Action Alert: Evict ICE, Not Us - Stop Evictions during the Federal Occupation of Minnesota

We are calling on Governor Walz and the State of Minnesota to immediately enact a temporary eviction moratorium, paired with emergency rental assistance, throughout this occupation of Minnesota by federal agencies targeting and threatening immigrants.

Hello neighbors,

The people of Minnesota are experiencing an unprecedented influx of federal agents carrying out violence targeted at our immigrant neighbors and the broader community.

For weeks, thousands of immigrants have been sheltering in place and on lockdown. Countless people have had their family and community members taken from them. On January 7, a community observer, Renee Good, was shot and killed at the hands of ICE while doing ICE-Watch in her neighborhood, and parents waiting for their children outside of Roosevelt High School were tear gassed, leading to Minneapolis Public Schools cancelling all school activities for the remainder of the week. On January 24, a second community member, Alex Pretti, was shot and killed by ICE after standing between an agent and a woman whom the agent had pushed to the ground.

It is abundantly clear that all community members aren't safe: children aren't safe going to school, parents aren't safe going to work, and families are struggling to pay rent. As ICE and other federal agencies escalate their threats to immigrant families and activists alike, our neighbors are missing work because it no longer feels safe to leave home, or losing income because the working members of their household are in detention. Small immigrant-owned businesses are losing workers and customers, or closing altogether. The mental and emotional toll of grief is building, and financial stresses are compounding.

Rent, however, is still due. Neighbors for More Neighbors works to ensure the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota is a place where everyone has a stable, humane place to live in the neighborhood they choose. Our primary focus is ending exclusionary policies and legalizing less expensive homes. And though addressing our housing shortage is necessary, it is not enough alone. If we do nothing, families will be forced out of their homes, communities will fracture, children will miss class, families will double up, and people will fall into homelessness.

We are calling on Governor Walz and the State of Minnesota to immediately enact a temporary eviction moratorium, paired with emergency rental assistance, throughout this occupation of Minnesota by federal agencies targeting and threatening our state.

On Thursday, January 15th, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking for Walz to issue an eviction moratorium, a rental protection that would prevent tenants who are unable to pay rent from being evicted.

On Wednesday, January 21st, the St. Paul City Council unanimously passed a resolution urging Gov. Tim Walz to issue an eviction moratorium through Executive Order to “protect residents and businesses who have been harmed by the federal government’s unprecedented attack.”

Our local governments may not yet be able to compel ICE to leave the state. But they DO have the power to care for our communities and mitigate cycles of harm. This is a concrete step that would protect families from displacement while our communities face the economic disaster created by federal terror.

An eviction moratorium is a reasonable and necessary act of leadership. People around the country are looking to Minnesota right now to see what we will do in the face of this federal terror, and we need to show them how it's done by supporting our neighbors and keeping each other safe.