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Some Winnipeggers say they’re doing what they can to show solidarity for their southern neighbours affected by an immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
Business owners concerned by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deployment in Minneapolis — about 620 kilometres as the crow flies south of Winnipeg — say they’re taking action, even if the situation may make them feel hopeless at times.
The Oh Doughnuts gourmet pastry shop is raising funds for the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba, or IRCOM, by doing what it’s best at — making doughnuts.
A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the “F ICE” doughnut — shaped like a letter “F” and covered in vanilla sprinkles, meant to represent ice — and another doughnut that reads “Be Good” will go to IRCOM, Oh Doughnuts owner Amanda Kinden said. Both were sold out on Friday.
The ‘F ICE’ doughnuts made by Winnipeg’s Oh Doughnuts were sold out Friday. Part of the proceeds from sales of the pastry will be donated to the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)
Kinden said the “Be Good” doughnut is a tribute to Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolist on Jan. 7.
“We think that there are very great injustices happening, and the overreach of the ICE agents, and how they’re treating human beings is just atrocious,” Kinden said.
“We as Winnipeggers go there [to Minneapolis] a lot. So we feel pretty close to them.”
Minnesota remains a major focus of immigration sweeps by agencies under Homeland Security, part of a mass deportation campaign by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Following the start of the crackdown in early December, confrontations between residents and federal officers have become increasingly tense in Minnesota’s most-populous city after Good was shot.
Kinden said if her shop was in Minneapolis, “we’d probably be closed today just like a lot of the businesses are there.”
“So I thought, What could we do at home? Let’s make some doughnuts, because people like those.”
What’s going on in the States makes her feel “pretty helpless,” and also makes her worried something like it could happen in Canada as well, Kinden said.
“My thinking in doing something here is that it could happen here.… We can definitely do [better in Canada], while also showing the many Americans that we’re with them.”
Crackdown ‘really hard to watch’
Winnipeg knitting enthusiasts have also come together to show solidarity to Minnesotans.
More than a dozen people showed up to a knit-along event Wednesday at the Wolseley Wool shop to begin crafting “Melt the ICE” hats, which will raise funds for people directly affected by the crackdown.
“There’s a yarn store in Minneapolis called Needle & Skein, and they were having a protest knit-along for these hats that they developed,” Wolseley Wool part-owner Justin Zaharia said.
The red tuques with a tassel were inspired by those used in Norway in the 1940s as a form of protest against Nazi occupation, according to an online listing for the pattern.
The listing said all proceeds will be distributed to those impacted by ICE’s actions.
“We just created space for the community to gather,” Zaharia said. “They all purchased the pattern, obviously. And then they’re knitting their hats.”
Zaharia said that once they’re done with knitting the tuques, the store plans to put them on display in their window.
“We like to think of ourselves as a community-based store, and we really like to include everybody,” Zaharia said.
“It’s not feeling that way for a lot of people down south right now. And that’s really hard to watch. So I’m hoping that people feel just that there’s somebody standing with you.”
WATCH | Businesses raise funds for Minnesotans, refugees in Winnipeg:
Manitoba businesses raising funds and awareness for Minnesotans
Two Winnipeg businesses are doing what they can, from baking donuts to knitting toques, to stand in solidarity with the people of Minnesota as thousands of ICE agents have flooded the streets of Minneapolis in recent weeks.
