The greater Twin Cities area has experienced a pattern of increased violence as an influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents has flooded the greater metro area. Communities have watched their neighbors and friends be detained, tear gassed and shot by ICE

Throughout this, residents across Minnesota have rallied to protect their communities in times of turmoil and uncertainty. This includes protests and demonstrations, food drives, mutual aid funds, neighborhood grocery deliveries and community ICE watch groups.

Hamline community members have taken part in this push back against ICE’s presence in the cities. On Friday, Jan. 23, thousands of Minnesotans took off from work, did not spend any money or attend any classes and instead took part in demonstrations around the State in efforts to get ICE

to leave Minnesota. While over 50,000 people gathered in downtown Minneapolis near U.S. Bank Stadium, another protest took place at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. This protest was attended by over 1,000 Clergy Members from around the Country and resulted in 100 members being arrested.

Among those arrested was Senior Pastor for the Hamline Church and Hamline Board of Trustee Member Mariah Furness Tollgaard along with Lead Pastor at Grace United Methodist Church and Hamline Alum ‘06 Amanda Lunemann.

With the rapid increase in ICE presence in the Twin Cities, resistance efforts matched their pace, including the Jan 23. protests.

“What should have taken nine months to plan in a really solid way, they had to do in 15 minutes,” Lunemann said.

Even the weather was not a deterrent for many, as protests across the state gathered large crowds of support.

“We gathered there that morning in 40 below, and we were marching and singing and praying,” Furness Tollgaard said.

The protest was open to any clergy member who wanted to join, creating a gathering of clergy from all faiths, not limited to one religion.

“I was at one point between a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist priest, and it just felt like an amazing show of solidarity and that across all of these traditions, there is a common core value of the dignity of all people and the call to love our neighbors and it was really faith in action in that moment,” Furness Tollgaard said.

Once officers arrived at the scene, there was originally an air of caution among them that shifted once they realized what was happening.

“The energy shifted from this militarized, got to show up and protect in riot gear and everything, to the police realized, oh wait, these are not actors. These are not people impersonating clergy. These are actually clergy,” Lunemann said.

While the protesters had a legal permit to protest, they were advised by peace officers that they exceeded the occupancy limit for their protest. The 100 clergy who remained behind were then arrested by local law enforcement and placed on buses at the airport to be processed before being released a few hours later.

“The whole two hours that we were sitting on the bus, we were singing spirituals again. We were just singing songs and laughing,” Lunemann said.

Being detained also served a larger purpose for others who were protesting that day.

“We gummed up their day, also intentional, so what they ended up doing is just keeping us on the buses,” Lunemann said.

The arrests are not always peaceful as they were in this case, Furness Tollgaard explains.

“We were arrested by local law enforcement so they as the assembly gathered there they understood that people have a right to protest and that is part of free speech in this country and when we were arrested we were treated with respect, it wasn’t like what you are seeing with how ICE agents are responding to people in the streets who are trying to protect their neighbors,” Furness Tolgard said.

This act of resistance was important to all of the Clergy members, but Furness Tollgaard recognizes that opposition to ICE does not look the same for all.

“Not everyone needs to be arrested or should be arrested, but there are many other ways that people are standing up for the love of their neighbor,” Furness Tollgaard said.

For senior Maria Garcia, showing support for her community looks like selling stickers to raise funds for the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund.

“I was feeling pretty useless and hopeless, like a lot of people. Because I’m a graphic designer, it was kind of a natural conclusion for me,” Garcia said.

This push back against the increase in ICE in Minnesota aims not only to bring Minnesotans together but to build understanding of what is happening in the cities with those not from Minnesota as well.

“I hope that we help to raise awareness about the severity of this moment in Minnesota, both among other Minnesotans, but especially among people outside of Minnesota,” Furness Tollgaard said.

Along with out-of-state support via traveling to join protest actions in Minnesota, others across the country are donating and spreading awareness virtually.

“I have orders from out of state, all over the place because of the amount of people that shared it, even if they couldn’t donate, I was seeing so many people sharing,” Garcia said.

As ICE remains in Minnesota, plans for resistance continue as well. Plans for protests, community support and fundraisers were not a one time response.

“In the future, there may be other times when the call will go out. But that might not be my call in that moment. As for protests, as for community organizing, boots on the ground, I’m already doing that,” Lunemann said.

Despite the violence in the community, Garcia finds comfort in the community that makes Minnesota the state it is.

“I think the collective action in coming together that I’ve seen across St.Paul and Minneapolis, that coming together is what I would define community as,” Garcia said.