Businesses across the country are shutting down, and multiple school districts have canceled classes for an anti-ICE protest scheduled for Friday.
The strike calls for businesses to close, for parents to keep their kids home from school, to refrain from shopping, and to go out and protest federal immigration enforcement. The strike aims to remove federal law enforcement officers from cities nationwide.
“Every day, ICE, Border Patrol and other enforcers of Trump’s racist agenda are going into our communities to kidnap our neighbors and sow fear,” the site for the protest reads. “It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough!”
Thousands of local businesses in blue states — including Minnesota, New York, California, and Maine — have posted to their social media accounts to signal their intent to close down to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Additionally, at least two school districts, both in the Denver area, canceled school for Friday over the strike. The districts were reportedly overwhelmed with teachers calling off work to participate in the anti-ICE demonstration.
In Minnesota, the epicenter of the anti-ICE rioting and protesting, some 800 businesses are expected to shut their doors Friday.
Major retailers have so far not joined in on the strike, though mid-level companies, such as online publisher Medium, have. The company said employees can take the day off to protest and would be publishing content related to the strike.
Land to Sea, a coffee shop in Brooklyn, NY, said they were participating in the strike because they believe in “safe communities and a greater collective consciousness that protects our people.”
One photo posted by the shop said ICE was “wag[ing] terror in our country and abroad, kidnapping and killing our family, friends, neighbors.”
“We will be closing all day on Friday, January 30th in solidarity with the National Strike,” the business said on Instagram. “Land to Sea believes in safe communities and a greater collective consciousness that protects our people. We strive to be a place that feels like home, especially when the world feels scary and violent to be in. This Friday, January 30th, we invite you to participate in the National Strike to send a message that ICE must be abolished. We will continue to share resources to learn, organize, and protect one another on our stories.”
Instagram: Land to Sea
In Rochester, NY, local shops are shutting down too. Pizza Wizard, a local pizza joint, for example, posted about the strike online.
“Been having some long, hard and ugly conversations,” the caption reads. “We are not ok with what is happening in Minnesota, locally and across the country. In participating with the national shutdown, Pizza Wizard will be closed this Friday.”
“As to what this will accomplish? Not sure … maybe it’s a pebble that creates a ripple,” the post adds. “If ur big mad I’m sorry, leave a comment below. No judgement if ur keep ur business open. This sh*t aint easy.”
Instagram: Pizza Wizard
The strike is being backed up by a number of far-Left activist groups, including CodePink, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Defend Immigrant Families Campaign, and the Palestinian Youth Movement.
Celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon, too. Actors Edward Norton, Pedro Pascal, Hannah Einbinder, and Jamie Lee Curtis, for example, have expressed public support.
“Truth is a line of demarcation between a democratic government and authoritarian regime,” Pascal posted to Instagram. “Mr Pretti and Rene Good are dead. The American people deserve to know what happened.”
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