Imagine for a second crowds of people marching and chanting in the street, networks organized and working together in various coalitions and group chats, all gathered by the thousands in freezing temperatures with the common goal of eliminating not the icy terror of the frigid sub-zero, but the terror of a cold, heartless organization of sycophantic, Trump-supporting white-supremacists who commit their acts of imperialism under the guise of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I would invite you then to turn on your television set or open your newspaper of choice and you will see scenes that seem to be torn straight from history books— colorized and modernized. Those are the conditions of Minneapolis, Minnesota in January 2026.
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| A 50,000+ Person march against ICE in Minneapolis | Credit: Fight Back! News |
Operation Metro Surge— the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s code-name for ICE’s fear campaign in Minnesota— is the largest operation that ICE has ever carried out and despite the state’s superficial claims that it is meant to capture and deport “criminal illegals,” it has shown itself to be the latest iteration of state terror to be perpetuated against people of color, working-class people, and dissidents to the American Empire. Harrowing videos of ICE raids in the night and people screaming to alert their neighbors as if the Kristallnacht was in live re-play have circulated across social media, and it is impossible to ignore the graphic, televised murders of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. It is safe and understandable to conclude that ICE represents a faction of the openly terroristic character of capital and white chauvinism.
The newest incarnation of the Schutzstaffel or perhaps the Ku Klux Klan has not gone completely unchecked, however. The people of Minnesota and Minneapolis in particular have demonstrated that they will remain firmly steadfast in resisting the rampant political terror that is being inflicted upon them. Tens of thousands of people have flooded the streets to march for their lives and freedoms— to march for their neighbors rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Protestors risk arrest, detention, bodily harm, or even death and even then there has not been so much as a whisper of capitulation. Alex Pretti, a nurse, gave his life protecting a woman as she was being harassed and accosted by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. His final words before being summarily executed were simply, “Are you okay?” It was frequently expressed by comrades in Minneapolis that they were concerned that following the deaths of Good and Pretti, that the masses of the people may withdraw from actions citing reasonable fears of harm, but they were repeatedly proven wrong. In Minneapolis and indeed across the whole of the United States, the people continued to appear in even greater numbers with even greater preparation.
Protests of solidarity (and their own self-defense against ICE/CBP) have sprung up across the country including, but certainly not limited to, in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, and beyond. It is also worth noting the extraordinary power that has been demonstrated to exist in student spaces. Locally, in New Orleans, new organizations including Students for Resistance at Benjamin Franklin High School and the Black Students Resistance Network at Xavier University of Louisiana have been founded upon the principles that the immigration “enforcing” terrorists are not welcome on their campuses or anywhere else for that matter. Walkouts have been taking place across the country. Marches flood the streets with the regularity of a local programme, and information on how to properly monitor ICE has spread like a wildfire.
All of this being said, it is still of paramount importance that we generalize the experiences and actions that are taking place in Minnesota as a result of the current iteration of ICE terror. The fundamental question, what is to be done? still remains. We can never be sure of the consequences of direct action; however, through the demotion of Gregory Bovino and the apparent slowing of ICE operations in Minnesota, it would appear that consistent and strong direct action is having a material affect on the ability of the second Trump administration to conduct it’s business. It has also been noted that as dire as the present circumstances are, they present a significant opportunity for organizing and party-building within the United States. Attempts to further criminalize political engagement have by-and-large failed and progressive and left-wing organization appears to be stronger than at any point in recent memory. The masses of the people are willing to organize and synthesize their ideas into strong action. The fundamental cornerstone for the building a popular democratic movement is growing, and all organizations appear to be working steadfast to resist the ICE terror. Additionally, mass movements and people’s organizations have been growing in size and are without a doubt a force for positive change in every community where they exist. So when we ask, “what is to be done?” we respond with the human-oriented systems that have persisted despite the mountains of repression that the people have faced and are facing. We respond with community networks; we respond with true information in the face of the vile lies being spewed by the state, and we respond with strong organization.
Because what we can fundamentally take away from the Minneapolis Intifada and the increase of resistance movements in the United States is the same as what is being echoed through every street, that “the people, united, will never be defeated!”
