Thousands Rally in Subzero Minnesota Against Immigration Enforcement

Police arrested about 100 clergy members demonstrating against immigration enforcement at Minnesota’s largest airport on Friday, as thousands more braved Arctic temperatures to protest the Trump administration’s crackdown.

The arrests took place outside the main terminal at Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, where faith leaders gathered to oppose deportation flights and urge airlines to press for an end to what the Department of Homeland Security has described as its largest-ever immigration enforcement operation. Authorities said the demonstrators exceeded the bounds of their permit and disrupted airline operations.

The clergy were issued misdemeanor citations for trespassing and failure to comply with a peace officer before being released, said Jeff Lea, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

The protests are part of a broader statewide movement against stepped-up immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. Labor unions, progressive groups and religious leaders have called on Minnesotans to stay away from work, school and businesses in solidarity.

Rev. Mariah Furness Tollgaard of Hamline Church in St. Paul said police ordered demonstrators to disperse, but she and others chose to remain and be arrested to show support for migrants, including members of her congregation who are afraid to leave their homes. She said she planned to return to her church to hold a prayer vigil after her brief detention.

“We cannot abide living under this federal occupation of Minnesota,” Tollgaard said.

Thousands also rallied in downtown Minneapolis, where temperatures hovered near minus 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 degrees Celsius). The Rev. Elizabeth Barish Browne, a Unitarian Universalist minister who traveled from Cheyenne, Wyoming, called the immigration crackdown “clearly immoral.”

“It’s definitely chilly,” she said, “but the kind of ice that’s dangerous to us is not the weather.”

Demonstrations have taken place daily in the Twin Cities since Jan. 7, when 37-year-old mother of three Renee Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Federal agents have repeatedly clashed with activists who track enforcement operations.

Sam Nelson, who skipped work to attend the march, said he was motivated by a recent arrest near a Minneapolis high school he once attended. “It’s my community,” he said. “I don’t want ICE on our streets.”

Organizers said more than 700 businesses across Minnesota closed Friday in solidarity, ranging from a bookstore in Grand Marais near the Canadian border to Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater. “We’re achieving something historic,” said Kate Havelin of Indivisible Twin Cities, one of more than 100 participating groups.

Detention of young children

A 2-year-old girl was reunited with her mother Friday, a day after she was detained with her father outside their home in south Minneapolis, according to attorney Irina Vaynerman. The family challenged the detention in federal court, arguing that both the child and her father, Elvis Tipan Echeverria, have pending asylum applications and are not subject to final removal orders.

A federal judge barred authorities from transferring the toddler out of state, but court filings say she and her father were placed on a flight to Texas minutes later before being flown back to Minnesota.

DHS said Tipan Echeverria was arrested during a targeted operation and claimed the child’s mother refused to take custody. Vaynerman disputed that account, saying the father was not allowed to bring the child inside their home.

DHS has also defended the detention of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, saying his father fled during an arrest in suburban Columbia Heights. The boy and his father are being held together at a family detention center in Texas. The family’s attorney, Marc Prokosch, said the child’s mother likely did not open the door to agents out of fear she would be detained herself.

Autopsy details

Meanwhile, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner released an initial autopsy report classifying Good’s death as a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds. An independent autopsy commissioned by her family found that one bullet pierced her head, while others struck her arm and breast.

The family’s attorney said they are awaiting the full medical examiner’s report and hope it will be shared with relatives before additional details are made public.

If you want this cut down further for wire length, split into two stories, or sharpened for a headline-driven format, I can do that fast.