Community-Labor Coalition Calls March in Minneapolis on ‘Day of Truth & Freedom’

Minnesotans will again take to the streets on Friday, January 23, in downtown Minneapolis to demand “ICE Out!” A coalition of labor and community groups has called a Day of Truth & Freedom, asking everyone to skip work, school, or shopping and instead march for an end to the Trump administration’s brutal anti-immigrant crackdown.

It is a call that deserves support from all working people, youth, and everyone who cares about democratic rights.

On January 13, JaNaé Bates Imari, representing the Camphor Memorial UMC church, introduced to the media representatives of faith organizations, trade unions, and others who had come together to call on Minnesotans to take a day to protest the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) invasion of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. “What we have witnessed, what we have all gone through, is not normal,” he said. “Violence is no longer a threat but a reality that surrounds us.”

Three days later, the Minneapolis Regional Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, endorsed the call for Minnesotans to take a day of “no work, school, or shopping.”

“Working people, our schools and our communities are under attack,” said Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, the federation’s president. “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, all while the employer class remains silent.”

On January 17, the non-profit Faith in Minnesota and a dozen other groups announced that the call has been expanded to include the downtown Minneapolis march.

Among the nearly 100 sponsors listed on the event’s Facebook page are the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, Service Employees International Union Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, Communications Workers of America Local 7250, the Macalester Undergraduate Workers Union UAW Local 5105, and the Graduate Labor Union UE Local 1105; an array of women’s, immigrant, and Black rights groups; environmental organizations; and About Face: Veterans Against the War.

The march is scheduled to start at the Commons Park (425 Portland Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55488) at 2 p.m. on January 23.

Resistance to the ICE onslaught against the working class in the Twin Cities has spread following the cold-blooded murder of legal observer Renee Nicole Good by federal agent Jonathan Ross on January 7.

In addition to the massive march in Minneapolis three days after the killing, protests have been taking place across the state, often with just hours of lead time. Also:

• Training sessions on how to confront ICE raids are ongoing.
• Thousands have stepped forward to serve as legal observers, monitoring and filming ICE attacks.
• Signal Chat groups, used to alert neighbors to ICE sightings, have outgrown their bandwidth.
• High school students are organizing to defend their classmates through walkouts and other means.
• Parents and other community members form rings around schools as students are dropped off and picked up; others help escort kids home.
• Volunteers drive vulnerable people to where they need to be and then home safely; they also deliver groceries to families afraid to go shopping, a service that also benefits small businesses, many of which have few to no customers since the ICE siege.

In response to this outpouring of humanity and solidarity, the U.S. government has escalated its anti-worker assault.

• More than 3,000 ICE masked thugs have been deployed, and their tactics have become more aggressive. The recent ruling by a federal judge, barring ICE from arresting peaceful protesters and using nonlethal munitions against them, has not dampened the brutality.
• ICE continues to break down doors at residents’ homes and carry out operations at schools and childcare centers, hunting people in shopping centers and on public transportation.
• Washington has stepped up use of its prosecutorial powers to go after anyone who voices dissent, from state and city officials to activists and immigrants. This includes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspecting the personal data of every employee at Hennepin Healthcare, two days after a public protest over the presence of immigration agents in its downtown Minneapolis safety-net hospital.
• U.S. president Donald Trump and officials in his administration continue to amplify the Big Lie that Somalis are “garbage,” that they and other immigrants are responsible for crime and economic hardship, in order to justify their anti-worker onslaught.

Attention to discipline and thoughtful tactics to minimize the chance of giving the Trump administration unnecessary openings to intensify attacks on free speech and other democratic rights is now of paramount importance.

The recent initiatives by trade unions in Minnesota can serve as an example of what can be done nationwide by the labor movement, which has so far taken a secondary, supportive role, at best, in the fight for immigrant rights.

As this resistance develops, the banner of amnesty and legalization for all undocumented immigrants living and working in the United States needs to be raised along with immediate demands such as “ICE Out Now!”

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World-Outlook publishes below, for the information of our readers, an article originally released by In These Times and Workday Magazine on the press conference announcing the call for the January 23 day of action in Minnesota; and the subsequent press release by the Minneapolis Regional Federation of Labor endorsing the call for the Day of Truth & Freedom.

The headline, subhead, text, and photos of the article that follows are from the original. The original labor federation press release reproduced at the end can be accessed here.

— World-Outlook editors

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“We Are Facing a Tsunami of Hate”: Amid ICE Crackdown, Unions and Community Groups Call for Minnesota Shutdown in 10 Days

Following the ICE murder of Renee Good and an assault on the state by federal immigration forces, a labor-community coalition is calling for residents to refuse to work, shop or go to school on January 23.

By Amie Stager and Sarah Lazare 

January 13, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS — Unions and community groups gathered in front of the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, this morning to announce a day of ​“no work, no school, no shopping” on January 23 to oppose the ferocious assault on the state by federal immigration authorities.

“We are facing a tsunami of hate from our own federal government,” Abdikarim Khasim, a Minnesota rideshare driver, told the crowd. ​“We’re going to shut it down on the 23^rd. We’re going to overcome this.” 

JaNaé Bates Imari, representative of the church Camphor Memorial UMC, told the crowd that the joint action will be ​“a day when every single Minnesotan who loves this state — who loves the idea of truth and freedom — will refuse to work, shop and go to school. We are asking every single person, every family member, every teacher, every bus driver, every childcare worker, to come together, to be in community, to stand with one another.” 

“What we have witnessed, what we have all gone through, is not normal,” she added. ​“We have seen through several videos the murder of one of our own, Renee Good. We have witnessed violence, over and over again. Families being ripped apart, loved ones being torn from their hospital beds, from their workplaces, homes. Violence is no longer a threat but a reality that surrounds us.”

Major labor unions in Minnesota are supporting the call, including Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005, SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, CWA Local 7250, and St. Paul Federation of Educators Local 28 — and organizers expect this list to grow. Faith in Minnesota, a faith-based social justice organization, has also joined the call. Minnesota has a history of joint, coalitional action among community groups, worker centers and unions. 

When asked if the groups are calling for a strike, Bates Imari said, ​“For some people, that is what this will feel like. The reality is that we have to make sure that every single person is doing what we are called to do at this time, that is grounded in their commitment and their conviction. For some people they call that a strike. For many of us, this is our right to refusal until something changes.”

The mobilization comes amid a federal crackdown in the state, led by orders of the Trump administration. On January 7, an ICE agent shot and killed Minneapolis resident and mother Renee Good. A few hours later, federal immigration agents tackled and detained a school staff member on Roosevelt High School property during school dismissal, and sprayed students and workers with chemical irritants, according to witnesses. Action by federal authorities has only escalated since then, and the Department of Homeland Security said on January 11 it was sending ​“hundreds” more federal agents to Minnesota, on top of the roughly 2,000 the agency claims it already has on the ground.

As heavily armed and masked federal agents have poured through the Twin Cities and throughout the state, working people and residents have been targeted. On December 9, federal immigration agents visited Somali-owned restaurants in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood and asked customers for their papers. On December 13, agents reportedly trapped construction workers on a roof for hours in freezing temperatures. Immigration authorities are reportedly spraying crowds with chemical irritants, detaining workers on the job and injuring them so badly they have to be hospitalized.

In response to this onslaught, Minnesota residents have continuously mobilized: blowing whistles to warn neighbors that federal agents are nearby, delivering food to people who are in hiding, organizing to support students and families at school drop-off and pickup locations, and taking to the streets in large numbers. ​“Here is the thing I know about Minneapolis,” Christin Crabtree, a Minneapolis Public Schools parent, said at a January 9 press conference. ​“In this city, we love each other. In this city, we don’t only know that justice is what love looks like out loud, in this city, we actively struggle to build towards that vision everyday.” 

On Saturday, at least 10,000 people marched in South Minneapolis to demand ICE leave Minnesota. The rally, organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, called on state and city leadership to protect immigrant workers and hold ICE accountable. 

The march was filled with colorful puppets, indigenous dancers, and hundreds of signs both condemning ICE and showing solidarity with Good. The crowd was a diverse mix of members of social justice organizations, labor groups, Minneapolis residents, and supporters from the Minnesota suburbs. Protests chants were sung in English, Spanish and Somali. 

The marchers stopped on the street where Good was killed by ICE officer Jonathan Ross, and hundreds of bouquets of flowers, candles, and offerings were left in Good’s honor. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was in attendance and supported calls for ICE to leave Minnesota. 

The organizers of the January 23 day of action hope to build on this momentum and take mass resistance to the next phase.

“When your coworkers aren’t safe, nobody is safe,” Feben Ghilagaber, a server for Minnesota Wild Bar and Restaurant in the Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport and a steward for UNITE HERE Local 17, said a day ahead of the press conference. ​“It’s a nightmare. When you’re driving, you have to look over your shoulder, to see if somebody’s following you, or somebody’s been stopped. Every move you make, you have to be on guard.”

But, she adds, workers are in a strong position to take action. ​“This country is run by workers.”

Isabela Escalona contributed reporting to this article. This article is a joint publication of In These Times and Workday Magazine, a nonprofit newsroom devoted to holding the powerful accountable through the perspective of workers.

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Minneapolis Regional Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO – Press Release

January 16, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Stacie Balkaran — stacie@minneapolisunions.org / 971.291.9486

MINNEAPOLIS LABOR UNION DELEGATION AND LOCAL REGIONAL LABOR BODIES ENDORSE JANUARY 23: DAY OF TRUTH AND FREEDOM

NO WORK, SCHOOL, OR SHOPPING

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO along with regional bodies throughout the state, including the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, the West Area Labor Council, the North East Area Labor Council and the East Central Labor Council, have joined in solidarity to endorse a powerful unified statewide action on January 23: Day of Truth and Freedom. The Minnesota labor movement is united against the violent ICE occupation of our beloved cities that has directly impacted union members, our workplaces and our families.

Workers are essential for our communities to function. Since the ICE campaign of terror began, both immigrant and non-immigrant workers have feared for their safety when going to work, being at work, and coming home from work. Union members and our families are being illegally detained at alarming rates, with workplaces and schools facing increased challenges.

Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, President of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, shared why union federations are joining this call:

“Working people, our schools and our communities are under attack. 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, all while the employer class remains silent. Our labor federations are encouraging everyone to participate on January 23rd. It’s time for every single Minnesotan who loves this state and the notion of truth and freedom to raise their voices and deepen their solidarity for our neighbors and coworkers living under this federal occupation.”

Unions join the demands for the day that call for:

• ICE must leave Minnesota
• The agent who killed Renee Good must be held legally
• No additional federal funding for ICE in the upcoming Congressional budget and ICE be investigated for human and constitutional violations of Americans and our
• Minnesotan and national companies to become 4th Amendment Businesses — cease economic relations with ICE and refuse ICE entry or using their property for staging grounds.

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The Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO is the umbrella organization of Minneapolis-area local unions and includes 175+ affiliated unions representing over 80,000 working people across seven Minnesotan counties. www.minneapolisunions.org

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