Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

MIRAC

By Brad Sigal

Minneapolis protest demands justice for women lost to state violence.

Minneapolis, MN – On July 18, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis to demand justice for women lost to state violence. Organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), the protest focused on Vanessa Guillen and Breonna Taylor. The dual focus on Vanessa Guillen, who was Latina, and Breonna Taylor, who was Black, aimed to build unity between Black and Latino communities as well as other communities in the struggle for justice.

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By Montana Hirsch

Minneapolis protest demands justice

Minneapolis, MN – On July 4, more than 200 protesters took the streets on wheels for a new type of march calling for an end to a fundamentally racist criminal justice system and “#Justice4All.” Protesters were on bikes, rollerblades, roller skates, skateboards, as well as in a car caravan as they rolled through various neighborhoods in Minneapolis. The protest was organized by Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) along with co-hosts Native Lives Matter, CAIR-Minnesota, LatinoAltRock, and Asamblea de Derechos Civiles. Messaging included slogans such as: “Abolish ICE,” “Prosecute the police,” and linking the struggles with: “The whole damn system is guilty as hell.”

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By Brad Sigal

Vigil honors Carlos Ernesto Escobar-Mejia who died of COVID-19 in ICE detention

Minneapolis, MN – After dark on Monday, May 11, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) held a candlelight vigil at the Minneapolis Federal Courthouse to remember Carlos Ernesto Escobar-Mejia. He is the first person reported to die of COVID-19 while in jail detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The speakers at the vigil called on people to remember Carlos and called on government officials to free all ICE detainees.

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By Brad Sigal

Immigrant rights activists at Sherburne County commissioners' meeting

Elk River, MN – Immigrant rights activists mobilized to the Sherburne County commissioners' meeting at 9:00 in the morning Tuesday, December 3 in Elk River, a town of around 20,000 people an hour northwest of Minneapolis. They held signs throughout the meeting, and several of them spoke passionately during the public comment section of the agenda, appealing to the commissioners to stop participating in and profiting from immigrant detention in the Sherburne County Jail.

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By staff

Thousands march in Minneapolis against Trump's attacks on immigrants and Muslims

Minneapolis, MN – On June 30, 4000 people marched in South Minneapolis to stand with immigrants and Muslims who are under attack by the Trump administration.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, June 30, more than 1000 Minnesotans will march in south Minneapolis to oppose the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim policies of the Trump administration. The march will start at 2:00 p.m., at Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis.

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By staff

May Day march in St Paul, MN.

Saint Paul, MN – Hundreds of immigrants, union members and activists marched to the Minnesota State Capitol on May 1, International Workers Day. They demanded that the state legislature pass a bill to give immigrants access to drivers licenses, without adding amendments to further criminalize immigrants. They also raised other demands for immigrant and workers’ rights while commemorating the workers who lost their lives in 1886 in the struggle for an eight-hour workday.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – In the shadow of President Trump’s declaration of a ‘state of emergency’ to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Legalization for All Network is organizing a national delegation of immigrant rights activists to go on a fact-finding and solidarity delegation to the border. The delegation will include activists from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Milwaukee’s Young People’s Resistance Committee (YPRC) and from the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.

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By Brad Sigal

Massive community outpouring fills hearing and packs two overflow rooms

Victor Ramírez-Juárez of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC)

Saint Paul, MN – Hundreds of immigrants and supporters filled the Minnesota State Capitol on February 28 for the first committee hearing of House File 1500, the ‘drivers license for all’ bill. The hearing room quickly filled to capacity, as did two overflow rooms. After more than two hours of public testimony and debate, the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee voted to pass the bill and refer it to the House Ways and Means Committee for the next step in the process.

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By staff

Representative of MIRAC speaking at Municipal ID press conference.

Minneapolis, MN – Immigrant rights activists celebrated as the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously, at their final meeting of the year, December 7 to create a new Minneapolis Municipal ID.

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