Jan 23 (Reuters) - Scores of businesses across Minnesota were expected to close for the day on Friday in what religious leaders and labor unions are describing as a general strike to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of immigration enforcement officers on the streets of Minneapolis.
“ICE OUT!” was the message of fliers posted on businesses’ doors, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on Friday, a frigid day in snowy Minneapolis with temperatures well below freezing. “NO WORK. NO SCHOOL. NO SHOPPING.”
More than 300 bars, restaurants, museums, shops and other local businesses were shuttering for the day, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. No school districts were shutting down, but schools in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul offered remote-learning options, the Star Tribune reported.
MARCH PLANNED FOR AFTERNOON
A march in downtown Minneapolis on Friday afternoon was intended by organizers to be the largest show of opposition yet to the federal government’s surge, which Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democrats have likened to an invasion.
Trump, a Republican, launched the Minnesota crackdown in response to fraud allegations against some members of the state’s large Somali American community. He has called Somali immigrants “garbage” and said they are to be removed from the country as part of his effort to expel more immigrants, including some admitted into the country to seek asylum and other lawful residents, than any of his predecessors.
Minnesota residents have responded with anger, making noise in the streets day and night with whistles and musical instruments. Some agents and protesters have yelled obscenities at each other, and agents have deployed tear gas and flash-bang grenades to scatter crowds. The Trump administration says some protesters have harassed agents and obstructed their work.
The numerous Fortune 500 companies that call Minnesota home - mostly based in the Minneapolis area - have refrained from public statements about the immigration raids. Minneapolis-based Target, which has come under fire in the last year for retreating from its public commitment to diversity policies, has faced more criticism for not speaking out about activity at its stores. State lawmakers have pressed the company for details of its guidance to employees if and when ICE officers show up at stores.
The company declined a request for comment. Reuters also contacted Minnesota-based UnitedHealth, Medtronic, Abbott Laboratories, Best Buy, Hormel, General Mills, 3M and Fastenal. None immediately responded to requests for comment.
(Additional reporting by Anshuman Tripathy, Marian E Sunny, Angela M Christy and Sanskriti Shekhar; Writing by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Rod Nickel)
