We are outraged at the federally sanctioned violence and terror that is being committed in communities across the country and abroad. The administration has made no secret of its intent to target thirteen states and eighteen cities with sanctuary protections, including Minnesota.
Only 30 days into 2026 and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has already killed 9 people. This includes Keith Porter, Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole Good, Parady La, Herber Sanchez Dominguez, Victor Manuel Diaz, Luis Beltrán Yanez-Cruz, Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, and Geraldo Lunas Campos. This administration’s excessive use of lethal force and restraint comes at a time when the normalization of violence, xenophobia, and the silencing of dissent can be seen across the international stage. Each instance of government sanctioned violence is abhorrent whether it be the United States’ colonialist actions in Venezuela in pursuit of oil; Iran’s killing of thousands of protesters; or the summary executions of civilians, aid workers and journalists in Palestine.
We are in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors and allies and with oppressed people around the country.
Environmental justice communities are immigrant and refugee communities. We are your neighbors with lived experience of resisting authoritarianism in our homelands. We are organizers who know the strength of our collective power. We are deeply committed to fighting for a future where frontline communities do not live in fear.
These are the national demands that we firmly support:
- ICE out of Minnesota. ICE out of everywhere.
- Any officer who kills a civilian must be held legally accountable. That starts with legitimate investigations and charges by local officials.
- No additional federal funding for DHS in the upcoming Congressional budget, and DHS should be investigated for both constitutional and human rights violations.
- We call upon all businesses to uphold the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution and ensure ICE and CBP do not enter private areas without a judicial warrant. All businesses must cease economic relations with ICE and CBP and refuse their entry or use of property for staging grounds. We also call for businesses to join community members in urging Congress to freeze funding for DHS.
Here are ways you can take action:
1. Call on Congress to Melt ICE
This week, Senators will vote on a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill that gives ICE and CBP more resources to brutalize our neighborhoods. The House already passed a bill that funds DHS with billions of dollars on top of existing funding that runs through 2029 (List of democrats that voted to approve DHS funding). That means DHS is now the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the United States, with a budget of $85 billion. The Senate now holds the power to block this funding or demand real restrictions, but time is short. Many Democrats are threatening to withhold their votes unless the bill is rewritten to include limits, oversight, and accountability.
2. Stand with Minnesota
Minnesota is showing all of us what deep resistance, hyperlocal organizing, and solidarity looks like. Student unions, campus labor organizations, community groups, and organizations have called for a Nationwide Shut Down on January 30, no school, no work, no shopping. This follows the ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth & Freedom, where more than 75,000 Minnesotans took to the streets in sub-zero temperatures for a unified pause in daily economic activity. Take time to read the perspectives and lessons learned directly from those on the ground resisting ICE and CBP and providing mutual aid in NDN Collective’s, No One Is Illegal on Stolen Land Built by Stolen Hands: Lessons of Resistance from Mni Sota Makoc
3. Boycott Corporations and Shop Local
Join the Buy CA For CA Boycott to move money back into the hands of people in our local communities instead of the corporations colluding with the Trump Administration. When we unite our purchase power with small, local businesses, vendors, creators and shops, we uplift our local economies and working families.
The same systems that extract from the land and poison our neighborhoods also rely on fear, displacement, and state violence to maintain power. The ongoing resistance in Minnesota shows us what courage rooted in community looks like. We answer their calls to protest against DHS by continuing to fight for our communities; people deserve to be safe where they live, work, and raise their families.
In solidarity,
Communities for a Better Environment