With her own refugee community in mind, St. Paul City Council Member Nelsie Yang is organizing East Siders to shine their lights across Lake Phalen on Saturday in a symbolic gesture against Operation Metro Surge.
Residents plan to spell the words “MN > ICE” with a Hmong heart symbol across the lake shortly after sundown.
Since early January thousands of federal immigration officials have detained illegal immigrants and in some cases legal residents in the Twin Cities. Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot by immigration agents in encounters last month in Minneapolis.
The gathering will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Lake Phalen beach, 1400 Phalen Boulevard. Yang, in a written statement, noted the Payne-Phalen neighborhood is 45% Asian, 14% Black and 9% Latino, making it one of the most culturally diverse communities in the state.
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