Letter to the Editor: ICE is not just a Minneapolis problem - The Racquet Press

Renee Good was killed half a mile from my home at the intersection of 34th and Portland in Minneapolis. I walk another half mile and find myself at the intersection of 38th and Chicago, where George Floyd was killed in 2020.

When Renee Good was murdered by ICE earlier this year, I didn’t have to go far to begin to hear the whistles and shouting, feel the tear gas in the air, or see the helicopters circling above. But when George Floyd was murdered by police in 2020, I wasn’t down the street, I was attending UW-La Crosse.

In the moments between diligently following lockdown protocols, I’d stroll through the marsh, walk past the Root Note and wonder when it would reopen, and I’d sprawl out on a blanket at Riverside Park. Then, like many others, when the Black Lives Matter movement emerged, I felt called to the cause. I protested, I signed my name on a resolution from the Student Association, but I still hadn’t fully reckoned with how these traumas tore at the cloth that connects Minneapolis to my community of La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Injustice is never as far away as we think it is.

Since masked federal agents have swarmed my new home of Minneapolis in force, I’ve witnessed families torn apart from ICE kidnapping them off the street, taking people while at work, and breaking into their homes without a judicial warrant. I’ve witnessed brutality inflicted on peaceful protesters with flashbangs, pepper spray, tear gas, and detainments. I had to learn how to treat chemical irritants when my partner returned home from peacefully observing an ICE operation blinded by pepper spray. I now do the responsible thing and keep chemical irritant wipes in my purse next to the tissues and breath mints.

I’ve talked to neighbors who haven’t left their houses since the beginning of December for fear of being kidnapped off the street. Businesses are being forced to close because people are scared to go to work. My white friend has been taken from behind the counter of their workplace and questioned in the back of an unmarked ICE vehicle under suspicion of having a darker complexion. The reality is, anyone who is not white-appearing or compliant is free game (MPR News). Despite the federal government’s claims that only, “the worst of the worst,” are being targeted, it is apparent that this is not true; only 14 percent of those arrested by ICE this year have a history of violent crimes (CBS News). But I don’t need a statistic to prove what the city of Minneapolis can see every day.

Despite the news of a drawdown of federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, the reality is that the impact of this occupation will far outlast the presence of ICE. Even if the estimated thousands of ICE agents still in Minneapolis left today, families would need rent assistance, struggling businesses would remain closed, and children will live the rest of their lives with trauma (MPR News). The estimated economic impact of Operation Metro Surge on Minneapolis is at $203 million and counting (City of Minneapolis). This doesn’t just affect Minneapolis; it affects the symbiosis of our region and our world.

One of my go-to ways to describe La Crosse to people I meet is that it’s a small city, it’s nestled between the Mississippi River and the bluffs and that it’s conveniently located between the bigger cities of Madison and Minneapolis. The truth is, Minneapolis makes La Crosse a better place to live and learn. Just as the river flows to connect our two cities, our struggles are also connected.

Minneapolis has been standing strong against a violent federal occupation for months, and we cannot do this alone. Last month, in my neighborhood of Central Minneapolis, we raised over $300,000 to provide 200 families with their February rent so that we don’t have 200 more homes vacated, with eviction notices on the door, and families on the street. This grassroots effort wouldn’t have been possible without the love and rage of supporters from across the world – supporters who deeply understand that Minneapolis needs to see the other side of this for all our sakes.

March 1 is coming up fast, and Minneapolis needs the world’s help again to keep sheltered neighbors safe and stably housed. Please consider contributing to Central Neighborhood’s March Rent Assistance Fund to keep families housed until they can get back on their feet. Our community is resilient, but we can’t meet the immensity of our need without you. If you’ve ever looked forward to a trip to Minneapolis, ever sought a job here, ever had a friend from here, or ever just loved your neighbor, please help us right now. Donate, share, and don’t forget about us.

Minneapolis is fighting this battle against injustice for La Crosse, too, and we can’t do it alone. I know La Crosse, I love La Crosse, and I am asking you to please help give us the support to stay strong. Spread this fundraiser with everyone you love. Thank you for standing with Minneapolis.

With love and rage,

Amy Schweiner

UWL Class of 2022