Nearly 100 clergy members arrested for anti‑ICE protest at Minneapolis airport

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: More than 100 members of the clergy were arrested in Minneapolis on Friday, January 23, as widespread demonstrations and walkouts unfolded in response to President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of immigration enforcement officers.

The arrests took place at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport amid extreme cold, with temperatures reported to be around minus 21 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of the demonstration.

Clergy participates in anti-ICE protest

Dozens of clergy members knelt in prayer, sang hymns, and blocked a roadway at the International Airport during protests denouncing Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The airport protest was part of a day of action against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

During this “ICE OUT!” demonstration, workers took to the streets and many businesses across the state closed for the day.

Organizers and protesters said the arrests followed after the clergy ignored police orders to clear the roadway.

Officers from local police departments arrested and zip‑tied hundreds of demonstrators, including clergy members, before escorting them onto buses. 

Faith in Minnesota, a non‑profit advocacy group that helped organize the protest, said the clergy were drawing attention to airport and airline workers who they said had been detained by ICE while at work.

The group also asked that airline companies “stand with Minnesotans in calling for ICE to immediately end its surge in the state.” 

Ahead of an afternoon rally downtown, hundreds of people headed to the state’s main airport, where organizers said their demands included legal accountability for the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good.

Good, an American citizen, was shot to death on January 7 after she was stopped at the scene of an ICE enforcement action near her Minneapolis home.

Tensions mount as 'ICE Out' protest unfolds

Across Minnesota, bars, restaurants, and shops closed for the day, according to organizers and participants.

Many Minneapolis workers headed downtown for a march and rally that organizers intended to be the largest display yet of opposition to the federal government’s ICE surge, which Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democrats have described as an "invasion."

Trump launched the Minnesota crackdown partly as a response to fraud allegations involving some members of the state’s large Somali American community, which his administration cited to justify the expanded immigration enforcement.

Minnesota residents have expressed their anger by making noise in the streets day and night with whistles and musical instruments.

Clashes between agents and protesters have seen obscenities exchanged and the use of tear gas and flash‑bang grenades to disperse crowds.

The Trump administration says some protesters have harassed agents and obstructed their work, and senior officials have travelled to Minneapolis to defend ICE.

Vice President JD Vance told reporters during his Thursday, January 22, visit that the administration is “doing everything we can to lower the temperature” amid continuing unrest.