Minneapolis — At about midday this week, 30-year-old Haley “Rae” Ahrens, a local activist originally from Wisconsin, says she helped lead a group that confronted federal immigration agents and forced them to let go of a person they were detaining.
Ahrens told reporters and neighbors that she and others who watch for Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity received a tip about an ICE sighting. Within minutes, she said, her group of roughly 20 to 30 people arrived on foot and in cars near the site of the federal operation.
“We showed up and we overwhelmed these ICE agents so much that they let this detainee go,” Ahrens said in a calm but determined voice, recounting the scene to community members.
The tense confrontation unfolded as protesters gathered around federal vehicles. According to Ahrens, the crowd’s size and vociferous presence created confusion for the agents carrying out their work. She described a moment when chants, whistles and the simple act of standing firm convinced officials to step back.
“They are scaring us, but we are scaring them right back,” Ahrens said. “We have to keep going. It is working.”
Ahrens’ account paints her as the de facto coordinator of a grassroots response team that tracks federal enforcement actions in the city. She claimed that once her team mobilized, their numbers grew quickly, with neighbors joining in as the situation escalated.
Standing by her words, she emphasized that her group’s actions were driven by concern for local residents and fear of heavy-handed enforcement. Her voice carried a mix of fear and defiance, as though describing both the danger of the moment and the thrill of pushing back.
Critics of ICE in Minneapolis have grown more outspoken in recent weeks amid intense scrutiny of federal operations in the area. Many residents — including Ahrens and her circle — view the heightened presence of immigration agents as destabilizing and intimidating.
Ahrens said she does not regret what happened. “We knew there was a risk,” she said, shrugging as if that risk was woven into the daily fabric of activism. “We just acted.”
At the end of the day, officers pulled back and the person who had been detained was released back into the crowd. Neighbors and activists raised their voices in relief.
Whether authorities will pursue charges against Ahrens or any members of her group remains unclear. But for now, the confrontation has only fueled further debate in Minneapolis about how communities should respond when they feel targeted by federal enforcement.
Even as silence returns to the street where the incident occurred, the story of that day lingers in conversations across neighborhood cafés, living rooms and front porches — the kind of story that stays with a city long after the crowd has dispersed.
