'ICE out': Protests against immigration crackdown spreads across US

Anti-ICE protests have spread across the US as more Americans demand an end to the Trump administration’s draconian crackdown on immigration.

The ongoing crackdown in the state of Minnesota has been the largest federal immigration enforcement operation ever carried out in the United States.

Operation Metro Surge, a deadly ICE-led enforcement push with the deployment of some 3,000 agents to the area, has sparked national outrage.

Thousands of protesters marched in Minneapolis and across the US to demand the exit of federal immigration agents from Minnesota following the fatal shootings of two US citizens and thousands of arrests. 

Anti-ICE protesters stage nationwide rallies, clashing with police amid ‘National Shutdown’ demonstrations

Protesters stage rallies across the United States against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Meanwhile, the “ICE Out” slogan reverberated nationwide this weekend as protesters took to the streets, holding up signs and chanting in unison as they called for an end to the Trump administration’s brutal crackdown on immigration.

Following the "Nationwide Shutdown" general strikes on Friday, prompting schools, workplaces and businesses from the East Coast to the West Coast to stop working, protesters marked a second day of rallies and marched through city streets on Saturday.

Demonstrations included nationwide student walkouts and calls to end the federal presence and tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

The rallies and mass strikes are aimed at halting what the critics called “ICE terror.” Protesters are pressuring the Trump administration to put an end to the anti-immigration raids.

Reports of protesters staging anti-ICE rallies came from some 300 cities across the US, including San Francisco, Portland, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Colorado Springs, Columbia, Ohio, Detroit, El Paso, Eugene, Grand Rapids, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Oakland, Omaha, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, Tallahassee, Washington, DC, and Worcester, among others.

Obama, Clinton urge Americans to ‘stand up’ as protests intensify across US

Former US presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton urge Americans to stand up after fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

In major cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, demonstrators also rallied, voicing solidarity with Minneapolis, where the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good triggered the recent protests.

Also, in the courts, several legal battles challenging the extreme anti-immigration measures used by the Trump administration continue to play out.

A federal judge issued a scathing ruling on Saturday against the Trump administration's immigration policy.

US District Judge Fred Biery ruled on Saturday that the ICE detention of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father was illegal. He ordered their release from a Texas ICE detention center.

ICE ordered to release 5-year-old boy and father weeks after arbitrary arrest

A US judge orders the release of a five-year-old boy and his father from ICE detention.

The child's detention became another flashpoint in the criticism over heavy-handed immigration enforcement measures used by federal agents.

Ramos' arrest triggered nationwide condemnation from community members and officials alike for “the imposition of cruelty” against both minors and immigrants.

However, on the other side of the spectrum, according to journalism watchdog Media Matters, right-wing media figures and outlets, including Fox News, have variously described the largely peaceful protests as "terroristic extremism", and "guerrilla warfare," blaming local Democratic officials for allegedly inciting "insurgency" and "civil war."

Also, US President Donald Trump has defended the anti-immigration crackdown, labeling the protesters as “Radical Left Lunatics, Insurrectionists, Agitators, and Thugs.”

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