Dozens of stores and businesses across the country are expected to take down their shutters in what religious leaders and unions are describing as a protest against the deployment of thousands of ICE agents on the streets of Minneapolis.
“ICE Out” was the message posted on business door fliers today on a cold day in snowy Minneapolis. “No work, no school, no shopping.”
More than 300 bars, restaurants, museums, shops and other local businesses will close, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Schools are not closed, but some, in Minneapolis and St. Paul, are offering distance learning for the day.
March against ICE
A march through downtown Minneapolis is planned for this afternoon local time to protest the deployment of federal agents, which Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democratic politicians are calling an “invasion.”
The death of Renee Goode, 37, who was shot by an ICE agent on Jan. 7, has heightened tensions in the state. Protesters and Democratic politicians dispute the government’s official position that the officer was acting in self-defense.
Anger over the arrest of a 5-year-old boy who was returning from school
Since Thursday, the arrest of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, who appears in a photo scared, wearing a cap and a backpack, next to a figure dressed in black, has been making headlines. US Vice President J. D. Vance argued that ICE took the child because his father, an “illegal immigrant” that authorities say, fled to avoid arrest.
According to the child’s school district, the events unfolded in front of the family’s home. “Another adult who lives at the home (…) begged officers to let him take care of the child, but the request was denied,” the school district said. The family “abides by US law and their asylum claim is under review. There is no deportation order,” he assured.
According to US media, the father was arrested and is being held with his son in a detention center in Texas.
