This is real. This is happening now. And we cannot afford to look away.
Jan 14, 2026Friday morning, I ran into Adam and Mike’s mom at the gym. I hadn’t seen her in years, and yet somehow, over the last few months, I’ve run into all three of them in different places. It felt like a sign.
Their family has always been love in human form. Adam and Mike are first responders in Minneapolis, leaders who show up for people on their very worst days, because they believe in protecting life and dignity.
Then I read Adam’s post. And my stomach dropped.
“Yesterday, I was minding my business in my truck and two SUV’s surrounded me at a stop light. 8 men got out and surrounded my truck and one knocked on my window. He first asked are you an American Citizen, I laughed and asked if he was. I handed him my tribal ID, my license, my passport, and my Fire ID when he asked for proof. A few other shitty comments and no reason why I was stopped. Again, they cannot technically make traffic stops and I was told they can do what they want. After being kept there for 20 minutes a different person brought back my items and said next time comply sooner.”
Adam is a U.S. citizen. A firefighter. A tribal citizen. A community leader.
And he was treated like a threat for existing in his own truck at a stop light, in his own community.
This is not “law and order.” This is state-sanctioned intimidation.
And it’s not just one story.
In the Twin Cities right now, federal agencies have launched what they themselves describe as the largest immigration enforcement operation they’ve ever carried out: as many as 2,000 federal agents and officers deployed to the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, tied in part to alleged “fraud” involving Somali residents.
Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul have now sued the Trump administration, calling this surge an unconstitutional “federal invasion” after a federal immigration agent shot and killed Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, in Minneapolis last week.
At the same time, the administration has moved to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis, giving people a date by which they must leave or face deportation, even though most Somali Minnesotans are already citizens or permanent residents, and only a small number nationwide actually hold TPS. The policy’s direct “legal” impact may be small, but the fear impact is massive.
So when I say:
“This week, citizens were stopped just walking in their neighborhoods, pulled from cars, kids detained, yes, children.”
…I’m not exaggerating. I’m describing what I see and what my friends are living through.
I spent my weekend doing both: celebrating culture and joy with my kids and their friends, and holding my daughter and her friends tighter because they were terrified their classmates might disappear or even they might. My youngest daughter asked if we needed to have our passports with us at all times. I’ve had conversations with high-ranking, deeply respected community leaders who are now afraid to go to the grocery store. These are citizens. These are people. Can you see the humanity?
This isn’t abstract “policy” for our schools either.
Districts across the metro, including Minneapolis, have closed buildings or moved to remote learning because ICE activity and the shooting have created such a threatening environment for students and staff.
Last week, I talked with a friend who leads nutrition for Minneapolis schools. She told me they had to get federal approval to feed students at home while buildings were closed. So children were missing school and struggling to access food, because the same federal government that terrorizes their communities controls whether they get to eat.
Make that make sense.
Why Minnesota?
Let’s be honest: Minnesota was not picked at random.
Officially, DHS says this surge is about “fraud” and “public safety.”
But Minnesota is also:
The place where George Floyd was murdered, and where people took to the streets and sparked a global movement for racial justice.
A state known for being immigrant-friendly and progressive, with leadership that has pushed back on federal overreach before.
Local officials are already saying out loud that this operation looks politically driven, targeting a progressive, immigrant-friendly state to send a message.
From where I sit, it feels like this: Minnesota is being used as a test case.
They watched what happened here in 2020. They know Minnesotans don’t back down on justice. They know we protest, we organize, we refuse to shut up when people are killed in our streets.
So you flood the city with 2,000+ armed agents, you raid neighborhoods, you shoot a citizen, you show up at schools, hospitals, and churches. You create a climate where fear, anger, and grief are simmering all the time.
And then, when people protest, and things get tense, you point to us and say:
“Look. Chaos. Lawlessness. We need more crackdowns. We need more federal control.”
I can’t see inside their strategy memos. I don’t know every conversation happening behind closed doors. But I do know that when a government ramps up fear and then acts shocked when communities react, it becomes a lot easier to justify even more militarized responses, even martial law.
Look, folks, I’m not making this shit up. This is how history has worked, over and over again.
Let’s talk money, because this is about power and profit too.
When people say, “This is just about enforcing the law,” they ignore the financial layer of what’s happening.
1. Immigration crackdowns hurt our local economy.
In Minnesota, immigrants have driven a huge share of recent labor force and employment growth. They generate billions in income and spending power that flows directly into local businesses.
Research on large-scale deportation plans shows they don’t “save” money, they shrink the overall economy, cutting U.S. GDP by several percentage points, slashing tax revenues, and creating worker shortages in key sectors like agriculture, construction, food processing, health care, and hospitality.
So when 2,000 federal agents flood the Twin Cities, detaining workers, parents, and neighbors, that doesn’t protect our economy. It destabilizes it.
2. Gutting safety nets is an economic choice too.
Programs like SNAP and other food supports aren’t “handouts”—they’re some of the most effective economic stabilizers we have. Every $1 of SNAP is estimated to generate around $1.50 in economic activity, keeping small grocers, corner stores, and farmers’ markets alive. Cuts trigger layoffs, business closures, and more pressure on food shelves and churches.
So when funding is blocked for food, childcare, and housing, it’s not just “tightening belts.” It’s choosing to push families, and local economies, closer to the edge.
3. Attacking the Federal Reserve is about controlling money and power.
While all of this is happening on the streets of Minneapolis, the Department of Justice has issued grand jury subpoenas to the Federal Reserve and its Chair, Jerome Powell, over a $2.5 billion renovation project. Powell has said these subpoenas, served on January 10, 2026, come with the threat of criminal indictment and are being used as pressure because he wouldn’t move interest rates the way Trump wanted.
Top global central bankers and financial leaders are warning that political attacks on Fed independence could raise inflation, push up interest rates, and destabilize markets, because if investors stop believing the Fed is independent, they demand higher returns to lend the U.S. money.
So yes, this is about immigration. It is also about who controls the money, who gets punished, and who is allowed to profit.
And then there’s oil and empire.
This administration just carried out a military operation in Venezuela, captured President Nicolás Maduro, and then said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela, at least temporarily, and tap its oil reserves to sell to other nations.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and U.S. policy is now openly about blocking other countries from that oil and reshaping the industry to align with U.S. interests.
At the same time, Trump is publicly insisting that the U.S. must take Greenland, and his White House has refused to rule out using the military to do it—forcing NATO allies and Greenland’s leaders to openly discuss needing protection from a potential U.S. “takeover.”
When I say “this is about money and power,” I mean:
- Oil in Venezuela.
- Strategic land and minerals in Greenland.
- Control over monetary policy at the Fed.
- And here at home, the ability to terrorize immigrant communities under the pretext of “fraud” or “security.”
This is not random. It’s a pattern.
“This feels like 1930s Germany” isn’t hyperbole pulled out of thin air. Not a direct apples-to-apples comparison. But let's explore how the two started eerily similar.
Historians and analysts have been mapping out disturbing parallels between 1930s Germany and the U.S. right now:
- Failed coups → political comebacks: Hitler’s failed Beer Hall Putsch vs. Trump’s January 6th insurrection, followed by renewed bids for power.
- Scapegoating minorities: Jews, Roma, and political opponents then; immigrants, Muslims, and now specifically Somali communities here.
- Disdain for international agreements and institutions: Treaties then; climate deals, refugee conventions, and now aggressive threats against allies today.
- Economic instability as fuel: Using inflation, unemployment, and fear about “fraud” and “elites” to justify authoritarian expansion.
- Propaganda and “fake news”: State media and Goebbels then; relentless attacks on independent media and reality itself now.
No, the U.S. is not literally Nazi Germany, and historians are careful about that distinction. But patterns matter. When people who study fascism are waving red flags, we should pay attention.
This is also where my own lineage comes in.
I am the descendant of Jewish ancestors and fighters. I am the descendant of immigrants. And honestly, unless you are Native, you are the descendant of immigrants too.
Adam and his family are Indigenous to this land. The rest of us are living on stolen land while demanding that today’s immigrants “stand in line” for a process built on that theft. That contradiction should unsettle us.
The words attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller, written after he survived Nazi Germany, stay with me:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
This is why I speak now. This is why I will not look away.
To my Christian friends and people of faith: this is a Jesus issue.
If your first reaction is, “Can we just talk about our kids’ sports and keep politics out of it?” I want you to know: my kids are the reason I’m talking.
I spent hours holding my oldest while she sobbed in fear for her friends—children who now wonder if they or their classmates will be taken. You don’t get to call that “politics.” That’s trauma.
If you claim the name of Jesus, remember who He stood with:
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” — Isaiah 1:17
“He has sent me to proclaim good news to the poor…to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” — Luke 4:18
'Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ - Deuteronomy 27:19
Jesus didn’t bless the empire. He didn’t side with Rome. He walked with the people Rome crushed. Also, I dare you to argue bible verses with me. I have studied the bible cover to cover throughout my 40+ years on this planet.
And yes, we have to say this plainly: white supremacy is the system. It always has been in this country. It shows up in who gets stopped, who gets shot, whose communities get raided, and whose fear is seen as “valid” versus “overreacting.”
Neutrality in the face of that is not Christian. It’s complicity.
What you can do (especially if you’re living in relative safety):
It is not the job of Black, brown, immigrant, Indigenous, and queer communities to endlessly educate everyone else. Resources are out there. Use them. Support them.
Start here:
Monarca: https://monarcamn.org/
COPAL: https://copalmn.org/
MIRAC MN: https://www.miracmn.com/
Unidos MN: https://unidos-mn.org/
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota: https://www.ilcm.org/
Groveland Food Shelf: https://lnkd.in/gK2SWA4K
The Open Door Pantry: https://lnkd.in/gsru-u8i
Loaves & Fishes: https://lnkd.in/gDTRhCf7
Second Harvest Heartland: https://www.2harvest.org/
Donate if you can. Volunteer if you can. Share accurate information. Talk to your kids about what’s happening so they grow up on the side of humanity, not fear.
To Adam, Mike, and your whole family:
Thank you for serving a community and a country that does not always serve you back. Your courage and integrity are a mirror we all need right now.
To everyone reading this:
If you are still telling yourself “it won’t touch me,” I need you to hear this with love and urgency:
History does not ask for permission before it repeats itself.
Silence is complicity. Neutrality is a choice.
