The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest community of labor unions representing some 15 million employees, says ICE is a risk to employees.
“The Trump administration’s militarized immigration enforcement is placing harmless working folks in peril,” the AFL-CIO mentioned in a publish on X on Saturday. “America’s unions have your backs.”
A bunch of native unions in Minnesota, in the meantime, has endorsed a deliberate statewide financial blackout in response to ICE actions within the state.
The Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, first introduced its endorsement alongside different regional our bodies on Friday.
“The Minnesota labor motion is united towards the violent ICE occupation of our beloved cities that has instantly impacted union members, our workplaces and our households,” the group mentioned in a press launch.
Dozens of neighborhood, religion, and union teams are organizing the Day of Reality and Freedom, a name to motion asking Minnesotans to keep away from work, college, and procuring on January 23 to pause the financial system. There may also be a rally and march in downtown Minneapolis at 2 p.m. native time.
“We’ll collect with household, neighbors, and neighborhood to point out Minnesota’s ethical coronary heart and financial energy,” organizers mentioned in a Fb publish.
Organizers listed a number of calls for, together with that ICE go away Minnesota and that federal funding for ICE be scrapped within the upcoming congressional price range.
The Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation advised Enterprise Insider that ICE’s presence is disrupting residents’ each day lives.
“Working folks from throughout sectors — hospitality, healthcare, schooling, custodial, development, public works — are being focused,” the group mentioned in an announcement.
1000’s of ICE officers have descended on Minnesota as a part of Operation Metro Surge, launched on December 1. Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem mentioned in a press launch earlier this month that the operation was concentrating on prison exercise amongst immigrants within the state.
“Beneath President Trump, we are going to expose and ship accountability for the rampant fraud and criminality occurring in Minnesota. You will not steal from Individuals or break our legal guidelines and get away with it,” she mentioned.
The Trump administration has criticized cities like Minneapolis which have handed so-called “sanctuary” legal guidelines stopping metropolis assets and police from supporting federal immigration brokers. In an announcement shared on Friday, the White Home mentioned sanctuary cities create “a local weather of hostility that endangers federal officers and incites violence.” Earlier within the week, the administration mentioned it could minimize federal funding to sanctuary cities.
Enterprise Insider reached out to ICE, the Division of Homeland Safety, and the White Home for remark.
Many residents, in the meantime, have criticized the ways that federal brokers are utilizing to find and detain people. Tensions within the state skyrocketed after ICE officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old American citizen from Minneapolis, on January 7, resulting in a wave of protests and outcry.
Days after the taking pictures, Minnesota’s lawyer common filed a lawsuit on behalf of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the state towards Homeland Safety, which oversees ICE, searching for to finish the operation.
“On account of this surge, municipalities have been pressured to divert native legislation enforcement assets away from their regular public security duties, emergency responder assets have been strained, colleges have been pressured into lockdowns and closures, companies have been pressured to shut, and the rights of Minnesotans have been violated time and time once more,” a press launch from the Minnesota Legal professional Normal’s Workplace mentioned.
Homeland Safety mentioned officers have arrested over 2,500 people throughout Operation Metro Surge up to now.
Correction: January 17, 2026 — As a result of an modifying error, an earlier model of this story misstated that the AFL-CIO had endorsed the January 23 financial blackout in Minnesota. It has not publicly expressed a place.
