“Even when the rest of the world has moved on, we are still here fighting.”

February 18th, 2026. Despite the promised slowdown, ICE activity is hopping in the suburbs and moving into Wisconsin. This week, we camped out in a Minneapolis coffee shop to talk with folks about their experiences during the occupation. The following are selections from their answers.

What will you remember most about this moment in time?

The community and the strength of immigrants. I’ve seen Minneapolis step up in more ways than I could name, offering driving people to work, bringing groceries to folks. There hasn’t been more fear in our community but there also hasn’t been more bravery.

The simultaneous feelings of terror, sadness, fear, & frustration. But what I will remember the most is the strength of the community.

The collective humanity among day-to-day people. No one that I knew flinched for a second when asked to stand for our neighbors. We don’t need to know each other to stand for one another.

Most? As a Latina, the fear, uncertainty, betrayal, and feelings words can’t touch. It’s not poetic but true. What will I remember with the most passion? Neighbors. Friends. Hugs from strangers.

Tell us about any interactions you’ve had with ICE.

I was pepper sprayed by ICE as an early raid in October and regularly photographed/intimidated by ICE vehicles while taking license plates at Whipple.

I witnessed multiple abductions right outside my house, was threatened by agents for recording, and had an agent put hands on me for “interfering”.

My partner and I were on patrol following a vehicle and it led us to our house and took a photo of us.

I witnessed a wrongful detainment in East Side St. Paul as a legal observer. Agents were unhinged in their tactics, brandishing weapons they didn’t know how to use, but my community sure as hell made them uncomfy.

What do you wish more people knew about what’s happening in Minnesota?

I wish more people knew that the people of Minnesota have been the ones organizing/fighting back. Even against their own politicians and police. Frey/Walz/O’Hara/Witt were barely placeholders in this fight.

Every time you leave the house you have to be ready to see & interact with them. Even at home, you are always listening for whistles & car horns. People are being terrorized. It’s a genocide. We live in a fascist nation. But people in MN do not accept it.

The aftermath “healing” won’t make it down to the individuals & families who have & are intimately being ravaged by government abuse.

Even when the rest of the world has moved on to new news, we are still here fighting. We are not Minneapolis without our immigrant neighbors.

I wish that people knew that the folks on the street standing up to ICE aren’t some special group of “protesters” but rather regular people. This is what anyone would do given the circumstances.

Hope and horror are actively living in Minnesotans’ minds & bodies everyday. Every second. The severity cannot be amplified enough.

These testimonials were shared with author consent as part of a larger project to share real stories from people affected by the largest DHS operation in history. You can read more about this initiative and the charity it supports at storyforge.com/metrosurge.