Mohan Sinha
27 Jan 2026, 14:50 GMT+10
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota: Undeterred by the sub-zero conditions in Minneapolis, thousands of people marched through the streets on January 23, demanding an end to the immigration crackdown by President Donald Trump's administration.
In minus 20 Fahrenheit (minus 29 Celsius) temperatures, nearly 50,000 people lined up in a show of defiance, chanting "ICE OUT."
Businesses across Minnesota closed their shutters, and workers took part in street protests and marches, following weeks of violent confrontations between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and protesters opposed to Trump's crackdown.
Vice President JD Vance had visited Minneapolis the day before to support ICE officers and urge local leaders and activists to reduce tensions.
Local police arrested dozens of clergy members who sang hymns and prayed as they knelt on a road at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in calling for Trump to withdraw the 3,000 federal law enforcement officers sent to the area.
Organizers said they wanted the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, to be held responsible.
Police from local departments told protesters to clear the road, but they refused. Police then arrested many of them, tied their hands with zip ties, and put them on buses. The protesters did not fight back. Reuters reporters saw many arrests, and organizers said about 100 religious leaders were arrested.
Faith in Minnesota, a nonprofit group that helped plan the protest, said the religious leaders were also protesting because ICE had detained airport and airline workers while they were at work. The group asked airline companies to support Minnesotans and demand that ICE stop its increased actions in the state.
Organizers said bars, restaurants, and shops across Minnesota were closing for the day to show opposition to the federal government's actions. They said it was the largest protest so far.
Rachel Dionne-Thunder, from the Indigenous Protector Movement, told the crowd that ICE's actions felt like a federal takeover of Native land. She and other Indigenous, religious, labor, and community leaders called for ICE to leave and for a full investigation into Renee Good's death.
Lizz Winstead, a comedian and abortion rights activist who hosted the event, said ICE seems to operate without proper limits and has caused pain across Minnesota.
Trump, a Republican, won the 2024 election after promising to vigorously enforce immigration laws and saying President Joe Biden was too weak on border security.
But Trump's heavy use of federal police in Democratic-led cities and states has increased political tension, especially after the shooting of Good, the arrest of a U.S. citizen taken from his home while partly undressed, and the detention of schoolchildren, including a 5-year-old boy.
In a related incident, the agent who opened the civil rights investigation into the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent has resigned from the FBI, sources said.
The agent initially was working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension when the shooting happened and opened a civil rights investigation, CNN reports. She was then ordered to reclassify it as an investigation into an assault on the officer, and the FBI blocked the Minnesota BCA from the investigation.
Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on the morning of January 7. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Good was using her vehicle as a weapon and trying to harm Ross, but a video appeared to show Ross stepping in front of her vehicle moments before she attempted to drive away.
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