Hundreds of Minnesota businesses protest ICE presence

Hundreds of businesses closed in Minnesota on Friday as thousands of protesters braved freezing temperatures to demonstrate against the state’s ongoing immigration crackdown.

The widespread rally came after organizers encouraged residents to skip work, school and not shop in a show of opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The ICE operation in Minnesota ordered by the Trump administration has continued for more than six weeks.

The government characterized it as a public security operation aimed at deporting illegal criminals from the country. Critics warn that immigrants and U.S. citizens with no criminal records could also be detained.

About 100 clergy members were arrested at a Minneapolis airport on Friday during a protest calling on U.S. airlines to refuse to transport detainees arrested by ICE.

An Airport Commission spokesperson told the Minnesota Reformer that the arrests were made after “permitted activity exceeded agreed-upon terms” and were done to protect public safety and airport access.

Thousands of federal officers have been deployed to Minnesota as part of Operation Metro Surge.

37-year-old woman killed in Minneapolis Renee Goode Earlier this month, tensions rose across the state and drew condemnation from local officials.

“We want ICE out of Minnesota and we want ICE out of every state because their influence is so disproportionate,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, whose organization Faith in Action is supporting local partners in Minneapolis during the strike. “We want Congress to step up and provide oversight of ICE.”

Friday’s march was considered the state’s largest demonstration yet against current immigration policies, with thousands of people walking downtown in temperatures of -23 degrees Celsius (-10 degrees Fahrenheit).

Protesters chanted and played music as they headed to the city’s NBA arena, home of the Minnesota Timberwolves, for an anti-ICE rally.

On Friday morning, Minneapolis resident Corey Lamb closed his Harriet Grove Botanicals business in a show of solidarity and went to protest. He objected to the presence of ICE agents in his city and was angry about Goode’s death in early January.

He also sees immigration raids as an economic threat to his business and others in the community.

“We have a lot of friends that we rely on, we have a lot of businesses that we rely on to keep our business going,” Lamb told the BBC.

“When these people are put in trouble because they’re afraid of being detained or missing, it affects not just morally but economically what’s going on here and across the greater Midwest.”

Lamb’s business is joined by hundreds of other businesses, from restaurants to tattoo parlors to toy stores.

Kim Bartmann is the owner of six Minneapolis restaurants, four of which remained open during the winter, but she closed them on Friday.

While she supports the cause, she said the decision to participate was a tricky one given the cost.

“Everyone is united, but everyone needs to buy groceries and pay rent,” she said, noting that staff at one of her locations initially asked to stay open before deciding the backlash for not participating was too risky.

“Financially, it was a serious blow to my business,” she said.

She said sales at her restaurants, which include Barbette and Gigi’s Café, have dropped more than 30% in the past three weeks as a result of the ICE action, prompting her to limit operating hours as customers and employees stay home.

“We have a lot of employees who are U.S. citizens or have documentation to work in the U.S., but they are still afraid to leave their homes,” she said.

ICE’s presence has angered many Minnesota residents, who protest their operations and those of other federal officials operating in the city.

This week, school officials in suburban Columbia Heights announced that four of their students had been Detained by ICE, ages 5 to 17.

A two-year-old child was detained with her undocumented father on Thursday as she walked home from a grocery store in south Minneapolis, BBC America partner CBS News reported.

In a speech Thursday, Vice President J.D. Vance called on local law enforcement in Minnesota to coordinate immigration enforcement with federal officials.

Minnesota and some of its cities have so-called “sanctuary” policies that limit how local governments and law enforcement can cooperate with ICE. The Trump administration has criticized these policies as posing a threat to public safety.

Meanwhile, an FBI agent in Minneapolis resigned this week amid concerns over the bureau’s handling of the investigation into Goode’s shooting, BBC America partner CBS News reported. The New York Times first reported his resignation.

Tracey Melgen left “in part because of the pressure she faced to reclassify/shut down the investigation” in connection with Goode’s death, CBS News reported, citing sources.

The BBC has contacted the FBI for comment.

Earlier this month, US media reported that at least six prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis had resigned over the government’s handling of the federal investigation.