Minneapolis showed how to fight ICE and win

[marmar]

Minneapolis showed how to fight ICE and win
Organizers from around the country are being trained by people in Minneapolis

By Russell Payne
Staff Reporter
Published February 13, 2026 6:30AM (EST)


(Salon) Minnesotans, after weeks of dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have developed strategies for dealing with the agency’s occupation of the city and now, Americans from across the country are attending training from Minnesota-based organizations to prepare for when ICE comes to their city.

On Wednesday evening, the Twin Cities chapter of Indivisible, a nationwide grassroots progressive advocacy organization, hosted a training on how to be an effective constitutional observer of ICE operations. In Minnesota alone, some 23,000 people have received the training, according to the organization.

....(snip)....

The training on Wednesday specifically focused on observing and documenting ICE, and covered the role of the observer in immigration enforcement contexts. It addressed issues like how to tell a judicial warrant from an administrative warrant, how to inform people of their rights when ICE is attempting to detain someone, and how to stay safe when ICE officers become aggressive and violent.

....(snip)....

In conversation with Salon, organizers have said that the feeling on the ground is that it’s not one single tactic that is effective at combating ICE, but the combination of many tactics, which creates an environment in which officers are constantly interacting with protesters and where ICE activity is constantly being met with a response. ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/02/13/minneapolis-showed-how-to-fight-ice-and-win/

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. 4,000 arrests in 12 weeks, 3,000 detentions, $20 million in business revenue lost EVERY WEEK, at least two murders and

incalculable trauma on thousands of residents. I really, really hesitate to use the word "win" to describe that -- the cost is massive. Massive.

The people have done incredible work and organizing is never wasted. Many people were saved. AND ICE is still kidnapping and hurting people.

[sboatcar]

2. Its more like we didn't let them break us

Its more like an insurgency than a battle, and the way to win an insurgency is to not give up. The path to victory is not in winning, but refusing to lose until the stronger foe gives up. Its exactly what happened in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

[Ocelot II]

3. I'm calling it a win because they weren't able to break us.

Of course the damage is enormous; it will take years to recover (and obviously some people never will), but the longer they stayed the larger and more determined the resistance became. I think Trump, Miller, and Krusty Gnome and her flying monkeys thought we'd be a soft target because we're so much smaller than LA and Chicago and other targeted Democratic cities, and it was winter, and so we'd fold like a cheap lawn chair instead of offering any serious resistance. And of course Trump especially hates Minnesota because of Walz and Omar and Somalis and Democrats and whatever, so he was expecting quickly to acquire our head for his trophy room. Big surprise, assholes. The resistance will continue, and will take on restoration and repair projects as well as ongoing observations and protests. I hope that when ICE takes their terror campaigns to other cities those citizens will be ready for them.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Yep, I get it. I think it's in my nature to have trouble holding onto that rn for a variety of reasons -- we've all got

big feelings from this.