Why the Sunrise Movement reorganized to fight authoritarianism
Why the Sunrise Movement reorganized to fight authoritarianism
Global · Published Jul 13, 2026
(Image credit: Background photo by Mark Dixon / CC BY 2.0 / Photo of Aru Shiney-Ajay via Sunrise Movement)

In early January, people across Minnesota were shocked when the Trump administration flooded their towns and cities with thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (commonly known as ICE), border control agents, and other federal personnel. The administration insisted that the heavily militarized deployment was a crackdown on crime and rampant fraud, a claim that state officials dismissed as a “manufactured crisis.” The result was to sow terror among immigrant communities and inspired Minnesotans to launch a massive public response to the threat. Among the many grassroots organizations, labor unions, religious institutions, and mutual aid groups that came together to fight off ICE’s occupation, Sunrise Movement emerged as an especially creative participant. Shiney-Ajay organized neighborhood patrols, protests, and direct actions aimed at emphasizing just how unwelcome ICE was in the city. 

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