Minneapolis’ tech community stays strong during ‘tense and challenging times’

The city’s tech scene is reeling as US immigration agents escalate their crackdown in Minneapolis, killing several people, including at least two US citizens.

Eight Minneapolis-based founders and investors told TechCrunch that they have paused much of their work and now spend their days focusing on their communities, volunteering at churches, and helping with food purchases. It’s part of a grassroots effort, across race and class, of seeing people speaking out, donating money, protesting, and offering emotional support to each other.

“There’s a lot in common between how a teacher is reacting right now and how a tech professional is reacting,” Scott Burns, an investor in the area, told TechCrunch. People are “very stressed out,” he said. Burns goes to church often to help pack food to deliver to those who are afraid to leave their homes. “It was like what happens after a natural disaster,” he said of the efforts.

Burns and other members of the Minneapolis tech industry told TechCrunch that the immigration raids have been extremely devastating to their lives, describing a city that has seen itself united in the past few weeks in the face of escalating violence from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

How can building a company remain a focal point when ICE agents seem ubiquitous, dressed in civilian clothes and armed with military-grade weapons? Federal agents were seen searching public transportation and walking around businesses. They are outside homes and in parking lots. They have been spotted circling schools.

One Black founder, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his team members, said he now carries his passport with him wherever he goes. He is an American citizen but has seen people of color all over the city being identified and picked up by ICE and Border Patrol agents.

“People don’t exaggerate how hard it is. It’s hard to focus; just getting my team through it was a challenge,” he said.

He recalled a routine phone meeting with a colleague who suddenly went silent. The colleague, at a loss for words, said she was watching ICE detain someone in the neighborhood, the same neighborhood where his mother lived.

“I had to hang up and call my mom to make sure she had her passport,” the founder said.

Efrain Torres, a Latino founder, works from home, tentatively listening to the immigration raids happening in his neighborhood. “You can’t not hear them,” he told TechCrunch. Cars will beep. The demonstrators sound sirens. “And if you miss it, you’ll see signs that say, ‘My neighbor was taken by ICE.’

Officials are even conducting “citizen searches,” stopping people and asking them to prove their immigration status — something the Supreme Court said last year could be done based on details such as race or whether a person has an “accent.” These tests were conducted on people performing ordinary tasks, such as blowing grass through the snow, Torres said. He said he’s had some run-ins with ICE, which is why he likes to keep a low profile.

“The line between me and being a victim of assault is just a chance encounter,” he said, adding that he knows people who are followed by ICE — something others have reported happens in conjunction with raids.

The Trump administration has stepped up its immigration raids across the country, though the force deployed in the Twin Cities is particularly large, with more than 3,000 federal agents deployed to Minnesota as part of the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge.” ICE and Border Patrol agents now outnumber local police in Minneapolis about 3 to 1, said Sen. Amy Klobucharoff of Minnesota.

The state is home to one of the largest concentrations of migrants from Somalia, a group the administration has targeted before. Among them is US Representative Ilhan Omar, who quarreled with President Trump. Minnesota’s Democratic Governor, Tim Walz, also saw himself targeted by the president, as did Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, also a Democrat.

The increase in immigration enforcement is part of President Trump’s campaign promise to reduce illegal immigration, although some argue that Trump was specifically targeting cities and states that did not vote for him. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested more than 2,000 people in Minnesota since Trump took office last January.

“It’s been tough,” said one Black investor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He is also a US citizen and his roots in the country can go back a century. However, he lives outside the city, and carries his passport with him just in case.

“Wherever I go to a gym, they’re in rural Minnesota,” he said, meaning agents aren’t just located in the city. “It was a strange time.”

But everyone is doing what they can to help others. This investor, for example, works with founders in college, many of whom are immigrants. He buys them food so they don’t have to risk going to the grocery store themselves. He also tries to work from home, when possible, as do several other people TechCrunch spoke with.

“It’s a tense and difficult time on Earth,” Mary Grove, another investor in the region, told TechCrunch.

Investor Reed Robinson, who has also been helping community members financially, said some of his founders with children have created a volunteer system to monitor each other’s children at school or day care. It’s very common for ICE to detain day care employees, he said, adding that ICE agents often violate the law and court orders.

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

Like Robinson, many people feel angry because of anxiety and fear.

Investors and founders said the emotional toll makes it difficult to build. For example, Torres said his company now has a no-sharing policy. Some of its engineers hold H-1B visas (which the Trump administration has also attacked) and have reported being followed by immigration officials.

“Each time, there were three to four armed men wearing tactical gear,” Torres said, adding that he and his wife had talked about fleeing the state. “They cause trauma everywhere they go.”

Grassroots efforts prevail while corporate leaders disappoint

The tech scene in Minneapolis is still very young, with companies raising just over $1 billion in the last few years. There are some notable companies in the ecosystem, such as fintech Sezzle (now publicly listed), clean water company Rorra, and medtech company Reema. There is an incredible history of innovation, Robinson said. “It will not stop; we will continue to do the work as we figure out this current situation.”

The Twin Cities – Minneapolis and St. Paul – are the headquarters of some of America’s largest companies, such as Target, Optum, Best Buy, UnitedHealthGroup, and General Mills, to name a few. Some founders and investors have criticized the leadership of these major companies for their fundamentally ambiguous responses to the chaos sweeping cities, even as many of their employees have been detained.

“We haven’t received enough response,” said one startup investor.

Sixty top executives from the state signed a statement calling for an “immediate cessation of tensions” after ICE agents killed ICU nurse Alex Pretty. The state’s major corporations also came together to fund millions in grants through the Minneapolis Foundation for Businesses Affected by the Immigration Process.

But compared to what is happening at the grassroots level, many founders and investors said these measures are not enough. A recent CNBC poll found that a third of executives surveyed remained silent because they did not find speaking out relevant to work. 18% expressed concern about “the violent reaction from the Trump administration,” while 9% said they were still thinking about how to respond.

“When you see community organizations fail to show any kind of courage, that’s where it’s probably most disappointing,” Tim Herby, a local investor, told TechCrunch, describing the past two months as painful.

Investor Grove said her team routinely checks in with others in the community, including her portfolio companies, to make sure they are doing well. People help each other pay rent, while restaurants provide free meals, she said. Local tech non-profit Minnestar is set to host a community event to bring people together and discuss next steps.

One black investor said he found it ironic that police today stand shoulder to shoulder with so many people in speaking out against the government, just a few years after people in the city protested against them after the killing of George Floyd. It’s a new day.

Meanwhile, another black founder said some of his white friends began driving him around town for safety. He remembers one day sitting in a restaurant talking with friends, when the TV started broadcasting live updates about ICE shooting someone else. The mood has turned sombre, a reminder of how these raids consume every moment of life.

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