US Sees Widespread Anti-ICE Protests as Minnesota Resists Trump Policies

Across the United States, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets this week in one of the largest coordinated protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in recent memory, with major rallies from New York City to Minneapolis and student walkouts in dozens of states. 

The demonstrations intensified after the deployment of thousands of federal immigration agents to Minnesota and the fatal shootings of Minnesota residents by ICE officers, prompting local officials including the state’s governor and city leaders to publicly challenge the Trump administration’s policies and call for an end to the controversial enforcement operation.

Demonstrators called for an end to ICE operations in Minnesota on Friday, in Minneapolis.

Restaurant tables sat empty, business windows went dark and students’ desks were abandoned in several cities across the country Friday amid a nationwide strike in protest of the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

“No work, no school, no shopping” was the organizers’ rally cry, leading to school walkouts, canceled classes and marches in places as distant from the Midwest as California, North Carolina and Maine.

People partake in a "National Shutdown" protest against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, on Friday.

In Minnesota, waves of demonstrators spilled into the streets for the second week in a row following an announcement from the Justice Department saying it would open a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti – the second Minnesotan to be killed by federal agents in the state this year.

The deaths of Pretti and Renee Good have transformed the national conversation on immigration enforcement and appear to have driven a tone shift from the White House in recent days.

Baltimore demonstrators joined a national day of protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and federal immigration enforcement actions, showing solidarity with ongoing demonstrations in Minnesota and other U.S. cities tied to recent fatal encounters involving federal agents.

But even after White House border czar Tom Homan announced the possibility of a drawdown of agents in Minneapolis, federal and local officials cannot seem to agree on what compromise might look like.

Even as the Trump administration works to contain backlash over the shootings in Minnesota, it has created a fresh wave of outrage from free speech and press freedom advocates over the Friday arrests of former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort on charges related to their coverage of a church protest.

Justice Department to investigate Pretti killing: US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the agency has opened a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Pretti, which will probe whether federal officers violated the law when they disarmed and shot him multiple times. 

Will New York ban police collaboration with ICE?: Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has been a sharp critic of DHS immigration operations, said she is proposing legislation which would prohibit cooperation agreements between local police departments and ICE. 

The governor is targeting a program called 287(g), which allows ICE to authorize state and local law enforcement to carry out some immigration enforcement duties. DHS data shows there are 14 New York agencies with 287(g) agreements in place. The proposal is likely to pass the Democrat-controlled state legislature.