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A Small Town Under ICE Occupation
https://dailyyonder.com/a-small-town-under-ice-occupation/2026/02/02/On a sub-zero day in Willmar, Minnesota, fifteen residents gathered around a table at a restaurant in town. It was the middle of the usual lunch rush on a Saturday, but the group sat alone. The restaurant was closed because ICE was in town.
Invited by the restaurant’s owner Willie Gonzalez, the residents pushed tables together and sat in a large circle.
They were there to talk about what was happening in their town. Thousands of ICE agents had descended upon Minnesota in recent weeks at the orders of the Trump administration – largely in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, but also in places like Willmar, a small town enriched by its residents of Somali and Latino descent.
That morning, ICE agents had shot and killed U.S. citizen Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. As in urban hotspots, ICE presence was escalating in Willmar.
For his part, Gonzalez, a Mexican-American citizen, made sure to sit on the side of the table facing the window so he could watch the street for ICE.
The residents around the table were high school students and business owners, children and parents, white neighbors witnessing the terror in their community and neighbors of color living it. Some preferred not to share their full names in this article.
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