People across US join general strike to protest ICE immigration crackdown

People across the US on Friday abstained from school, work and shopping – and many braved sub-zero temperatures – to protest immigration crackdowns.

Brooke Anderson
Washington, DC
31 January, 2026
THE NEW ARAB


The killing of Alex Pretti by immigration agents helped spark a nationwide general strike. [Getty]


People across the US on Friday abstained from school, work and shopping – and many braved sub-zero temperatures – to protest the hardline government crackdown on immigration.

The “National Shutdown” or the “General Strike” took place in towns and cities across the US, with the support of hundreds of civil society groups.

The main organisers were student groups from Minnesota, where earlier in January two local protesters were fatally shot at close range by immigration agents, and where a growing immigrant crackdown has led to warrantless apprehensions and family separations.

Many businesses closed for the day, while some opened their doors to serve as community centres to shelter and feed demonstrators. Though the majority of protesters stayed home for the national shutdown to show their dissatisfaction with ICE, many also staged walkouts from school or work and attended demonstrations, often in sub-zero temperatures.

A statewide strike in Minnesota was held the previous Friday in response to the killing of Renee Good by ICE agents. After organisers’ demands were not met, and after Customs and Border Patrol Agents killed Alex Pretti, another protester, they planned a second strike to be held nationwide.

The main demands of the organisers were the immediate withdrawal of immigration agents from Minnesota; accountability for those involved in the killings of Good and Pretti; expanded protections for international students; and the abolishment of ICE.

Saikat Charkrabarti, a candidate for Congress in San Francisco, said in a public statement by email, “No work. No school. No shopping. Let’s shut it down! The killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti are not one-off incidents. They are part of a pattern of violence being carried out by Trump’s secret police. But we’re seeing resistance work.”

He continued, “We have to keep pushing and resisting until we abolish ICE and hold everyone accountable for these murders and this violence.”

He went on to encourage other candidates, including his opponents, to join the strike, saying it only works if everyone does it.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a sponsor of the strike, issued a public statement saying, “We urge all Americans to participate in this strike to send the message that ICE is out of control and must be stopped. Shooting innocent people, including American citizens, dead on the street in broad daylight is just one of the many abuses ICE is committing in American cities. These breaches of law and order and violations of civil rights must stop immediately.”