Brandi Carlile concert raises over $600,000 for families affected by ICE | Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile’s weekend concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota, raised more than half a million dollars for families affected by the disruptive presence of US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol agents in the city.

Carlile, a Grammy-winning Americana artist from Washington state, livestreamed her show Be Human: A Concert for Minneapolis from the Target Center on 21 February. The show, played for over 12,000 people, raised more than $600,000 for the Minnesota-based Advocates for Human Rights organization, “so that they can help and represent thousands of families who desperately need it”, the singer announced on Instagram.

“Last night was something I’ll never forget,” she wrote. “Minnesota is so deeply inspiring to me and the whole country. I can’t believe I got to sing for you and WITH you last night. So many people came together to celebrate your strength and conviction.”

The singer also raised tens of thousands more from the sale of T-shirts reading “Be Human”, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. The shirts, available for $40 each, are a riff on her new album title, Human.

The show was in response to the Trump administration’s heavily criticized Operation Metro Surge, the ongoing deployment of up to 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis and Saint Paul for the stated purpose of rounding up undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds. Instead, border patrol and ICE agents detained thousands of people regardless of legal status, including US citizens pulled out of their cars, taken from their homes and picked up while working, sparking widespread backlash and a city-wide strike.

Agents also killed two Minneapolis residents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, while they were monitoring ICE activities. Both were US citizens. Their deaths, caught on camera in footage that directly contradicted the administration’s claims of imminent threat, helped turn Minneapolis into the major flashpoint in the Trump presidency. Across the country, at least eight people have died in immigration crackdowns so far.

At Saturday’s show, Carlile encouraged Trump supporters to join her tent with the song It’s OK to Change Your Mind. Performed alongside the Minnesota-based group Singing Resistance, the song asked former Trump and ICE supporters to “show us your courage, leave this behind”.

Backstage, Carlile told Rolling Stone: “It’s very clear that this administration is not interested in legal immigration. They’re interested in violent theater. Violent theater and dominance over other people. I don’t believe most people signed up for that. Even people who voted for Trump, who I’m angry with, I don’t think they voted for this, and I do think that they can still change their minds.”