Poder Latinx Condemns Escalating ICE Violence in Minnesota, Urges Senate Action Ahead of DHS Vote

Washington, DC — Poder Latinx strongly condemns the continued escalation of dangerous Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minnesota, after another person was killed by ICE just days after reports that a five-year-old child was detained alongside his father. These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a growing agenda that treats immigrant communities as targets instead of people and puts everyone at risk, regardless of immigration status or citizenship.

What we’re witnessing is a disturbing pattern of unchecked enforcement, with the current administration claiming to target “violent criminals” while in reality going after immigrant families, children, and ordinary civilians, often without due process or even verifying their legal status.  They are forgetting a fundamental truth: they are dealing with human beings, not mercenaries, not enemies, not disposable lives. This is not the America we want, and terror is not the price of safety our communities deserve.

Yadira Sánchez, Executive Director of Poder Latinx, issued the following statement:

“What’s happening in Minnesota and across our neighborhoods should shock this country. No family should ever wonder if today is the day they don’t come home. This is what happens when immigration enforcement is driven by politics instead of humanity. ICE has turned communities into battlegrounds where fear replaces safety and force replaces accountability.

Safety cannot be built on terror. When federal agents act with impunity, everyone is at risk. These reckless actions show ICE has lost its moral and operational compass. As the Senate prepares to vote on the DHS funding bill, lawmakers must rein in ICE, limit its powers, demand transparency, and condition funding on real accountability. Safety should mean dignity, and no one — regardless of status — should fear for their life simply for existing in this country.”

Poder Latinx calls on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately halt the senseless targeting and hunting of immigrant communities and to suspend aggressive neighborhood operations that endanger lives.  

And we call on the public to act. Silence enables harm. Voters across the country disapprove of how the administration is handling immigration, and communities must organize, speak out, and demand action from their senators ahead of the DHS vote. We must insist on no more funding for agencies that terrorize our communities, an end to ICE operations, full accountability for use of force, and a stop to racial profiling. Then, we must go to the polls in the upcoming midterm elections to send a clear message: we will not tolerate policies that criminalize families, terrorize children, and treat our neighborhoods as war zones.

Poder Latinx will continue to stand with immigrant communities and demand policies rooted in humanity, accountability, and justice.

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