ICE Melts in the Minneapolis Winter
Who's accountable for the results?
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Log In
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
Skip to content Skip to footer
ICE Melts in the Minneapolis Winter
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
Activism
/ February 13, 2026
ICE Melts in the Minneapolis Winter
Now it’s time to abolish the agency and impeach Kristi Noem.
John Nichols
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Edit
Ad Policy
Protesters march during a “Nationwide Shutdown” demonstration against ICE enforcement on January 30, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)
The people of Minneapolis raised their voices in glorious opposition to the federal occupation of their city with such energy, and such beauty, that the whole world heard their cry for justice. And they never let up. Just days before Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan formally announced that the Department of Homeland Security’s deadly surge of thousands of armed and masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into their city would end, 1,600 Minnesotans had filled the cavernous Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis with the chorus of their singing resistance:
Hold on Hold on My dear one
Here comes the dawn…
When the dawn came on Thursday, after more than two months of violence and cruelty—which included thousands of arrests, detentions and deportations, and the killing of poet and mother of three Renee Good and intensive care nurse Alex Pretti—Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey came as close as a Minnesotan can to declaring victory.
Current Issue
March 2026 Issue
“They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation. These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it’s not just about resistance—standing with our neighbors is deeply American,” said the mayor, who in January announced, “To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis!”
“This operation has been catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses, and now it’s time for a great comeback,” said Frey. “We will show the same commitment to our immigrant residents and endurance in this reopening, and I’m hopeful the whole country will stand with us as we move forward.”
Frey added, “The people that deserve the credit for this operation ending is the 435,000 residents that call Minneapolis home.” He’s right. The peaceful resistance to the Department of Homeland Security’s surge of 3,000 ill-trained and irresponsible ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents into the city—with mass marches, neighborhood watches, and mutual aid networks to support threatened neighbors—was as resilient as it was beautiful. And it forms a model for resistance in the cities that may next be targeted.
Yet Frey was also correct to describe the damage that had been done by more than two months of federal occupation as “catastrophic.”
The Nation Weekly
Fridays. A weekly digest of the best of our …
Who's accountable for the results?
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Log In
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
Skip to content Skip to footer
ICE Melts in the Minneapolis Winter
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
Activism
/ February 13, 2026
ICE Melts in the Minneapolis Winter
Now it’s time to abolish the agency and impeach Kristi Noem.
John Nichols
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Edit
Ad Policy
Protesters march during a “Nationwide Shutdown” demonstration against ICE enforcement on January 30, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)
The people of Minneapolis raised their voices in glorious opposition to the federal occupation of their city with such energy, and such beauty, that the whole world heard their cry for justice. And they never let up. Just days before Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan formally announced that the Department of Homeland Security’s deadly surge of thousands of armed and masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into their city would end, 1,600 Minnesotans had filled the cavernous Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis with the chorus of their singing resistance:
Hold on Hold on My dear one
Here comes the dawn…
When the dawn came on Thursday, after more than two months of violence and cruelty—which included thousands of arrests, detentions and deportations, and the killing of poet and mother of three Renee Good and intensive care nurse Alex Pretti—Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey came as close as a Minnesotan can to declaring victory.
Current Issue
March 2026 Issue
“They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation. These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it’s not just about resistance—standing with our neighbors is deeply American,” said the mayor, who in January announced, “To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis!”
“This operation has been catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses, and now it’s time for a great comeback,” said Frey. “We will show the same commitment to our immigrant residents and endurance in this reopening, and I’m hopeful the whole country will stand with us as we move forward.”
Frey added, “The people that deserve the credit for this operation ending is the 435,000 residents that call Minneapolis home.” He’s right. The peaceful resistance to the Department of Homeland Security’s surge of 3,000 ill-trained and irresponsible ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents into the city—with mass marches, neighborhood watches, and mutual aid networks to support threatened neighbors—was as resilient as it was beautiful. And it forms a model for resistance in the cities that may next be targeted.
Yet Frey was also correct to describe the damage that had been done by more than two months of federal occupation as “catastrophic.”
The Nation Weekly
Fridays. A weekly digest of the best of our …
ICE Melts in the Minneapolis Winter
Who's accountable for the results?
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Log In
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
Skip to content Skip to footer
ICE Melts in the Minneapolis Winter
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
Activism
/ February 13, 2026
ICE Melts in the Minneapolis Winter
Now it’s time to abolish the agency and impeach Kristi Noem.
John Nichols
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Edit
Ad Policy
Protesters march during a “Nationwide Shutdown” demonstration against ICE enforcement on January 30, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)
The people of Minneapolis raised their voices in glorious opposition to the federal occupation of their city with such energy, and such beauty, that the whole world heard their cry for justice. And they never let up. Just days before Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan formally announced that the Department of Homeland Security’s deadly surge of thousands of armed and masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into their city would end, 1,600 Minnesotans had filled the cavernous Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis with the chorus of their singing resistance:
Hold on Hold on My dear one
Here comes the dawn…
When the dawn came on Thursday, after more than two months of violence and cruelty—which included thousands of arrests, detentions and deportations, and the killing of poet and mother of three Renee Good and intensive care nurse Alex Pretti—Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey came as close as a Minnesotan can to declaring victory.
Current Issue
March 2026 Issue
“They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation. These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it’s not just about resistance—standing with our neighbors is deeply American,” said the mayor, who in January announced, “To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis!”
“This operation has been catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses, and now it’s time for a great comeback,” said Frey. “We will show the same commitment to our immigrant residents and endurance in this reopening, and I’m hopeful the whole country will stand with us as we move forward.”
Frey added, “The people that deserve the credit for this operation ending is the 435,000 residents that call Minneapolis home.” He’s right. The peaceful resistance to the Department of Homeland Security’s surge of 3,000 ill-trained and irresponsible ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents into the city—with mass marches, neighborhood watches, and mutual aid networks to support threatened neighbors—was as resilient as it was beautiful. And it forms a model for resistance in the cities that may next be targeted.
Yet Frey was also correct to describe the damage that had been done by more than two months of federal occupation as “catastrophic.”
The Nation Weekly
Fridays. A weekly digest of the best of our …
0 Comments
0 Shares
46 Views
0 Reviews
