Dear Neighbor,
Yesterday there were lots of headlines about Tom Homan announcing an end to Operation Metro Surge. But then at 10 AM yesterday, only a couple of hours after his press conference, someone was pulled over on Central Ave & St Anthony Parkway and abducted by ICE. Liam from my office learned right away at the scene from their coworker that they were documented and had been here for over 20 years and all 3 of their kids were born here. Luckily, this resident ended up being released a couple of hours later. But this just shows that so far nothing has changed on the ground. Even after Homan’s announcement, one of our neighbors was pulled over on our streets and illegally detained by ICE only because they looked Latino. This is why we still need to remain vigilant. Everything the Trump administration has told us this whole time has been a lie so we can’t take their word that they are leaving or that their illegal tactics are changing until we actually see it. We need to always trust our own eyes and stay out patrolling and protecting our neighbors until every last agent is gone and DHS is abolished.
The devastating impacts that this occupation has had on our community truly knows no bounds. We deserve restitution from the Federal government for all the harm they have caused our City. We also need local and state governments to step up in this moment. That’s why I am a co-author on a proposal to move $5 million into a Minneapolis Small Business Resiliency Fund. This will be a grant/forgivable loan program that provides financial assistance to small businesses in Minneapolis that have experienced economic loss due to Operation Metro Surge. We’ve seen an estimated loss of between $10-20 million in economic activity per week since this occupation started. The long-term cost of inaction in this moment as our small businesses struggle to survive will far outweigh the economic impact of us allocating money in our budget to support them. This proposal will be introduced at our Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday February 17th, and will have a final vote at our City Council meeting on Thursday February 19th.
Stay safe and stay vigilant,
Elliott
