Category: Witness
-
The Freedom to Go to Work
//Witness“Because here, people can go to work.” For most Americans, those words would hardly seem worth mentioning. But for Bernardo, a Cuban immigrant who has built his life in Austin, Minnesota, they reveal a troubling reality: a town that depends on immigrant workers, even as those workers live with the fear of immigration enforcement.
-
So That Is Also Who We Are
//WitnessFor more than three decades, immigration attorney Elizabeth Streefland has sought out the stories of strangers—only to discover they were never strangers at all. Through her experiences with immigrants, families, and an increasingly unforgiving legal system, she reveals the human lives behind immigration policy and reminds us of another America: one that still opens its…
-
When Fear Closed Doors, They Opened Theirs
//WitnessWhen fear drove immigrant families in Austin behind closed doors, Flor and Maria kept showing up—bringing food, answering calls, guiding neighbors through uncertainty, and reminding us what it means to help when others are afraid.
-
The Fear Doesn’t Leave When the Agents Do
//WitnessThe immigration raids may have eased in Austin, Minnesota, but the fear they created has not. Children still wonder whether their parents will be home after school, whether they need to carry passports—and whether they can make it safely from the car to the front door.
-
That Doesn’t Matter Anymore
//WitnessMiriam had spent much of her life helping others—translating, giving rides, navigating appointments, doing whatever needed to be done. Then one ordinary act of kindness placed her in an encounter that left her terrified, shaken, and questioning something she had always taken for granted: what it meant to be a U.S. citizen.
-
The Rule of Law Is It
//WitnessMilo Mumgaard has spent decades watching immigrants become part of the American fabric and using the law to protect people without power. Today, as immigration enforcement consumes Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid’s attention and basic protections come under strain, he remains convinced that the rule of law, and the values behind it, can still provide a way…
