Labour unions, community leaders, and faith groups across Minnesota are calling for a dramatic economic blackout this Friday, urging residents to refrain from working, shopping, or attending school. The action is a direct protest against the Trump administration's significant surge of federal immigration agents into the state and to mourn Renee Good, a 37-year-old fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.
Unprecedented Federal Crackdown Sparks Outrage
The Trump administration has dispatched approximately 3,000 federal immigration agents to Minnesota, labelling it its largest enforcement operation to date. This has resulted in the arrest of more than 2,400 people in recent weeks. The scale of the operation has drawn fierce criticism from local leaders who describe it as an assault on communities.
"There is an unprecedented and outrageous attack being waged against the people of Minnesota. I have never seen anything like it in my life," said Kieran Knutson, president of Communications Workers of America Local 7250 in Minneapolis. "This is just an outrageous acceleration and escalation of violence toward working-class people."
Unions Mobilise Collective Power
The call for the economic blackout is being spearheaded by a coalition of powerful local unions. Alongside the CWA, organisers include Unite Here Local 17, the Saint Paul Federation of Educators, and the Minneapolis Federation of Educators Local 59.
Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, president of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, highlighted the daily fear instilled by the crackdown: "Union members are being detained commuting to and from work, tearing apart families. Parents are being forced to stay home, students held out of school, fearing for their lives."
Knutson framed the blackout as a necessary demonstration of worker power. "Those of us in the trade union movement understand the leverage and power that our labour has... The idea is that we use our collective power to show those that rule this country and those that profit off of our labour that there’s a cost to attacking our communities this way."
Official Responses and Disputed Narratives
Organisers, including minister JaNaé Bates Imari of the faith non-profit Isaiah, announced the action at a press conference last Tuesday. The blackout will be accompanied by a march and rally in downtown Minneapolis at 2pm local time on Friday, January 23.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment. However, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson condemned the planned action, stating it aimed to support "illegal alien murderers, rapists, gang members, [and] drug dealers." The spokesperson reiterated the administration's disputed claim that Good "weaponized" her car before the shooting—an account contradicted by local leaders and video evidence which appears to show her vehicle turning away.
Meanwhile, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has expressed practical concerns about the federal presence, noting city police are "outmanned and outgunned" by the arriving agents and warning against creating "warfare in the street."
The action puts pressure on major Minnesota-based corporations like Target, Best Buy, and United Healthcare to take a stance, though none have yet commented. As the state braces for Friday, the economic blackout represents a profound test of community solidarity against a sweeping federal immigration operation.
