Minnesota’s long-standing culture of ‘mutual aid’ and community philanthropy has kicked in, as it fights back against brutal violence unleashed by armed federal agents in the US described as indicative of the government’s lurch into ‘fascism’.

While local resistance accelerates, the biggest US philanthropies have largely remained publicly tight-lipped on the brutality enforced by the Trump administration, as federal ‘ICE’ agents deport, injure, maim and arrest both immigrants and US citizens.

Three thousand ICE officers, sent to Minnesota by US President Donald Trump, have outnumbered the 10 biggest local and state police agencies combined. 

The Immigrant Rapid Response Fund was launched by the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota for immigration-related emergencies. It aims to raise at least $5 million to support Minnesota nonprofits on the frontlines serving Somali, Latino and other communities. The McKnight Foundation, the Bush Foundation and Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation are among institutional philanthropies partnered with the fund. 

Black Collective Foundation — a small philanthropy without national funders — is set to disperse grants to frontline organisations, many of them targeted for working with undocumented and immigrant communities, as soon as possible. Speaking to Inside Philanthropy, the Black Collective Foundation urged the biggest national foundations to step up and support communities targeted by the Trump administration, particularly given communities of colour lack the resources 

Emergency funds have been just one arm in the locker of the Minnesota community response. 

Thousands of people have signed up for legal observer trainings, many of them already at full capacity.  

Numerous crowdfunding ‘rent relief funds’ have emerged to help families struggling with housing, with federal agents snatching primary income earners (list available via local media report). 

Elsewhere, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee opened a food card fundraiser for families forced into hiding in fear of being targeted by ICE agents. 

Minnesota’s long tradition of ‘mutual aid’ goes back decades, through its mix of religious institutions such as Lutheran churches, large diasporas (home to the largest refugee population per capita in the United States) and a labor organising movement stretching back to before it officially became a state, demonstrating the longstanding history of Minnesota's culture of mutual aid.

Read the full article about Minnesota's culture of mutual aid by Shafi Musaddique at Alliance Magazine.