Southwest Minneapolis is quieter than other sections of the city right now, but that doesn’t mean residents are staying inside. Many residents are actively organizing online and in the streets with multiple purposes. Some focus on tracking down ICE, others try to bring joy and togetherness.
“We don’t like our city to be occupied by ICE and we don’t like our neighbors to be kidnapped by ICE, and we are outraged that one of our neighbors was murdered by ICE,” Steve Smith, a Southwest resident said, as he stood at Renee Good’s memorial along Portland Avenue on Jan. 9, 2026.
Smith stood next to Deborah Zvosec and sang “We Shall Overcome” among a small group of people who had gathered on the sunny afternoon.
“We feel like we have to bear witness, we feel like we need to take action,” Zvosec said. “It brings comfort to all of us to be together and be in solidarity.”
Zvosec and Smith also participate in the weekly pop-up protest at 36th Street and Lyndale Avenue, started by Sue Herridge. The protests began in the spring of 2025.
“It's been overwhelmingly positive,” Herridge said. “My work helps boost people's morale, and it normalizes protest, and it helps people realize that they're not alone in what they're feeling.”
Herridge said, to her, the real heroes are the people running the Signal chats. Tightly organized groups on Signal, an encrypted text messaging platform, have kept residents informed on where ICE agents are in the city.
“They're doing absolutely unbelievable work, tireless work,” Herridge said. “I know people are getting kidnapped, but they prevent a lot of kidnappings and they run ICE out of the neighborhood more times than not.”
As one example of many, a convoy of ICE observers in vehicles honking their horns followed an ICE vehicle on Tuesday from Chicago Avenue, down Lake Street, through Linden Hills, Fulton, and onto the freeway until the ICE vehicle drove back to the Whipple Building where ICE is headquartered.
“It's a miracle, but those ICE thugs go away when you honk your horn and blow your whistles at them,” Herridge said. “Not always, but sometimes.”
Daniel Dauth was picking up pepper balls at 36th Street and Park Avenue on Tuesday after a significant clash between ICE and community members. Dauth usually keeps an eye on things west of 35W but came over after getting an alert on his phone.
“They seem to like it around here, don’t they?” Dauth said. According to heat maps compiled by ICE observers, the Central, Lyndale, Whittier and Powderhorn neighborhoods are seeing the most ICE activity on the Southside.
“They’re everywhere. There's so many of them,” Dauth said. “I have a neighbor across the street, her friend’s husband, is an African man. They took him and she hasn't heard from him in days.”
The City of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the State of Minnesota are suing the Department of Homeland Security to stop the surge of ICE activity in Minnesota. Despite heavy language by Mayor Jacob Frey and an eerie prediction by Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara that ICE’s presence could lead to someone being killed, ICE has not ended its operations.
The Department of Homeland Security announced this week it is sending up to 1,000 more ICE agents to Minnesota. Operation Metro Surge started Dec. 1 with 100 ICE agents moving into the Twin Cities. In early January, DHS sent in 2,000 additional ICE agents.
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