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Pressure Rises on Home Depot to Address ICE Raids at Stores
From Congress to communities nationwide, Home Depot’s silence is being noticed.
Jul 08, 2026
Pressure is rising on Home Depot to do something—say something—about the raids taking place at its stores. In Washington, DC, over two dozen members of Congress signed a letter to the company in a letter requesting answers about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol raids that have taken place at its stores over the past year. In Sacramento, a state bill would require big box home improvement stores to report on the raids. And meanwhile, local neighbors of the company continue to show up at the store—for day laborers being targeted by President Donald Trump—and sending messages to the company in more creative ways.
One year ago, in June of 2025, Trump henchman Stephen Miller berated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and demanded they increase arrests by targeting Home Depot parking lots. The result has been hundreds of arrests at the stores, with militarized and masked agents carrying out violent and chaotic raids, racially profiling and brutalizing customers and neighbors, and utilizing the store as bait for day laborers looking for work.
In response, thousands of local volunteers have shown up at their local Home Depots to document the raids and to show solidarity and support for their neighbors and day laborers—and to protest the presence of ICE or Border Patrol police at their local home improvement stores. The protests have continued on a rolling basis, with a recent one showcasing two dozen store customers joining a colorful sing-song protest calling on Home Depot to “do the right thing.”
Meanwhile, the response from the company has been… silence. With so much attention on the home improvement giant—which has become a site of numerous human and civil rights abuses against its own customers—members of several state legislatures and the US Congress have taken notice. On June 25, U.S. Rep Judy Chu (-D-Calif.) led 25 members of Congress in a letter addressed to Home Depot and Lowe's, asking for the companies to answer questions about the raids taking place at their stores.
The Members wrote:
While we recognize that your companies do not control federal immigration enforcement operations and may not receive advance notice of such activity, these operations have occurred repeatedly at or near your stores across the country. As Members of Congress, we believe it is important to understand what information your companies possess regarding these incidents and what steps are being taken to protect the safety of workers, customers, bystanders, and surrounding communities.
Read the full letter here.
In California, Pasadena state Sen. Sasha Renee Perez (D-25) introduced the “REPAIR Act” (SB1103), which would compel big box home improvement stores to report when raids take place on their properties. The bill is a direct response to Home Depot’s refusal to give clear answers—or to share information with the public—about the arrests, abuses, and surveillance taking place on its properties, or to make clear its position on the raids. The bill has passed the state Senate, and on June 23 the legislation, known as the "ICE Out of Home Depot" state bill, passed the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee.
At this point, even Home Depot investors themselves are starting to ask questions. The only remaining question is whether Home Depot is listening to its neighbors, to its investors, or even its own customers.
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Federal Immigration Agents Won't Take Their Masks Off After Mardi Gras
ICE and the Border Patrol are concealing their faces to try and protect themselves—from accountability.
Feb 17, 2026
Mardi Gras arrives, and masked federal agents continue their lawless violence under the false flag of "law enforcement." Meanwhile a federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's latest anti-Haitian effort because, among other things, its racist foundation violates the law.
All of that is why phrases from Haitian singer Manno Charlemagne (1948-2017) have been coming to mind.
In one song, Charlemagne praises those who "unmask the wrongdoers" (demaske malpwopwete). In another, he scoffs at the bands of thinly disguised paramilitary cowards (yon bann fov mal maske). He might have been riffing on the Declaration of Independence's complaint about a king who sends "Swarms of Officers to harass our People," quoted last month by the federal judge who ordered the release of a 5-year-old boy and his father from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention in Texas.
Manno, as everyone called him, was Haiti's best-known singer-songwriter and a leading activist in his own country's fight for democracy. I was fortunate to have met him when I worked at Miami's Haitian Refugee Center in the 1990s, and we later translated some of his songs from Haitian Kreyòl to English.
Behind the masks are not just racists, but bullies, and bullies are cowards.
Manno's 1989 "Lamayòt" was written for Carnival, which in Haiti as elsewhere brings new political songs. As Edwidge Danticat explains, "A lamayòt is a mysterious box whose contents are known only to its owner, and which others can see only after they have paid some kind of price. In politics, lamayòt can refer to, among other things, trickery, a sleight of hand, and broken promises."
In "Lamayòt," Manno mocks the military oppressors who promote themselves and make up their own rules, thinking that guns and the power to intimidate make them right. But their masks and smirking, sings Manno, are the only flag they carry, and people see right through their pathetic Mardi Gras disguise: "Lan fè grimas se drapo nou pote... Pou mwen nou pa menm madigra k mal maske."
Despite a push from activists, and with Democrats following their lead, agents are sure to keep their masks on. Yes, it's to protect themselves—from accountability. ICE and the Border Patrol have always aspired to lawlessness, and under President Donald Trump they have moved further than ever in that direction.
In California this month, a judge ruled against a state prohibition on federal agents hiding behind masks, but only because the law doesn't also apply to state law enforcement. In response, State Sen. Scott Wiener has said he will push for a law that covers all officers. Wiener's statement could be from a Carnival song: "We will unmask these thugs and hold them accountable." The Field Office Director for ICE Enforcement and Removal (ERO) in San Francisco had told the court that the law should be struck down because"DHS does not intend to comply" with it.
Agents claiming to enforce the law—even when they actually do so—are violating federal law by refusing to identify themselves: "At the time of the arrest, the designated immigration officer shall, as soon as it is practical and safe to do so, identify himself." The city of Santa Ana has actually passed a resolution suggesting that the federal government follow federal law.
The Trump administration also claims that federal agents can give themselves permission to break down your door and check your papers or abduct you, though that's not how "permission" or warrants work. The Associated Press reports that the latest in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "ruses" includes the use of false license plates in violation of Minnesota law, and the impersonation of local police, construction workers, and utility workers.
Behind the masks are not just racists, but bullies, and bullies are cowards. That's why their bosses keep saying how brave they are while whining about their victimhood. In the first Trump administration, DHS Secretary John Kelly complained that his agents "are often ridiculed and insulted... and frequently convicted in the court of public opinion on unfounded allegations." In November, a deputy chief of Border Patrol told a California court that agents wear masks and "remove their badges, nameplates, or unique identifiers" because "incidents across the nation have created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty" for them.
A Burmese-American named Ba Zan Lin spent 18 years "living under dictatorship and tyranny" in his native country. Last year he told a Buffalo (New York) audience, writes Geoff Kelly in the Investigative Post, "that the measures taken by ICE agents to conceal their identities—unmarked vehicles, face masks, no badges or name-tags—indicates their authority is vulnerable to challenges by ordinary citizens."
"'As long as they're still wearing masks, they're still afraid of us,'" Lin said.
"What you do to scare me only excites me," sang Manno Charlemagne. "Masked man, I'm not afraid of you. You're only a person."
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'Smear Campaign' Detected as DHS Claims About Pair Shot by Border Patrol Unravel in Court
"You don’t see evidence of gang association," said one legal expert. "It just feels like a dirtying up of the defendant."
Feb 03, 2026
After a US Border Patrol Agent shot two Venezuelan immigrants in Portland, Oregon in January, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that the two victims were "vicious Tren de Aragua gang members" who "weaponized their vehicle" against federal agents, who had no choice but to open fire in self-defense.
However, court records obtained by the Guardian reveal that a Department of Justice prosecutor subsequently told a judge the government was "not suggesting" that one of the victims, Luis Niño-Moncada, was a gang member.
The Guardian also obtained an FBI affidavit contradicting DHS claims about the second victim, Yorlenys Zambrano-Contreras, being "involved" in a shooting in Portland last year, when in reality she was a "reported victim of sexual assault and robbery."
Attorneys representing Niño-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras, who both survived the shooting and were subsequently hospitalized, told the Guardian that neither of them have any prior criminal convictions.
Legal experts who spoke with the Guardian about the shooting said it appeared that DHS was waging a "smear campaign" against the victims.
Sergio Perez, a civil rights lawyer and former US prosecutor, noted in an interview that prosecutors filed criminal charges against Niño-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras just two days after they were shot, even before it had obtained crucial video evidence of the incident.
"This government needs to go back to the practice of slow and thorough investigations," he told the Guardian, "rather than what we consistently see in immigration enforcement activities—which is a rush to smear individuals."
Carley Palmer, a former federal prosecutor, told the Guardian that the court records obtained by the paper don't show DOJ presenting any of the usual evidence that prosecutors use to establish defendants' alleged gang membership.
"What’s interesting about the filings is that you don’t see evidence of gang association," said Palmer. "It just feels like a dirtying up of the defendant."
DHS in recent months has made a number of claims about people who have been shot or killed by federal immigration officers that have not held up to scrutiny.
Most recently, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that slain Minneapolis intensive care nurse Alex Pretti was a "domestic terrorist" intent on inflicting "maximum damage" on federal agents, when video clearly showed that Pretti was swarmed by multiple federal agents and was disarmed before two agents opened fire and killed him.
Noem also openly lied about the circumstances and actions that resulted in the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by a federal agent weeks earlier.
In November, federal prosecutors abruptly dropped charges against Marimar Martinez, a woman who was shot multiple times by a US Border Patrol agent in October in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood.
In the indictment filed against Martinez, prosecutors said that the Border Patrol agent who shot her had been acting in self-defense, and that he had only opened fire after Martinez’s car collided with his vehicle.
However, uncovered text messages showed the Border Patrol agent apparently bragging about shooting Martinez, as he boasted that he “fired five rounds and she had seven holes” in a message sent to fellow agents.
An attorney representing Martinez also claimed that he had seen body camera footage that directly undermined DHS claims about how the shooting unfolded.
No explanation was provided for why charges against Martinez were dropped.
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'Arrest and Prosecute': Demands for Justice After Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez Named as Masked Agents Who Killed Alex Pretti
"It’s not a lack of training issue, it’s a culture of violence and lawlessness issue."
Feb 02, 2026
After Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez were identified Sunday as the two masked federal officers who shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, immediate calls for their arrest and prosecution went out alongside demands for the heavy-handed operations ordered by the Trump administration to come to an immediate end.
ProPublica named Ochoa and Gutierrez, both from Texas but deployed for operations in Minnesota prior to the shooting, based on government documents the nonprofit news outlet obtained.
According to ProPublica:
Both men were assigned to Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement dragnet launched in December that sent scores of armed and masked agents across the city.
CBP, which employs both men, has so far refused to release their names and has disclosed few other facts about the deadly incident, which came days after a different immigration agent shot and killed another Minneapolis protester, a 37-year-old mother of three named Renee Good.
Protests erupted in Minneapolis and nationwide following the homicides of Good and Pretti, both captured on video from various angles by bystanders for all the world to see. Sunday's reporting notes that both Ochoa and Gutierrez were seasoned officers with the Border Patrol, joining the agency in 2018 and 2014 respectively.
"The two CBP federal agents who murdered Alex Pretti have been on the job for 11 and 7 years, respectively," said Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director of the New York Health Campaign, in response to the reporting. "It’s not a lack of training issue, it’s a culture of violence and lawlessness issue. If you’re still voting to fund this, you’re condoning it."
Many lawmakers have argued that the killings of Pretti and Good—as well as the near-endless list of violence, intimidation, unconstitutional searches, and unlawful behavior of immigration enforcement officers under the direction of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem—are attributable to a wave of new recruits and inadequate training. But critics have said that the argument provides a smokescreen for the Trump administration, which has encouraged such tactics as a matter of policy.
"ICE has much more than a training problem—it has a culture problem," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) during a news interview on Sunday. "The lack of accountability for their violence and lawless actions corrupts the entire agency, and our communities are forced to pay the consequences."
ICE has much more than a training problem – it has a culture problem.
The lack of accountability for their violence and lawless actions corrupts the entire agency, and our communities are forced to pay the consequences. pic.twitter.com/hO0eMQ04uh
— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) February 1, 2026
Social justice activists like Lance Cooper were among those demanding, now that the identities are known, for the arrest and prosecution of the two agents named in the reporting.
"These killers are being protected by the US government," said Lance, "and we must continue to demand their arrest and prosecution."
State and local law enforcement in Minnesota been allowed to participate in the investigation following Pretti's shooting, and both agents were quickly taken away from the scene and then out of the state.
While the Trump administration has withheld the names of the agents from public disclosure, the editors at ProPublica said in a note that the public has an overriding interest in learning more about the masked men behind the killing of Pretti.
"The policy of shielding officers’ identities, particularly after a public shooting, is a stark departure from standard law enforcement protocols, according to lawmakers, state attorneys general and former federal officials," the outlet stated. "Such secrecy, in our view, deprives the public of the most fundamental tool for accountability."
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Scapegoating Turns America’s Streets Into a Shooting Range for ICE and Border Patrol
The first thing officials in the Trump administration did after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti was to blame them, not the trigger-happy ICE and Border Patrol agents nurtured by Trump’s scapegoating.
Feb 01, 2026
I don’t remember ever hearing federal officials so quickly, in unison, blame the victim as after the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis on January 7 by an agent of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. And as quick after the killing of Alex Pretti two weeks later on January 24 by agents of US Customs and Border Protection, or Border Patrol.
The Border Patrol before principally operated within 100 miles of the US border, hence its name. That changed with the so-called immigration enforcement by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) under President Donald Trump. With the lines between ICE and Border Patrol blurred, when protesters shout “ICE Out,” they mean both.
Both killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti. That is, ICE’s transformation under the Trump administration led to their killing. A metamorphosis in which scapegoating is one motivating force to justify scaling up ICE and its deployment into the Twin Cities, tagged by DHS “Operation Metro Surge.” Victim blaming is one manifestation of the Trump administration’s overarching scapegoating propaganda machine.
German documentarian Neal McQueen reminds us of the poisonous functions of scapegoating in his comparison of the rise in Germany in the 1920s of the Nazi Party’s paramilitary force Sturmabteilung (often called “Brown Shirts”) and today’s ICE. “No moral equivalence is asserted,” he writes of his comparison. What he does do is highlight how both organizations, his words, “constructed their ideological purpose through scapegoating.”
Where was the mind of ICE and Border Patrol personnel shooting Alex Pretti and Renee Good? Was it the mindset of a paramilitary force in combat with those at odds with MAGA and its ideology?
Scapegoating is nothing new in the US. The Ku Klux Klan (“KKK”), one example, has been a paramilitary group supporting its purpose via scapegoating. As historian William Trollinger wrote, while “the original Klan concentrated its animus against the newly freed slaves and their Republican Party supporters,” the Klan growth in the 1920s relied upon an “expanded list of social scapegoats that included Catholics, Jews, and immigrants.”
But the KKK hasn’t been an armed force within the executive branch of the US government as is ICE. With ICE becoming more so with the ballooning funding and personnel expansion during President Trump’s second term.
President Trump has proven himself a master of using scapegoating to maintain and grow his political power, as Jess Bidgood at the New York Times chronicles. His targeting Somalis in the Twin Cities in Minnesota a latest example.
A video posted in December 2025 by a conservative YouTuber alleged fraud in some Somali-run childcare centers. Allegations refuted in follow-up investigation by the state. But damage done, as President Trump and his minions ramped up attributing fraud to all of Somali descent in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the majority American citizens.
What the video missed was actual fraud occurring during the Covid-19 pandemic. And the biggest fraudster then was the convicted white female founder of Feeding Our Future. That fraud involved providing a publicly-financed nutrition program with false counts and invoices of meals provided to children. Some of Somali descent participated in the fraud, but only around one-tenth of 1% of all Somalis in the Twin Cities.
Repeatedly we hear the focus of Trump’s immigration enforcement is deporting “the worst of the worst.” The word “worst” said referring to criminal and violent undocumented immigrants. But analysis at the Cato Institute indicates these are not the vast majority of immigrants being rounded up and deported. In practice, as America has witnessed in Minneapolis and elsewhere, “worst” means not being white.
Scapegoating is evident in the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. In likely nurturing trigger-happy ICE and Border Patrol agents. And in blaming Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti.
Within two hours of Renee Good’s killing, the victim blaming started, as analysis by ABC News documents. A post on X by DHS stated Ms. Good “weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over” ICE agents “in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism.” And President Trump joined in with his own post that day writing:
The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer… it is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital.
Vice President J.D. Vance also jumped in, blaming Ms. Good, as did DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. All the victim-blaming lies, revealed as such in the video analysis by New York Times, that by the Guardian, and others.
When the officer shot through Ms. Good’s open driver-side window, he clearly wasn’t run over. Instead, he was positioned with Ms. Good as a target he couldn’t miss. And after all the shots were fired, you can hear him say “fucking bitch.” He then walked away, casually as if leaving a session at a shooting range proud to have hit the bullseye.
Looking at the video of Ms. Good’s killing, I can’t help but think the ICE agent already knew he had immunity before Vice President Vance announced it later that day. Knew when he shot with his gun pointed through the window at Ms. Good’s head.
A private autopsy performed for Ms. Good’s family revealed she was shot three times; in the breast, forearm, and head. The wounds of the breast and forearm were deemed not immediately fatal. But the head wound was deemed more immediately so.
And why was Ms. Good’s killer taking video of her license plate. Probably because he and other agents were told to collect identifying information on protesters; protesters joining an enemy list with Somalis. And, as should be expected, as in all wars enemies get killed.
Victim blaming continued with the killing of Alex Pretti. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, held a news conference a few hours after this fatal shooting saying:
…an individual [Alex Pretti] approached US Border Patrol agents with a 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun. The agents attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, a border patrol agent fired defensive shots…This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
And at her news conference the same day, DHS Secretary Noem’s victim blaming was identical word for word.
But video shows Alex Pretti did not brandish his legally-carried gun. Nor violently resist. With instead holding his hands up above his head, cell phone in one hand. What violence there was happened when Border Patrol agents threw him to the ground and held him down.
One agent appeared to step back with Mr. Pretti’s gun in his hand having removed it. Then gunfire heard. Not by one officer, but two. The first shots finding Mr. Pretti motionless lying face down. Then agents stepping back fired a rapid blast of more shots into Pretti’s still body, analysis indicating a total of 10 shots fired.
The preceding description is consistent with the moment-by-moment video analysis of Alex Pretti’s shooting by CNN. And, also, by ABC News and the New York Times. And with sworn testimonies of eye witnesses.
When I watched videos of Mr. Pretti’s killing, I couldn’t help but wonder how the agents felt when firing their rapid volley of bullets. Was it to them, as the scene intensely felt to me, like a moment of target practice as if at a shooting range?
Where was the mind of ICE and Border Patrol personnel shooting Alex Pretti and Renee Good? Was it the mindset of a paramilitary force in combat with those at odds with MAGA and its ideology? More that than of agents performing disciplined immigration enforcement?
Rep Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) seems to wonder that himself in his letter on January 12 to Attorney General Pamela Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noems, writing:
DHS seems to be courting pardoned January 6th insurrectionists. It uses white nationalist “dog whistles” in its recruitment campaign for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that appear aimed at stirring members of extremist militias… which participated in the insurrection… ICE agents conceal their identities, wearing masks and removing names from their uniforms. Who is hiding behind these masks? How many of them were among the violent rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6th and were convicted of their offenses [but Trump pardoned]?
Aside from recruitment messages already winking to extremists, Washington Post reported on future ICE recruitment plans (also discussed on Democracy Now) to reach attendees at, for instance, gun shows and NASCAR races among other venues.
After the killing of Mr. Pretti, the killing of Ms. Good not sufficient alone, President Trump said he was “de-escalating” the surge of ICE and Border Patrol agents into Minnesota “a little bit,” replacing Commander Greg Bovino with Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan.
Then again, an ICE agent also told an observer in Minnesota just days after Alex Pretti was killed, “You raise your voice, I will erase your voice.”
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Labor Unions Play Key Role in Combating ICE in Minnesota
Heavy-handed and lawless tactics by federal agents are "attack on oppressed sections of the working class," says Kieran Knutson, president of CWA Local 7250 in Minneapolis.
Jan 31, 2026
nited States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol began “Operation Metro Surge” targeting the Twin Cities nearly two months ago. Since then, they have taken the lives of Renee Good and Alex Pretti while terrorizing Minnesota’s immigrant communities.
The massive deployment of immigration officers to Minneapolis and Saint Paul has been met with an incredible response from the community. Neighbors have come together to develop complex rapid response networks to track ICE and notify vulnerable people, keep immigrant families fed and protected with strong mutual aid networks, and make their opposition to what amounts to a full-scale federal invasion clearly visible.
This past Friday, unions, faith leaders, and community organizations organized a day of mass protest and economic disruption, punctuated by a rally and demonstration in well below sub-zero temperatures attended by tens of thousands.
What’s next for organized resistance in the Twin Cities? To get a picture of the situation on the ground, Inequality.org checked in with experienced labor organizer and activist Kieran Knutson, the president of Communications Workers of America Local 7250 in Minneapolis.
Chris Mills Rodrigo: What has your experience been like on the ground in Minneapolis over the last two months?
Kieran Knutson: It’s unlike anything I’ve ever lived through before. There are 3,000 ICE agents in the Twin Cities metro area, just by comparison the Minneapolis Police Department is between 800 and 900 cops.
You see them frequently and they’re constantly active, whether that be abduction raids, missions where they have the name of someone they’re trying to grab specifically, or just straight up racial profiling while ripping people out of gas stations or as they’re picking up their kids from daycare.
And confrontations with ICE have been intense. They’re deploying tear gas, rubber bullets, flash grenades. Brutalizing people. It’s hard to describe, it really just strikes me as a fascist paramilitary force, a force of occupation.
CMR: How has that presence affected the community you live in?
KK: One the one hand, huge numbers of Latino workers in particular are just locking down. People stopped going out altogether. Imagine being stuck inside, not being able to go to the bar, go see friends, run errands, none of that stuff. I think there’s this level of terrorism that even if you don’t ever run into ICE you do fear it.
On the positive side, in the neighborhood that my wife and I live in, for example, there are 700 people in the rapid response network. And my understanding is that there are eight or so similar neighborhood networks across the Twin Cities — that means there’s thousands of people participating in this movement. Tons of people here are outraged, the whole society hates ICE here and that’s heartening.
CMR: What has labor’s role been in community response?
KK: The first thing to say is that the immigrant portions of the working class are an incredibly important part of the working class in the Twin Cities and have really strengthened it to be much more pro-union and more militant. Some unions are heavily immigrant, so what’s been going on can’t help but affect them. Our local is less so, but we do have this spirit of an injury to one is an injury to all that we’ve cultivated over the years.
We see this as an extremely important fight, and labor unions have been involved in the scaling up of rapid response networks and planning actions like the big day of action last Friday.
CMR: Can you tell me more about how labor was involved in organizing that?
KK: The idea for it came out of the labor movement. There have been talks for some time about how unions have to be more serious about being able to do strikes, and political strikes in particular. There’s this problem in U.S. labor law where almost every collective bargaining agreement has a strike clause. And while this action was not able to avoid that, what it did do was create a situation where tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of workers were absent from work, almost like a mass sick out.
The unions built the coalition which includes a lot of faith groups and community organizations, ones that represent the Somali community, the Latino community, Native American groups.
Also, since the George Floyd uprising, there have been some significant labor struggles in the Twin Cities area — teachers here went on strike, nurses have done strikes. I think that’s given people more confidence. I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of the experience, and the networks, that came out of the uprising in the response to ICE today.
We really wanted to push to make this action a mass one, so we included no school and no shopping so that it could become a society-wide effort. There was a huge amount of support from small businesses, I think 700 ended up closing.
CMR: What was the intended message of the action?
KK: Some union organizers pointed out that early on in his term, when Trump was listing cities that he was going to send ICE to, San Francisco was on the list. Trump backed off though, saying that tech executives had called him to explain that deployment wasn’t necessary. So some of the thinking was, there are all these CEOs and billionaires with corporate headquarters here in Minnesota that have been silent about this reign of terror in our communities, we should start squeezing them into speaking up.
And it kind of worked — on Sunday a letter came out from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce with over 60 big CEOs signing on. That showed the business class is willing to say something to the Trump regime about the chaos it’s causing.
CMR: The day after this incredible show of solidarity, ICE officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, a union member. What’s the next escalation for labor?
KK: On Monday, the first day back at work after the action, coworkers that I talked to all felt very excited about Friday. They saw the national coverage, how big the march was despite -20º weather, how celebrities got behind it. And then, to them, Saturday felt like retaliation.
Some people are calling for staying on strike, or a real strike. Our membership hasn’t had a chance to discuss next steps yet, but speaking with other labor activists what makes sense to me is to organize a substantial assembly of rapid response groups, unions, activists, and community organizations to hash out what’s next.
CMR: What makes ICE and the occupation of the Twin Cities a labor issue?
KK: It’s an attack on oppressed sections of the working class, some of the poorest paid sections of the working class, and sections of the working class that have the least rights.
I think the administration is also aimed at the Twin Cities because of the George Floyd uprising, a sense of disciplining the population that had been a big part of that. I think that unions which want to be fighters for the working class have to be a part of this fight. This army that’s being constructed could just as easily be unleashed against workers who are organizing or on strike, or on social movements.
This is a dangerous, dangerous force that has to be defeated. To leave this force intact would mean a constant danger for all of us.
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From Business Closures to Student Walkouts, Communities Across US Demand: 'ICE Out!'
"It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough!"
Jan 30, 2026
Communities across the United States are protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement and showing solidarity with its victims on Friday and into the weekend with small business closures, school walkouts, rallies, and other expressions of dissent as President Donald Trump's army of masked goons continues to terrorize American cities.
A map and schedule of actions nationwide—spurred by the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, the detention of young children, and other horrors—can be viewed here.
Many of Friday's actions were organized by student groups in Minnesota—a flashpoint of Trump's assault on immigrant families and those protesting ICE abuses—and backed by organizations across the country, from the North Carolina Poor People's Campaign to the Boston Education Justice Alliance.
"The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country—to stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN," organizers said. "On Friday, January 30, join a nationwide day of no school, no work, and no shopping."
"The entire country is shocked and outraged at the brutal killings of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, Silverio Villegas González, and Keith Porter Jr. by federal agents," they continued. "Every day, ICE, Border Patrol, and other enforcers of Trump’s racist agenda are going into our communities to kidnap our neighbors and sow fear. It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough!"
High school students are among those set to participate in Friday's mass demonstrations. The Sacramento Bee reported that students "planning a district-wide walkout Friday morning, joining a nationwide student effort to protest immigration enforcement following fatal shootings in Minneapolis."
"This is a peaceful walkout demonstration to show that the students in California’s capital do not stand with ICE,” Michael Heffron, a student organizer, told the local newspaper. “It’s also to show solidarity to those in Minnesota—the protesters who have been killed, those who have been injured for standing up for their own civil rights.”
Additionally, hundreds of businesses nationwide, including in Maine and Minnesota, are closing their doors Friday—or donating their proceeds for the day to groups that support immigrant communities—as part of the protest against ICE as federal agents continue their lawless rampage.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump said he is "not at all" pulling back ICE activities in Minnesota, even after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Friday's actions come amid a high-stakes fight over ICE reforms on Capitol Hill. On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked an appropriations bill that included $10 billion for ICE, and the Democratic leadership reached a deal with the Trump White House to extend Department of Homeland Security funding at current levels—with no reforms—for two weeks while negotiations move forward.
Britt Jacovich, a spokesperson for MoveOn Civic Action, condemned the agreement, saying in a statement that "Leader Schumer should ask the Minnesotans who are watching their neighbors get killed in cold blood if a deal with no plan to stop ICE is enough right now.”
Friday's protests will be followed by more demonstrations on Saturday under the banner, "ICE Out of Everywhere."
“We are responding to people’s outrage. We’ve seen the Overton window shifting,” said Gloriann Sahay, a national coordinator with 50501, which organized Saturday's actions. “We’re seeing people from typically non-political spectrums get involved in this conversation and say: ‘This doesn’t feel like America.’”
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Greg Bovino Throws Gas Grenade at Lawful Protesters After Court Lifts Restrictions on ICE Use of Force
The Minnesota Star-Tribune described "plumes of green and gray smoke" that "burst over the crowd."
Jan 22, 2026
US Customs and Border Protection Commander Greg Bovino on Tuesday was caught on video throwing a gas grenade at lawful protesters in Minneapolis on the same day that a court temporarily lifted restrictions on federal immigration agents' use of force in the Twin Cities.
As reported by the Minnesota Star-Tribune, Bovino hurled a gas canister at protesters who had gathered at Mueller Park in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Whittier.
After Bovino threw the can, the Star-Tribune wrote, "plumes of green and gray smoke burst over the crowd," causing protesters and observers to flee the scene.
According to NBC News' Maggie Vespa, the attack on the protesters began shortly after Bovino and other immigration agents were denied service at a local Speedway gas station. As they exited the station, they were "swarmed" by demonstrators, and the situation "devolved" from there.
In addition to lobbing gas at protesters, immigration agents were also seen deploying chemical spray on protesters and observers. In one case, an agent was caught on video spraying a person directly in their eyes even after they had already been brought to the ground and restrained by fellow officers.
The ICE agents' use of gas and chemical spray on protesters came shortly after the 8th Circuit US Court of Appeals froze an earlier ruling from US District Judge Katherine Menendez that had barred federal agents from using such forms of force on peaceful protesters.
According to Twin Cities-based local news station Fox 9, Menendez's restraining order also prohibited federal officials from arresting observers who were following them from a safe distance in their cars.
Minnesota has been under siege from federal immigration agents over the last three weeks, and tensions between officers and local residents spiked after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good on January 7.
Vice President JD Vance, who has vehemently defended the shooting despite video evidence calling into question the claim that it was in self-defense, is scheduled to visit Minneapolis on Thursday to express further support for ICE.
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Portland Mayor Decries Mounting Bloodshed, Tells ICE to Get Out After Federal Agents Shoot Two
"As mayor, I call on ICE to end all operations in Portland until a full investigation can be completed," said Keith Wilson, the Democratic mayor of Portland, Oregon.
Jan 09, 2026
The mayor of Portland, Oregon told Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave the city after federal agents shot and wounded two people on Thursday, just a day after an ICE agent killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
"We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts," Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement. "Portland is not a 'training ground' for militarized agents, and the 'full force' threatened by the administration has deadly consequences. As mayor, I call on ICE to end all operations in Portland until a full investigation can be completed."
The shooting took place Thursday afternoon during what the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described as a "targeted vehicle stop" conducted by Border Patrol agents. Echoing its narrative about the deadly Minneapolis shooting—which was contradicted by video footage from the scene—DHS said the driver "weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents."
But Wilson said Thursday that the Trump administration could not be trusted to provide an accurate account of events or conduct an honest investigation.
"We know what the federal government says happened here," said Wilson. "There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time has long passed."
The man and woman shot by Border Patrol agents were reportedly married, and both were taken to a nearby hospital. Neither their identities nor their conditions were immediately made public.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said late Thursday that his office was investigating the shooting to determine “whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority."
"We have been clear about our concerns with the excessive use of force by federal agents in Portland, and today’s incident only heightens the need for transparency and accountability," said Rayfield. "Oregonians deserve clear answers when people are injured in their neighborhoods."
The shootings in Minneapolis and Portland were hardly the first time federal immigration officers have used deadly force during US President Donald Trump's lawless mass deportation campaign.
The Marshall Project noted earlier this week that "federal officers have fatally shot at least three other people in the last five months."
"Agents have also shot other people," The Marshall Project added. "The Trace, the nonprofit news organization covering gun violence, has counted more than a dozen such shootings. In some cases, the victims survived, including a woman who suffered multiple bullet wounds in an incident in Chicago in October. The Border Patrol officer who shot her appeared to brag about it in a text message, later presented in court evidence. The message reportedly read, 'I fired 5 rounds, and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.'"
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'It Pisses Me Off': Chicago Neighborhood Furious as Feds Lob Tear Gas, Detain US Citizens
“This is not crowd control, but a campaign of intimidation,” said a Human Rights Watch official of federal agents' tactics in Illinois.
Oct 23, 2025
Residents of Chicago's Little Village are angrily lashing out at federal immigration officials who rolled into their neighborhood and detained residents for a second consecutive day.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that US Border Patrol agents, led by Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, stormed into Little Village on Thursday morning wearing military-style gear and gas masks. Witnesses tell the Sun-Times that the agents began by trying to enter a discount mall in the neighborhood, only to realize that it had been closed.
The agents' presence drew the attention of local residents who gathered around them and demanded that they leave their neighborhood.
Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, said that he arrived on the scene and tried to deescalate tensions between the agents and the community. However, he told the Sun-Times that Bovino appeared to be itching for confrontation and was the first federal official to lob a tear gas canister into the crowd.
"I told him not to throw it because all he was going to do was rile people up, but he just smirked at me and threw it anyway,” said Enriquez, who also accused Bovino of leading an "orchestrated" assault on the neighborhood.
At the end of the operation, Border Patrol agents detained five people, including at least two people whom locals said were US citizens.
Illinois state Rep. Edgar González (D-23), who grew up in Little Village, expressed fury at the agents' tactics.
“It pisses me off to see them coming into our neighborhood and terrorizing our people,” he said, while also cautioning residents against getting into violent confrontations with federal officials.
"It’s a normal reaction to want to resist and to be angry,” González said. “I’m angry, too. But we need to remember not to take the bait."
The raid in Little Village came on the same day that Human Rights Watch released a report documenting the use of excessive force by federal immigration officials on protesters, journalists, and volunteer street medics outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois.
According to Human Rights Watch—and reporting published since the Trump administration launched Operation Midway Blitz last month—federal agents have repeatedly lobbed tear gas canisters and fired projectiles into crowds of peaceful protesters who are posing no threat to law enforcement officials.
“This is not crowd control, but a campaign of intimidation,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. “Federal agents are using chemical irritants and firing projectiles at peaceful protesters, volunteer street medics, and journalists in broad daylight. The message is clear that dissent will be punished.”
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