At a Minneapolis City Council meeting on Jan. 15, council members in the throes of Operation Metro Surge discussed a resolution calling on Gov. Tim Walz to sign an eviction moratorium. Without power to do it on their own, demanding state action at least indicated their support for residents afraid to leave their homes. 

“This is one thing we can do today,” said Ward 9 Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez to a packed chamber. “But it’s not the only thing we should be doing.”

Council members in both Minneapolis and St. Paul are facing almost unprecedented pressure from constituents to oppose what many believe is an unlawful federal incursion into their cities. In response, elected officials told MinnPost they are pushing the limits of their legislative muscles and often wishing they had the power to do more. 

And even with the omnipresence of federal actions impacting their day jobs, some are spending their free time confronting the challenges face-to-face.

‘We just need to get these guys out of here.’

To watch a St. Paul or Minneapolis City Council meeting in recent weeks is to have seen officials throw everything at the wall and hope something sticks.

Both cities’ councils passed resolutions calling on Walz to sign an eviction moratorium. Minneapolis banned the staging of immigration enforcement operations on city-owned parking lots and ramps. St. Paul has an ordinance in the works that looks to do the same, as well as one that would prohibit the use of masks to hide the identities of law enforcement.

St. Paul is looking to strengthen and clarify the city’s longstanding separation ordinance which prevents city employees, including police, from enforcing federal immigration laws. Minneapolis did the same in late 2025. 

Related: Police in Twin Cities pitted between competing demands of protesters and federal agents

Both cities signed onto a lawsuit on Jan. 12 alleging the Department of Homeland Security has violated residents’ First Amendment and other constitutional rights.

“The short answer is that we’re doing all we can,” said St. Paul City Council President Rebecca Noecker (Ward 2). “We just need to get these guys out of here.”

While council members grapple with the limited legislative tools at their disposal, many have made clear that they’re searching for new ones – or at least ways to expedite their processes.

At times, tensions have flared. When procedural rules hampered an attempt by St. Paul City Council member Anika Bowie (Ward 1) to vote on a last-minute version of an updated separation ordinance, she said she was “very ashamed” by the lack of action.

Related: Minneapolis City Council takes on update of city’s separation ordinance

Noecker said she understood Bowie’s impulse but wanted to ensure the updates were vetted.

“There’s a fire going on, and we’re the firefighters,” Noecker said. “And that means you put on your protective gear, not just run into the fire.”

Already, she said, the Council was moving “much more quickly than normal” on the ordinance, pushing through holidays and illness.

Sweeping up onion peels

Minneapolis City Council members have also been active outside their respective chambers. Chavez reports almost daily on social media, from reports of ICE activity to posting fundraisers for residents. 

His colleague Aurin Chowdhury (Ward 12) joined crowds following the Jan. 14 shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in north Minneapolis, where she was exposed to a chemical irritant. 

Council President Elliott Payne said at a recent meeting that he had “lost his voice screaming at fascists and getting gassed.”

Related: Courts are mulling whether ICE violated observers’ civil rights. But does ICE listen to courts?

Eric Harris Bernstein, recently elected to the Minneapolis Board of Estimate & Taxation, said on an episode of the Wedge LIVE! podcast that he and fellow board member Steve Brandt would be donating their entire January salaries to rapid response causes.

In St. Paul, council member Molly Coleman (Ward 4) attended a neighborhood event on Jan. 19 to prepare food kits. 

“Today, my job was to be the person who swept up the onion peel as neighbors prepared food for hundreds of families who can’t leave their homes,” she posted on social media. “It felt very small, but it was something — and it was a reminder that there are many different roles to play as we fight for our democracy.”

‘Nothing comes close to this’

R.T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis from 2002-2014, led the city through tornadoes, a mass shooting and the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge — events that brought national attention to the city and responses from public officials at every level.

“It’s an opportunity to rise to a bigger part of yourself,” he said.

But Rybak noted a stark difference between what’s happening now and anything he faced during his three terms. In place of the cooperation he experienced in 2007 from President George W. Bush, Rybak said the Trump administration lacks all empathy.

“Nothing comes close to this,” he said, “since King George and the Boston Tea Party.”

The former mayor praised local officials across Minnesota, as well as residents’ actions like setting up mutual aid networks and Signal chats to respond to ICE activity.

Related: ‘If I can do it, I’m going to’: How Twin Citians are helping immigrant neighbors

“People are leading officials here,” Rybak said. “And that’s been also inspired by public officials who are holding up the great work done by the community.”

At the same time, he said he wanted people to understand that “almost no elected official is in charge of everything” and said he hoped they could be given more grace as they worked daily through complex decisions.

Rybak said he went to therapy after recognizing the long-term impacts of dealing with traumatic situations. “These are human beings you’re watching on television,” he said.

‘Nobody has written this playbook for us’

Council members, too, have been clear about their struggles.

“We can’t do everything that we wish we could,” Coleman said. “We cannot build a wall and keep ICE out.” And experts say it will be challenging for state and local prosecutors to charge federal law enforcement agents with crimes, including for the killing of Renee Good.

Council members in both cities said they’ve been working closely with city attorney offices to identify what levers are available for action. But there are hard limits to their power, higher offices to plead to, and a presidential administration that seems to have no interest in backing down.

Coleman worries that residents will lose patience: “What we are seeing is going to cause people to lose faith in the concept of government, period,” she said.

At times, emotion has overwhelmed the council members. Robin Wonsley’s voice cracked mid-interview with MinnPost as she described the sight of Renee Good’s blood on the ground. Chavez teared up at a press conference as he thanked residents running groceries to people afraid to leave their homes.

But they’re also looking at their challenge as an opportunity. “Nobody has written this playbook for us,” Coleman said. But she hoped Twin Citians’ actions would offer guidance to other cities and states that may face something similar.

Minneapolis Council member Soren Stevenson (Ward 8) — whose path to election began when he lost his eye to a rubber bullet fired by police during a protest following the murder of George Floyd — said the actions of officials now will be remembered in future elections.

But for now, there’s little chance to think beyond the present, he said. And for many elected officials, that means cracking away at legislation, joining mutual aid efforts, listening to constituents and organizing whatever it takes to keep neighbors safe.

“I can’t imagine what else I would be doing right now,” Stevenson said.

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