In Minneapolis, community organiser Ozuya Cikala of the Oglala Lakota Nation says recent federal operations have left communities living in fear and grief.
He describes the actions of immigration agents as “kidnappings”, alleging people are being detained off the street in subzero temperatures following operations that left Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti dead.
Speaking to Te Ao Māori News, Cikala says he believes criminal acts are being committed against US citizens. He also says the current situation continues a long history of state violence against Indigenous and marginalised communities.
“They called my people savages, then hostiles, rebels, and radicals. Today, they call our people domestic terrorists. We call ourselves human beings.”
Cikala is calling for national unity, urging people across the country to stand together under a single call to action.
That call has reached beyond Minnesota to Dallas, where a hotel worker’s decision to warn her community has drawn national attention.
Gia, a nursing student working as a valet at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, says she spoke out after realising ICE agents were staying at the hotel.
She noticed men with badges, guns and earpieces occupying valet-only parking spaces.
“I felt a pit in my stomach.”
During her lunch break, Gia recorded a warning to her community, urging families to take shelter. She says the decision followed her viewing of a video showing Renee Nicole Good being killed earlier that day.
Her actions led to her termination.
After an ICE agent complained he felt “concerned for his safety” because she had recorded them, Gia challenged her manager.
“How is it that they can discriminate against us every day? How can he feel concerned for his safety when he has guns? I’m a five-foot girl.”
Gia was asked to take the video down and warned that she could be held liable if anything happened to the agents. She refused. An hour later, HR terminated her employment for breaching a social media policy, despite the fact that she never posted footage showing agents’ faces.
Hilton Anatole later clarified that Gia was employed by a third-party contractor, Towne Park, and said the situation was addressed to ensure guest privacy. ICE officials praised the termination, citing agent safety.
The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression rejects that claim, saying the real safety concern is the presence of armed federal agents in community workspaces.
Gia is now working alongside the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression to organise a protest in Dallas in support of the national call.
“It wasn’t a fair trade-off for people’s lives to be at risk versus me keeping a job that already didn’t appreciate me.”
