Press Release California
ICYMI
ICYMI: Mini Timmaraju on MS NOW: ICE Raids, Federal Violence, and Abortion Bans Are Part of the Same Tyrannical Agenda
On Thursday, Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju joined Deadline White House on MS NOW to talk about the political and cultural reckoning in response to escalating authoritarian violence and ICE brutality, including the recent killings of Minnesota residents Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. Federal officers have shot 13 people during immigration enforcement operations since September, and six people died in ICE custody in the first few weeks of 2026 alone.
As Timmaraju discussed, reproductive freedom and safety are inseparable—and the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants, protesters, and our fundamental freedoms are all part of a broader authoritarian agenda rooted in fear and control. Federal agents are gunning down mothers and ICU nurses in the streets. Health care providers in Minnesota are reporting an increase in pregnant patients skipping prenatal care appointments because they are afraid of the ICE activity in their communities. And pregnant women in ICE detention are subjected to confinement, neglect, and inhumane treatment, as confirmed by a federal watchdog report published in January. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found widespread problems in immigrants’ access to medical care at detention facilities along the southern border.
[Deadline White House, 2/5/26]
“Reproductive Freedom for All members wanted to be engaged on this … We’re seeing pregnant women in ICE custody who are not getting the services and care they need. We’re seeing women not going to maternal health clinics because they’re afraid to leave their homes because of ICE in Minnesota … We sent out an action alert on the DHS funding vote, and in 24 hours, we had 12,000 members take action. … The culture is critical. It comes from these moments of crisis that unify.”
[Deadline White House, 2/5/26]
“Minnesotans, it’s like in their DNA, they know what to do, and that courage is contagious—and it is imperative on us to channel it into political power and action at the legislative level.”
[Deadline White House, 2/5/26]
“The freedom narrative is a really great message and throughline here: freedom vs. tyranny, right? Government overreach. These are some thematic similarities … Americans may be conflicted on immigration policy, they may be conflicted on abortion itself, but they are not conflicted about wanting to live in a country where they feel free from tyrannical government.Â
So there is a universality of message and a framework that these certain actions by Republicans, sending masked folks into people’s homes, kidnapping children, separating from their families, denying them lifesaving abortion care—these are signals that these Republicans are tyrannical and extremist.”
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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.