Frontline Report from The Twin Cities
By Groundwork Twin Cities
January 12th, 2026
On Wednesday, January 7th, ICE murdered Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three, in the Central neighborhood of Minneapolis. The following is an overview of what our experience in the Twin Cities has been like since then, as ICE and the Trump Administration has doubled down on their assault.
What It’s Like On the Ground
There are at least 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents in the Twin Cities right now. That’s more agents deployed than the largest surges in Chicago, Los Angeles, and DC – each of which have metro populations over twice the size of the Twin Cities. The density of activity is hard to comprehend. UNIDOS, the Twin Cities’ largest rapid response hotline, is averaging a call per minute. The number of reports coming in through a network of dozens of Signal chats is uncountable.
We have noticed a shift in how ICE/CBP are operating here compared to other locales. They are mostly avoiding large raids, after their first attempts left them in hours-long standoffs with neighbors and rapid responders. Instead, they are driving around in teams of two or three, abducting people indiscriminately, wherever they can find them.
South Minneapolis, which has more Latino residents and businesses than anywhere else in the metro, is absolutely crawling with federal agents. They are pulling people from gas stations and bus stops, they are pulling cars over and yanking people out, they are forcing entry into businesses. This week they began going door to door, knocking without warrants. They are also detaining legal observers and holding them for a few hours before releasing them.
Many businesses have closed. In Minneapolis, schools closed last week because a few hours after murdering Renee Good, armed CBP agents entered a high school, pepper-sprayed students, and detained two staff members. At-risk people, regardless of legal status, are not leaving their houses. Many immigrants and people of color are justifiably afraid to leave their homes to run basic errands or to drive to work alone. In some restaurants, staff, ownership, and friends are giving co-workers rides to and from work. Others are setting up food shelves and buddy systems for grocery-shopping. These things are happening everywhere you go, not just in left organizing spaces. Liberals and those who don’t pay much attention to politics are full of rage, and looking for anything they can do to help.
It feels like the community is fighting a counter-insurgency. Not only are we occupied, but every day we adjust our tactics and they adjust theirs. The scale of the rapid response infrastructure is astonishing. Thousands of people are out on foot and car patrols at peak hours, participating in a large network to monitor and report ICE sightings and escalations so the community can move accordingly. Seeing our community come together like this is incredibly moving. There are several moments a day where we end up holding back tears, not purely out of grief but also out of pride that our entire city is fighting back. Thousands of people saw someone get shot in the face and instead of being afraid and retreating, they decided they needed to go out and do the exact thing that got her shot – standing up against ICE kidnapping her neighbors.
What the Chapter is Doing
Through the many motions passed in our Steering Committee, and work members have taken on themselves, it is really difficult to actually keep track of everything going on. We just increased our Steering Committee meetings from biweekly to weekly, with an additional weekly meeting that includes Steering plus leaders from every part of the chapter to try to get through everything we need to. It still isn’t enough to keep up with things. We’re constantly in conversation with each other, troubleshooting and strategizing.
We have TCDSA members hosting rapid response trainings for hundreds of people at a time, and canvassing businesses with “Know Your Rights” materials. We’re phonebanking our whole member list, and just expanded that to making these calls three times a week. We’re having 20-30 minute conversations with members who are so grateful to hear from us. We are getting them plugged into their local Rapid Response networks right there on the phones, and then following up with additional asks to get involved in the chapter’s mobilization.
Our previously loose collection of DSA marshals decided to reboot Red Rabbits, our committee for chapter security, and some really experienced marshals who had been less involved in the chapter have been re-engaging in that work. Our Socialists in Office have been leading the public fight against ICE in their communications and on the streets; in fact, most are on the ground doing rapid response. The chair of the Minneapolis City Council Democratic Socialist caucus, Robin Wonsley, is leading the charge to demand that Governor Walz allow cities to enact an eviction moratorium, allowing our neighbors to shelter in place without fear that they’ll be forced out into the dangerous streets. And our entire chapter will be mobilizing with our community towards a massive one-day pause in economic activity on January 23rd. No work, no school, no shopping.
How to Help
Our chapter leaders have set their regular chapter work aside in order to focus on ICE defense both inside and outside DSA. Here are ways you can help us from beyond the Twin Cities:
Donations: we are burning through our cash reserves pretty quickly. We are printing tons of lit and whistles. We are buying marshaling gear, lots of food for lots of events, renting space to hold trainings, the list goes on. If you can give anything, the link is here.
Eviction Moratorium: Our Socialists in Office are leading on an eviction moratorium to protect our neighbors during this crisis, if you’re in Minneapolis you can sign on to our chapter’s letter to support that ordinance here.
1/23 Day of Action: Plan solidarity actions in alignment with the 1/23 work stoppage in your union, your community, or your DSA chapter.
Get Your Chapter Ready: We’ve found that clear organizing plans to scale up chapter ICE response have been essential to our work on the ground. The more trainings, coalition building, and prep work your chapter can do before ICE occupies your city, the better. Talk to your neighbors, exchange contact info, and start a group chat.
The massive escalations of force that began last year in Los Angeles have only been increasing in size and intensity, and with DHS’s supercharged appropriation is set to get larger still. We need your solidarity with the Twin Cities now, and for chapters everywhere to learn from our experience and prepare. While they have force, we have the hearts of millions, and through solidarity we will prevail.
Solidarity,
Groundwork TCDSA
