Greeting you with joyful hope, fueled by the rage and heartbreak of the last few months. Every one of us has been stretched beyond our imaginations to put our love for our communities into action, and I’m thankful for every act of courage. Local Progress exists because we know that, even as local elected officials are so under-resourced, they are the leaders closest to our neighbors and the crises we face together.
Local Progress Minnesota members are on the frontlines in supporting communities from violence from federal agents. All over the state, LP members are on the streets to patrol, serve as Constitutional observers, and attempt de-escalation with DHS agents. Here is just a small sampling of the local efforts made by our community.
🧊 Evict ICE, Not Us
With partners organizing directly with tenants facing the crisis in their homes and livelihoods, LPMN joined the demand to Governor Walz to issue an eviction moratorium. Following the lead of Robin Wonsley in Minneapolis, who led the way by passing a resolution in January, LP members in Roseville, Columbia Heights, and St. Paul passed similar measures.
Alongside fundraising for mutual aid, releasing emergency rental assistance funds, and other tools to stall evictions, the demand for an eviction moratorium continues to gain momentum because we know simply that these other measures do not even come close to meeting the needs of Minnesotans across the state. On Wednesday, February 11, on behalf of over 135 local electeds from MN and the national network, we delivered a letter to Gov. Walz’s office pushing for the moratorium, sharing stories of the students and families whose safety requires him to take action.
Washington County Commissioner Michelle Clasen organized with local groups and media to push for an on-record response from Woodbury City Council on whether or not they would allow an ICE detention center as reported by the Trump Administration. On January 14, the city confirmed publicly that they would not allow for the detention center.
Saint Paul Public Schools (Halla Henderson, Uriah Ward, and Chauntyll Allen), Osseo Area Schools (Thomas Brookes, Keith Tate, and Kelsey Dawson), and Minneapolis Public Schools (Greta Callahan) launched virtual options to support the huge percentage of children and families sheltering in place.
Minneapolis City Council, led by Jason Chavez, Aisha Chughtai, and Aurin Chowdhury updated the separation ordinance, barring city employees including police from collaboration with ICE.
Saint Paul City Council members HwaJeong Kim, Molly Coleman, Anika Bowie, and Rebecca Noecker all contributed to moving powerful responses to DHS presence in the city, including working to hold their own police accountable for excessive force and displaying their identities, barring federal agents from city property, as well as urging Gov. Walz to take action for a moratorium on power and gas shut-offs and evictions.
With continued funding for DHS still up for debate in Congress, the City of Columbia Heights (LP members Laurel Deneen, Rachel James, Amada Marquez Simula, and Justice Spriggs) kicked off a national push for resolutions calling on Congress to rein in the Trump administration’s terror and keep families together. It’s not too late to move a resolution in your locality, learn more here.
✊ Preemption and Democracy: Lessons from Minnesota
Our allies at the Local Solutions Support Center offer a new blog post from Jamila Michener, PhD (Professor of Government and Public Policy at Cornell University, and director of the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures) exploring the deeper roots of Minnesota resistance – highlighting all Minnesotans have done over decades to cultivate lasting grassroots power, and the role that preemption (or lack thereof) plays in creating unique conditions that enable powerful grassroots resistance. Dr. Michener’s post offers a look at how other communities can cultivate grassroots power to confront federal authoritarianism.
🪧 Local Action to Address the Eviction Crisis
March rent is due, and too many families will face eviction months before statewide relief can arrive. Cities can close that gap by extending the pre-eviction notice period.
The eviction process begins with a pre-eviction notice for non-payment of rent, a letter to the tenant notifying them that the landlord will file an eviction if the tenant doesn’t pay past-due rent. Across the state, the pre-eviction notice is 14 days, and 30 days in some cities. After the period has expired, the landlord can file an eviction action, and the tenant will need to appear in court. For immigrant renters, going to court is risky because there have been instances across the state of people detained by ICE in court. Extending the pre-eviction notice period delays court filings and reduces exposure during this emergency. Buying time prevents our neighbors from being evicted. This toolkit includes sample policy and guidance on how to extend your local pre-eviction filing period. If you’d like any support on moving this policy in your locality, please let me know.
🏛️ Join Us at the Capitol
At our 2025 LPMN Statewide Strategy Meeting, we explored how LP members can show up together during the 2026 legislative session to be champions for our communities and bring an alternative voice to the one often claiming to speak for local government. With the legislature now in session, we’ll show up as champions for our public schools, call for relief for families, and push for housing solutions that work for everyone. Email me to share what you’re tracking and where you want to raise your voice.
📜 Introduce a Resolution to Demand: ICE OUT!
Congress failed to meet their February 13 deadline to reach an agreement on how and whether to fund DHS, including ICE and Border Patrol, triggering a partial shutdown of the department. Negotiations are ongoing as some members of Congress try to leverage funding for more restrictions on immigration enforcement. As local elected officials, we must use our power and our voices to turn the pressure up and together say: ICE OUT.
Local Progress members have been calling on Congress to use the power of the purse to stop ICE. Last month, Local Progress member Teresa Mosqueda (King County, WA) introduced and passed a first-of-its-kind resolution calling for funding restrictions and regulations for DHS. We are following her lead and organizing members like you across the country to pass resolutions of your own. We’ve created sample resolutions for cities, counties, and school boards to give you a head start. Will you join our organized force to protect our communities and stop ICE and DHS from wreaking more havoc?
This funding impasse gives us a chance to restrain their barbaric tactics. The resolution calls on Congress to:
- End enforcement surges in places like Minneapolis;
- Prohibit masks and end racial targeting and targeting of daycares and schools;
- Place strong guardrails on ICE including requiring judicial warrants and allowing localities to investigate misconduct;
- End detention center abuses and restore people’s access to bond hearings; and
- Make deep cuts to the $170 billion dollars given to DHS in last year’s funding legislation.
➡️ From Campaigns to Governance: A Partner’s Guide to Building Our Base Together
Do you know someone who won last November? With nearly 1,800 members, Local Progress continues to be the best place for values-aligned local elected officials to be in community with one another. As one member shared in our survey last year, “The support and friendship I have built over the years are what keep me going!” With your help, we can identify new members to join the network and have the community you have come to cherish. Check out our partner’s guide.
🎙️ Listen to the Preemption Download
Across our membership, nearly every local official has faced some form of preemption or encroachment on local control. From state capitals to D.C., state and federal representatives continue to pass new laws that strip local governments of their powers. But across our network of nearly 1,800 local officials, there are many incredible stories of resistance and new strategies for fighting back.
Local Progress is proud to launch our new audio series, “The Preemption Download”! Over the course of ten episodes, we’ll introduce you to ten local elected officials who have faced preemption and came away with a stronger understanding of how to fight it. For our first episode, we spoke with Tallahassee City Commissioner Jack Porter about the everyday preemption battles she faces as a local elected official in Florida. You can listen here on our Instagram.
🤝 Join a State or Regional Workgroup to Practice Collaborative Governance
Workgroups are teams of LP members who meet regularly on a key issue area to workshop policy, delve deeper into issues, and strengthen our relationships with each other and grassroots partners. Ultimately, workgroups feed into translocal campaigns, where LP members can advance similar or related policies in their own localities through coordinated strategy, messaging, and collaborative governance practices. Together, we impact the policy landscape and make more possible. Join anytime, trusted legislative staff are welcome:
- Join the LPMN Just Cause Workgroup! (meets third Friday of the month, 10 am)
- Join the Midwest Regional Sanctuary Workgroup (meeting schedule TBD)
🏡 Your One Stop for Caucuses
Trying to remember when the next Nuestro Caucus General meeting is? Want to join the Black Caucus signal group chat? Or find your caucus playlist? Look no further! Your one stop shop for all things caucus is right here!
⚡️ National Convening Registration is now OPEN!
Are you ready for this year’s convening? We can’t wait to see you in Baltimore, MD on July 9-11! Over the past year, the community care amongst the incredible Local Progress network in this moment makes crystal clear what we’ve always known – that even in the midst of relentless attacks on immigrants, Black and Brown folks, LGBTQ+ people, workers, youth, and our communities – localities are not only at the forefront but serve as the bedrock of transformative change. It is this movement of local elected officials leading fearlessly to build a world where all of us can be grounded in our joy and freedom that inspires our 2026 theme: Fearless Leadership * Joyful Liberation. Check your email for your personalized invite link and register today!
Aurin Chowdhury has served on the Minneapolis City Council since 2023, serving as a leader on housing affordability and public safety. Now, in her second term, she’s looking at the next six months and how she can support the equitable, strategic implementation of Minneapolis’s new small-business recovery fund. “It’s a large-scale emergency”, she says, naming that there is an estimated $170 million impact on local businesses. Additionally, in her role as Intergovernmental Relations Chair for Minneapolis, she’ll be at the Capitol calling on the State to do its fair share to meet this emergency, including calling for more rental assistance, where the need in Minneapolis is currently estimated at $15 million. “Our community cannot be alone in picking up the pieces. There’s too much devastation for us to absorb alone.”
For Aurin, learning in solidarity with other LP members has been powerful during these horrific federal deployments: “My favorite moment with LP was feeling the response from other cities like Chicagoland and LA, and being a part of people who are together in local government. Together, it feels like we are the voice that is not showing up in national Democratic politics, but that should be.”
“Something that people don’t know is that people in Minneapolis have a long tradition of loving their neighbor, which has always called for justice and standing up for those who are on the margins. Minneapolis has always been a leader in labor, LGBTQIA rights, and a beacon of Minnesota that has pushed for better housing laws and stands tall in years of action that have delivered justice for immigrant rights. I’m grateful that this part of our community is now being shared with the nation.”