Washington Solidarity with Minnesota: Sign-On Statement

In Minnesota, federal immigration agents have been terrorizing the community with impunity. ICE is increasingly operating as an unaccountable paramilitary force, kidnapping people off the street and distributing retribution against community members who stand up for their neighbors, use their freedom of speech to protest, and take a stand against this administration’s miscarriages of justice.  

Today, January 23, Minnesotans are coming together for a statewide day of nonviolent action to call for ICE Out of Minnesota, an independent investigation into the killing of Renee Good, and no additional federal funding for ICE. 

With this statement, Washington communities express our solidarity with Minnesota. Over the last year, Washington has also been deeply affected by abuses perpetrated by ICE. We know that what federal agents can get away with in Minnesota will quickly become precedent for the horrors they can inflict on all our communities.  

We stand with Minnesotans in mourning the lives ended and irrevocably changed by ICE violence and abuse of power. While the threats ICE poses to the lives and well-being of immigrant communities are not new, the current immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota represents a frightening new moment in which communities find themselves under siege, unable to participate in education, open businesses, or walk down the street without facing potential questioning, violence, and abduction.  

We also stand with Minnesotans in their resolve to protect our neighbors. There is no force large enough, and there are no reprisals brutal enough, to stop communities from standing up for each other. Wherever ICE shows up next, people are learning from Minnesotans’ courageous nonviolent resistance and planning ahead with an eye towards protecting our neighbors. Many Washingtonians are already organizing our communities to mitigate and document the devastating impact ICE has on our communities.  

We will do our part to end ICE impunity. Today, we speak out in solidarity with Minnesota. Tomorrow, and every day, we will show up for the safety and freedoms of all. ICE Out of Minnesota. ICE Out of all of our communities.