National strikes and protests are planned across the country this weekend in response to ICE’s actions and recent deaths in Minneapolis.
WASHINGTON — A national strike and hundreds of protests against ICE activity in communities are scheduled across the country on Friday, Jan. 30, and Saturday, Jan 31.
The latest round of action comes after the killing of two people, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by federal agents in Minneapolis in recent weeks.
“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,” the website Nationalshutdown.org said on its homepage. “NO WORK. NO SCHOOL. NO SHOPPING. STOP FUNDING ICE.”
The website map shows dozens of “actions” happening across the country, along with groups that endorse the mission.
The Guardian reported the shutdown was a grassroots effort led by student groups at the University of Minnesota. Organizers told the publication they intend for the national strike to “shut down the economy.”
The general strike is being promoted by big names, including rapper Macklemore, actor Pedro Pascal and the 50501 movement, which helped organize the “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump.
“History has been clear about how systems like this change. They don’t shift because they’re persuaded or shamed. They shift when the oppressor is exposed and people stop cooperating,” Macklemore wrote in an Instagram caption. “When labor is withheld. When money is no longer guaranteed. When everyday people decide they can’t keep feeding what is killing them. Capitalism responds to pressure, not conscience.”
A day after Friday’s general strike is the 50501’s “ICE Out of Everywhere” national day of action.
The goal is similar, calling on people to mobilize “nationwide to protest ICE in our cities, communities and neighborhoods.”
The strikes come as additional “No Kings” protests are planned.
‘No Kings’ protests planned for March
A third round of “No Kings” protests is coming this spring, with organizers saying they are planning their largest demonstrations yet across the United States to oppose what they describe as authoritarianism under Trump.
Previous rallies have drawn millions of people, and organizers said they expect even greater numbers on Mar. 28 in the wake of Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, where violent clashes have led to the death of two people.
“We expect this to be the largest protest in American history,” Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the nonprofit Indivisible, told The Associated Press ahead of Wednesday’s announcement. He predicted that as many as 9 million people would turn out.
“No Kings” protests, which are organized by a constellation of groups around the country, have been a focal point for outrage over Trump’s policies.
“This is in large part a response to a combination of the heinous attacks on our democracy and communities coming from the regime, and a sense that nobody’s coming to save us,” Levin said.
Last year, Trump said he felt attendees were “not representative of the people of our country,” and he insisted that “I’m not a king.”
‘No Kings’ shifts focus after Minneapolis deaths
The latest round of protests had been planned before the crackdown in Minneapolis; however, the killing of two people by federal agents in recent weeks has refocused plans.
Levin said they want to show “support for Minnesota and immigrant communities all over” and oppose “the secret police force that is murdering Americans and infringing on their basic constitutional rights.”
“And what we know is, the only way to defend those rights is to exercise them, and you do that in nonviolent but forceful ways, and that’s what I expect to see in ‘No Kings’ three,” Levin said.
Trump has broadly defended his aggressive deportation campaign and blamed local officials for refusing to cooperate. He has more recently signaled a shift in response to bipartisan concern over the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.