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Alex Pretti was murdered by government agents on a street where I walked just two days earlier. I was there with over 600 clergy from across our nation who convened in Minneapolis to learn, protest, witness, and support those fighting for safety and dignity for all people. Armed with our faith traditions that call us to love and protect immigrants, we came as a moral and pastoral voice. We now return to our cities to declare the truth of what we witnessed.
The people of Minneapolis are facing an authoritarian police state and a humanitarian crisis at the same time. They are fighting for their values, their lives, and their neighbors. Despite the violence and dehumanization around them, they recognize that all people deserve kindness, justice, and dignity. As they stand against the authoritarianism that has invaded their streets, they are living the Jewish precept, “In a place where there seems to be no humanity, you must strive to be human” (Pirke Avot 2:5).
What is happening in Minneapolis will determine what happens elsewhere, and the people of Minneapolis are therefore resisting for all of us. As one leader explained, the situation is urgent, not because everything is being lost, but because everything is being tested. If ICE wins in Minneapolis, we are all next.
Those standing eye to eye against ICE agents roaming their city have much to teach us. Most importantly, they are teaching us that we must organize, and we must do it now. We do not have time for quiet despair or hand-wringing; we must organize without hesitation.
Each of us can act today by contacting our elected officials and voicing our outrage. We can demand that ICE leave Minnesota and that officers are held accountable for their actions. We can urge our officials not to grant any additional funding to ICE pending a bipartisan investigation into its actions. We can boycott businesses such as Target (headquartered in Minneapolis) that cooperate with ICE, and we can support businesses that are struggling under government pressure. We can especially seek out businesses run by minorities and immigrants.
We must be prepared for peaceful disruptive action while also providing aid to those in need. We will need systems in place to offer food, rent assistance, laundry service, and more to thousands of people in our city who may soon be unable to leave their homes for fear of detention. Everyone can do something.
But we can only do it by building broad coalitions now, coalitions that may involve welcoming people with whom we vehemently disagree on other issues. Religious and secular organizations must partner and do more, boldly and together. We all must get comfortable with discomfort as we push ourselves to unite and to resist. Our only goals right now must be to defeat authoritarianism and to care for one another.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who escaped the Holocaust and then marched beside Dr. King, famously said, “In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” We cannot look aside and make the people of Minneapolis responsible for our safety, our values, and our neighbors. We are all responsible. May we speak up, create partnerships, learn together, and resist together. The time is now.