The People Are Winning the Battle Against ICE
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Activism
/ January 28, 2026
The People Are Winning the Battle Against ICE
The brave protesters in Minneapolis are doing everything that Democrats and even the law have failed to do.
Elie Mystal
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An anti-ICE protester raises a fist in downtown Minneapolis.
(Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images)
Most people where I come from know the opening narration to the television show Law and Order by heart: “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories. [Ding-ding]” But what happens when federal terrorists masquerading as law enforcement are the ones committing the crimes, and the district attorneys and judges are ignored by the federal government?
In Minneapolis–St. Paul, we are getting our answer: The people are taking matters into their own hands and representing themselves. “People v. ICE” would be the heading on a criminal charge brought against the American stormtroopers. The People versus ICE is what we’re seeing in the streets.
For the record, there have been actual lawsuits—lots of them—in response to the ICE operation known as “Operation Metro Surge.” State Attorney General Keith Ellison filed one to halt ICE’s occupation of the Twin Cities, and it received a hearing earlier this week. In a separate lawsuit, Chief District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz ordered the acting ICE director, Todd Lyons, to appear in his courtroom and answer for the unlawful arrests and detentions carried out by ICE, in violation of the right to due process. The ACLU and the International Refugee Assistance Program have filed class actions against ICE over its illegal deportations and kidnappings. And numerous individual Minnesotans have filed lawsuits over the illegal harassment and brutality they’ve faced at the hands of ICE.
These lawsuits are all worthy and necessary—if nothing else, they remind us of what our rights should be. But none of them has stopped or even restrained ICE. None of them has scared the Trump administration into putting down their copies of Mein Kampf long enough to read the Constitution. And none of them has turned public sentiment against ICE or motivated the Democrats to take hard stances against Trump’s unlawful occupation of Minneapolis.
What has mattered is the people. The people are leading—as we see when they show up to protest peacefully in freezing temperatures against the ongoing occupation of their state. The people are helping—as we see when they walk neighbors’ children to school so their parents don’t have …
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The People Are Winning the Battle Against ICE
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Current Issue
Activism
/ January 28, 2026
The People Are Winning the Battle Against ICE
The brave protesters in Minneapolis are doing everything that Democrats and even the law have failed to do.
Elie Mystal
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
An anti-ICE protester raises a fist in downtown Minneapolis.
(Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images)
Most people where I come from know the opening narration to the television show Law and Order by heart: “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories. [Ding-ding]” But what happens when federal terrorists masquerading as law enforcement are the ones committing the crimes, and the district attorneys and judges are ignored by the federal government?
In Minneapolis–St. Paul, we are getting our answer: The people are taking matters into their own hands and representing themselves. “People v. ICE” would be the heading on a criminal charge brought against the American stormtroopers. The People versus ICE is what we’re seeing in the streets.
For the record, there have been actual lawsuits—lots of them—in response to the ICE operation known as “Operation Metro Surge.” State Attorney General Keith Ellison filed one to halt ICE’s occupation of the Twin Cities, and it received a hearing earlier this week. In a separate lawsuit, Chief District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz ordered the acting ICE director, Todd Lyons, to appear in his courtroom and answer for the unlawful arrests and detentions carried out by ICE, in violation of the right to due process. The ACLU and the International Refugee Assistance Program have filed class actions against ICE over its illegal deportations and kidnappings. And numerous individual Minnesotans have filed lawsuits over the illegal harassment and brutality they’ve faced at the hands of ICE.
These lawsuits are all worthy and necessary—if nothing else, they remind us of what our rights should be. But none of them has stopped or even restrained ICE. None of them has scared the Trump administration into putting down their copies of Mein Kampf long enough to read the Constitution. And none of them has turned public sentiment against ICE or motivated the Democrats to take hard stances against Trump’s unlawful occupation of Minneapolis.
What has mattered is the people. The people are leading—as we see when they show up to protest peacefully in freezing temperatures against the ongoing occupation of their state. The people are helping—as we see when they walk neighbors’ children to school so their parents don’t have …
The People Are Winning the Battle Against ICE
Who's accountable for the results?
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The People Are Winning the Battle Against ICE
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Magazine
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Economy
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Current Issue
Activism
/ January 28, 2026
The People Are Winning the Battle Against ICE
The brave protesters in Minneapolis are doing everything that Democrats and even the law have failed to do.
Elie Mystal
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
An anti-ICE protester raises a fist in downtown Minneapolis.
(Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images)
Most people where I come from know the opening narration to the television show Law and Order by heart: “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories. [Ding-ding]” But what happens when federal terrorists masquerading as law enforcement are the ones committing the crimes, and the district attorneys and judges are ignored by the federal government?
In Minneapolis–St. Paul, we are getting our answer: The people are taking matters into their own hands and representing themselves. “People v. ICE” would be the heading on a criminal charge brought against the American stormtroopers. The People versus ICE is what we’re seeing in the streets.
For the record, there have been actual lawsuits—lots of them—in response to the ICE operation known as “Operation Metro Surge.” State Attorney General Keith Ellison filed one to halt ICE’s occupation of the Twin Cities, and it received a hearing earlier this week. In a separate lawsuit, Chief District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz ordered the acting ICE director, Todd Lyons, to appear in his courtroom and answer for the unlawful arrests and detentions carried out by ICE, in violation of the right to due process. The ACLU and the International Refugee Assistance Program have filed class actions against ICE over its illegal deportations and kidnappings. And numerous individual Minnesotans have filed lawsuits over the illegal harassment and brutality they’ve faced at the hands of ICE.
These lawsuits are all worthy and necessary—if nothing else, they remind us of what our rights should be. But none of them has stopped or even restrained ICE. None of them has scared the Trump administration into putting down their copies of Mein Kampf long enough to read the Constitution. And none of them has turned public sentiment against ICE or motivated the Democrats to take hard stances against Trump’s unlawful occupation of Minneapolis.
What has mattered is the people. The people are leading—as we see when they show up to protest peacefully in freezing temperatures against the ongoing occupation of their state. The people are helping—as we see when they walk neighbors’ children to school so their parents don’t have …
