Barack Obama publicly states support for anti-ICE demonstrators in Minneapolis

Source: The Guardian

Sat 14 Feb 2026 12.15 EST
Last modified on Sat 14 Feb 2026 12.20 EST


Barack Obama publicly gave his support to demonstrators in Minneapolis for standing up to the “unprecedented nature” of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minnesota.

Speaking in an interview with progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen on Saturday, the former president discussed the power that US citizens hold when standing up for the values they believe in and his hopes for the next generation of American leaders. “The reason I point out that I don’t think the majority of the American people approve of this is because ultimately, the answer is going to come from the American people,” he said. “We just saw this in Minnesota, in Minneapolis.”

“It is important for us to recognize the unprecedented nature of what ICE was doing in Minneapolis, St Paul, the way that federal agents, ICE agents were being deployed, without any clear guidelines, training, pulling people out of their homes, using five-year-olds to try to bait their parents, all the stuff that we saw, teargassing crowds simply who were standing there, not breaking any laws,” he added.

The Twin Cities area of Minnesota has been the site of ongoing anti-immigration enforcement protests. These demonstrations have grown in scope following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/14/barack-obama-minneapolis-support