No Sleep for Fascists
At the intersection of fast and slow violence, the Sunrise Movement targets the hotels housing ICE.
Editors’ Note: The following was submitted to us by local organizers with the Sunrise Movement. You can learn more about their work at @sunrise.twincities on Instagram or by filling out their interest form.
The Sunrise Movement started in 2017 as a group of young people fighting for a Green New Deal and progressive climate legislation. After Trump’s inauguration in 2025, the Sunrise Twin Cities chapter grew from a small hub at Macalester College to a second larger hub open among the general public of the cities As both the environmental and political climate has changed, so have our goals. Since the federal government announced Operation Metro Surge, subsequently sending 3,000 ICE agents to illegally disappear and kidnap Minnesota’s immigrant community, especially Somali and Latine, there has been no other choice but to shift our focus to anti-ICE and anti-authoritarian tactics. Escalation and violence from the agents, including the murder of 37-year-old Renee Good, has been met with uproar and opposition from the entire Twin Cities community, including Sunrise.
The Twin Cities has one of the highest Somali populations in Minnesota. BIPOC people in general make up one third of the population in Minnesota and are the leading voices in Sunrise. As tensions escalate, it is clear that the ICE agents do not care about documents and will kidnap anyone they deem a threat. Our multi-faceted, anti-authoritarian campaign has been developing since October 2025 in an effort to stand with and protect our community while being very clear that ICE is not welcome in the Twin Cities.
As dangerous and reckless as these masked agents are, we have met them with protest after protest. One of our most successful initiatives has been the boycotting of Hilton Hotels, a chain that has been housing ICE agents. Tactics targeting Hilton have included “wide awake” late-night noise demonstrations outside of the hotels to disrupt the agents sleep, and flooding customer service with mass calls expressing disapproval. Another effective tactic has been encouraging people to book rooms, and then cancel before they are charged in an effort to occupy the hotels and cost them money. It is confirmed that two St. Paul hotels have closed temporarily to avoid housing ICE as a direct result of these tactics. Several others are reporting back to us about their concern for the safety of their employees due to the presence of ICE in their hotels. Mass calls and legal observer trainings, mutual aid initiatives, and sharing resources have grown our Instagram following to over 13,000. As our numbers grow, so does our power and ability to fight back.
We have not lost sight of the threat of the climate crisis—in fact, quite the opposite. In addition to the fast violence of daily raids in our neighborhoods, environmental degradation is a form of slow violence. Both forms of violence are perpetrated by the same people: billionaires, oligarchs, and oil barons. This small handful of powerful people, typically white and male, use our tax dollars to fund ICE and the fossil fuel industry responsible for the climate crisis.
Environmental and green movements have historically been whitewashed, ignoring the intersectionality of racism, colonialism, imperialism, and the continued threat to marginalized communities that are being hit first and worst from fascist governments and climate change. From Palestine, to Iran, to Minneapolis, it’s imperative that we include these forms of oppression and imperialism in our ever-changing definition of “violence.” The Sunrise Movement aims to build a movement across race, class, and geography, prioritizing historically marginalized voices in leadership roles. If you are passionate about non-violent mass non-cooperation and the intersection of fascism and the climate crisis, Sunrise Twin Cities is the place for you.