Minnesota Is Going On Strike To Protest ICE Invasion
Minnesotans are planning a statewide economic blackout on Friday to protest ICE’s descent on the Twin Cities.
Minnesotans are planning a statewide economic blackout to protest ICE on Friday, a culmination of weeks of protesting Donald Trump’s lawless, life-altering invasion of Minneapolis.
Hundreds of businesses, along with labor unions, community leaders and advocacy groups are demanding that ICE get out of Minnesota, accountability for the agent who killed Renee Nicole Good, a halt to federal funding for ICE, an investigation into the agency’s lawlessness, and for corporations to cut ties with ICE. The coalition is calling on Minnesotans to call off work, school, and shopping for a one-day mass protest in the state, as solidarity demonstrations are planned across the US.
Kieran Knutson, president of Communication Workers of America Local 7250, tells Zeteo that he hopes the blackout will put Trump’s regime and companies on notice.
“We’re not powerful people. We’re not rich. We don’t have access to people in power, but what we do have is our labor power,” Knutson says. “This is an attempt to try and utilize the power that we do have to let Trump and the feds know that there’s widespread antagonism to his racist campaign of terror, and to let the CEOs and corporations in Minnesota know that if they continue to be silent or to support this… they’re going to have to pay a cost.”
Ahead of Friday’s protest, around 550 businesses in the Twin Cities have announced they will be closed in solidarity. The blackout has also garnered support from dozens of elected officials, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali American and fierce ICE opponent who has been the subject of Trump’s racist attacks.
Outside of Minnesota, the “ICE Out For Good” movement is calling on people to attend local protests, demand corporations speak out against ICE, and tell their senators to vote “no” on more money for the Department of Homeland Security.
The House of Representatives approved the bill to give ICE more money Thursday evening.
Friday’s planned economic blackout comes about two weeks after an ICE agent fatally shot Good in the face. The senseless murder, captured in viral bystander videos, ignited a wave of national outrage over the militarized agency.
Knutson tells Zeteo it’s hard to describe to people outside of the Twin Cities how drastically the invasion of thousands of masked, armed agents has disrupted life. He says dozens of trade union members have been deported, while several more have been detained or assaulted.
“It’s really important that we win here,” Knutson says. “I think we will, because people are not giving up and not laying down for this, but it’s crucial that we win, and part of that is going to be extending the struggle to other places.”
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