Shut Down or Stand Down?
On the morning of the “ICE Out of MN: Day of Truth and Freedom,”
the state doesn’t simply wake up to protests; it wakes up to a mirror.
Empty classrooms and quiet assembly lines become a
silent referendum on whose safety matters,
whose fear counts, and whose laws deserve to be obeyed.
For organizers, withdrawing labor and presence is the
only language left when petitions and hearings feel like theater.
But the same silence that feels like liberation to some sounds like threat to others.
Small business owners worry about survival, parents fear chaos,
and many immigrants are terrified of both ICE and backlash.
The day forces neighbors to see one another not as abstractions in a policy debate,
but as people gambling with rent, status, and belonging. In the end,
Minnesota isn’t just judging an agency;
it is deciding whether stability built on fear is stability worth keeping.
