Rent strikes have become more common in recent years with all-time high increases and more corporate investing
Nadia Langley had been organizing tenants in and around her south Minneapolis neighborhood since 2024, when, two months ago, the fledgling union saw a sudden explosion in interest.
The jump was prompted not by a downturn in housing conditions or a rise in rents, but by the arrival of thousands of federal agents in the city as part of the Trump administration’s recent mass immigration crackdown. Many immigrants and residents of color were afraid of agent run-ins and wouldn’t leave their homes, even to go to work. To protect their neighbors, residents organized group chats to alert their communities about immigration agent sightings and to provide food, aid and more.