Anti-ICE Protests to be Held Across the US: A Call for a National Strike
In a bold move to challenge the Trump administration's immigration policies, activists are rallying for a nationwide shutdown on Friday, urging 'no work, no school, no shopping' in protest. This call to action comes in response to the administration's aggressive immigration crackdowns, which have faced renewed scrutiny following a series of fatal shootings involving federal agents.
The 'blackout' or general strike, as some are calling it, is part of a growing non-violent movement to combat ICE's aggressive enforcement tactics. These tactics have been under the spotlight after the deaths of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Keith Porter, and Silverio Villegas González. The national protest leaders, many of whom are students at the University of Minnesota, are demanding ICE's departure from the city after its prolonged operation. They argue that economic pressure through work stoppages and consumer boycotts is a powerful tool to demand accountability and reform.
"We are calling for this strike because we believe what we have been doing in Minnesota should go national," said Kidus Yeshidagna, president of the Ethiopian Students Union at the University of Minnesota and one of the students organizing the strike. "We need more people and lawmakers across the country to wake up."
Yeshidagna is part of a coalition of student groups that organized the Minnesota shutdown last Friday, where thousands of people braved sub-zero temperatures, and hundreds of businesses closed their doors to demand justice for Good, who was shot by an ICE agent while protecting a neighbor. Last weekend, agents killed Pretti, another resident observing their activities. The student groups, including associations representing Black, Somali, Liberian, Ethiopian, and Eritrean students and the graduate labor union, first gathered on January 21 to plan local and national strikes. Despite the cold, they emerged in huge numbers, and now they are doing it again.
Businesses across dozens of cities have announced closures, from restaurants and clothing retailers to bookstores and coffee shops. Protesters in Philadelphia, New York, Boise, and Columbus are gathering at city halls, courthouses, statehouses, and legislative buildings. Students at high schools and colleges in Florida, California, and other states are staging walkouts. In Milwaukee and Buffalo, Wyoming, people are gathering at parks and street corners. Some protesters, including those in Washington DC, are gathering outside Target stores, following the violent detention of two Target employees in Richfield, Minnesota, which has intensified calls to sustain the boycott on the retail giant.
Support for the strike has grown throughout the week. Neighbors and family members of Good and Pretti have contacted student organizations to express their support for the protests. Hundreds of organizations, including student groups in other states, unions, and major organizing groups, have thrown their weight behind the action. Celebrities like Ariana Grande, Macklemore, and Pedro Pascal have also called for a strike, adding to the momentum.
Yeshidagna, who grew up in St. Paul and was 15 minutes away from where George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, has been a vocal leader in protests. He and his peers in student organizations have witnessed the targeting of their friends and family members since Trump sent ICE officers to Minnesota. "We’ve been seeing clear racial profiling in Minnesota," Yeshidagna said. "This isn’t just an immigrant issue. This is a human rights issue that is also affecting US citizens."
The protests on Friday coincide with a looming partial government shutdown as Senate Democrats and some Republicans have opposed any spending bill that includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. Democrats are pushing for various reform measures, including banning agents from wearing masks and requiring ICE to obtain warrants for arrests, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing debate.
