The country is boiling with anger and dissatisfaction in the wake of continued targeting of mostly documented immigrants and U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, amid ongoing federal law enforcement activities in other states.
Protests swept across the country after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. People immediately took to the streets, as armed and masked ICE officers used pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets and other tactics against protesters.
Fueled by frustration, people all over the country declared “ICE Out For Good,” with more than 1,000 events taking place the weekend following Ms. Good’s death, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The federal government’s “Operation Metro Surge” has led to the deployment of nearly 3,000 federal agents in the Twin Cities as part of the so-called crackdown on immigration, though undocumented immigrants only make up about 1.5% of Minnesota’s population, according to data by the Minnesota government.
ICE agents have been detaining U.S. citizens in Minneapolis under the guise of rooting out fraud reportedly committed by immigrants, namely, Somalis. The ACLU of Minnesota reported that at least a dozen U.S. citizens of Somali descent were detained as part of “Operation Metro Surge” by mid-December.
Burhan Israfael, a licensed therapist and community organizer, is a naturalized citizen of Somali descent. His family moved to the U.S. in the mid-1990s when he was just five years old. He grew up in Cedar-Riverside, a predominantly Black immigrant neighborhood in Minneapolis.
“None of us are safe. You’re talking about the rule of law not being respected, the rights of people not being respected,” he said to The Final Call. “They’re kidnapping people, holding them for hours or days, from what we’ve been able to find out.
Overall, it’s really concerning, but personally, that’s not surprising at all. Just knowing what you know about this country, it would come to this. And I honestly do think it’s a way for them to see how far they can take it.”
More recently, agents have been aggressively approaching and detaining Native Americans in and around Minneapolis.
Frank Star Comes Out, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, reported in a statement posted on Facebook that four tribal members had been detained. Only one had been released by Jan. 13. He shared guidelines on what tribal members should say if detained and emphasized that Native Americans are “not subject to immigration enforcement.”
“This is not a misunderstanding or an enforcement discretion issue,” he said in a memorandum posted on Facebook. “This is a treaty violation. Treaties are not optional. Sovereignty is not conditional. Our citizens are not negotiable.”
On Jan. 14, the Native American Rights Fund issued guidelines on what to do if approached at home, at work, or in public, what minors should do if approached, what to do if detained or if at risk of detainment, and what to do if released.
Country reaching a boiling point
With dissatisfaction approaching a boiling point, the words of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, are coming into fruition.
“America is being torn to pieces politically as Pharaoh’s political party was in the days when Jehovah went after the freedom of Israel,” He wrote in his 1973 book, “The Fall of America,” in a chapter titled, “Confusion, Confusion of People,” on page 105.
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, posed the question, “Is America headed for civil war?” in a Final Call article originally published in August 1994.
“The United States of America is moving closer and closer to great civil strife, unrest and bloodshed. Although the American people are supposed to be citizens of one nation, the division between labor and management is growing more intense. The division between the haves and have nots is getting wider and wider and that breach is being filled with hatred.
The division between politics, right and left, so-called Christians, right and left, liberals, conservatives and all of the many causes that people are giving themselves to, whether social, religious or political, are now beginning to show signs of bloodshed,” he said. This guidance was a forewarning of things that are now unfolding.
Protests around the country also erupted last year in several cities, including Washington, D.C., and Chicago in the aftermath of the deployment of federal troops to those cities. ICE, the National Guard, U.S. Border Patrol, and other personnel have made their way to several cities around the country at the orders of the federal government, sparking anger among citizens.
Continued violence
Several videos have surfaced in Minneapolis, including videos of ICE agents firing pepper spray at a crowd of high school students, teachers and staff, a video of ICE agents busting the windows of a woman’s car and dragging her out to be arrested and a video of agents asking people in their cars for their immigration status.
According to several media outlets, federal agents have continued using violent tactics against protesters and bystanders in cities across the country.
During a protest in Santa Ana, California, on Jan. 9, a DHS agent permanently blinded Kaden Rummler, a 21-year-old protester, after firing a nonlethal round at point-blank range, according to the Los Angeles Times.
His aunt told the publication that he suffered a fractured skull around his eyes and nose, he had permanently lost vision in his left eye, he underwent six hours of surgery and that doctors found shards of plastic, glass and metal embedded in his eyes and around his face.
On Jan. 14, an ICE agent shot a Venezuelan man in the leg in Minneapolis, noted several news outlets.
The shooting death of Ms. Good brought to light three others who have died at the hands of federal agents within the past five months. The Marshall Project published a list of those killed. Silverio Villegas González, a Mexican father, was killed in September while attempting to flee from officers in Chicago.
A 31-year-old Mexican citizen was killed by a border patrol agent in Rio Grande City, Texas, in December. Before the turn of the new year, on Dec. 31, an off-duty ICE agent in Los Angeles fatally shot Keith Porter Jr., a 43-year-old Black man. The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system
In a Dec. 8 report tracking gun incidents in ICE raids, The Trace, an independent nonprofit newsroom, identified 16 incidents in which immigration agents opened fire and another 15 incidents in which agents held someone at gunpoint since the immigration crackdown first began in June 2025.
Starting in Los Angeles and spreading to Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Memphis, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon; Charlotte, North Carolina; New Orleans and now Minneapolis.
National Guard troops are still deployed in Washington, D.C., Memphis and New Orleans.
Lawsuits and protections
On Jan. 12, the state of Minnesota, the city of Minneapolis and the city of St. Paul filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and related agencies and officials, including ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Border Patrol.
Asking the court to end the surge of DHS agents, to declare the surge unconstitutional and unlawful and to issue a temporary restraining order.
The lawsuit named several intimidation tactics employed by federal agents, including racial profiling, forceful arrests, warrantless entries and aggressive enforcement at sensitive locations such as schools, churches, hospitals and courthouses, and it characterized the operation as a “federal invasion” that is “designed to provoke community outrage, sow fear, and inflict emotional distress.”
The actions of federal agents have left people “afraid to shop, go to work, attend school, access basic government services, or otherwise live their lives. They have also resulted in school closures across the Twin Cities due to safety concerns,” the lawsuit says.
It linked the surge of federal law enforcement in Minnesota to the withdrawal of National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, saying after the Supreme Court blocked the federal government from deploying the National Guard in Illinois, the Trump administration pivoted to Minnesota.
“On December 31, 2025, President Trump announced that he was withdrawing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland but left the door open to sending federal forces ‘in a much different and stronger form.’ A few days later, on January 4, 2026, Defendants singled out Minnesota for its largest ever immigration operation,” the lawsuit says.
As part of the legal action, Minnesota and the Twin Cities brought forward 11 counts, accusing federal law enforcement officers of infringing on state and local police power, using unlawful coercion methods, violating state law and city ordinances, using excessive force.
Carrying out warrantless arrests without assessing an individual’s immigration status, enforcing border patrol when agents are not near the border, violating policy on sensitive locations, carrying out unconstitutional retaliation and discrimination.
On Jan. 14, a judge declined to issue the temporary restraining order. The following day, the ACLU of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and related agencies and officials on behalf of three people “whose constitutional rights were violated” by ICE, CBP and other federal agents. CBP is the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
Chicago also joined a lawsuit with Illinois challenging “illegal actions” by federal immigration agents. During their “militarized immigration campaign” in Chicago, CBP and ICE agents have committed “unlawful actions, abusive enforcement tactics and repeated rights violations,” according to a press release by the city of Chicago, dated Jan. 12.
Federal immigration agents were deployed to Chicago in September 2025. Since deployment, CPB and ICE agents fatally shot one resident, shot another five times and raided an apartment building, detaining residents, including children, the press release says.
“Border Patrol agents and ICE officers have acted as occupiers rather than officers of the law,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in the statement. “They randomly, and often violently, question residents.
Without warrants or probable cause, they brutally detain citizens and non-citizens alike. They use tear gas and other chemical weapons against bystanders, injuring dozens, including children, the elderly and local police officers.”
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif) posted a video on X on Jan. 12 calling for the arrest and prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for his killing of Ms. Good and calling on Congress to support a bill that would force ICE agents to wear body cameras, not wear masks, have visible identification and ensure ICE has independent oversight. “ICE has gone rogue. We need accountability,” he said.
Amid federal agents targeting Somalis, Native Americans, Latinos and others in Minneapolis, DHS also announced the termination of Somalia’s Temporary Protected Status, which would send Somali nationals back to Somalia. The termination will be in effect on March 17.
Following the announcement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Minnesota chapter held a press conference advising TPS holders to consult an immigration attorney, explore alternative immigration pathways and to create an emergency plan now.
Great civil strife
For the past few years, “Is the U.S. headed for civil war?” has become a frequently asked question in news media, opinion pieces, video commentary and reports and studies. Recently, more people have been posing questions on social media.
In a Jan. 15 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow the deployment of U.S. military domestically. The Insurrection Act has not been invoked in more than 30 years, since the 1992 Los Angeles uprising after the police beating of Rodney King.
In “Confusion, Confusion of People,” the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad characterized a period when scripture is being fulfilled.
“… it prophesies that in these days (meaning the end of the wicked world of Satan), rulers are against rulers—kings against kings. In the days of the prophets, there were no heads of government who were given the name president. Rulers were referred to as rulers and as kings of the people,” He wrote.
His National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, described President Trump as a “president who wants to be king,” in a keynote address delivered Feb. 23, 2020, titled, “The Unraveling of a Great Nation.” In his 1994 article, “Is America headed for civil war,” Minister Farrakhan pointed to a time when civil unrest would not be able to be handled by the police.
“The police will be supported by the National Guard, and the National Guard will be supported by federal troops. When this day arrives, and it will, the breakdown of law and order will be so great in America that it will be as the prophets foretold, ‘a time of trouble such as never was, since there was a nation even to that same time.’
Blood, as John the Revelator saw, ‘will be running in the streets even up to the horse’s bridle,’” Minister Farrakhan warned. “This is a terrible prophecy, and it does not appear that it will be avoided or averted.”