Twin Ports Celebrates World Refugee Day

When:

June 22, 5:30pm

Where:

Peace Church
1111 N 11th Ave E
Duluth, MN

Like a butterfly's journey, migration is a story of courage, hope, and transformation.

Come honor and celebrate these stories with our community.

Solidarity to Bemidji!

We keep us safe

On June 11 ICE swarmed into Bemidji sweeping up 30-45 people on that day alone. The agents remain in the area. Brave local citizen rapid responders are on the scene & have asked for further support from Constitutional Observers. An amazing network of support state-wide support organizations, elected officials, the AG, people from the ACLU, and others have stepped up.

from Star Tribune on June 12: "Ryan Lamusga assembled a crew of 30 men to repair roofs from last summer’s derecho that destroyed millions of trees and damaged homes.

"His military veteran-owned Rhino Roofing and Siding, based 80 miles south in Nisswa, is one of several companies that have descended on Bemidji in recent weeks after homeowners went through the insurance claims process to get their roofs fixed a year after 120 mph winds ripped through town.

"On Thursday, federal agents swarmed their job site in a subdivision of 127 townhouses, sending some workers scrambling into nearby woods and reducing Lamusga’s crew to just seven.

Flannery Clark, a notary and Twin Cities activist, said that because construction workers are so visible, it’s easy for ICE to target them. It’s difficult for community members to protect roofing crews unless they are actively keeping watch, she said.

"Patty Eichstadt, 79, was rattled Friday morning after witnessing a young man jump from her roof and run.

"'I’m so hurt to think that we live where this happens,” Eichstadt said in tears. 'I said, ‘ICE get the hell out of here.’ The guy turned around and looked at me and I said, ‘They are just kids, they’re just working.’”

"Eichstadt knows a little Spanish and said she had been talking with workers who were singing songs while working on her roof Thursday.

"'They were happy. That’s what makes me so mad,” Eichstadt said. 'He said, ‘I have my papers,’ and they took him anyways. I am so mad.”"

Mutual Aid

ICE and CBP continue their terror in greater MN. Please chip in to the GoFundMe to support our neighbors from Grand Marais to Bemidji with legal costs and basic needs, if you are able!

There are number of requests for assistance to impacted families. The ones we know of at this point:

• Mendoza
• Perez
• Norman & Eduardo
• Ezequiel

Other Assistance

Detention Hotline — if you are a loved one is/was detained, call 1-800-223-1368

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe stated: "The Band is aware that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been operating within Beltrami County. If you believe your rights have been violated as a result of unlawful detainment, please contact the Leech Lake Police Department at 218-335-8277."

You can also contact ACLU of Minnesota and/or Rep.Liish.Kozlowski@house.mn.gov, if you’ve been targeted or loved one detained.

ICE is active in our region

Twin Ports Rapid Response Hotline: (218) 213-5009

Let's watch out for our neighbors. Let's be prepared.

Minnesota says’ GAAWIIN! ‘NO’ to Big Tech!

When:

June 26, 1:00–2:45pm

Where:

Minnesota Capitol Front Lawn
St. Paul, MN

Join us June 26th for a rally in front of the Minnesota Capitol, where we will be presenting the Mother Earth Vs Big Tech Petition. This petition advocates for a two-year moratorium on the construction of hyperscaled data centers. Our goal is to deliver this important message directly to the office of the Governor of Minnesota.

More info about Big Tech Issues

Unfinished Freedom: 250 Years On

A Free Community Concert

When:

June 28, 1:00–8:00pm

Where:

Miner's Pavilion
1401 NW 3rd Ave
Grand Rapids
(Road Trip!!)

Join us for a fun community event full of music, food and drink for purchase, and connection.

Free event & parking, food & drinks for purchase. Bring a lawn chair!

Immigrant Solidarity Protest

When

Every Wednesday, 12:00–1:00pm

Where

60th Ave E & Superior Street

Bridge Brigade Fridays

When:

Fridays, 4:00–5:00pm

Where:

35W Overpasses
Bridge at 25th Street East
(park behind Perkins)

Visibility politics is the new happy hour!

Grab a friend and join us at one of our Bridge Brigade pedestrian overpasses on Friday afternoons, 4-5 PM.

We will be waving signs and flags to raise awareness about current issues.

Bring signs if you have them, don't worry if you don't. Wear sturdy shoes!

Women in Black Gaza Vigil

When

Every Sunday, 12:00–1:00pm

Where

Belknap & Tower, Superior WI

Oppose USPS Rule Change Threatening Mail Voting

by July 2, 2026

On June 2, 2026, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) published a proposed rule to allow the federal government to control who can cast a mail-in or absentee ballot. The rule, a response to an executive order that Donald Trump signed in March, would require states to send USPS a list of every voter slated to receive a ballot by mail. USPS could then refuse to deliver ballots to any voters whose names are not on states’ pre-approved lists.

The rule threatens to disenfranchise the thousands of voters who rely on mailed ballots to participate in elections, including American citizens living abroad, people with disabilities, rural residents, and other communities that have long faced obstacles at the polls. Under this rule, a data or administrative error could block voters from receiving ballots through no fault of their own. Further, election administrators across the country say there is neither time nor funding to comply with the new rule before November 2026 midterms.

Urge Governor Walz to do all they can to stop this rule from taking effect and protect state control over elections and mail-in voting.

Then, submit a public comment to USPS opposing this unlawful rule change. USPS is accepting written comments via email until 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 2, 2026.

ICE wants to reopen the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, MN

What happens next depends on us. We keep us safe.

ICE wants to reopen the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, MN as a 1,600 capacity immigration detention center, run by private prison giant CoreCivic. If approved, it would become one of the largest ICE detention facilities in the US, ~60% larger than Delaney Hall.

They're betting this can happen quietly in a small town far from the headlines. Don't let it.

Call your elected officials and demand an end to for-profit detention. Organize locally. Talk to your neighbors. Learn from the protests and hunger strikes happening at detention facilities across the country.

Call for Writing

Activate your voice — storytellers, poets & independent journalists wanted

Panatrope wants you for the launch their new journal!

They are accepting written work of any genre: Poetry: up to 5 pages
Short Fiction or nonfiction: between 400-5000 words.

Call for Storytellers

New show planned to launch in July

"Humans evolved opposable thumbs to be able to hold on. We evolved Story to know what to hold on to."

What’s your story? We’re celebrating the art of oral storytelling — the every day way we all communicate with each other. For our new podcast, “North Star Lane”, we’re collecting personal stories about connections — to place, to the past, to each other. Stories should be 3–10 minutes in length, and can range in tone from funny incident to elegy and everything in between. Michael Goldberg is collecting the stories. Send audio to him — or a note to arrange a phone call or zoom — at goldberg.actionmedia@gmail.com. He is also looking for storytellers for a live storytelling show in Grand Rapids,Labor Day weekend, themed On the Job. Let him know if you’d like more information about that.

North Star Lane is produced by Michael Goldberg, who lives in the woods of northern Minnesota and collects stories from his friends and neighbors. They tell stories about their connections – to place, to the past, to each other – and about things that are important to them. We think a lot of the same things are important to us all.

5calls

Pick an action & make a call

New Neighbors Program

Duluth YWCA

The Duluth YWCA provides critical help with utilities, rent & more.

We are grateful for the work being done by the Duluth YWCA. We hope you will donate to their work if you are able. We welcome their recent announcement:

"YWCA Duluth has been responding to the evolving needs of our community since 1893. We use data and lived experience to guide our efforts. Our 2025 community assessment highlighted a critical challenge — immigrant communities cannot fully participate in social, political, economic, and cultural life. This participation is essential for the vibrancy and resilience of Northeastern Minnesota.

"In response, we partnered with Justice North and ESHARA to become a social service access hub and launched the New Neighbors Program in 2026. This initiative is supported by state funding. We are dedicated to meeting the needs of our New Neighbors. We believe in the power of collaboration and referrals."

Justice North

Where help meets hope

Justice North is a nonprofit civil law firm dedicated to the principle that equal access to justice is a basic human right, regardless of background or circumstances. We open the doors of the legal system to the most vulnerable in our community by providing critical legal assistance to preserve our clients' safety, security, and stability.

Stand with Minnesota

A directory of places to give to as Minnesota defends itself from ICE occupation.

Neighborhood Mutual Aid groups

Grassroots organizing

There are many neighborhood mutual aid groups forming across our region. Find one near you!

Understanding and Responding to Christian Nationalism

by Christians Against Christian Nationalism Minnesota

When:

June 16, 6:30–7:30pm

Where:

Online

Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities, damaging both the Christian faith and America’s democracy. It implies that to be a good American, one must be a Christian. This workshop provides information about Christian nationalism and ways for Christians, people of other faiths, and secular individuals to respond to Christian nationalism.

The Legacy & History of Open Culture

by Creative Commons

When:

June 16, 9:30am–10:30 CT

Where:

Online

In the early 2000s, a handful of trailblazing galleries, libraries, archives, and museums made a radical choice: to digitize their collections and release them freely, without restriction, to anyone in the world. There was no playbook. There was no mandate. There was only a conviction that cultural heritage, the shared memory of humanity, belonged to everyone, and that the internet had made it possible, for the first time, to act on that conviction at scale.

This panel traces that origin story. Who were the institutions and individuals willing to go first, and what did they risk? How did CC licenses and public domain tools become the infrastructure that made openness not just a philosophy but a practice? And what did twenty-five years of building this movement teach us about what it takes to change not just institutions, but the systems that govern them?

De-Google Workshop

When:

June 18, 5:30–7:00pm

Where:

Dovetail Cafe
Duluth, MN

Come learn how to take back control of our privacy, our environment, and our futures from billionaires and their corporations by getting Google out of your life.

At this hands-on workshop we'll share practical alternatives and help you de-Google your devices.

Bring your devices, chargers & enthusiasm to learn & change.

Trans Equity Training

When:

June 17, 3:00–4:15pm

Where:

Online (RSVP for link)

Trans people everywhere are being faced with an escalation of violence, as those who are pushing an agenda of trans erasure continue to spread hateful propaganda and advance legislative efforts to codify discrimination against transgender people into law. These attacks cannot be allowed to continue, but to stop them, we must come together and take action.

That's why Gender Justice hosts our interactive Trans Equity Training series where you will learn how to best talk about trans issues, find ways to take action, and meet others who are passionate about the fight for trans equity and empowerment.

Organizing to Protect Democracy

Recorded training from the ACLU

In a moment when our right to vote is facing relentless attacks, understanding how elections work has never been more important. Now, we have the electoral knowledge and skills to be active in protecting our democracy.

Talking Politics with Neighbors, Friends and Family

Recorded Sessions from Rural Urban Bridge Initiative

This 2-part series includes the following sessions:

• Best Practices for Communicating with Rural Voters "Talk Like a Neighbor" Workshop
• Talking Politics with Friends and Family Communications Workshop

Arguing about politics often ends in frustration and damaged relationships. This hour-long workshop will go over some basic interpersonal communication principles that can help shift the conversation from a grueling debate to a more respectful exchange of ideas.

Schedule your own training

Twin Ports Rapid Response

When:

You decide

Where:

You set up location & logistics

We now have a training team in place that can offer:

• informal, low-tech trainings for small groups — please contact us at training@twinportsrapidresponse.org with a proposal for your organization, venue, neighborhood group, or small business.
• in-person, large-scale, media-rich trainings that closely follow the Immigrant Defense Network format. We have gone through a "train-the-trainer" mentorship with IDN and will use these training opportunities to closely follow their slides & other presentation materials

Contact us to set up a training for your organization. Send an email to: training@twinportsrapidresponse.org

STAC Trainings

States at the Core

"A running list of upcoming trainings from States at the Core" — Ice Watch Related.

Freedom Trainers

Register for free online trainings

Today, Freedom Trainers is a decentralized network of experienced educators and organizers, including leaders from the Horizons Project, Beautiful Trouble, and Free DC. Together, we work to counter democratic backsliding by equipping people with the skills and strategies of strategic noncooperation.

Our trainings are grounded in three core pillars:

• Know the authoritarian playbook — Understanding how authoritarians consolidate power.
• Understand the pillars of support — Develop a sense of how authoritarian power is vulnerable.
• Build noncooperation skills — Developing the noncooperation practices that fracture authoritarian support.

Our Once-In-A-Lifetime Opportunity in 2026: Let’s Not Blow it

Expand the Playing Field and Spread the Wealth

"Trump’s river of political blunders plus Democrats’ army of energetic, appealing candidates up and down the ballot offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for massive gains and maybe even a major realignment."

How ACT UP Did It

ACT UP was most effective when it had the broadest coalition of members. Its story cannot be reduced to a few 'heroes' and their journey.

"...activist movements must set their priorities from the bottom—from those who have the least; those who need the most—or their success will always be partial

"ACT UP’s members achieved incredible wins, against impossible odds, while watching their world crumble around them. They made mistakes and kept going, literally carrying each other when necessary. A few hundred dying people battled the United States, and often they won. Reading Let the Record Show made me wonder what they could have done with more bodies on the line; more help; more hands; more heart; more anger. 'Unfortunately, most people do not participate in making change,' Schulman notes. 'Only tiny vanguards actually take the actions necessary, and even fewer do this with a commitment to being effective.'"

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