Minnesotans strike in protest against ICE surge: ‘No work, no school, no shopping’

Organizers demand ICE leave state and agency be investigated for constitutional violations

Tens of thousands of Minnesotans marched in Minneapolis and otherwise participated in an economic blackout on Friday to protest against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surge in the state.

About 100 clergy members were arrested by police during the action, video footage showed.

Beside faith leaders, the “no work, no school, no shopping” day of protest was kicked off by community leaders and labor unions – and included actions around the state, plus business closures in solidarity.

The “Day of Truth & Freedom” protest came in the wake of the killing of Renee Good, the unarmed woman shot by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.

The protesters’ demands include that ICE leave Minnesota, that the ICE officer who killed Good be legally held accountable, an end to additional federal funding for ICE, and for the agency to be investigated for human rights and constitutional violations.

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Hundreds of local businesses in Minnesota announced closures in solidarity. Thousands of people took the day off from their jobs to join the action, while others participated by not shopping on Friday. The Minneapolis city council endorsed the day of action and the general strike.

The state’s cultural institutions – including the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Minnesota Children’s Museum – closed on Friday as well.

During a protest at the Minneapolis-St Paul airport on Friday morning, hundreds of clergy members called for an end to the ICE surge and urged airline companies to join them in opposing ICE in the state. Video of the action showed hundreds of people walking outside the airport in sub-zero temperatures, singing songs and praying together. Deportation flights go in and out of the airport daily.

On Friday afternoon, thousands clad in winter gear and carrying signs filled the streets of downtown Minneapolis to march in subzero temperatures, ending in a rally inside the Target Center, an arena downtown.

“We are going to be having dangerously cold weather on Friday – -10F with wind chills. Like the high is going to be -10F with wind chills of up to -20F,” Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, president of the Minnesota Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, had told the Guardian earlier.

“We are a northern state, and we are built for the cold, and we are going to show up, but folks are going to need to pay attention to not just the march, but what people are doing, the individual stories of solidarity that people are going to be doing.”

The Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state’s federation of more than 1,000 affiliated local unions, endorsed the day of action, along with dozens of local labor unions.

“I think what generated the idea for this action came out of the need to figure out what we can meaningfully do to stop it,” Kieran Knutson, the president of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7250 in Minneapolis, told the Guardian last week. “The government in the state of Minnesota has not offered any path towards stopping these attacks, this violence.”

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The occupation of Minneapolis: how residents are resisting Trump’s ICE ‘invasion’ – video

A childcare worker in Minneapolis, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation toward the immigrant families they serve, said they were shutting down for the day after consulting and receiving immense support from the families of the children they care for.

“We had time to ask the families that we serve if they would be on board with shutting down and we got a hugely positive response,” they said. “We serve families that are on childcare assistance, families that pay out of pocket. So they were all in agreement, even ones that have been trying to go to work, even during this time where they were fearful of being out of their houses. So it was really the families. They all stood up for it, too.”

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At the University of Minnesota campuses in Minneapolis, St Paul, and Duluth, labor unions representing student workers and staff have called for the university system to shut down on Friday to allow students and workers to participate in the day of action.

The University of Minnesota graduate labor union said ICE’s operations have had an impact on student workers since the beginning of the Trump administration. In early 2025, at least three international students at the University of Minnesota were arrested and detained by ICE, despite an immigration judge ordering their release.

“It’s really concerning to us that the university is remaining neutral in a time when immigrant communities and international students are literally under attack,” said Abaki Beck, president of the University of Minnesota graduate labor union. “One of the other things we’re pushing for on campus specifically is increased support for immigrant workers and international students.”

A spokesperson for the University of Minnesota cited a guidance memo from university leadership in response to the day of action. They said in a statement: “The University of Minnesota fully supports the rights of faculty, staff, and students to engage in lawful civic expression. We also must ensure continuity of operations and meet our responsibilities to students and the university community.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed to have made 3,000 arrests in Minnesota over the past six weeks.

The US army put 1,500 soldiers on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota, as 3,000 immigration officers have been dispatched to the state by the Trump administration.

“This is beyond insane. Why would these labor bosses not want these public safety threats out of their communities?” a DHS spokesperson said in an email in response to the economic blackout.

“These are the criminals these labor bosses are trying to protect,” the spokesperson added, citing 23 uncaptioned photos of claimed undocumented immigrants with criminal records who have been arrested by ICE.

Nationwide, immigrants with no criminal record continue to make up the largest group in US immigration detention, which is at record levels.