Big turnout for immigration raid response trainings in Minneapolis as Trump’s attacks begin

Minneapolis, MN – More than 100 community members packed into a South Minneapolis church for a three-hour training on January 4, and then another 100 people on February 8, to prepare to resist incoming President Trump’s attacks on immigrants.

The Immigration Raid Response Trainings were organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), a grassroots immigrant rights organization that’s been fighting against deportations and for legalization for all since 2006.

The training walks people through how to observe, document, protest and resist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations that attempt to detain and deport people in their communities.

Presenters detailed the long history of racist immigration laws in the U.S. under both political parties, and the mass struggles that have been waged to push back against the racist immigration enforcement system. It took many decades of mass struggle for African Americans, indigenous peoples, Mexican Americans, Chinese Americans and others to overturn racist immigration and citizenship laws and policies.

Presenters at the training used photos and videos to show how ICE carries out its operations, what different kinds of warrants look like, and the difference between ICE operations targeting individuals versus ICE raids at workplaces and in communities that target large numbers of people at the same time.

Trump and his top immigration policy nominees have repeatedly said they want to carry out the largest mass deportations in U.S. history and have said this is likely to include larger operations like workplace raids. The last wave of large workplace raids in the U.S. happened in 2006-2008 under the Bush administration, which included raids at meatpacking plants in Worthington, Minnesota and Postville, Iowa that had a devastating impact on those communities and their economies.

The presenters at the training emphasized that everyone in the U.S. has rights, including the right to not open the door for ICE if they don’t display a warrant signed by a judge; the right to remain silent; the right to not sign anything; the right to talk to their consulate if they are a foreign national; and the right to talk to a lawyer.

They also walked through the rights that people have to observe and document ICE operations, and the importance of doing so thoroughly and accurately to document any violations of laws or procedures by ICE officers that could help the legal case of people targeted by ICE operations.

One thing the presenters emphasized is that while it’s good to record video of ICE operations, it’s best not to livestream. This is so an immigration lawyer or immigrant rights organization can review it first to verify it is in fact an ICE operation, and then only post with accurate information about what’s happening, and also to protect the identities of those who are targeted and others who may be in the area. They also emphasized the importance of not posting or sharing unverified rumors of ICE raids on social media, as this can cause panic in the community unnecessarily.

Finally, presenters showed examples of civil disobedience and direct action that have happened in the past to block ICE from taking people away for deportation, explaining tactics people have used and what the legal risks of such actions may be.

One of MIRAC’s presenters at the training, Mira Altobello-Resendez, said, “The training was a big success. Now there are more than 100 people trained and ready to observe and protest any immigration raids Trump might try in Minnesota, and we have more trainings coming up. Our communities will protect our immigrant families, co-workers, neighbors and friends.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC #Trump