Hundreds of religious groups to participate in ‘ICE Out of Minnesota’ strike

Hundreds of clergy and faith groups have pledged to participate in Friday’s “ICE Out of Minnesota Day of Truth & Freedom,” a statewide strike to protest the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The general strike calls for all Minnesotans to participate in a day of “non-violent moral action,” including forgoing work, school and shopping.

“It is time to suspend the normal order of business to demand immediate cessation of ICE actions in MN, accountability for federal agents who have caused loss of life and abuse to Minnesota residents and call for Congress to immediately intervene,” the website reads.

According to a report from Sojourners, between 400 and 500 clergy members have registered to participate in the strike, further contributing to a growing divide between religious leaders and the Republican Party’s continued ICE operations across the country, with Minneapolis the current epicenter as ICE repeatedly targets places of worship.

A critical moment came last Sunday, when dozens of ICE protesters disrupted a service at a Southern Baptist church in Minneapolis. One of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, is the leader of a local ICE field office. The protest drew national headlines, arrests and a civil rights investigation from the Department of Justice.

Some faith leaders expressed concern with protesters disrupting worshipers.

“No cause — political or otherwise — justifies the desecration of a sacred space or the intimidation and trauma inflicted on families gathered peacefully in the house of God,” Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, told AP News. “What occurred was not protest; it was lawless harassment.”

But other members of the clergy still maintained their support for immigrants’ rights amid the continued ICE operation.

In -15°F weather, anti-ICE protesters and faith leaders are outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport to protest ICE and the Metropolitan Airport Commission working with federal authorities on deportation flights. (Video via FOX 9 Minneapolis) pic.twitter.com/6aJap544aY

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) January 23, 2026

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has used the incident to frame ICE protests as anti-religion. On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong, one of the alleged Baptist church protest organizers. In an X post, Bondi declared, “WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP.”

Minutes ago at my direction, @HSI_HQ and @FBI agents executed an arrest in Minnesota.

So far, we have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

We will share more updates as they…

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 22, 2026

ICE has repeatedly targeted churches

Bondi’s post discounts several examples of the Trump administration’s disregard for faith leaders and places of worship when it comes to ICE operations. Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump authorized immigration agents to target schools and churches. These “sensitive” areas were previously off limits for federal immigration arrests under a 13-year-old policy that Trump revoked.

Reversing this policy led to numerous churches being at the center of ICE raids over the last year. In May, ICE agents targeted a Methodist Church in Charlotte, N.C. while preschool children were present.

“While no one was detained and the agents eventually departed without incident, their presence on sacred ground disrupted the peace and instilled fear among staff, children, families, and congregants,” a statement from the church said. “Churches should not be staging grounds for law enforcement. They are sacred spaces where the hurting find healing, the hungry are fed, and families — regardless of immigration status — come seeking peace.”

When ICE maintained a heavy presence in Chicago last October, the agency conducted a raid at Brightstar Community Church in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood.

 

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A separate incident documented last October shows a priest warning his parishioners of ICE agents waiting outside his church to approach them about their immigration status.

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There have also been numerous examples of priests participating in protests. Last November, a minister named Michael Woolf was one of 21 people detained at a protest outside of an ICE detention center in Broadview, Ill.

Last September, ICE agents shot First Presbyterian Church Rev. David Black in the head with pepper ball projectiles as he engaged in prayer. Black later signed on as a plaintiff in an American Civil Liberties lawsuit challenging ICE’s use of force. On Oct. 9, 2025, a federal court issued a temporary restraining order limiting federal officers from using pepper balls and other projectiles in the Chicagoland area.

In Minneapolis, ICE agents have continued to use firearms for intimidation before and after an agent shot and killed Renee Good on Jan. 7. Agents detained a pastor named Kenny Callaghan in Minneapolis the same morning Good was killed. Agents pointed a gun at him, demanded to see his cell phone and held him in the back of a car before releasing him because he was white. 

“A few moments later, they came back and said, ‘are you afraid yet?’ And I said no. And then they said, ‘Well, you’re white. You wouldn’t be fun anyway,’” Callaghan told KARE 11.