A new grassroots effort to track and slow down federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities has turned into a game of cat and mouse as residents erect makeshift blockades to monitor the agents’ vehicles on their streets, and police officers tear them down.
One barricade along the busy commercial corridor of Lyndale Avenue in south Minneapolis was quickly taken apart by police on Saturday, Feb. 7.
“Thank you, Minneapolis, for using your collective voice during this time,” the city wrote in a recent newsletter. “Let’s keep our streets open at the same time.”
Barricade organizers say they want to slow down any passing federal agents and track their whereabouts by checking for license plates associated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A few blocks away from the dismantled Lyndale barricade, in a roundabout on Pillsbury Avenue, a small group of neighbors — even after multiple conversations with police — confined themselves to the island in the center of the street for much of Saturday.
The residents gathered behind a banner that said, “Join Us, Block ICE,” and tended a small fire in a metal fire pit. Drivers honked in support, and the demonstrators handed out snacks to passing cars. One motorist rolled down their window to ask if they wanted trash hauled in to block the street.
“We are not blocking the roadway!” demonstrator Jonah Johnson said.
Johnson said he had looked out his window from down the street earlier in the day and spontaneously decided to join what he called a “neighborhood meeting.”
