A new series of photographs documents residents’ resistance to the surge of ICE agents in their city, Emily Witt reports.
Philip Cheung has covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine and last year’s fires in Los Angeles, where he lives. He also photographed the massive street protests that emerged in response to the surge of ICE agents in Los Angeles last June.
In Minneapolis, he has captured local residents’ evolving resistance to the immigration agents in their midst. Following federal agents’ movements through the city and into Saint Paul and Maple Grove, Cheung has also watched the federal response evolve. At times, he told me, federal agents seemed to welcome photographic attention, as on a day when Gregory Bovino, then the commander-at-large of Customs and Border Patrol, who has since been ousted and transferred out of state, effectively led reporters and local observers on a daylong tour of the city, with stops for active confrontation along the way. Over the course of their time in the city, the agents have adapted ways to disguise themselves, switching from large S.U.V.s with tinted windows to less conspicuous vehicles; they apparently used one convoy as a decoy to lure observers away from a location as other agents arrived to carry out an arrest. Cheung has also documented the haphazard quality of the operation, as in one photograph showing a gun magazine left in the snow after agents departed from a scene. Cheung said that security was on his mind to an unusual degree for a domestic project. “We haven’t really seen anything like this happen before in the U.S., where peaceful protesters were murdered on the street by federal agents,” he said. “I went into the situation with the mind-set of going into a conflict zone.” He and other photographers checked in regularly with one another. “You’re often on your own, so it was nice to be able to form our safety nets.” Many immigrant families in Minnesota are in hiding right now, regardless of their legal status, for fear that they will be detained or deported without a chance to prove their cases. Local media has reported that off-duty police, government workers, and teen-agers have been stopped by agents demanding proof of citizenship. Congressional observers who have tried to get inside the interior of the Whipple Federal Building, where immigration agents hold the people they’ve arrested before sending them to a network of jails and detention centers in Minnesota and out of state, were told that they needed to give seven days’ notice to be allowed in. Outside the building, activists collect the license plates of federal vehicles moving in and out into a database that is widely shared; they shout their anger and discontent. Cast by the Trump Administration as agitators—or “insurrectionists,” or “domestic terrorists” or “paid professionals”—they see themselves as concerned citizens. Every day, for eight weeks and counting, they have continued to show up.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Asylum-Seeking Father and Son Return to Minneapolis After Judge Orders Release from DetentionA five-year-old boy and his father, asylum seekers, were released from a Texas detention facility and returned to Minneapolis after a judge's order. They had been detained by federal agents and faced differing accounts of the events leading to their detention.
Read more »
Nation Gathers to Remember Minneapolis Nurse Alex Pretti, Killed by Federal AgentsVigils held across the country, including in Columbus, to honor Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis nurse shot and killed by federal agents. Protesters express grief, demand justice, and highlight concerns about the use of force.
Read more »
Vigils held in Chicago area week after Alex Pretti shot, killed by federal agents in MinneapolisPark Ridge, Illinois native Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA hospital, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents last weekend in Minneapolis. Demonstrators say they are honoring a hero and standing on the right side of history.
Read more »
Programs aim to diversify winter sports, but gaps persist at Winter OlympicsThese efforts are crucial as the Winter Olympics often lack diverse representation.
Read more »
Programs aim to diversify winter sports, but gaps persist at Winter OlympicsOrganizations like the National Brotherhood of Snowsports and Skate Global Foundation are working to diversify winter sports
Read more »
US Winter Olympics hospitality space changed from ‘Ice House’ to ‘Winter House’ following anti-ICE protestsThree US Olympic bodies have changed the name of their shared athlete hospitality space at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics from “Ice House” to “Winter House,” following widespread protests in both Italy and the US over the role and conduct of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Read more »