A coalition of labor unions, progressive groups, and religious leaders called on Minnesotans to abstain from work, school, and shopping on Friday. This action is a protest against immigration enforcement efforts, despite the frigid subzero temperatures gripping the state.
Minneapolis and St. Paul have become hotspots for daily protests following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on January 7. The Twin Cities have seen an increased presence of federal law enforcement, often clashing with community members and activists who are monitoring their activities.
By Friday morning, organizers announced that over 700 businesses statewide had shut down in support of the protest. This included establishments ranging from a small bookstore in Grand Marais near the Canadian border to Minneapolis’s renowned Guthrie Theater.
“We’re making history,” declared Kate Havelin from Indivisible Twin Cities, a key organization among the more than 100 groups participating in the mobilization. The protest aligns with an Arctic blast affecting the Upper Midwest and a severe winter storm poised to impact millions.
On Friday, Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino attempted to redirect the narrative, criticizing the media for what he perceived as inadequate reporting on children who have lost parents to violence committed by undocumented individuals. During a press briefing, he fleetingly acknowledged a 5-year-old detained by ICE in Minneapolis, then shifted focus to the case of a mother of five killed in August 2023.
On Thursday, a well-known civil rights attorney, along with at least two others, was arrested following their participation in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that interrupted a church service in St. Paul. As of Friday morning, they remained in federal custody.
Organizers hope Friday’s mobilization will be the largest coordinated protest action to date, with a march in downtown Minneapolis planned for Friday afternoon. Earlier Friday, the temperature in Minneapolis was minus 21 with a wind chill of minus 40 (minus 29 Celsius with a wind chill of minus 40 Celsius).
Havelin compared the presence of immigration officers in Minnesota to the winter weather warnings.
“Minnesotans understand that when we’re in a snow emergency … we all have to respond and it makes us do things differently,” she said. “And what’s happening with ICE in our community, in our state, means that we can’t respond as business as usual.”
Somali businesses especially have lost sales during the enforcement surge as workers and customers, fearing detention, stay at home.
Many schools were planning to close Friday, but cited different reasons. The University of Minnesota and the St. Paul public school district said there would be no in-person classes because of the extreme cold. Minneapolis Public Schools were scheduled to be closed “for a teacher record keeping day.”
Clergy planned to join the march as well as hold prayer services and fasting, according to a delegation of representatives of faith traditions including Buddhist, Jewish, Lutheran and Muslim.
Bishop Dwayne Royster, leader of the progressive organization Faith in Action, arrived in Minnesota on Wednesday from Washington, D.C.
“We want ICE out of Minnesota,” he said. “We want them out of all the cities around the country where they’re exercising extreme overreach.”
Royster said at least 50 of his network’s faith-based organizers were joining the protest. About 10 were traveling from Los Angeles while others from the same group planned a solidarity rally in California, said one of the organizers there.
“It was a very harrowing experience,” said the Rev. Jennifer Gutierrez of the large immigration enforcement operation in Los Angeles last year. “We believe God is on the side of migrants.”
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