Residents, students, staff, and faculty alike gathered on Feb. 23 in Viking Theater for a panel hosted by the Morrison Family Director of the Buntrock Institute of Freedom and Community (IFC) on understanding ICE’s presence in Minnesota and community organization. Hosted by Christopher Chapp, IFC director and political science professor, the panel consisted of Community Action Center (CAC) Interim Executive Director Anika Rychner, Saint Paul Council Vice President and Minnesota Voices Executive Director HwaJeong Kim, and Joe Moravchik, a Twin Cities-based instructor on policing ethics and tactics.
“One mission of the institute is to be responsive to current events, and things that are affecting our community,” Chapp said in an interview with The Olaf Messenger. “Clearly the presence of federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota is the most pressing and topical thing on folks’ minds, so we felt like we needed to do something.”
The panel is the third edition to IFC’s series for the St. Olaf and Northfield community to gain context of the ongoing presence of ICE in the state as well as knowledge on how to advocate for one another. While the previous two panels focused largely on law enforcement and civil liberties, this discussion placed emphasis on community advocacy as both Kim and Rychner outlined ways for residents and students alike to build strong community rapid response networks.
For Northfield, Rychner outlined the three biggest needs of those affected by ICE in Northfield: housing stability, renter’s assistance, and food donations.
“We’ve helped more people stay in their homes throughout the month of February than the entire year of 2025,” Rychner said. “I don’t see that slowing down.”
According to a KYMN report, the City of Northfield allocated $50,000 in emergency rental assistance to the CAC to help those who have not been able to leave their homes for work out of fear. The CAC has also set up a Community Response Fund that will be used to quickly meet evolving needs of the community such as rent payments.
Kim drew a bigger picture. Following the event, Minnesota Voices hosted a Constitutional Observer training session for the community on how to properly observe, document and report on law enforcement and immigration activity.
“Taking a civil initiative is not a foreign concept for us,” Kim said. “It’s something that everyone does every single day when you look out for your neighbors.”
The next panel in IFC’s immigration series is on March 13 with Immigration Lawyer and Boston College Tenure Professor of Law Kari Hong covering what people should know about mass deportation and ICE detention.
