Minnesota protests Trump administration’s immigration crackdown : NPR

Despite sub-zero temperatures, a large crowd turned out in downtown Minneapolis Friday afternoon as part of a march and rally to protest the largest and most aggressive immigration enforcement campaign ever brought about by the federal government.

In coordination with the protests, businesses across Minnesota – restaurants, museums, bookstores, coffee shops – also closed their doors for the day. Labor unions, faith leaders and community activists organized an economic blackout, called “ICE Out of Minnesota: A Day of Truth and Freedom”. They are encouraging people in the state to stay home from work and school and avoid shopping or dining out.

At the downtown rally, protesters gathered in large numbers against the extreme cold chanted “ICE OUT” and held signs that read, “The North is Strong” and “Immigrants Make America Great.”

“There are people who are afraid to go out. And people who aren’t being targeted, I think people have an obligation to stand up for people who are being targeted. So I’m here just to show my support for my neighbors,” St. Paul resident Guy Hammink told NPR at the protest.

On Friday morning, protesters also gathered at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, home to the Department of Homeland Security There are chartered flights of people detained in the state To detention centers outside the state. Clergy and community members sang hymns and prayed outside Airport. Organizers told NPR that about 100 clergy were arrested at that protest. Airport police said those arrested were issued misdemeanor citations for trespassing and failure to comply with a peace officer and were released.

Organizers of protests and economic blackouts are demanding that immigration officials leave the state; Congress provides no additional funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE; that the companies cease business relations with ICE; And ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who murdered Renee McLin Good more than two weeks ago, will be held legally accountable.

In addition to today’s actions, thousands of people across the state have been coordinating a vast network of community resistance against the federal immigration enforcement campaign for several weeks.

Neighbors delivering food to people who are afraid to leave their homes; Parents and community members are standing guard outside schools, daycares and immigrant-owned businesses, and hundreds of everyday people are joining neighborhood chats to keep an eye on the movements of immigration officers. When federal agents make arrests they often protest – honking, whistling, yelling and filming.

“We know ICE is coming to our city, so we need to be prepared. We’ve really learned a lot from the people of Minneapolis. It’s been amazing,” Unitarian Universalist Rev. Suzanne Intriligator told NPR at the downtown protest. She traveled from Massachusetts to Minnesota to attend a training organized by organizers and participate in the protests.

Many people in the Twin Cities area and beyond are living in a state of fear and anxiety as immigration officials pursue aggressive tactics against Minnesotans. NPR journalists have saw immigration officials Using tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls to disperse the crowd, hit by vehicle asking about a Latino American citizen and then asking about his or her identity, and Stopping and even detaining people of colorSeemingly at random. Is there now approximately 3,000 federal immigration officers In the state.

“We are in an absolute crisis here in Minnesota because of this ICE surge. Thousands of agents are terrorizing our communities, not only in Minneapolis, but across the state,” said Martha Bardwell, lead pastor of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis, who is participating in the day’s events. “They’re tearing families apart. They say they’re here to take out the worst of the worst, but we know with our own eyes that’s simply not true.”

Last week, a family was trying to hold off a tense protest tear gas firedAnd their 6-month-old child was admitted to the hospital. This week, federal officials A 5 year old boy detained and his father in the northern suburb of Columbia Heights.

School district officials there say federal agents used the child as “bait” to lure family members out of the house. dhs officer Confirmed The boy and his father are now in a detention center in Texas, although he claims the father ran away and “abandoned” his child during his arrest. Family lawyers and witnesses has refused Government account.

Some US citizens are also speaking out about being stopped or detained by immigration agents. Nasra Ahmed, a US citizen and Somali-American, was detained for two days, he told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.

“They were using a lot of force to arrest me and I was screaming, I was crying, I was so scared, I’ve never been arrested in my life,” Ahmed says.

Ahmed said that the federal officers who arrested him made racist comments during his arrest. Vice President J.D. Vance visited Minneapolis on Thursday to show support for ICE and told reporters the government takes allegations of racial profiling seriously. But Ahmed is hardly the only person with a story Like that. This week, police leaders from three local agencies told reporters their own off-duty officers He was racially profiled by federal agents, who demanded to see his ID. One of the officers said that federal agents had their guns drawn.

Trump administration officials also seem to be doing the same Strict stance on some protesters. Federal officers arrested three people Thursday who were involved in a protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul last Sunday, where one of the pastors is also a local ICE officer.

“If you go and attack a church, if you go and attack a federal law enforcement officer, we’re going to try very hard, we’re going to use every resource of the federal government to put you in jail,” Vice President Vance said at a news conference Thursday.

federal officials said three protesters were arrested On charges relating to A Conspiracy to deprive other people of their rights. Vance distinguished between violent and nonviolent protests, but church protest video People are marching and chanting slogans and do not appear violent.

The Pentagon has also imposed several hundred troops On standby if President Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, which would give the president broad powers to deploy troops here without the state’s consent.

This is a developing story and may be updated.