Immigration Justice

When the forces of the federal immigration crackdown, Operation Metro Surge, stormed the streets of the Twin Cities from December 4, 2025, to February 12, 2026, I was deeply affected. Although aware that our government is not always an unadulterated force for good, up to that point, I believed that it was basically on the side of justice. But the images of federal agents, paid with our tax dollars, roaming the streets and arresting people without a warrant, were alarming. Who could we turn to when the very people we count on to help us have turned against us?

Heavily armed ICE and Border Patrol agents were forcing their way into homes and cars, and detaining anyone who looked like they might be noncitizens. We wondered, was this the start of a fascist overthrow of our democracy?

We, along with tens of thousands of our fellow citizens, were determined to not stand idly by while this governmental overreach separated families and harassed our neighbors. This led to resistance and protests, which were met with the tear-gassing of peaceful protestors and, in two cases, killing them.

It was during this time of uncertainty and confusion that I joined the Faith & Immigration Justice class offered at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Over the course of eight weeks, we met, prayed, read, and discussed. We learned something about the history of immigration in the U.S., reasons why people immigrate, the barriers to legal immigration–including the various laws, quotas, procedures, and expenses that bar some people from legal entry. It was not only illuminating but also healing to sit, talk, and peacefully look for solutions.

After the eight-week course concluded, we decided to continue to meet, occasionally, and continue to seek ways to help immigrants within our community, while looking for longer-term reforms to our muddled immigration system.

Fortunately, things have improved somewhat. Metro Surge ended. Though Congress, mired in party politics, did nothing, the courts stood up against some of the federal executive branch’s overreach. Just recently, the Supreme Court reaffirmed Birthright Citizenship, for example.