Minnesota's Independent Cafes Turn Community Talk Into Action Against ICE

Community is more than a buzzword in coffee. Cafes are often held up as classic "third places"—settings where people gather outside home and work—and businesses from corner shops to national chains market themselves as neighborhood gathering points. That community-building can look like book clubs and latte art competitions, nonprofit sponsorships, or simply being a room where locals can run into one another.

In Minnesota, the past two months have forced coffee shops to rethink what that role means. The federal government's Operation Metro Surge has brought thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents into the state. The deployment has drawn international scrutiny, especially after government agents killed two U.S. citizens: Renée Nicole Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has described the surge as the "largest immigration operation ever," while Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison characterized it as "in essence, a federal invasion."

Agents—many masked, which makes identifying them difficult—have taken people off the street and moved them to detention facilities thousands of miles from where they were seized. Watching neighbors be picked up without a warrant or an explanation, communities have started to organize in their own defense, forming school patrols and mutual aid networks and staging spontaneous protests.

While many large chains have stayed quiet, independent coffee shops have responded. Some have turned into collection points for food and other necessities as residents stay indoors to avoid agents. Others have opened their space to community groups or distributed whistles, which neighbors use to signal ICE's presence. Some have handed out free coffee to protesters; one shop shifted to an entirely free, donation-based model as a protest against the occupation.

Plenty of coffee companies say they believe in the power of community. In Minnesota, it is independent cafes and coffee shops that are converting that language into practice.

Fear and Uncertainty

ICE agents started appearing in Minnesota in early December, making arrests without warrants as part of a targeted surge. Twin Cities residents have protested in response, frequently filming agents and legally observing them when they attempt to detain someone. Three thousand agents have flooded Minneapolis-St. Paul, outnumbering local police and disrupting daily life across the metro.

"The past couple of months have honestly been heavy, emotionally and operationally," says Vanessa Palestino, founder of Hola Coffee in Minneapolis. "As a Latina-owned small business, this isn't something happening 'around' us—it's happening within our own community. Our staff, our customers, our neighbors, many of them are directly impacted or living with real fear and uncertainty right now."

Thousands of people have been detained in Minnesota over the past two months, often illegally, many of them children. Others are in hiding, afraid to leave home for work, school or errands.

Jackson O'Brien, a writer and coffee ambassador for Minneapolis-based Peace Coffee, has encountered the violence firsthand. "I was walking to the library and on my way encountered some ICE action, with a crowd of observers and protesters. I just kind of walked up and started joining in," he says. "They sprayed gas pellets into the area, and so I got the hell out of there. I was just going to the library, and I got tear gassed."

Even so, O'Brien says the community feels more unified than before. "There are people constantly checking in with each other, and that level of community cohesion feels like it's keeping everybody safe. We're all in this together, and I firmly believe that we are stronger than they are."

Coffee Shops Step Up

In many neighborhoods, local coffee shops have become central gathering points. "Our customers come from all backgrounds, so it makes us sad to hear from them that they are scared to leave the house and potentially deal with ICE profiling them, even if they are U.S. citizens," says Jenny Nguyen, co-founder of Càphin Minneapolis. In September, the Supreme Court ruled that immigration officers can stop people based on factors like ethnicity or if they speak English with an accent.

To support people who cannot leave home, Càphin partnered with local content creators on a donation drive, using its second location—not yet open—as a collection site. "The response has been so overwhelmingly positive," Nguyen says. "We've even reached people out on the East Coast who donated through Walmart Delivery and monetary donations. This community is so strong, whether people are from Minnesota or not."

Sip of Silk, a Palestinian-Salvadoran cafe that opened near the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis in early November, has carried Know Your Rights cards since day one, according to co-founder Hanan Wazwaz, because "the anti-Somali rhetoric was already starting."

Allegations of fraud targeting Minnesota's Somali community were at least part of the stated justification for Operation Metro Surge. In December, President Trump intensified the racist rhetoric, calling Somali immigrants "garbage" and suggesting they are "destroying Minnesota."

"We were telling people, 'We stand with our Somali neighbors,'" Wazwaz says. "We had Know Your Rights cards in Somali, because even though most of the Somali community here are Americans, some of the elders don't know the language."

In January, the cafe launched a food drive with the Minnesota Immigrant Movement and saw growing engagement with its resources. "I think a lot of people in the community that can't go to protest, or that can't do patrolling, they feel good doing something, bringing food in, handing out whistles, etc.," Wazwaz says.

Free Coffee, Free Food

Pilllar Forum—a Minneapolis skate shop, coffee bar and all-ages music venue—has likewise become a refuge for locals braving the cold to protect neighbors from ICE. "We've kind of become a community hub for people patrolling the streets," owner Corey Bracken says. "They come in, they get warm. They're able to drink coffee, hang out, and organize."

On Jan. 23, hundreds of businesses across Minnesota closed for the day to protest ICE activity, and thousands joined rallies and a general strike. Many coffee shops shut their doors in support of the strike; others, Pilllar among them, stayed open so protesters had somewhere to warm up. "We kept our doors open," Bracken says. "I probably poured over 300 cups [of free coffee]." The shop did the same the following week during nationwide protests.

Modern Times Café, a restaurant in South Minneapolis, offered a pay-what-you-can food option and free drip coffee in the week before the first strike. "I reached out to [Wonderstate Coffee, their wholesale supplier] and was like, 'Here's what we're doing,'" says Modern Times owner Dylan Alverson. "And they were very gracious about it, and sent us coffee."

One day after the strike, agents shot and killed Pretti. Alverson chose to go further. "Until this occupation is over, we are Post Modern Times," the company wrote on Instagram. "Post Modern Times is free for all with the exception of our occupiers!"

The change was both a protest against ICE's presence and an effort to help people who have lost income or cannot leave home because of it. "I just couldn't come back to work and try to run a for-profit restaurant and expect my staff to come in and do their jobs as if nothing had happened," Alverson says. "So I decided to make a radical change, and I guess a gamble on humanity, and offer everything for free, with the idea that people would support it."

The reaction was immediate and "overwhelmingly positive," he says. "We're just inundated with emails and messages of support, people giving money, people coming to eat at the restaurant, paying for more than they would have."

'A Small Pocket of Warmth'

ICE's occupation of Minnesota shows no sign of ending. On Jan. 31, a federal judge denied a request by state officials for a preliminary injunction that would have temporarily blocked the operation. At the same time, reports have suggested ICE is considering similar "surges" in other cities, notably Springfield, Ohio, where Trump and others in the administration have previously targeted the city's Haitian community with racist conspiracies.

Coffee shops should get ready. In a recent article for VinePair, beer writer Dave Infante argued that the Twin Cities' beer scene offers lessons for the wider industry. "Start thinking about what your plan is right now," labor organizer Anders Bloomquist told Infante.

As Minnesota's coffee companies have demonstrated, preparation can also mean making room for community to thrive. During a turbulent, traumatic federal assault on their state, these businesses have shown up for their communities in many forms—free coffee, donation drives, a place to recharge and connect with neighbors.

At Hola Coffee, Palestino is still hosting dance parties. "Especially right now, joy and community aren't luxuries—they're necessities," she says. "There's something really powerful about sharing a cup of coffee or dancing with your neighbors during a stressful time. It reminds us of our humanity. If we can offer even a small pocket of warmth or relief in someone's day, that feels meaningful."

Photo by Eastman Childs on Unsplash