay that way.

I am grateful for the collaboration and dedication of the Saint Paul City Council as we work to meet this crisis head-on.

While we continue to demand the end to Operation Metro Surge, we must do everything we can to restore peace of mind to our residents and bring safety back to our community.”

 

In Pictures: Alex Pretti Memorial On Nicollet Ave 1/31/2026

Some of the pictures I had taken this past Saturday when visiting the memorial to see what community had added since its inception. A young person there was working on using their voice to speak their grief and loss, love and support. I don't think they were much older than sixth grade if I had to guess (and I just heard them behind a portion of the crowd). I was both moved and saddened at the same time.

Click on an image for a larger version.

A wide view of Alex Pretti's memorial with community members standing around it.

Candles and signs at the front of the memorial.

A bird's-eye view of the center memorial.

Candles and signs on the side of the memorial.

Signs and flowers at the enclosed end of the memorial.

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.

Thank You Hernandez Family On Eat Street

This past weekend when I was visiting the memorial for Alex Pretti, and on my way to pick up some food from Phở 79/Caravelle, I ran into the Hernandez family who had setup a table and was giving away hot chocolate to community members out there visiting the memorial and being in community.

While I realized I left without actually getting any hot chocolate (arrrgh....), I was able meet them, thank them, and get a couple of impromptu pictures. To be out there, doing that, like we've seen other people from Brown and Black communities doing--when you see that, just make sure you understand what's at stake for everyone to be out there in community too, even just from a mindset perspective. You have to calculate where you think ICE will be. What you might be getting into, even if it's looking safe at the moment, simply because we look the way we do.

So to be there, in community--and giving away free warm goodness? Thank you and I hope to get a cup next time :)

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

Target Sit-In: 1650 New Brighton Blvd. Minneapolis MN 1/31/2026

These pictures were taken at the Target Sit-In at the New Brighton Blvd Store. The protest was organized at that location by The Minneapolis Federation of Educators, Local 59. It was great to be there to both cover and participate. Thank you to all those who were there, which included a mix of educators, families, and other community members o protest Target's involvement with ICE.

Click on an image for a larger version.

This was the scene early on after gathering at the front entrance where the Target center employee set rules, etc. The group positioned themselves here for the beginning.

The protesters on the sides of the isle.

Sit-In protesters holding signs saying for ICE to be out and for Target to speak out.

Sit-In protesters holding signs asking for Target to be held accountable for being complicit.

The group being addressed by Marcia Howard (of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators) who was leading many of the sit-in chants.

Marcia Howard at the Target sit-in with protesters (many inside who were teachers) and Saint Paul Police in the background.

Marcia Howard waiting after speaking.

Protesters on the way out of Target.

Another set of protesters heading outside after Target asked protesters to leave.

Right outside of the exit doors protesters wave signs and chant.

Protesters outside of the Target.

Protesters lined up outside of Target on the sidewalk.

Target employees holding the line of protesters and guiding traffic.

Target Asks Minneapolis Protesters To Leave (Video)

 

This clip is from the Target Sit-Ins, at its store on New Brighton Blvd in Minneapolis on 1/31/2026. Protesters had not been there long, and it had been peaceful from the beginning. The protest was organized at that location by the The Minneapolis Federation of Educators, Local 59.

Shorts: ICE Out Of MN/Hey Hey Goodbye #target #sitins

 

ICE Out Of Minnesota Target Sit-Ins: 1300 University Avenue Saint Paul, MN 1/31/2026

This is from the the Target sit-ins at the University Ave Saint Paul location towards the end of the sit-in and protest. It was great to see so many people who showed up.

Thank you to everyone there, those who organized; and to the two women who said hello to me while there--thank you so much for the kind words.

I will be looking to add images in a later post.

Everyone From The Citizen Church Protests Are Out But Federal Cases Are Still Pending

It is great that everyone who was picked up for the Citizen Church protests are no longer in custody and they can be home with their families. 

But it is key to remember that they still have federal cases against them.

Some like Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen (and there could be others with similar restrictions) have had to surrender their passports and cannot leave the state. 

And there are still questions surrounding due process. 

Until those federal cases are have been dropped (at the very least) there continues to be no justice.