Nationwide Protests, Student Walkouts Erupt After Fatal ICE Shootings in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 30 (GeokHub) — Thousands of protesters gathered in Minneapolis on Friday while students and teachers across the United States staged coordinated walkouts, demanding the withdrawal of federal immigration agents from Minnesota following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by immigration officers earlier this month.

The demonstrations marked a national day of protest amid growing backlash against President Donald Trump’s expanded immigration enforcement operation in the Minneapolis region, where approximately 3,000 federal officers have been deployed — a force roughly five times larger than the city’s police department.

Protesters braved sub-zero temperatures in downtown Minneapolis, with crowds including families, elderly residents, and young activists. Many carried signs calling for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to leave the city and criticized the agency’s street patrol tactics.

“I’m out here because I’m going to fight for the American dream that my parents came here for,” said Katia Kagan, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants.

Near the neighborhoods where Alex Pretti and Renee Good were fatally shot, teachers and school staff joined local marches, while students nationwide left classrooms in solidarity.

Protests extended well beyond Minnesota. Walkouts were reported at schools and universities in at least 46 states, with demonstrations in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington. Some districts, including parts of Colorado and Arizona, closed schools in anticipation of large absences.

At a downtown Minneapolis fundraiser for the victims’ families, musician Bruce Springsteen performed a newly written song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” lending his voice to the growing protest movement.

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Political Fallout and Government Tensions

The unrest has intensified pressure in Washington, where disagreements over immigration enforcement funding threatened a partial U.S. government shutdown. While Senate Democrats and the Trump administration reached a late compromise on broader spending, negotiations over limits to the immigration crackdown remained unresolved as funding deadlines approached.

Public opinion has also shifted. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed approval of the administration’s immigration policy falling to its lowest level of Trump’s second term, following weeks of widely shared videos showing heavily armed federal agents patrolling Minneapolis streets.

Trump reiterated claims on Friday that protesters were “paid insurrectionists,” offering no evidence, and again raised the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act. Meanwhile, federal officials said enforcement operations would become more targeted rather than broad street sweeps.

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the death of Pretti, though officials cautioned that bringing criminal charges would require meeting a high legal standard.