Minnesota on strike: Economic boycott protests ICE, Renee Good killing – National
Demonstrators are ditching school, work and leisure for the picket lines to participate in “Day of Truth and Freedom” protests organized by local community leaders and labour unions.
Minnesotans are demanding that ICE leave the state. They are also asking that no additional funding be allocated to the federal agency in the upcoming Congressional budget; that ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who shot and killed Good on Jan. 7, be held legally accountable; and that Minnesota and national companies cease economic relations with ICE and refuse ICE entry or use of their property for staging grounds.
Protesters participate in a ‘Stop ICE Terror’ rally against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 20, 2026.
Madison Thorn/Anadolu via Getty Images
“It is time to suspend the normal order of business to demand immediate cessation of ICE actions in MN, accountability for federal agents who have caused loss of life and abuse to Minnesota residents and call for Congress to immediately intervene,” the movement’s website says.
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A long list of Minnesota businesses have closed in solidarity, from coffee shops and breweries to record stores and cannabis dispensaries.
In a statement on Thursday, the Minneapolis city council expressed support for the strike, which will end with a march in downtown Minneapolis on Friday afternoon.
“When residents are brutalized and profiled, families are torn apart, and children are arrested, our communities are not any safer. We continue to demand that ICE, and all federal agents, leave our state immediately,” its statement reads.
Minnesota’s labour movement, the AFL-CIO, a federation of more than 1,000 local unions, also endorsed the strike.
“On Friday, union members will join with our fellow Minnesotans to reject fear and speak with one voice,” it said in a statement.
In an email to The Guardian on Friday, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said in response to the economic blackout, “This is beyond insane. Why would these labor bosses not want these public safety threats out of their communities?”
“These are the criminals these labor bosses are trying to protect,” the spokesperson said, citing more than 20 uncaptioned images of people it claims are undocumented immigrants with criminal records who have been arrested by ICE, according to the outlet.
The DHS said Wednesday that its operation in Minnesota has resulted in the arrest of 10,000 “criminal illegal aliens.”
On Thursday, ICE agents in Minneapolis detained Liam Ramos, a five-year-old boy, and his father as they arrived home from preschool.
CBS News Minnesota said Thursday that the Columbia Heights Public School District, where Liam attended school, reported two other children were taken on Tuesday, including a 17-year-old boy who was on his way to school.
Marc Prokosch, a lawyer for the Ramos family, said his clients had an active asylum case and presented paperwork confirming that the father and son arrived in the U.S. at a port of entry, an official crossing point.
“They did not come here illegally. They are not criminals.”
Liam Ramos was detained by ICE in Columbia Heights, Minn.
Courtesy of Columbia Heights Public Schools
Earlier this week, the Trump administration readied 1,500 active-duty soldiers for possible deployment to Minnesota, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th-century law that would allow him to employ active-duty troops as law enforcement.
As public pushback swelled, the Trump administration announced it was extending its mission on Thursday, when ICE launched “Operation Catch of the Day,” an anti-immigration campaign in Maine.
The launch was announced as Vice-President JD Vance gave a speech in Minnesota, saying he had travelled to the state to “support” ICE agents and “tone down the temperature a bit.”
As of November 2025, there were 65,735 people in ICE detention, 48,377 of whom — or 73.6 per cent — had no criminal conviction, according to TRAC Immigration data. According to The Guardian’s data, the Trump administration has arrested more than 328,000 people and deported nearly 327,000.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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