Large-scale demonstrations erupted in Minnesota on Friday and spread nationwide as thousands of people protested the presence of federal immigration agents following the deadly shootings of two American citizens.
In Minneapolis, crowds filled the streets despite freezing temperatures, while students and educators across the country left classrooms in coordinated walkouts demanding that federal authorities pull immigration enforcement officers out of Minnesota, reports Reuters.
The protests coincided with uncertainty within the Trump administration over whether it would scale back the ongoing enforcement effort known as Operation Metro Surge.
As part of a nationwide immigration enforcement drive, President Donald Trump has deployed 3,000 federal personnel to the Minneapolis area. The officers, outfitted in tactical gear, now outnumber the city’s police force by a factor of five and are conducting patrols throughout the region.
Several thousand demonstrators gathered in downtown Minneapolis, including families with children, elderly residents and young activists. Protesters voiced opposition to both the surge in personnel and the methods used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Among them was Katia Kagan, who wore a “No ICE” sweatshirt and carried a sign calling for the agency’s removal from the city. Kagan said she is the child of Russian Jewish immigrants who came to the United States seeking security and opportunity.
“I’m out here because I’m going to fight for the American dream that my parents came here for,” Kagan said.
Another protester, Kim, a 65-year-old meditation instructor who declined to share her surname, described the federal operation as a “full-on fascist attack of our federal government on citizens.”
In a Minneapolis neighborhood near where Alex Pretti and Renee Good were fatally shot earlier this month by federal immigration agents, roughly 50 teachers and school staff marched in solidarity.
The protests also drew support from prominent figures. Musician Bruce Springsteen appeared at a downtown Minneapolis fundraiser for Good and Pretti, where he performed his newly released song, “Streets of Minneapolis.”
Demonstrations extended far beyond Minnesota, with organisers predicting 250 separate actions across 46 states. Major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington participated under the banner, “No work. No school. No shopping. Stop funding ICE.”
President Trump responded by publicly backing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees ICE. Although critics have demanded her resignation, Trump praised her performance online, writing that Noem “has done a really GREAT JOB!” and claiming that “The Border disaster that I inherited is fixed.”
