Twin Cities tenant unions say “evict ICE, not us”

April 21, 2026

Tenant unions across the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have been organizing to stop evictions due to the economic and social disruption triggered by 3,000 federal immigration agents invading Minnesota in December of last year. Thousands of immigrant workers lost income or were forced to remain home, destabilizing already precarious housing situations. As rent burdens deepened and calls for assistance surged, tenant organizations rapidly united to demand eviction protections and broader housing justice, framing the fight not only as an economic issue but as a matter of safety, dignity, and community survival.

Operation Metro Surge brought immigration enforcement agents who terrorized community members, shooting three people, killing two; racially profiling people; detaining legal residents and shipping them across state lines, including young children; and smashing car windows to remove the occupants.

“Home is one of the last places of safety for families being targeted.”

Many immigrant families did not leave their homes for over two months because it wasn’t safe to commute, while others lost hours or had household members detained or deported. “Home is one of the last places of safety for families being targeted,” said Yusra Murad, an organizer with Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia (United Renters for Justice).

Twin Cities workers lost an estimated $1 06 million in wages due to the occupation by ICE.

Twin Cities helplines reported large increases in calls requesting rent assistance. The Spanish language line saw an increase of over 1,600 percent from the previous quarter.

Inquilinxs Unidxs and other tenant unions, with support from the national Tenant Union Federation, came together to form Twin Cities Tenants to push for policies on the state and city level to halt evictions. The tenants group, backed by five local labor unions, started working to get 10,000 people to commit to go on a rent strike on March 1. Although they did not meet their goal, tenant unions achieved an unprecedented level of tenant organizing in the Twin Cities. In just two weeks, they succeeded in putting together a massive organizing effort that had around 270 volunteers knocking on doors and made 26,000 phone calls.

“A massive spike in homelessness unless local government steps in.”

The tenant unions also organized to support a Minneapolis City Council measure introduced by council member Robin Wonsley to require landlords to give tenants 60 days’ notice before filing for eviction, instead of the current 30 days. Wonsley said the temporary eviction notice extension would help people stay housed while they worked to access funds that were being raised for rental assistance. More than 80 community members spoke at the council meeting.

Wonsley said, “Preventing eviction is always more cost-effective than trying to re-house someone who has been evicted. It’s also far more humane.” Council Member Soren Stevenson, who was a co-sponsor of the ordinance, noted that “Operation Metro Surge will cause a massive spike in homelessness unless local government steps in.”

“In the Landlords’ Pockets”

After Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the extension, tenants criticized him for being in the landlords’ pockets. Landlords were major donors to the All of Minneapolis PAC, which spent over $560,000 to re-elect Frey last year.[1]

Landlords were also major donors to the We Love Minneapolis PAC. The two PACs spent $266,000 to support the five council members who voted against extending the pre-eviction notice.[2] The two PACs also spent $110,000 in an unsuccessful effort to defeat the sponsor of the ordinance, council member Robin Wonsley.[3]

The Minnesota Multi-Housing Association gave $215,000 to the All of Minneapolis PAC and $72,000 to the We Love Minneapolis PAC, making it one of the PACs’ largest donors.[4] The Association, which represents landlords, urged the mayor to veto the ordinance.

Inquilinxs Unidxs and other tenant advocacy groups have cited the dominance of corporate and private equity landlords as accelerating the housing crisis, and many of those landlords contributed to the two PACs, including:

Sherman Associates, which owns over 3,000 total housing units in Minneapolis,[5] gave $25,000 to the All of Minneapolis PAC.[6]The company also owns a hotel in Minneapolis, Canopy by Hilton,which protesters targeted for housing ICE agents.
Hornig Companies, which owns 24 properties with almost 1,000 units,[7] gave $30,000 to the We Love Minneapolis PAC.[8]
Bader Companies owns 12 properties with over 1,000 total housing units in Minneapolis.[9] Scott Bader gave $10,000 to the All of Minneapolis PAC.[10]
Doran Companies own 12 properties with over 3,600 total housing units in the Twin Cities.[11] The company gave $30,000 to the All of Minneapolis PAC. [12]
Wellington Management owns 8 properties with over 1,200 total housing units in Minneapolis.[13]The company gave $10,000 to the we Love Minneapolis PAC.[14]
CSM Corporation owns eight apartment buildings with over 1,300 total units in the Twin Cities.[15]CSM also owns at least two hotels in the Twin Cities that were reported to be housing ICE agents.[16]Over 1,000 demonstrators protested at the Depot Renaissance Hotel in Minneapolis. CSM fired a worker from its Marriottt Residence Inn hotel for posting online the names, emails and photos of ICE agents. This prompted ICE to thank the hotel for its swift action.[17] Peter Vorbich, a CSM executive, gave $5,000 to All of Minneapolis.[18]

Over the last few months, tenant unions have achieved an unprecedented level of tenant organizing in the Twin Cities and have committed to continue fighting for housing justice.

[1]https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41291/2026/, “All of Minneapolis 2025 Year End Finance Report”, p. 30 -$163,000 against mayoral candidate Omar Fateh, pp. 40-41 – $404,000 supporting Jacob Frey

[2] https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41291/2026/, All of Minneapolis PAC 2025 Year End Finance Report, p. 43 – $2,958 in support of Michael Rainville, p. 43 – $2,958 in support of Linea Palmisano, p. 44 – $103,000 in support of Elizabeth Shaffer, p. 45 – $4,296 in support of Latrisha Vetaw, and p. 46 – $125,000 in support of Pearll Warren.

https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41379/2026/ , We Love Minneapolis PAC 2025 Year End Finance Report, p. 17 – $4,948 in support of Linea Palmisano, p. 18 – $7,649 in support of Elizabeth Shaffer, p. 18 – $4,948 in support of Michael Rainville, p. 20 – $6,320 in support of Pearll Warren, p. 20 – $4,948 in support of Latrisha Vetaw.

[3]https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41291/2026/, All of Minneapolis 2025 Year End Finance Report, p. 42 – $74,627 in support of Shelly Madore, p. 47 – $29,849 against Robin Wonsley,

https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41379/2026/ , We Love Minneapolis PAC 2025 Year End Finance Report, p. 16 – $7,649 in support of Shelly Madore

[4] https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41291/2026/, All of Minneapolis 2025 Year End Finance Report, P. 18

https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41379/2026/ , We Love Minneapolis PAC 2025 Year End Finance Report, p. 4

[5] Source: CoStar

[6]https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41291/2026/, All of Minneapolis 2025 Year End Finance Report, p. 26

[7] Source: Costar

[8]https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41379/2026/ , We Love Minneapolis PAC 2025 Year End Finance Report, p. 5

[9] Source:CoStar

[10] https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41291/2026/, All of Minneapolis 2025 Year End Finance Report, p. 3

[11] Source:CoStar

[12] https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/campaign-finance/political-committee-fund/41291/2026/, All of Minneapolis 2025 Year End Finance Report p. 8