A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Faith leaders, unions and citizens in Minnesota's twin cities are pushing back today against one of the largest and most aggressive campaigns yet targeting undocumented immigrants.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Many businesses are closed, and there are planned protests throughout the day. It follows the arrest on Thursday by the Trump administration of three people involved in a protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul last Sunday. Coming up, we'll speak with the head of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation about a statewide economic blackout it has endorsed. Let's first get the latest information.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Meg Anderson is in Minneapolis. Meg, what can we expect to see today?
MEG ANDERSON, BYLINE: Yeah. So there's a general strike. Organizers are encouraging community members to stay home from work, to not shop or dine out. Many local businesses will be closed. And there are going to be several demonstrations, including a march and a rally in downtown Minneapolis this afternoon. It's also extremely cold here, even by Minnesota standards. Afternoon temperatures will be around negative 10 degrees. But, you know, given the strong community response we've seen here so far, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people still show up.
MARTÍNEZ: And you said negative 10, right? Negative 10.
ANDERSON: Yes.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
ANDERSON: That's right.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. I mentioned earlier arrests of church protesters. Now, what can you tell us about that?
ANDERSON: Yeah. So last Sunday, protesters entered a church in St. Paul because one of the pastors there is a local official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Federal officials said the three protesters were arrested on charges related to a conspiracy to deprive other people of their rights. In this case, religious rights. One of the people arrested is a civil rights lawyer and a prominent local activist. And these arrests seem to be part of a shifting harder line the administration is taking with some protesters. Here's Vice President JD Vance. He visited Minneapolis yesterday.
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JD VANCE: If you go and storm a church, if you go and insult a federal law enforcement officer, we're going to try very hard. We're going to use every resource of the federal government to put you in prison. Respect people's rights.
ANDERSON: Vance drew a distinction between violent and non-violent protests, but videos of that church protest show people marching and chanting. It does not appear violent. And the vast majority of protests here have been peaceful.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, it's true. But I have seen cases of immigration officers deploying tear gas and pepper spray and arresting protesters.
ANDERSON: Yeah, that's right. So, you know, this week, Gregory Bovino, the head of Customs and Border Protection, he blamed those instances of violence on what he called, quote, "an influx of anarchist" protesters. But we are hearing more and more cases of people reporting aggressive behavior from immigration officers. Some U.S. citizens are speaking out about being stopped or detained by immigration agents. Here's Nasra Ahmed speaking at a press conference this Wednesday. She's a U.S. citizen and was detained by immigration agents for two days.
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NASRA AHMED: They were just using a lot of force to arrest me, and I was screaming, I was crying. I was so scared. I've, like, never been arrested in my life.
ANDERSON: She's Somali American, and she said the officers arresting her made racist remarks. While in Minneapolis, Vice President Vance told reporters the government takes allegations of racial profiling seriously. But Nasra Ahmed is hardly the only person with a story like that. This week, police leaders from three local agencies told reporters their own off-duty officers were racially profiled by federal agents who demanded to see their IDs. One of the officers said the federal agents had their guns drawn on them.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Meg Anderson in Minneapolis. Meg, try to stay warm.
ANDERSON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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