The Minneapolis Tech Community Holds Strong During a ‘Tense and Difficult Time’

The technology community in Minneapolis is struggling to process a period of escalating violence and fear, as U.S. immigration agents have intensified enforcement operations across the city, resulting in multiple deaths, including at least two U.S. citizens.

Eight founders and investors based in Minneapolis said that much of their professional work has slowed or stopped entirely in recent weeks. Instead, many are devoting their time to supporting neighbours and community members — volunteering at churches, helping distribute food, donating money, protesting, and offering emotional support. These efforts cut across racial and economic lines and reflect a growing grassroots response to the situation unfolding in the city.

“There’s a lot of commonality between how a teacher is reacting right now and how a tech professional is reacting,” said Scott Burns, a local investor. He described a deeply exhausted community. Burns said he has been attending church more frequently to help pack and deliver food to people who are too frightened to leave their homes. “It was like what happens after a natural disaster,” he said.

Burns and others in Minneapolis’s tech sector described how the immigration raids have disrupted daily life, transforming the city into one bound together by fear and solidarity amid what they see as escalating violence by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Founders and investors questioned how they could focus on building companies while federal agents appear to be everywhere — often in plain clothes and carrying military-grade weapons. Agents have been seen boarding public transportation, entering workplaces, waiting outside homes, lingering in parking lots, and even circling schools.

One Black founder, who spoke anonymously to protect his employees, said he now carries his passport with him at all times. Although he is a U.S. citizen, he said he has watched people of colour throughout the city be profiled and detained by ICE and border patrol agents.

“People aren’t exaggerating how hard it has been,” he said. “It’s hard to focus; it’s been a challenge just navigating even my team through it.”

He recalled a routine phone call with a colleague who suddenly fell silent. She eventually explained that she was watching ICE detain someone in her neighbourhood — the same neighbourhood where his mother lives.

“I had to get off the phone and call my mom to make sure she had her passport on her,” he said.

A Community on Edge

Efraín Torres, a Latino founder, said he now works from home, listening as immigration raids unfold in the neighbourhood. “You can’t hear them,” he told —cars honk. Protesters whistle warnings. “And if you miss it, you’ll see signs saying, ‘ICE took my neighbour.’”

Torres said officials have conducted so-called “citizen checks,” stopping people and asking them to prove their immigration status. He noted that the Supreme Court of the United States ruled last year that such checks could be conducted based on factors such as race or weight.

These checks have happened during everyday activities, Torres said — including while people were clearing snow from their driveways. He added that he has had several encounters with ICE and has kept a low profile as a result.

“The line separating me from being a victim of assault is just a chance encounter,” Torres said, noting that he knows people who have been followed by ICE agents — something others have also reported.

The Trump administration has ramped up immigration raids nationwide, but the scale of enforcement in the Twin Cities stands out. More than 3,000 federal agents have been deployed to Minnesota as part of Operation Metro Surge, officials said. ICE and border patrol agents now outnumber local police in Minneapolis by nearly three to one, said Amy Klobuchar.

Minnesota is home to one of the largest Somali immigrant populations in the United States — a community that the Trump administration has targeted in the past. That includes Ilhan Omar, who has publicly clashed with President Trump. The state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey have also drawn criticism from the president.

While the administration frames the raids as part of its campaign promise to curb illegal immigration, critics argue that enforcement has disproportionately focused on cities and states that did not vote for Trump. Since Trump took office last January, more than 2,000 people have been arrested by ICE in Minnesota.

“It’s been difficult,” said another Black investor, who also spoke anonymously. Though he is a U.S. citizen with family roots in the country dating back a century, he now carries his passport as a precaution.

“Where I go to the gym, they’re in rural Minnesota,” he said, pointing out that enforcement is not confined to the city. “It’s just been a strange time.”

Still, many in the tech community are doing what they can to help. This investor works with college-aged founders, many of whom are immigrants, and said he buys groceries for them so they don’t have to risk going out to buy them. Like others, he works from home when possible.

“It’s a tense and difficult time on the ground,” said Mary Grove, another Minneapolis-based investor.

Investor Reed Robinson said some founders with children have organised volunteer networks to watch each other’s kids at schools and daycares, where ICE detentions have become alarmingly common. He told agents that they frequently violate the law and court orders during these operations.

“It feels unnecessary, it feels intrusive, it feels like a violation of rights,” Robinson said.

Beneath the fear and anxiety, many also feel anger.

Torres said the emotional toll has made it nearly impossible to focus on work. His company has banned ride-sharing apps altogether. Some of his engineers are on H-1B visas, which have also come under scrutiny from the Trump administration, and have reported being followed by immigration officials.

“Each time, it was three to four armed men in tactical outfits,” Torres said. He added that he and his wife have discussed leaving the state altogether. “They’re inflicting trauma everywhere they go.”

Grassroots Support Fills the Void

Minneapolis’s tech ecosystem remains relatively small, with startups raising just over $1 billion in recent years. Still, it includes notable companies such as fintech firm Sezzle, clean water startup Rorra, and medtech company Reema.

“There’s an incredible history of innovation here,” Robinson said. “It’s not going to stop; we’re going to continue to do the work while we figure out this current situation.”

The Twin Cities are also home to the primary corporate headquarters of Target, Optum, Best Buy, UnitedHealth Group, and General Mills. Several founders and investors criticised these companies’ leadership for issuing what they considered vague or insufficient responses, even as some of their own employees have been detained.

“We haven’t had an adequate response,” one startup investor said.

After ICE agents killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 60 senior executives across Minnesota signed a statement calling for an “immediate de-escalation of tensions.” Corporations have also helped fund millions in grants through the Minneapolis Foundation to support businesses affected by the enforcement surge.

Yet many founders and investors said those efforts pale in comparison to the grassroots response unfolding across the city.

A recent CNBC poll found that one-third of executives surveyed had stayed silent because they felt speaking out was not relevant to their business. Another 18% cited fear of backlash from the Trump administration, while 9% said they were still deciding how to respond.

“When you see the failure of community institutions to demonstrate any kind of bravery, that’s really where it’s probably most disappointing,” said Tim Herby, a local investor.

Grove said her team regularly checks in with founders and community members, helping them cover rent and connect them with free meals from restaurants. Local tech nonprofit Minnestar is planning a community event to bring people together to discuss next steps.

One Black investor noted the irony of seeing police officers stand alongside residents in speaking out against federal actions, just a few years after Minneapolis residents were protesting police violence following the murder of George Floyd.

Another Black founder said some of his white friends have begun driving him around the city for safety. He recalled sitting in a restaurant with friends when the television suddenly began broadcasting live updates about 

 another person. The atmosphere immediately shifted.

“I saw a friend yesterday,” he said. “It was the first time he left the house since New Year’s.”