MINNEAPOLIS: A vast network of labor unions, progressive organizations and clergy has been urging Minnesotans to stay away from work, school and stores Friday to protest against immigration enforcement in the state.
“We really, really want I.C.E. to leave Minnesota, and they’re not going to leave Minnesota unless there’s a ton of pressure on them,” said Kate Havelin of Indivisible Twin Cities, one of the more than 100 groups that is mobilizing. “They shouldn’t be roaming any streets in our country just the way they are now.”
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have seen daily protests since Renee Good was fatally shot by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during an operation on Jan. 7. Federal law enforcement officers have surged in the area for weeks and have repeatedly squared off with community members and activists who track their movements online and in streets.
On Thursday, a prominent civil rights attorney and at least two other people involved in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a Sunday service at a Minnesota church were arrested.
Vice President JD Vance visited Minneapolis to meet with ICE officials. He said repeatedly that he believed the fraught situation in Minneapolis would improve upon better cooperation from state and local officials, and he encouraged protests to remain peaceful.
