It Could Happen Here Minneapolis' Anti-ICE Rent Strike
Feb 23, 2026
Tara Raghuveer, director of the Tenant Union Federation and veteran tenant organizer, describes rapid tenant union building in Minneapolis. She recounts organizing a rent strike against ICE occupation. Short takes cover labor solidarity, the three strike demands, using pandemic organizing tactics, and turning crisis actions into lasting tenant power.
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Rapid Tenant Organizing Built On Daily Mutual Aid
- Minneapolis tenants converted emergency mutual aid into durable organizing in days, not months.
- Tenant groups used building chats, whistles, zines, and mutual aid as the grassroots base for a citywide Tenant Union Federation.
Four Day Citywide Tenant Federation Formation
- A Twin Cities federation formed in four and a half days by combining existing tenant groups.
- Tara Raghuveer tied long-standing local groups like Inquilinos Unidos and South Minneapolis Tenants Union into a coordinated strike-capable federation.
Labor Alliances Enabled Strike Leverage
- Deep preexisting labor-community ties made rapid labor support possible.
- Labor tables and unions like SEIU Local 26 were already coordinating and were willing to risk supporting a tenant strike because members face rent insecurity.