New Venice Festival Documentary Exposes ICE Raids and Community Resistance in Minneapolis

At the Venice Film Festival, Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller debuted "They're Here," a 25-minute documentary that captures volunteers in Minneapolis monitoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. The film documents a large-scale ICE sweep that triggered prolonged street confrontations, during which immigration officers shot dead two U.S. citizens. Poitras emphasized that the documentary seeks to "denormalise" the violence associated with President Donald Trump's mass deportation drive launched in early 2025.

Scenes alternate between volunteer dispatch networks, masked agents confronting protesters on snow-covered streets, and a Mexican father and son evading capture. The filmmakers highlight the community’s role in documenting and resisting the raids, noting that ICE later reduced its presence by 80 percent after sustained local pressure. Poitras hopes the film will raise awareness of the ongoing fear experienced by immigrants across the United States.