{"id":129458,"date":"2026-01-23T18:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/129458\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T18:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:36:11","slug":"orlando-activists-plan-ice-out-for-good-protest-in-solidarity-with-minneapolis-day-of-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/129458\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando activists plan ‘ICE Out for Good’ protest in solidarity with Minneapolis day of action"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Hundreds rally outside of Orlando City Hall in protest of an ICE agent\u2019s killing of Minneapolis woman Renee Good (Jan. 11, 2026) Credit: McKenna Schueler<\/p>\n

As a demonstration of support for a mass economic blackout<\/a> being organized by labor unions and community organizers this Friday in Minneapolis, activists in Orlando are organizing their own protest Friday evening at Orlando City Hall, in solidarity with the Minneapolis coalition\u2019s demand to remove ICE from their state. Dozens of similar solidarity actions<\/a> are being organized across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cICE is an agency built on fear, family separation, and state terror,\u201d reads a statement from Socialist Alternative, a leftist group organizing the solidarity demonstration in Orlando. \u201cWhen workers and communities in Minneapolis take a stand, people in Orlando are standing with them. An injury to one is an injury to all.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Workday Magazine, a coalition of community organizers, labor unions and faith leaders in Minneapolis last week \u2014 galvanized by violence perpetrated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement \u2014 announced plans<\/a> for a day of \u201cno work (except for emergency services), no school, and no shopping\u201d Friday, Jan. 23.<\/p>\n

The day of action, dubbed the \u201cDay of Truth and Freedom,\u201d has been likened to a strike, although organizers aren\u2019t using that term themselves, in part to likely avoid legal challenges associated with the term. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur local understands that some workers and bargaining units are going to be prohibited by law from striking,\u201d said Greg Nammacher, president of the Minneapolis-based labor union SEIU Local 26, speaking at a press conference Monday. \u201cWe are not telling workers to violate those rules and will respect workers\u2019 individual choices on how they participate on the 23rd,\u201d Nammacher said. \u201cBut let us be very, very clear: We as unions will do everything in our power to protect the rights of all workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The labor-community coalition organizing Friday\u2019s \u201cDay of Truth and Freedom\u201d in Minneapolis are collectively calling for<\/a> the removal of ICE from the state of Minnesota. The call to action comes shortly after a mobilization of thousands of ICE agents<\/a> to the Minneapolis area by the Trump administration and the fatal shooting of Minneapolis mom Renee Good by federal ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Good, a U.S. citizen acting as a legal observer, was shot multiple times by Ross as she attempted to drive away from ICE agents in her Honda Pilot, after another officer commanded<\/a> Good to \u201cget out of the f**king car.\u201d Hundreds of Orlandoans rallied in protest of Good\u2019s killing<\/a> at Orlando City Hall earlier this month as part of a national weekend of protest actions and vigils.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis rally is not the end \u2014 it\u2019s a warning, it\u2019s a promise, and we will not be quiet while queer migrants are detained, while our siblings are detained,\u201d said Fidel \u201cFi\u201d Gomez Jr., LGBTQ+ organizer for Hope CommUnity Center, speaking at the Jan. 11 rally in Orlando. \u201cWe will not be silent while our money is used to harm people. We will continue organizing, we will protect one another, and we will return again and again and again if we have to, because love makes us brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organizers are making good on that promise this Friday. The local rally, endorsed by Socialist Alternative Florida, Orlando 50501 and the Sunshine Movement, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Orlando City Hall, according to an event flyer<\/a> circulating on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although state policy in Florida is more hostile to immigrants rights<\/a> (and to local elected officials who are sympathetic to concerns<\/a> about ICE) compared to Minnesota, Orlando remains one of the last Democratic-leaning areas in the ruby-red Sunshine State. It\u2019s also a city where nearly one-quarter of the growing population is foreign-born<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s also no stranger to anti-ICE protests: Orlandoans also took to the streets<\/a> in 2018 to protest Trump\u2019s immigration policies during his first term in the White House, standing in opposition to the separation of migrant children and their guardians.<\/p>\n

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Call to action<\/p>\n

The labor-community coalition organizing Friday\u2019s day of action in Minneapolis are collectively calling for<\/a> ICE to depart from Minnesota, for the ICE agent who killed Renee Good to be held legally accountable for his actions, and for Congress to allocate no additional funding for ICE in the congressional budget. Organizers are also calling on Minnesota businesses to \u201ccease economic relations\u201d with ICE and refuse to allow ICE to use their property for \u201cstaging grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany employers, in many cases already, are partnering with their employees and closing down entirely, or making sure that workers that are going to be off [work] are going to be accommodated,\u201d said Nammacher, the SEIU Local 26 president. \u201cThere is a way to do this together, with both businesses, unions and workers together, so that we can stand and really make a clear statement to the world, and most importantly to the ICE occupation of our communities, that we stand together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Immigrants rights advocates in Orlando have similarly issued calls<\/a> for the Orange County government to end its collaboration with ICE \u2014 a feat that\u2019s more complicated<\/a> in Florida due to state statutes that require local governments to comply with and assist federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

Rumors of new ICE detention facility potentially being built in Orlando, plus a reported uptick<\/a> in recent ICE activity in Central Florida, have also prompted criticism and opposition from some elected officials. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of expanding ICE detention in Orlando comes at a moment when immigration enforcement has increasingly looked like vigilante-style policing: aggressive street actions, broken windows, people dragged from cars, and even U.S. citizens being detained in the chaos and killed,\u201d said Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) in a Jan. 16 social media post<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOrlando does not need an ICE detention facility,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe need policies that keep families together, respect due process, and protect the economic and social fabric that makes our region thrive. I oppose any and all plans to open up an immigration detention center in our community and urge private and local decision-makers to reject any proposal to open up an ICE detention facility in Orlando.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least 32 people died<\/a> in ICE custody last year, according to reporting from The Guardian, making 2025 the deadliest year for those detained by ICE over the last two decades.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n

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