At NASW-MN we are fielding calls and messages from our colleagues in other regions and states asking us about what our work looks like in these trying times.  Despite how much you may have read in the news about what the situation is like in our state, especially in our large cities, those of us who are in the middle of this ongoing federal operation know that what you are seeing is only the tip of the iceberg compared to what Social Workers and community members in MN are actually facing.  Here are a few examples of what we’re actually seeing:

In Hospitals:

ICE Agents are moving through every area of hospitals with no consideration for patient privacy, including privacy for patients not in ICE Custody.  They are refusing to leave areas of the hospital where multiple patients are being treated in close proximity, refusing to allow patients to speak with family about their medical care, walking into staff-only areas of hospitals where patient records are visible and interfering with patient care. Social Workers are being prevented from enforcing HIPPA protections for patients when ICE refuses to leave private areas. This is uncharted territory for Hospital Social Workers—until recently, hospitals, churches, and schools were provided sanctuary status from immigration enforcement, and now that our current administration has lifted those protections, the communities we serve are staying away from hospitals; giving birth and attempting to treat serious injuries and illnesses at home rather than receiving necessary care out of fear of interception or interference by ICE. <

In Schools:

School Social Workers and Educational Staff are facing a horrific professional and ethical double bind—their union contracts, school rules, and professional ethics require them to lock their doors if anyone potentially violent enters a school building.  If staff adhere to that protocol when ICE agents attempt to gain access to a school building, they face the potential of being charged with impeding a federal investigation.  Currently, Social Workers are walking students to school, delivering food and e-learning supplies to families unable to leave their homes, and stepping in to support students when their families, relatives and loved ones are being systematically taken.

In the Workplace:

Social Workers from micro to macro practice are being stretched to capacity, responding to the ongoing occupation.  NASW-MN has received accounts from Social Workers delivering food and hygiene supplies to industrial workers who cannot afford to miss work, but cannot leave their workplaces without fear of ICE detention, so they’re sleeping at work.  We’ve received accounts from Social Workers struggling to bring resources to families whose sole income earner has been detained, and then ICE has posted watch outside the only entrance/exit to their homes. This effectively prevents everyone inside the home from accessing food and other resources.  We’ve seen Social Workers band together to provide crisis therapy response to those impacted by this trauma, and Social Workers in clinical settings are reporting clients coming in with deep trauma symptoms.

While the care networks in Minnesota have grown and responded to this invasion in truly inspiring ways, we also know that ICE is negatively responding to our efforts to protect our community in some very insidious ways.  ICE agents posing as community groups have been seen circulating flyers at schools offering families free food and resources in an attempt to lure vulnerable populations out of their homes.  ICE agents out of uniform have pretended to be community members, while in reality, trying to infiltrate the various community aid and safety patrol groups with the purpose of identifying the groups members and locate our friends, neighbors and community members who are currently unable to leave home.   They’ve learned that showing up in camo with their faces covered is a public relations nightmare, and they’re hoping that if the videos of them in camo with pepper spray disappear, so will the outrage. While the tactics have shifted, the harm they are doing to community members and the fear they are instilling, especially in the children of our community, is relentless. Since the operation in the Twin Cities began, there has not been a single day when ICE agents have not been out of their vehicles on enforcement actions within two blocks of a school.  They have surrounded school buses with students on board and followed them to campuses.  ICE agents have taken parents and caregivers from their children while walking to school leaving the children unattended in below freezing temperatures.  Children are seeing their friends disappear around them, and are showing symptoms of severe trauma, fear, and stress as a result. 

Many Social Workers in other states have reached out to ask about volunteering or coming here to help.  While we deeply appreciate that offer, here is what we have found is most helpful to community in this moment: 

1.      If you are bilingual, especially if you speak Spanish, Somali, or Hmong, you can seek a temporary license from the MN Board of Social Work https://mn.gov/boards/social-work/applicants/temporary-license/, and reach out to Roots Wellness about volunteering your services to impacted community members:  https://rwc-mn.com/.

a.       If you are not bilingual, you can still seek temporary licensure, but the need is far less critical.  Donating to those here already doing the work has more immediate impact.

2.      If you are thinking of coming here, please understand that community aid networks require members to be vetted.  Those networks cannot easily vet folks from other states.  Any effort spent vetting out of state strangers is time those folks can’t spend helping impacted community members.  Please consider sending the funds you would use on travel to the groups already here doing the work.

3.      The Twin Cities have been able to respond to this crisis in inspiring ways because we already have a very robust network of active community groups, affinity organizations, mutual aid networks, and non-profits doing community care work.  The time to build these networks is BEFORE you need them.  We have reason to believe that ICE will likely take these operations to many more cities. Now is the time to build your community care networks so that they are prepared to respond when crisis hits.

At NASW-MN we maintain a list of resources for impacted community members, for those wishing to get involved in local efforts, and for those wishing to offer support from afar.  Please know that one of the most powerful things you can do to support our community in this critical moment is to give to those organizations that are here already doing the work.  They cannot sustain this level of investment without funding.  If you are able to contribute to supporting the on the ground intervention response networks in our community, here is a list of organizations we recommend:

Community Resources