Protecting their own: Cedar Riverside young adults set up defense to protect residents from ICE

Members of the of Immigrant Defense Network, which assist the Cedar Riverside Protection Alliance in patrolling the east Minneapolis neighborhood that is home to a large Somali population. (Photo taken purposely from behind as to not share alliance members' faces.) Photo provided by Cedar Riverside Protection Alliance

Over the past several weeks, the increased and sprawling presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Twin Cities has been met with an activated community response. 

That response has mobilized local networks of support that include the coordination of legal aid, child care and food delivery in order to provide people who might be afraid to navigate public life on their own. 

Community centered responses to “Operation Metro Surge” – the ICE campaign name in the Twin Cities – have also included hyperlocal coordination of defense and protection in the form of organized community patrols that serve as the eyes and ears of neighborhoods that have been subject to targeted ICE presence. 

This past month a group of around 30 people in their 20s and 30s came together at the Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center to discuss what they were going to do to protect and assist residents within the densely populated Minneapolis, largely Somali, neighborhood from interactions with ICE, all with the aim to decrease fear and ensure residents can leave their homes feeling safe and secure from terror.

The newly formed Cedar Riverside Protection Alliance organized a line of defense around the neighborhood mosques during Friday prayer. Every volunteer for the protection alliance is Somali and has lived in the neighborhood for at least a decade. 

Sagal Ali, a lead advisor with the protection alliance, explained the impetus behind the formation of the group. For Ali, President Trump’s declaration that Temporary Protection Status would end for Somalis in Minnesota in late November raised alarm bells. 

She says for the group, one of the cases that drove the urgency behind its formation was the apprehension of Mubashir, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen who is only identified by his first name, who was tackled by masked federal agents while on a lunch break in the neighborhood. Despite repeatedly informing agents of his citizenship, he was ignored and detained.  

While communicating with friends Ali grew up with in the neighborhood, it was clear people were wondering how to respond as residents of Cedar-Riverside. 

“There (were) whisperings- people were like, ‘What can we do? What should we do?’ At that point it was more of a coping mechanism to make sense of what was happening and if other people felt the same way, specifically people who are children of immigrants and kids who grew up here, young adults now; the fear was very much the same. Immediately we were thinking about defense and protection,” Ali said. 

Members of the Cedar Riverside Protection Alliance outside of Riverside Plaza, an apartment complex that houses a largely Somali population. Photo provided by Cedar Riverside Protection Alliance

Ali has called Cedar Riverside home since she was six. She says she owes her love for Cedar to her mother.

“My mother loves Cedar. And I say this active, not passive. She doesn't need a car. She can go grocery shopping on her own. She can go to the People’s Center (clinic) to go see her doctors. She can go to three different mosques of her choice. She can go down to the lobby (of her apartment building) and see other women who are like her. There's a Somali mall where my aunt owns a store, she visits her often. Cedar and Minnesota have become home because of my mother and I'm so grateful for that and being here. When I say home, I think of Minnesota.” Ali said. 

East of downtown Minneapolis, Cedar Riverside is a landmark in and of itself, a history composed of the recurring theme of being a hub for newness and innovation. For more than 150 years, the neighborhood has been an entry point and home to newly arrived immigrants and refugees, host to academic ingenuity because of its close proximity to institutions such as Augsburg University and  the University of Minnesota, and a place for performing and visual arts. 

The rapid response lead for the protection alliance, Nadirah Habib, was also born and raised in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. Habib describes the work of the protection alliance as necessary. She says the intensity of community patrol makes it feel as if the alliance has been in existence much longer than just a weeks. 

“It feels longer than that, I think because of the amount of work that we're doing, we’re kind of doing this work 24 hours,” said Habib. “We're kind of figuring out through day-to-day what to do; the steps to take. I'm not a morning person, but I became a morning person because of all this that's going on. I wake up, get ready, go outside in the community, stop by the opportunity center (and) grab a vest, just so I'm known to the public. I also go to community members, explain to them who I am and what I am doing, so they are aware. They're not confused about who is this person wearing a bright neon vest. We walk on Cedar, 15th Avenue, Sixth Street, (and) Fourth Street. We are constantly walking in this box.” 

What distinguishes the Cedar-Riverside Protection Alliance is the importance of the deep-rooted connection to the neighborhood. 

“If we go to these businesses, all of the uncles and aunties know us (at least) one of us. We’re moving at the pace of trust, we're really tapping into lived experience of expertise in this moment and that's been really helping us because we don't have to build trust, people see us (and) they know us as the children of the home, these were the kids that grew up here.” Ali said. 

“These are our elders. They know us personally. They've seen us all grow up. They're our moms and dads as well. It  takes a village to raise a kid, I feel like it also takes a village to take care of their village. Nobody can do this by themselves, it's a joint effort, a collaboration.” Habib added. 

To date, the initiative of the Cedar-Riverside Protection Alliance includes patrolling the entirety of the neighborhood, teaching community members about their rights, and coordinating the delivery of groceries. 

“It's sickening and scary to think that we live in (such) a world. If you asked me a year ago if I would think this would be happening, I would say no. We're living in a twilight zone,” Habib said. “This looks like something out of a movie or a book, like it does not seem like real life. I feel so safe in Cedar Riverside, I could be walking at 3 a.m. and I know the neighborhood like the back of my hand. Now, I'm not worried about getting robbed or anything, I'm worried about being stopped by ICE.”