Massive community outpouring fills hearing and packs two overflow rooms
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.
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.
Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people gathered November 5 at rush hour to protest on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge, a major artery that connects Minneapolis and Saint Paul, to protest President Trump’s relentless racist attacks on the caravan of refugees heading north. The refugees are seeking asylum from rampant violence, political instability and extreme poverty in Honduras.
Minneapolis, MN – On June 29, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) held a press conference along with coalition partners in the campaign for an immigrant rights Sanctuary Platform in Minneapolis. Before the city council meeting, they gathered outside of City Hall to demand immediate action to implement a Municipal ID for Minneapolis residents – one of 13 points in their Minneapolis Sanctuary Platform unveiled on Sept. 20, 2017.
Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and the Minnesota Poor People’s Campaign rallied, May 22, while 18 individuals blocked both traffic into the building and also the light rail outside of the Whipple Federal Building before being arrested. They were calling for an end to mass deportations and other anti-immigrant policies.
Saint Paul, MN – On May 21 the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and Minnesota Poor Peoples Campaign held a rally outside the Minnesota State Capitol. The rally featured members of MIRAC speaking about their experience with immigration and fighting deportations and also featured local movement singer Jayanthi Kyle leading the group in powerful songs.
Minneapolis, MN – Several hundred people marched for nearly three miles in south Minneapolis May 1 for immigrant and workers’ rights. The march on International Workers Day was initiated by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and endorsed by 46 organizations and unions, including the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Regional Labor Federations and many individual unions.
Annual International Workers Day march on Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday, May 1, a broad coalition of unions, workers organizations, immigrant rights groups, and other community organizations will have a unified march and cultural program in South Minneapolis. The unified march will begin at 3:30 p.m. with short speeches at Lake and Nicollet. At 4 p.m. the march will leave. The march will culminate in a Cultural Program at the Powderhorn Park building at 5:15 p.m. with speakers, music and dance performances.
Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, April 13, in the City Hall rotunda, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) held their third press conference with their coalition partners since the launch of their campaign for ‘Sanctuary Now’ in Minneapolis. Before the meeting of the city council, they demanded urgent action to implement a Municipal ID for Minneapolis residents – one of 13 points in MIRAC’s Minneapolis Sanctuary Platform unveiled on Sept. 20, 2017.
Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, Jan.14, immigrant rights activists, including students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, held a protest and community outreach action on the corner of Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue, a busy intersection in the heart of the Minneapolis Latino immigrant community. They demanded that Congress pass a clean Dream Act before the Jan. 19 congressional budget deadline.A clean Dream Act means permanent protection for immigrant youth with DACA status who were brought here as children, without pairing that with repressive anti-immigrant measures like the border wall, ending family-based immigration and the diversity lottery or increased raids and deportations against other immigrants like President Trump is trying to do.At the busy intersection, the protesters held signs and chanted demanding a clean Dream Act. Some signs also supported Salvadorans, Haitians and others for whom Trump has ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS), exposing hundreds of thousands of families to the threat of deportation. Some of the group’s signs also made pointed reference to Trump’s recent racist statement calling El Salvador, Haiti, and African countries “shithole countries.” Many passing cars honked and signaled their agreement with the anti-Trump and pro-immigrant message.The action was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and the Interracial Student Movement (ISM), as part of a series of efforts to pressure Congress to act now to pass a clean Dream Act.After protesting outside in the bitter cold for a half hour, the group went inside a popular Latino immigrant marketplace. There, American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Clyde Bellecourt spoke to the group, expressing support for immigrant youth. Bellecourt put the struggle in the context of European colonization of the Americas and the struggle of the indigenous peoples of the Americas for unity and justice, and emphasizing the importance of young people in leading the struggle forward.Then, in a visual and participatory action, the group shared balloons with messages supporting immigrant youth written on them with people in the marketplace. The organizers called on everybody to pop their balloons at the same time to symbolize that President Trump and Congress are trying to destroy young people’s dreams. Three organizers from the group spoke to the gathered crowd, sharing information with people about the struggle of DACA youth and the need for the community to get involved in the fight for a clean Dream Act.In September 2017, President Trump abruptly announced the end of DACA. A federal court ruling has temporarily forced the administration to keep DACA alive while court cases about it are still being heard. But this is a temporary situation, not a real solution. The need for action for immigrant youth is as urgent as ever. As soon as the court cases end, every day around 122 more immigrant youth will lose their legal status and face the threat of being deported and uprooted from the only life they have ever known. Having put 800,000 immigrant youth in jeopardy of deportation by ending DACA, President Trump and anti-immigrant Republicans in Congress are now cynically using these young immigrants as bargaining chips for their anti-immigrant agenda.Democrats in Congress have given lip service in support of immigrant youth, yet enough of them voted before the new year in support of the continuing resolution to fund the congressional budget for it to pass, temporarily keeping the government open until the fast-approaching Jan. 19 deadline. With that deadline upon us, another congressional vote on the budget is here, and the Republicans can’t pass it without some Democrats’ votes. So immigrant rights activists around the country are demanding that congressional Democrats turn their lip service into action and all vote no on passing any congressional budget unless a clean Dream Act is passed, even if that means a government shutdown. That is one of the strongest kinds of leverage they have to force a clean Dream Act through despite the opposition of anti-immigrant Republicans in Congress and the administration.
Demands are to pass Sanctuary City Platform and create a Minneapolis Police Accountability Council
Minneapolis, MN – On Jan. 12, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) made their presence felt at the first meeting of the newly-elected Minneapolis city council.
Minneapolis, MN – On the day after Christmas, Dec. 26, a group of activists from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) brought day-late gift-wrapped ‘presents’ and a Christmas tree to the Minneapolis office of Senator Amy Klobuchar emblazoned with messages of “Clean Dream Act now,” “Keep families together” and “No more deportations.”
Minneapolis, MN – The Anti-War Committee and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) are co-sponsoring a community march on International Human Rights Day to show solidarity with the communities whose human rights have been violated by the Trump administration. Protesters will rally in Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis, Dec. 10, at 11 a.m. and will then march on Lake Street past hundreds of immigrant-owned businesses to say “No ban, no wall, sanctuary for all!”
Minneapolis, MN – Immigrant rights activists demanded “Sanctuary now!” at the Minneapolis City Council meeting Oct. 6. The activists gathered outside of City Hall then made their presence felt in the City Council chamber, holding their banner and signs at the start of the council meeting.
Albert Lea, MN – On July 9, activists with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee and the Unlawful Assembly marching band traveled in a caravan from Minneapolis to the Freeborn County Jail in Albert Lea an hour and a half south of the Twin Cities. They assembled with banners, chants and music to protest the county’s contract with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and offer moral support and uplifting music to ICE detainees and other inmates inside the detention center.
Activists announce mobilization for continued bond hearing July 13
St. Paul, MN – More than 30 people rallied outside the Whipple Federal Building and packed the immigration court hearing today, July 10, for Ariel Vences-Lopez. They were there to oppose his deportation and support his efforts to be released from immigration detention. Vences-Lopez was the subject of a viral video showing him being improperly questioned about his immigration status during light rail transit fare check.
Saint Paul, MN – On May 11 at 8:18 a.m., a video was posted publicly on Facebook which shows a brief clip of plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents terrorizing a local family in St. Paul when, according to witness accounts, their unmarked car swerved in front of a vehicle with four Latino men and stopped and detained them. A man from El Salvador and a man from Honduras were detained. Family members arrived on scene but could not get answers from ICE agents about who they were or why the men were being detained – instead they were shouted at and one of the detained men's wife had a gun pointed at her. Neither man had any criminal conviction.
Minneapolis, MN – Jan. 20 was a day of national Inauguration Day Anti-Trump protests. The Resist from Day One Coalition, a coalition of over 80 Twin Cities local and grassroots organizations, brought 6000 people to march and rally to reject the Trump administration’s dangerous agenda. The day included a long march with three separate rallying points, until the final stop at the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza, which is also known as People’s Plaza.
Minneapolis, MN – More than 400 people marched in Minneapolis, Nov. 23, to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to attack immigrants. Lake Street, the march route, rang with chants of, “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA,” “Build bridges, not walls” and “Trump eschucha, estamos en la lucha!”
