""They're all on this fucking street now," Lety, a lifelong resident of the Minnesota suburbs, told me. ICE had been spotted at a gas station and a mobile home park, and they were here with us now, in a strip mall that was home to a dispensary, an auto parts shop, and little else. I stared straight ahead as Lety monitored the Signal chat on her phone."
"Earlier, Lety had shown me dashcam footage of a pair of ICE agents pulling up in front of her, getting out of their car, and threatening her with bear mace. This time, the figure on the other side of the glass was friendlier: not an ICE agent, just the manager of the auto shop. We were blocking a loading zone, he said, and he was fine with us loitering in the parking lot, but could we move our car up a bit?"
Local residents in Minnesota actively monitor ICE movements by staking out public spaces, watching for agents, and sharing real-time reports. A longtime resident, Lety, regularly monitors a Signal chat and documents encounters with dashcam footage, including an instance where agents allegedly threatened her with bear mace. Patrols coordinate in parking lots and at mobile home parks like Sunny Acres to warn neighbors and deter enforcement. Participants use codenames and cautious greetings when they meet. Community efforts focus on rapid warnings to working residents and on maintaining a visible presence to observe and track ICE activity.
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