Thousands brave freezing cold in Minneapolis to protest Trump’s immigration crackdown

Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Minneapolis to protest President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown, braving temperatures as low as minus 29 Celsius.

Organizers estimated that up to 50,000 people marched through the city on Friday, many later gathering at the Target Center, a sports arena that was more than half full. Hundreds of local businesses closed in solidarity with the protesters, halting economic activity to support the protests.

The event was billed as part of a broader “ICE OUT!” general strike, aimed at opposing the operations of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Twin Cities. Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and the surrounding area are collectively known as the Twin Cities, a metropolitan area with 3.69 million residents. 

Federal actions in Minneapolis have included the arrest of thousands of immigrants and the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a US citizen, by an ICE officer on January 7.

Organizers demanded legal accountability for the ICE agent who killed Good while she monitored agency activities in her car.

100 clergy members arrested 

Meanwhile, dozens of clergy members staged a dramatic protest outside Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Kneeling and singing hymns, they called for federal agents to withdraw.

Police arrested about 100 clergy members, along with dozens of other protesters, outside the terminal.

US Justice Department refuses probe into killing of Minneapolis mother

The US Justice Department confirms it is not opening a criminal or civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of a mother by an immigration enforcement agent in Minneapolis.

Faith in Minnesota, a nonprofit advocacy group that helped organize the demonstration, said the clergy were also drawing attention to airport and airline workers detained by ICE at work. The group urged companies to “stand with Minnesotans in calling for ICE to immediately end its surge in the state.”

Across Minnesota, bars, restaurants, and shops closed for the day. Organizers described it as the largest display yet of opposition to the federal government’s immigration enforcement.

Rachel Dionne-Thunder, vice president of the Indigenous Protector Movement, described the federal presence as an occupation. “Make no mistake, we are facing a full federal occupation by the United States government through the arm of ICE on unceded Dakota land,” she said.

ICE detains 2-Year-Old girl, sends her to Texas despite court order

ICE detained a 2-year-old girl and her father in Minneapolis and flew her to Texas, defying a judge’s order requiring her release.

Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, speaking at a news conference, threatened to continue the agency’s operations. “We’re going to take them off the streets wholesale. It’s on. We won’t quit,” he said.

Children and families have been caught up in the crackdown. Earlier this week, a five-year-old boy was detained alongside his father in their driveway. A two-year-old girl and her father were also taken from Minneapolis to Texas, according to court records and the families’ lawyers.

Trump, elected on a platform of strict immigration enforcement, has deployed thousands of federal officers to Democratic-led cities, intensifying political polarization. Critics say the crackdown has involved arbitrary detentions, excessive use of force, and the targeting of children.

Meanwhile, advocates for immigrants have raised concerns about conditions at the Dilley detention center in Texas, warning that detainees have suffered “a dramatic decline in their physical and mental health.”

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