Madeline Behfar: ‘The community was so strong and willing.’
“I grew up in Rochester, so in high school, U of M was a backup decision. I didn’t really want to go here, but in my senior year, when I was applying and getting into places, I ended up getting onto the rowing team. I really liked the vibes of the team, so I came up and toured the school and really liked it up here. I grew up coming to the Cities all the time and thought it’d be too close to home, but now it’s a happy distance.
“For me personally, I wasn’t ever super stressed out or scared [during Operation Metro Surge]. I definitely had family members and friends telling me to carry around my passport and that I should be worried, but I felt the impact on the environment more. You could feel the tension going places; people were stressed out. My roommate and I brought people groceries during that time, we put it on Instagram and raised $1,500, and then went to Costco and went crazy.
“Going to protests and seeing everyone come together and seeing the different support systems has shown me the community. Immediately, people were like, ‘how can we help? How can we support our neighbors, support immigrants, support kids in schools, things like that?’ I don’t know that I would say the community was reshaped because I really do think it was already there.Since I haven’t lived here my whole life, I didn’t know the community was so strong and willing to help others, so I think it honestly speaks to the general character of Minneapolis and St. Paul. People are very willing to help others and not allow ICE or anything else to stop them.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview by Emily Lemmenes
