Thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Minneapolis, while students across the United States walked out of classes demanding federal immigration agents withdraw from Minnesota after two US citizens were fatally shot, reports RTE.
Students and teachers left classrooms from California to New York as part of a nationwide day of protest, which took place amid conflicting signals from the Trump administration over whether Operation Metro Surge would be scaled back, reports RTE.
As part of a nationwide immigration crackdown, US President Donald Trump deployed 3,000 federal officers to the Minneapolis area, where they are patrolling streets in tactical gear, a presence five times larger than the city’s police force.
Opposing the surge and the methods used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, several thousand protesters gathered in downtown Minneapolis in freezing temperatures, including families with young children, elderly couples and youth activists, reports RTE.
Katia Kagan, wearing a “No ICE” sweatshirt and holding a sign calling for the agency to leave the city, said she was the daughter of Russian Jews who emigrated to the US in search of safety and opportunity.
“I’m out here because I’m going to fight for the American dream that my parents came here for,” Ms Kagan said, reports RTE.
Kim, a 65-year-old meditation coach who asked that her surname not be published, described the surge as a “full on fascist attack of our federal government on citizens”, reports RTE.
In a Minneapolis neighbourhood close to where US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good were shot dead this month by federal immigration agents, about 50 local teachers and school staff marched in protest.
Rock musician Bruce Springsteen also voiced his support, appearing on stage at a downtown Minneapolis fundraiser for Ms Good and Mr Pretti, where he performed his new song Streets of Minneapolis, reports RTE.
Demonstrations spread far beyond Minnesota, with organisers predicting 250 protests across 46 states and in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, under the banner: “No work. No school. No shopping. Stop funding ICE.”, reports RTE.
Mr Trump responded by publicly backing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees ICE.
Although critics have demanded her resignation, Mr Trump said on social media that Ms Noem “has done a really GREAT JOB!”, adding that “the border disaster that I inherited is fixed”, reports RTE.
Meanwhile, developments in Minneapolis continued to ripple through the federal government.
Acting head of the Minneapolis FBI field office Jarrad Smith was removed from his role, according to two sources familiar with the decision, reports RTE.
One source said Mr Smith was reassigned to FBI headquarters in Washington.
The Minneapolis field office has played a role in the federal surge and in investigations into Mr Pretti’s killing, as well as a church protest that resulted in charges against former CNN anchor Don Lemon, reports RTE.
The FBI arrested Mr Lemon yesterday, and the Justice Department charged him with violating federal law during a protest inside a St Paul, Minnesota church earlier this month.
His lawyer described the action as an attack on press freedom, reports RTE.
After pleading not guilty, Mr Lemon told reporters: “I will not be silenced.
“I look forward to my day in court.”, reports RTE.
The New York Times reported, citing an internal ICE memo it reviewed, that federal agents were informed this week they now have broader authority to make arrests without a warrant, expanding the powers of lower-level ICE officers to detain suspected undocumented immigrants during encounters, reports RTE.
Opposition to the administration’s immigration stance also raised the possibility of a partial US government shutdown, as Democrats in Congress resisted funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.
Weeks of widely shared videos showing aggressive tactics by heavily armed, masked agents on Minneapolis streets have pushed public approval of Mr Trump’s immigration policy to its lowest point of his second term, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, reports RTE.
As anger over the ICE operation intensified, Mr Trump’s border czar Tom Homan was sent to Minneapolis, stating that officers would return to more targeted actions rather than the broad street sweeps that sparked clashes with protesters.
Echoing the concerns of demonstrators, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz questioned whether that shift would occur and said stronger measures were required.
“The only way to ensure the safety of the people of Minnesota is for the federal government to draw down their forces and end this campaign of brutality,” Mr Walz said on X, reports RTE.
Mr Trump said earlier this week that he wanted to “de-escalate a bit”.
However, when asked by reporters on Thursday whether he was scaling back the operation, the US president replied: “Not at all,” reports RTE.
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