Jan. 23 ‘ICE Out of MN’ general strike closes hundreds of Twin Cities businesses, culminates in Target Center rally
Hundreds of Twin Cities businesses closed as thousands joined a Jan. 23 “ICE Out of MN” general strike — a nonviolent work stoppage organized by immigrant‑rights groups, faith leaders, unions and supportive lawmakers that asked people not to go to work, school or shop to protest ICE’s Operation Metro Surge and recent shootings. Despite an Extreme Cold Watch, demonstrators gathered at The Commons at 2 p.m., marched about a mile to a rally at Target Center, with organizers emphasizing mutual aid, safety planning and acknowledging participation would be uneven due to legal and economic constraints.
📌 Key Facts
- On Jan. 23 organizers held an 'ICE Out of Minnesota' general strike, asking people statewide not to go to work, school or shop to protest ICE operations including Operation Metro Surge and recent ICE shootings.
- The action was framed as nonviolent civil resistance and a political 'general strike' (a voluntary work stoppage, not a union contract strike), with no legal requirement to participate.
- A broad coalition backed the day of action: student and community organizers, faith leaders and unions, and some Minnesota lawmakers including Rep. Jamie Long and Rep. Maria Isa Perez Vega publicly endorsed and planned to join.
- Organizers urged businesses to close or modify operations and many immigrant‑serving restaurants planned to shut; consumers were asked to avoid spending except at immigrant‑owned or supporting businesses, and news coverage confirmed multiple Twin Cities businesses closed during the event.
- The march gathered at The Commons in Minneapolis (2 p.m.) and followed a roughly mile‑long route ending in a rally at Target Center after organizers announced the endpoint change shortly before the event.
- Organizers and reporters expected thousands to converge on downtown Minneapolis despite an Extreme Cold Watch/Warning; they issued safety guidance and mutual‑aid plans for participants, and noted frigid temperatures could keep some people home.
- Organizers acknowledged participation would be uneven because of union contracts, immigration status and financial constraints, but said the shut‑down would have symbolic and economic value even if not everyone could join.
- Business reporting tied the strike to potential economic effects previously linked to ICE enforcement: slowed construction, hotel impacts, disruptions at MSP and ripple effects for large employers such as Target.
📊 Relevant Data
Immigrants in the United States commit crimes at lower rates than the native-born population.
Explainer: Immigrants and Crime in the United States — Migration Policy Institute
The incarceration rate for undocumented immigrants is lower than for U.S.-born citizens, with undocumented immigrants having a 41% lower total criminal conviction rate than native-born Americans.
No, undocumented immigrant crime rate isn't higher as Trump claimed — Congress.gov
The primary causes of Venezuelan migration to the US include deep economic crisis, political repression, and democratic backsliding in Venezuela.
Venezuelan Humanitarian and Refugee Crisis — Center for Disaster Philanthropy
From 2020 to 2024, over 81,000 new immigrants moved to Minnesota, making immigration the primary driver of population change.
Immigration became the leading component of population growth in Minnesota this decade — Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
The foreign-born population in Minnesota has a higher labor force participation rate than the native-born, contributing to nearly 60% of the state's labor force and employment growth from 2019-2023.
The economic contributions of New Americans in Minnesota — Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
Immigrant households in Minnesota generate $2.2 billion in annual spending power and contribute significantly to tax revenue.
The Role of Undocumented Immigrants in Minnesota's Workforce — Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
Tren de Aragua originated in a Venezuelan prison in 2013 and has expanded to the US, engaging in crimes such as human trafficking and drug distribution.
What is Tren de Aragua? How the Venezuelan gang started — The Conversation
Venezuelan immigrants commit substantially fewer crimes than the native-born population based on 2019 data analysis.
Venezuelan Migration, Crime, and Misperceptions — Brookings Institution
Since 2020, about 831,473 Venezuelan migrants have entered US Customs and Border Protection custody at the US-Mexico border.
U.S.-Mexico Border Update: Venezuelan Migration, Notes from Mexico, Border Barriers — Washington Office on Latin America
Immigrants contribute $26 billion to Minnesota's economy annually.
Economist: Immigrants contribute $26 billion to Minnesota's economy — MPR News
📰 Source Timeline (10)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- This brief focuses on expectations ahead of the 'ICE Out' day, emphasizing that organizers anticipate thousands of people converging on Minneapolis for protests and a general strike.
- It reinforces that the action is framed explicitly as a shutdown of work, school and shopping to protest ICE’s Operation Metro Surge.
- It adds forward-looking detail that downtown Minneapolis is expected to see significant turnout and disruption tied to the coordinated action.
- Provides pre‑event detail that organizers expect thousands to converge on downtown Minneapolis for the 'ICE Out of MN' day of action.
- Adds scheduling specifics about the march route and timing leading into the Target Center rally (e.g., gathering at The Commons and planned march length/route, if described more granularly than the existing summary).
- Emphasizes organizers’ safety plans and messaging around the Extreme Cold Warning, including advice for participants and mutual‑aid arrangements.
- FOX 9 confirms the strike is actively unfolding, with businesses closing and a march and rally proceeding despite frigid temperatures.
- The article specifies the gathering point (The Commons in Minneapolis at 2 p.m.) and a mile‑long march route to Target Center.
- Organizers, via Indivisible Twin Cities, frame the day as a "statewide day of non‑violent moral action" asking people not to work, attend school or shop, and explicitly link it to protesting ICE operations.
- Organizers have changed the ‘ICE Out of MN’ march route so that it now ends with a rally at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
- The decision to shift the endpoint to Target Center was announced shortly before the Jan. 23 general-strike event.
- The Target Center rally framing signals an expectation of a large downtown crowd and further concentrates protest activity in the central business district.
- Business‑journal framing of the Jan. 23 anti‑ICE action squarely as a 'work strike,' emphasizing abstaining from going to work, school and spending money.
- Confirms that the effort is being pushed not only by student and community organizers but also by faith leaders and unions, broadening the coalition beyond what some earlier coverage stressed.
- Provides explicit business‑impact angle by tying the strike call to prior reporting on ICE raids’ potential to slow construction, close hotels, hit MSP, and rattle big employers like Target, adding a clearer picture of what sectors could feel the hit.
- Defines 'general strike' in this context as a political work stoppage, not a union contract strike, and notes there is no legal requirement to participate.
- Details organizers’ specific asks: workers to stay home if they can, students to skip in‑person classes, consumers to avoid shopping except at immigrant‑owned or supporting businesses, and businesses to close or modify operations for the day.
- Explains that the action is framed as nonviolent civil resistance to Operation Metro Surge and the ICE shootings in Minneapolis, with organizers emphasizing mutual aid and safety planning, including for those who cannot risk missing work.
- Clarifies that participation levels will likely be uneven, with union contracts, immigration status, and financial constraints limiting who can safely join, and that organizers still see symbolic and economic value even if the metro doesn’t fully shut down.
- A group of Minnesota lawmakers, including Rep. Jamie Long and Rep. Maria Isa Perez Vega, have publicly endorsed and will participate in the Jan. 23 general strike against ICE.
- Long says he will personally join the blackout to 'feel that discomfort' immigrants are living with and to understand what it’s like to be afraid to do basic things like going to work, school or the doctor.
- Perez Vega frames the strike as a 'pause' meant to send a message that communities deserve to live without fear and that current policies are terrorizing families and undermining the local economy.
- FOX 9 explicitly notes that an Extreme Cold Watch will be in effect on Jan. 23, with below‑zero highs likely helping to keep people home during the strike.
- Article gives practical 'what you need to know' framing for the Jan. 23 'ICE out of Minnesota' day of action, spelling out that organizers are asking people not to go to work, school or shopping.
- It reiterates that many immigrant‑serving restaurants and businesses plan to close and that clergy are calling for statewide participation, tying this to a broader week of coordinated actions.
- It connects the Jan. 23 shutdown explicitly to prior efforts like 'Taco Tuesday' to support immigrant‑owned restaurants and the series of student walkouts and Capitol rallies.