Melissa H Wiklund

For many reasons, we need to make sure Hennepin County Medical Center continues to serve our community. Trauma care that is needed by MN residents, training for health care providers and special services like the poison control center are vital. Federal actions are causing huge declines in funding.

The golden quadriga and state glad of Minnesota are on a graphic commemorating the first day of the legislative session today.

Today, our 2026 session begins and I’m grateful for being together with my colleagues, especially Sen Hoffman. Gratitude for being able to work on the issues important to Minnesotans is mixed with grief at not having Speaker Emerita Hortman with us. I’m glad we will honor her and her family today ❤️

US Olympic Curling Team member speaks out against ICE:

"I'm proud to represent Team USA. But we'd be remiss if we didn't mention what's going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it's been. What's happening is wrong. There's no shades of gray."

Transplant recipient arrested by federal agents in Rochester needs medicine, state representative says State Rep. Kim Hicks told MPR News she drove to the Whipple Federal Building near Ft. Snelling Thursday night to give the man his medication but authorities wouldn't take it without a doctor's note. S...

A man taken into custody in Rochester Thursday by federal immigration agents and now held at the Whipple Federal Building in the Twin Cities is a recent organ transplant recipient who is without his needed anti-rejection medication, state Rep. Kim Hicks tells MPR News.

'Prosecute ICE' sculpture destroyed outside State Capitol hours after unveiling The sculpture was installed by members of a veterans organization and other community leaders in protest of federal immigration operations.

Unfortunately, the sculpture was destroyed by Jake Lang, who was charged with assaulting an officer with a bat during Jan 6.

Pardoned by Trump, he's now being charged with felony destruction of property.

Two veterans groups paid for the sculpture he destroyed.

www.kare11.com/article/news...

Ice Sculpture on MN Capitol steps says: "Prosecute ICE"

A beautiful ice sculpture on the MN state capitol plaza.

A crystal clear ice sculpture with a crystal clear message for protecting our democracy and constitutional rights:

"Prosecute ICE"

ICE agents who violate laws & constitutional rights should be prosecuted as anyone else would be.

Operation Metro Surge is not making Minnesota safer. Today's announcement is a step in the right direction, but we need a faster and larger drawdown of forces, state-led investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and an end to this campaign of retribution.

Don't agree with Cato Inst on much. But:

Very glad they have quantified what has been obvious for years.

Rep. Kelly Morrison describes 'horrifying' conditions inside Whipple building Rep. Kelly Morrison describes cold temperatures, shackling and lack of medical care inside a Minneapolis ICE holding site after a judge restored congressional access.

“This is a reckless operation. It's tearing communities apart, and it's traumatizing our neighbors,” Rep. Kelly Morrison said after visiting the Whipple Federal Building. She also described the atmosphere inside as chaotic, disorganized and unsafe.

Thank you, @kellymorrisonmn.bsky.social , I hope you can speak to leadership in Congress to make sure they clearly understand that this is happening, there has been no slowdown and it is not right. It isn't acceptable for people to be treated like this in Minnesota or elsewhere.

Liam Conejo Ramos and his father have landed back in Minnesota following a judge's order Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old whose detention by ICE sparked national fervor, returned home to Minnesota with his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, Sunday morning after a judge ordered their release.

JUST IN: The five-year-old Columbia Heights Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, who have been in an ICE detention facility in Texas, are on their way home.

Watch the video as a recklessly driven cheap car careens around and a gang of armed thugs spring out to menace an innocent civilian, like a kidnapping or robbery or murder-for-hire.

It looks like organized crime taking place in a third-world country, because it is.

Judge Biery signed the order with a photo of Liam and two bible verses: The first is "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." The second is simply "Jesus wept."

Astonishing thing for a judge to do.

More than 110 lawmakers from 27 states came together for a Day of Solidarity with Minnesota communities.

States have both the authority and the obligation to protect civil rights, demand accountability, and act together when our constitutional rights and democratic principles are threatened.

Visited the very beautiful memorial commemorating Alex Pretti. I appreciate the care of neighbors and friends who have left candles and flowers along with tributes to the wonderful person who was such a good caregiver to everyone he knew.

A hearing room in the Minnesota Senate Building with three women sitting at the testifiers table.

I was proud to see Richfield Mayor Supple testify today along with St Louis Park Mayor Mohamed about the impact of illegal ICE activity on their communities. Mayor Supple conveyed the impact on trust and safety in her community and others across our state along with enormous negative economic impact

We live in a metropolitan area of the United States. People who are going about their lives like other Americans are being taken away for no reason and trauma is being inflicted at schools, hospitals, neighborhoods. It’s appalling that complaints are made about their dining options being affected.

Today, in a massive show of support, 1,025 organizations, including immigrant justice, human rights, civil rights, faith, and labor organizations, sent a letter to members of Congress to express horror, outrage & deep grief about the recent shooting deaths by federal agents in Minneapolis.

“Operation Metro Surge has been an unmitigated disaster.”

Those were words of a Republican candidate and attorney as he dropped his bid for Minnesota governor yesterday. Where are the voices of our state’s Republican elected leaders? Silence is complicity.

Imagine being a congressman from Minnesota and caring so little about what’s happening here that you just copy and paste talking points.

If you’re not writing your own statements and you’re not holding town halls, what exactly are we paying you for?

STATEMENT FROM THE PARENTS OF ALEX PRETTI, MICHAEL AND SUSAN PRETTI "We are heartbroken but also very angry. "Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. "I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed. "Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you."

A statement released by the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you."

A white candle in a window which is a stained glass with flowers.

In honor of Alex and Renee. May our communities feel connected and strengthened despite distance and the cold temperatures this day.

The killing of Alex Pretti is another devastating event that hurts all of us in our community. It’s senseless and ICE must leave our state NOW. My senate colleagues and I have shared the statement below ❤️

Detained by ICE, two women became first responders during agent’s seizure The women say they guided agents through the emergency, later raising concerns about medical protocols, weapons safety and accountability.

Two women trained as first responders were abducted by three ICE agents. One of the agents starts seizing. The other two don’t know what to do. The women jump into action and save the agent’s life, only to be re-handcuffed and processed.

www.startribune.com/detained-by-...

"The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality."

-James Baldwin, from Notes on the House of Bondage (The Nation, 1980)
#everynightapoem #ofsorts

ICE detained St. Paul resident ChongLy Scott Thao in his underwear. The suspect whom agents were looking for was already in prison — and has been there since Sept. 4, 2024. bit.ly/4qxjGeJ

They want to tell you a kid with a Spider-Man backpack is evil Liam Ramos' innocence, like the innocence of all kids, is unimpeachable. The visuals of his arrest are excruciating.

Here is a literal preschooler wearing a Spider-Man backpack, just like all of our kids, as the hand of a much larger masked ICE agent holds onto his backpack, as if he were a flight risk.

To any colleagues who don't see a problem with what ICE is doing in Minnesota: What's it going to take? When is enough, enough?

Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026

"'Our operations are lawful, targeted and focused on individuals who pose a serious threat to this community,' Bovino said..."

Again, Liam is **five**. Five years old.