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By WCCO Staff Hundreds of businesses in the Twin Cities were closed Friday to protest the presence of federal immigration agents in Minnesota, as thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of downtown Minneapolis in a show of solidarity over the Operation Metro Surge crackdown.
Community members asked for no work, no school and no shopping, calling it a "Day of Truth and Freedom."
Some small business owners have called on elected leaders to act to limit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the state.
Thousands of people marched from outside U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis to the Target Center, where a rally took place inside the arena.
Here's the latest on the ICE surge in Minnesota
Three activists arrested in connection to a protest at a church where the leader of a local ICE field office serves as a pastor were released from custody on Friday afternoon. A 2-year-old was detained with her father as they drove home from a grocery store in South Minneapolis on Thursday, according to a benefit page created by Minneapolis city council member Jason Chavez. Dozens of faith leaders were arrestedwhile protesting at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Friday, organizers say, as part of an effort to call for an end to ICE arrests in the area. Vice President JD Vance visited Minneapolis on Thursdayand blamed a "failure of cooperation" by local and state authorities for rising tensions and chaotic moments during the ongoing federal immigration crackdown. Border Patrol Commander at Large Greg Bovino alleged the Minneapolis Police Department has ignored the feds' requests for help, but the department denied receiving any such calls. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced three people, including local civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, have been arrestedin connection with disrupting services at a church where a local ICE official serves as pastor. The Department of Homeland Security accused a man, without evidence, of abandoning his 5-year-old son as he fled federal agents. A day before, officials in the Columbia Heights Public School District said ICE agents used the boy as bait to lure his father into custody before detaining them both. 2 Hopkins students detained by ICE, superintendent says
Two Hopkins, Minnesota, students were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Thursday morning.
Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed, superintendent of Hopkins Public Schools, told staff in an email that the students were with their parents off of school property when they were detained.
Teachers say the fear they're seeing in classrooms is real and growing after
several instances of ICE activity impacting schools in the state. Columbia Heights school officials said on Wednesday that four of their students were taken by ICE officers
"Let me be very, very clear. Immigration enforcement should never, under any circumstances, be on school grounds," Natasha Dockter with the Minneapolis Federation of Educators said.
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said she joined a rally protesting against ICE in the state at Target Center on Friday as a way to show support to educators across the U.S.
"Children are terrified," Weingarten said. "Families are afraid to send kids to schools. This is not about immigration but intimidation."
Immigration expert urges families seeking asylum to prepare after 5-year-old boy taken into custody by ICE
It's an image that's struck a chord across the country. The picture of 5-year-old Liam Ramos flanked by ICE agents shortly after they arrested his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo-Arrias. The federal agency said he abandoned his son in the car outside their home. Conejo-Arrias had just picked up his son from preschool.
The pair is now being held in Texas at what ICE calls its least restrictive holding facility for families.
ICE officials were asked Friday if Conejo-Arrias had a criminal history.
"He was in the United States illegally and I believe he had been ordered removed," Charles said, before adding that the entire family entered the country illegally as a unit.
Mark Prokosch, the lawyer representing Conejo-Arrias' family, said the father has no criminal record and that the family is in the process of seeking asylum. They came from Ecuador in 2024 and entered the U.S. through a port of entry using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection app.
Given what happened to Conejo-Arrias, an immigration specialist wants other families seeking asylum in the U.S. to prepare themselves.
Mr.BadGuy
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These soldiers are from a country whose president is a Jew Zelensky. Orthodox churches are also being destroyed in this country. Synagogues are not touched. Surprisingly, it turns out that Jews get along well with the Bandera Nazis.