Gender Justice Launches Form To Report Harassment By Federal Agents Targeting Women and LGBTQ+ People In MN
Gender Justice says a flood of reports from Minnesotans — and the murder of Renee Nicole Good, a queer woman, by an immigration agent — show that gender-based violence is unfolding.
Featured Image: High school students gather for protest outside State Capitol in St. Paul, MN, days after Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent (photo by Octavio Jones / AFP via Getty Images)
“History has long shown that gender‑based violence is a feature, not a bug of oppressive systems,” said Megan Peterson, Executive Director of Gender Justice, in a statement released by the gender-equality organization on Jan. 16.
“The flood of reports from Minnesotans — and the murder of Renee Nicole Good, a queer woman, by a federal immigration agent — show that gender-based violence is unfolding here now. By documenting what people have experienced and witnessed, we can demand accountability, and ensure this history is not rewritten by those in power.”
In response to what Gender Justice has described as growing reports of harassment, intimidation, and violence targeting women, transgender, gender‑nonconforming, and LGBQ+ people during encounters with federal immigration agents, the nonprofit has launched a confidential reporting form to document and support investigation into unlawful conduct by ICE, CBP, and DHS in Minnesota.
The form is meant to be used by those who have personally experienced gender-based harm, or who have witnessed gender-based harm directed at someone else first-hand during an interaction involving federal immigration agents in Minnesota.
Related: Minnesota Teen Who Was Made To Prove Gender in Restaurant Bathroom Now Filing Charges
Gender Justice works to advance gender equity through law. Other impactful advocacies, as recently reported by GO, include: assisting Gerika Mudra, the Minnesota teen who was harassed by a Buffalo Wild Wings server and made to prove her gender in the restaurant’s bathroom; and trans athlete JayCee Cooper in her discrimination case against USA Powerlifting.
ACLU-MN filed class-action lawsuit against the Trump Administration following the deployment of thousands of federal forces to Minnesota – also launches form
Meanwhile, on Jan. 15, the ACLU of Minnesota, American Civil Liberties Union, Covington & Burling LLP, Greene Espel PLLP, and Robins Kaplan LLP filed a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration on behalf of three community members — and a class of similarly situated people — whose constitutional rights, they say, were violated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other federal agents. One plaintiff, Mubashir Khalif Hussen, reportedly was stopped by ICE and repeated, “I’m a citizen. I’m a citizen;” but the agents refused to look at Hussen’s ID and he was driven away, shackled.
“Over the past six weeks, the Trump administration has increased its deployment of federal forces – by the thousands. Masked federal agents in military gear have ignored basic human rights in their enforcement activity against Minnesotans, especially targeting Somali and Latino communities,” their press release states.
ACLU-MN has also launched a confidential legal intake form for individuals to report racial profiling, warrantless stops, and detention by federal law enforcement. Instructions are in English and Somali.
