A community-made textile, assembled by Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee volunteers, represents stories of people deported during recent federal immigration enforcement and will be displayed publicly for rallies and remembrance.
The Minnesota Stolen Neighbors Quilt contains 12,500 fabric squares and was created to represent an estimated 11,000 people deported in Minnesota during the documented period.
Organizers link the quilt to broader advocacy: MIRAC is pushing a petition for Gov. Tim Walz to sign an executive order designating Minnesota a sanctuary state and is asking for mutual-aid donations and community support.
"Holding [the quilt] up for 10 minutes, feeling the weight of it, really made that pain sink in," Lubozynski said. "Just this tiny moment of what thousands of Minnesotans have been living with—the weight of the threat of deportation and the threat of being sent to a concentration camp. Inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, Lubozynski launched an Instagram account and began posting requests for 11,000 submissions of 3-by-3 inch panels of fabric in mid-April.
× Expand MIRAC Minnesota Stolen Neighbors Quilt "There's so many names and stories that we don't know and families that we're not connected to, and so many people who've lost people to ICE kidnappings who can't come forward and can't share their stories because they're in danger," Lubozynski said. Lubozynski and other quiltmakers still aimed to center the local community as much as possible. " That left the quilt with student-designed panels emblazoned with "ICE OUT!" and other anti-ICE statements, as well as lighthearted appreciation for Latino communities.
Stolen Neighbors Quilt Honors Minnesotans Deported by ICE. At its unveiling at the Minnesota State Capitol's rotunda in September, dozens of community members, including Owen Lubozynski, a member of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and the quilt's primary creator, held up the quilt for a moment of silence. Although the number of federal agents in Minnesota has dropped to a fraction of the 4,000 agents at the peak of Operation Metro Surge, the Star Tribune reports that ICE arrested 900 immigrants in Minnesota between March and early August, with a gradual increase in arrests since March.
The Twin Cities know first hand the pain and violence of ICE raids. Another casualty is their economy Minnesotans are all too familiar with the pain and violence of the Trump administration’s unsparing mass deportation agenda. This past January, Minneapolis mom Renée Nicole Good had just finished dropping off one of he
When I first heard about the Stolen Neighbors Quilt, I pictured a group of quilters working on something enormous. Then I learned that the finished piece contains 12,500 squares . If you have ever tried to keep even a modest … Read More...
The Minnesota Stolen Neighbors Quilt has reminded many of us just how much a group of makers can achieve together. Its organisers brought contributions from across the country into a quilt containing 12,500 squares, which was unveiled at the Minnesota … Read More...
Fraud continues to plague the state of Minnesota, extending even to a program created to offset the economic impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Hennepin County. Back in March, Hennepin County commissioners approved $2 million for the program meant to help small businesses that had been affected by Operati
Reflections on the community and Operation Metro Surge, nearly 10 months since it began in Minnesota.
The Mountain Mama Quilters Quilt of Valor Group #24479 in Berkeley Springs awarded Albert Beyner a Quilt of Valor in Chester, West Virginia on Saturday, September 12. His is the 500th quilt that has been made by this local group since they formed. Leader Dottie O’Toole met Veteran Beyner back [Read More...] The post Lo
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