How Minneapolis is organising against ICE

10 snips

Feb 12, 2026

Daniel Cueto-Villalobos, a sociology doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota studying race, religion and social movements, gives on-the-ground analysis of how Minneapolis communities mobilize against ICE. He describes whistles and rapid-response patrols. He traces networks back to Covid mutual aid and the aftermath of George Floyd. He discusses faith leaders, rides and know-your-rights trainings.

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ANECDOTE

Confrontation In A Minneapolis Park

Neighbors surrounded federal ICE agents in a southern Minneapolis park, blowing whistles and filming the encounter.
Scuffles erupted, agents used tear gas and flares, and people fled as the situation escalated.

INSIGHT

2020 Protests Built Today's Networks

George Floyd's murder activated neighborhood mutual aid and rapid-response networks across South Minneapolis.
Those networks formed to protect neighborhoods from anticipated outside agitators and later enabled community defence against ICE.

ANECDOTE

Personal Precautions Taken Locally

Daniel returned after arrests and killings to a Minneapolis he describes as 'literally under occupation.'
He began carrying a passport, a whistle, and keeping an earbud out as part of neighborhood vigilance.

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Whenever federal immigration agents pull up to a location in Minneapolis, people take their whistles out, start blowing them and start filming.

In December, US government sent more than 2,000 Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents into Minnesota in December as part of Operation Metro Surge. The residents of the metropolitan area known as the Twin Cities – Minneapolis and St. Paul – quickly came together to protect and support their neighbours at risk of being caught up in ICE raids.

In this episode, we speak to Daniel Cueto-Villalobos, a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota, who lives in southern Minneapolis and studies race, religion and social movements. He tracks the neighbourhood groups that have sprung into action in response to the ICE presence back to mutual networks set up during the 2020 Covid pandemic and in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman.

This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood with editing help from Mend Mariwany. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Mixing by Michelle Macklem and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the f ull credits for this episode and sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

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