Oppression and resistance: the DHS Diaries
PWS weekly on ICE, Border Patrol, and the brave communities , organizations, and individuals resisting their fascist policies
US President Donald Trump started the new year off with a new wave of repression in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as part of his latest migrant crackdown. The killing of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother and legal observer, further inspired tensions in a city that has inspired a national rebellion in the past.
In 2020, the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis inspired protests that spread across the country, and activists in Minneapolis told PWS that what they learned in the process is helping them react to current state abuses of power, as well as violence.
One resident, a school teacher, described citizen-alert networks throughout the city, especially in residential neighborhoods, in which ICE movements are monitored. These communications have also been utilized to organize immediate protests, such as after the shooting of Good.
“We’re a 60% not-caucasian school,” said the teacher. “And ICE has been real heavy in our neighborhood, so all the staff who weren’t teaching after school and didn’t have kids are personally walking groups of children home.”
He says that his school has gone on lockdown twice since DHS operations began in the city, as “SWAT teams were operating nearby.”
But a lot of the same community organizations formed for community protection during police crackdowns as part of protests over the George Floyd killing are being repurposed as well for the current DHS terror campaign.
Mutual-aid networks, churches, community organizations, and informal neighborhood groups are helping to provide food and resources for migrants — many of whom are afraid to go to work or send their children to school for fear of being hunted by DHS personnel.
Protests have been vigorous among community members. Many have been arrested by Border Patrol and ICE officials, who have routinely deployed tear gas and riot munitions in residential neighborhoods as residents come out into the streets, telling ICE to leave their city.
And much like during the George Floyd protests, which grew into a nationwide movement, Donald Trump is not happy about it.
Trump threatens to invoke the ‘Insurrection Act’
Trump warned this week he might invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy US troops to Minnesota if state officials do not work to dismantle protests there against federal immigration authorities.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
The 1807 law allows a president to deploy military assets in case of “civil disorder, insurrection, and armed rebellion against the federal government of the U.S.”
Shortly after the Trump posted the threat, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the White House considers is merely considering the deployment of military as an option.
“I think the president’s Truth Social post spoke very loud and clear to Democrats across this country, elected officials who are using their platforms to encourage violence against federal law enforcement officers, who are encouraging left-wing agitators to unlawfully obstruct legitimate law enforcement operations,” she added.
Four detainees die in 10 days in ICE custody
Four migrants died in ICE custody in the first ten days of the year, one of which is reportedly being investigated as a homicide.
Thirty-two people died in ICE custody in 2025, the highest number in decades. This year is set outpace that as detention numbers soar, as do attacks on protesters by federal officials.
The ICE chilling photo of the week
Federal agents grab a woman to drag her away from her car, days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by Tim Evans, for Reuters.
The ICE Round-Up
Tribal leaders in Minnesota say that members of their communities are being stopped, questioned, and sometimes detained by DHS personnel based on the color of their skin or names that sound “foreign.” The detentions have occurred as well as part of ongoing crackdowns in Minneapolis. The irony of anti-migration law enforcement officers arresting members of indigenous communities is not lost on us.
ICE Using Palantir Tool That Feeds On Medicaid Data
EFF last summer asked a federal judge to block the federal government from using Medicaid data to identify and deport immigrants.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.
Department of Homeland Security has created an office to operate drones The new Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems will “oversee strategic investments in drone and counter-drone technologies that can outpace evolving threats and tactics,” the agency said in a press release
And finally, the ICE agent who killed Renee Goode in Minneapolis has raised nearly $200,000 on at internet fundraising site. Surely if society can reward someone to that degree for murder, you can afford $5/month for the people out here every day trying to make sure that never happens again?
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