‘Enough Is Enough’: Hundreds of Minnesota Businesses Take Stand Against ICE

After protesters called for a pause on economic activity and work to strike against the federal immigration crackdown, many business owners won’t open their doors on Friday.

No work, no shopping, no dining out. Hundreds of businesses across Minnesota were expected to close and many people vowed to pause everyday activities on Friday as part of a general strike against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

As tensions mount and a sense of fear of detention by immigration agents permeates the state, vendors, labor unions and residents said they would participate in an economic blackout and gather at prayers and protests on what organizers called a “Day of Truth and Freedom.”

“It’s tense and emotional, and folks are hurting,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, the executive director of Faith in Action, which is helping with the organizing effort. Minnesotans, he said, are demonstrating “deep resilience and willingness to stand together in ways I haven’t seen folks do in a very long time.”The day of the strike, which was set to include outdoor demonstrations, dawned with much of the Midwest, including all of Minnesota, under an extreme cold warning from the National Weather Service. The cold was particularly bitter in Minneapolis, with temperatures as low as minus 20 forecast for much of the day, with wind chills even lower.

Word of Friday’s strike and protests spread “like a wildfire,” said Jake Anderson, an executive board member with the St. Paul Federation of Educators, a labor union representing teachers and educational support professionals. Hundreds of businesses, mostly in Minneapolis and St. Paul, said they would close, while others have vowed to pause any economic activity, stay home from work or school, or fast to show support.