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The Minneapolis Faith Community Is Showing How to Fight ICE

8 0
21.01.2026

The Reverend Susie Hayward felt as if she had experienced the full spectrum of human emotion over the span of a week. As the minister of justice organizing at Creekside United Church of Christ in southern Minneapolis, Hayward has been deeply involved in organizing and participating in the community response to the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“Myself and my community are feeling our nervous systems are all dysregulated, and we are feeling fear and we’re feeling grief and we’re feeling anger. So there is all of that, as we are being terrorized in our communities,” said Hayward. But, she continued, the current moment is also characterized by “a great deal of connection and courage and, just frankly, love that is also surging through this city among folks.”

Although ICE has been present in large numbers in Minneapolis since late December, the deadly shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer earlier this month has resulted in a surge of organizing and protests in the local community—and faith leaders are playing a key coordinating role. Minneapolis has a diverse population representing a number of different faiths, so the interfaith organizers represent a broad spectrum of religious affiliation.

Members of Hayward’s church are involved in such activities as patrolling outside schools and houses of worship to disrupt ICE activity, and assisting migrants who may be afraid to leave their homes by delivering groceries and offering rides. This has become a major priority for many in the local Minneapolis community—one Minneapolis church has delivered more than 12,000 boxes of food to families unable to leave their homes, according to MPR News.

For Kelly Sherman-Conroy, an associate pastor at All Nations Indian Church in Minneapolis, ensuring that local organizers are well trained is a deeply personal endeavor. Growing up in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Sherman-Conroy saw members of wealthy, white........

© New Republic