As tensions in Minnesota were ramping up at the start of the year, the United States Postal Service (USPS) quietly began requiring its workers to carry a letter at all times saying they are providing essential services of the federal government and are exempt from curfews..
The letter, dated January 5, 2026 and signed by Acting US Postmaster General Doug Tulino, almost immediately sparked speculation online by people, including postal workers, who took it to mean the Trump administration might deploy military forces in American streets. “It’s because Trump is acting so crazy that USPS thinks we may seriously about to be going to war or something like that [sic],” one redditor said in response to a question about the letters in r/USPS.
“It’s like they’re expecting WWIII to start soon, but people need their mail whether missile or bomb is raining down on us [sic],” another posted. Further down the thread, one redditor wrote, “god, on the precipices of a civil war and we still get junk mail [sic].”
The last time postal workers received a similar letter was during the COVID-19 pandemic and unrest following the murder of George Floyd.
Some replies stated postal workers get letters like these during hurricanes or bad weather, but whether the remarks amounted to jokes about civil unrest or speculation about immigration enforcement, commenters were overwhelmingly confused.
Spokane postal workers got the letter January 15 — eight days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed Minneapolis woman Renee Good. It instructs law enforcement officials to exempt the letter bearers from curfews when they present it with their USPS ID badge.
A memo to employees that came with the letter explains that it’s an effort to “assist employees who may be stopped and questioned by local law enforcement about their activities.” The memo does not specify why the letter was being re-issued now, it only asserts generalities about large-scale emergencies that can trigger local restrictions on movement.
“It’s just a re-issuance of our Essential Services letter,” said USPS spokesman Jim McKean.
But McKean did not respond to multiple requests for clarification: how often is this letter re-issued? When was the last time it was issued?
Local USPS workers weren’t given any additional information or clarification either.
“I asked around to some older employees, and they said in their 30-plus years at the post office, the only other time they received anything like this was around COVID,” said one USPS worker who asked not to be named for fear they might lose their job.
The online speculation was also fueled by the staggered distribution of the letters: while some workers got the letter right away on January 5, many didn’t receive it until after Good’s killing on January 7, which sparked profound unrest in Minneapolis. In Spokane, the letter got to workers the same day Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.
While the Essential Services letter was issued several times during the pandemic, those came with robust guidance and information to workers. In a March 30, 2020 post to its employee news website titled “Letter to the Law: How to deal with travel restrictions,” USPS explained why it was issuing the letters and noted that supervisors would be doing a stand-up talk on the matter too. Another post on June 2 of that year reminded postal employees to carry the letter and their work identification on them during work and while going to and from work, this time citing “recent civil unrest” in addition to the pandemic. Additional reminders were posted in July and December of that year.
According to the worker we spoke to, USPS did not explain to its employees why the letter was being re-issued now. During the week the letter was issued this year, the USPS employee website featured stories on their retirement plan, a warning about phishing attacks and how to use a FSA debit card.
In the vacuum of information, USPS employees speculated the letter was issued because of escalating tensions between communities and federal immigration enforcement. About a month before they received the letter, local USPS employees were verbally instructed not to cooperate with ICE officers and were reminded of their duty to protect identities, according to the worker we spoke to.
The regional USPS spokesperson, the press contacts at the national American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and representatives of the local APWU chapter did not respond to requests for comment.
