Protesters across the U.S. are calling for “no work, no school, no shopping” as part of a nationwide strike on Friday to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The demonstrations are taking place amid widespread outrage over the killing Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was shot multiple times after he used his cellphone to record Border Patrol officers conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. The death heightened scrutiny over the administration’s tactics after the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, who was fatally shot behind the wheel of her vehicle by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
“The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country — to stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN,” said one of the many websites and social media pages promoting actions in communities around the United States.
Tucson’s largest school district canceled classes at 21 TUSD schools ahead of mass staff absences. Some schools in Colorado and other states did too. Many other demonstrations were planned for students and others to gather at city centers, statehouses and churches across the country.
A rally at the federal courthouse in downtown Tucson is planned for 2 p.m., while local educators are expected to gather at Catalina Park at 1 p.m., and the University of Arizona community is set to protest at 1 p.m. on the mall.
TUSD closes 21 schools Friday as staff absent, protesting ICE
At least 20 Tucson Unified School District schools, including Tucson, Sahuaro, Pueblo, Palo Verde and University High Schools, will cancel classes Friday due to thousands… Keep reading
Just outside Minneapolis, hundreds gathered in the frigid cold early Friday at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, the site of regular protests in recent weeks.
After speeches from clergy members, demonstrators marched toward the facility’s restricted area, jeering at a line of DHS agents to “quit your jobs” and “get out of Minnesota.” Much of the group later dispersed after they were threatened with arrest by local law enforcement for blocking the road.
Michelle Pasko, a retired communications worker, said she joined the demonstration after witnessing federal agents stopping immigrants at a bus stop near her home in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.
“They’re roaming our streets, they’re staying in hotels near our schools,” she said. “Everyone in this country has rights, and the federal government seems to have forgotten that. We’re here to remind them.”
In Michigan, dozens of students walked out of Friday morning classes at Groves High School in Birmingham, north of Detroit. The students braved the zero-degree temperatures and walked about a mile to the closest business district where a number of morning commuters honked horns in support.
“We’re here to protest ICE and what they’re doing all over the country, especially in Minnesota,” said Logan Albritton, a 17-year-old senior at Groves. “It’s not right to treat our neighbors and our fellow Americans this way.”
More than 50 businesses across Pima County announced they would be closed in solidarity with the protest. Others in Tucson and across the country said they would be staying open, but donating a portion of their proceeds to organizations that support immigrants and provide legal aid to those facing deportation.
Otway Restaurant and its sister Otway Bakery in New York posted on social media that its bakery would stay open and 50% of proceeds would go to the New York Immigration Coalition. The restaurant remained open as well.
“As a small business who already took a huge financial hit this week due to the winter storm closures, we will remain open on Friday,” they posted.
In Maine, where Republican Sen. Susan Collins announced that ICE is ending its surge, people gathered outside a Portland church on Friday morning, holding signs that said “No ICE for ME,” a play on the state’s postal code.
Grace Valenzuela, an administrator with Portland Public Schools, decried an “enforcement system that treats our presence as suspect.” She said ICE’s actions brought “daily trauma” to the school system.
“Schools are meant to be places of learning, safety and belonging. ICE undermines that mission every time it destabilizes a family,” Valenzuela said.
Portland Mayor Mark Dion, a Democrat, spoke about the importance of speaking out in the wake of ICE’s actions in the city.
“Dissent is Democratic. Dissent is American. It’s the cornerstone of our democracy,” Dion said.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
