Depresh Mode with John Moe SPECIAL EPISODE: Mental Health and ICE in Minnesota
Feb 6, 2026
Marcus Schmidt, executive director of NAMI Minnesota who leads mental-health advocacy and resources. He discusses how ICE activity is driving anxiety, trauma, and crises for people with severe mental illness. They outline strained services, community ripple effects, long-term collective trauma, and available mobile crisis supports.
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ICE Activity Is A Mental-Health Story
- The ICE activity in Minnesota is fundamentally a mental-health story affecting the whole community.
- Marcus Schmidt and John Moe frame arrests, deportations, and deaths as causes of collective trauma and anxiety.
Occupation Amplifies Existing Trauma
- People with severe persistent mental illness carry prior trauma that the occupation is amplifying.
- Marcus Schmidt says symptoms are increasing and manifesting in states some haven't experienced in years.
Call Mobile Crisis Teams, Not 911 (When Appropriate)
- Use local mobile crisis response teams instead of 911 for mental-health emergencies when there's no immediate physical danger.
- Save your county team number from justcallmn.com in your phone so responders arrive quickly and confidentially.