Upon the ICE-covered Streets of Minneapolis

The agents of DHS claim to seek the worst of the worst, the violent,

their actions unfolded before our very eyes are not so benevolent.

The agents claim their law is blind, neutral, and fair,

it is apparent the agents are seeking people of color in the open air.

The agents declare “illegal” where a refugee has come to stand,

others call them neighbors, coworkers, and builders of this land.

The agents have numbers to tally, to move from this land to other places,

but those seized are craftsmen, laborers, heads of household, and familiar faces.

Many assemble in the open, to oppose inhumane treatment as the Constitution allows,

the agents suppress with barricades, batons, and powers the law never endows.

Many gather to provide witness, to speak, to stand unarmed,

the agents trap them in clouds of teargas, then claim that the agents were alarmed.

Many good citizens raise their voices under bright and dark skies,

the agents respond with weapons, protective vests, and lies.

Patriots stand with signs, hands numb with cold, date after date,

the agents answer with overwhelming force, invoking a mandate.

Many of our neighbors lock their doors tight day and night,

the agents declare they will find them by headlights, by knock, by fight.

We are forced to watch as children learn fear before they learn trust,

the agents say duty demands it, because someone says they must.

We have seen death on the cold street, breath fading as though without a right,

the agents don’t sigh—their anarchy rolls on through the night.

We watch as last breaths are taken where the City remembers former wrongs,

the agents still don’t retreat, Operation Metro Surge continues as though it belongs.

We call for justice as our countrymen are taken far away,

the agents deny all accounting for the wreckage, the fray.

We cry as the snow bears the footprint of someone seized without a name,

the agents deny all fault, reject that pursuit of freedom has a claim.

Our hearts cry for the brave souls lost in the cold,

their lives bled into the pavement, their rights untold.

From these frozen streets rises a resounding truth:

freedom survives when people stand side by side,

and from tyranny refuse to step aside.

We hold this land not to be ruled by force and fear,

to that end, we give the agents of DHS this axiom to hear.

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness for All" will prevail,

the indefensible taking of life and freedom we will unveil.