Out Of Many, One!

Minnesotans are fighting back…and you can help.

Eleven days after Alex Pretti was executed, I was in Minneapolis and saw ICE lose a battle. It was then that I knew that we will win if we just keep fighting.

I had parked on a busy street and was just returning when I saw an older white woman, her arm protectively around a five or six-year-old Hispanic boy, carefully walk him down the snowy steps to the ice-encrusted sidewalk on the other side of my car.

There, a middle-aged white woman met them. From what I overheard, it was apparent the two women did not know each other, but both were there for the same purpose: to escort this young boy to a doctor’s office and back without ICE abducting him.

I listened in shock and anguish as the elderly woman explained in Spanish to the boy that he would have to lie down during the trip. The other woman was going to follow them to the doctor’s office, ready to record on video, if needed, any ICE smash and grab of the boy. ICE has a brutal record of using children to coerce adults out of their homes.

I wanted to help, but they were rightly suspicious of someone they didn’t know, so I wished them good luck as they walked down the sidewalk. I carefully did not look to see their cars or the direction they went in. I did not want to cause them more worry than they already had.

As I heard nothing about another Liam Conejo Ramos incident, I think they must have been successful, and ICE lost another battle.

We have all seen the horrifying videos of the Renee Goode and Alex Pretti murders, yet other brave constitutional observers continue to make sure that what ICE and others do is not hidden, but is done in full sight of other Americans.

But there is a second front to this battle. ICE is trying put Minneapolis’s brown-skinned population under siege.

What those two women are doing is how Minneapolis is fighting back.

ICE is trying to force legal immigrants out of their homes by starvation or through eviction for not paying rent. How can you go to the store or work or a doctor’s appointment, if ICE ambushes you, grabbing anyone whose skin is too dark, or whose accent sounds funny? How can you send your kids to school if ICE may abduct them because they are too ‘brown’, and then use them as bait or a hostage?

The psychological terror and damage they are experiencing is beyond imagining.

Yet, as I wandered the city, I discovered that Minnesotans are not easily cowed. In almost every independent business, I saw signs, some printed, some handwritten, lawfully banning any entry by employees of ICE or other DHS agencies without a proper Federal Judicial Warrant.

And in many of those same businesses, I saw donations of food, household supplies, baby and children’s clothes, toys, books, and more all being collected and then delivered by volunteers to the besieged.

And the Twin Cities are organized! Many of these groups have Instagram pages with links for donations, of money and items, as well as opportunities for volunteers. One church has a logistical operation that would rival Walmart, delivering thousands of food boxes every week.

As I walked, drove, and talked my way around the city, I grew more amazed at the determination, resilience, and quiet bravery of Minnesotans.

And I wanted to help.

When I told friends and neighbors that I was going to Minneapolis, the second most common comment (after asking me to stay safe) was, “I wish I could.” Many of us want to help with the fight but have obligations.

Being in Minneapolis, I discovered that while Minnesotans were uniformly glad I and others had come, it wasn’t more bodies they needed as much as connections to and help from us in other states. Minnesotans are not afraid to fight. But they do need the resources to fight with.

So this website was born.

If you are like me, you have been so scam-spammed-slammed relentlessly with dubious requests that it is hard to know what is legitimate and what isn’t.

Below is a list of local organizations I discovered in the last few days. I have seen them on the ground. Every one of them has either a webpage, an Instagram presence, or some other method of letting you know who they are and what they do. Almost all are already existing community service organizations. In short, you can send them help with confidence that they are legit.

Please check these sites out and find one or more that appeals to you or talks to your heart, then reach out and help. I will be updating this list as my contacts inform me of others.

Know this – I believe the courage the Minnesotans show is in all of us. With that courage to act, the only way we can lose is if we give up fighting!

Stay tuned for more ideas, resources, and information.