Twin Cities ICE opponents shift to 'election defense'

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The group Monarca sees the federal government as a dire threat to a free and fair election, and they're sharing lessons from the federal surge into the state in hopes that residents can quickly respond if there is a crisis.

Months after training thousands of Minnesota residents to observe ICE operations, a local group has shifted to training voters in what they call democracy defense. Trainers aim is to prepare voters to respond if federal officials interfere with people’s ability to cast their ballots next month.

On a recent Sunday, about two dozen people filtered into a mostly windowless room at a library in the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities to get trained on election protection. Jessi Meliza, one of the volunteer trainers for the day, got active this winter during the ICE surge into Minnesota with the Unidos project Monarca, which trained tens of thousands of Minnesotans about their rights to observe and d...