Thousands of protesters rallied in Minneapolis and other parts of the United States on Friday against the hardline immigration tactics used by US President Donald Trump's administration.
Last month, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection launched Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul in an attempt to detain undocumented immigrants in the metropolitan area.
Some 3,000 federal agents have been deployed to Minneapolis amid the operation, five times the number of local police officers in the city.
What happened during the demonstrations?
The killing of two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by federal agents during the operation this month has sparked national and international indignation and ramped up calls for the Trump administration to end its raids in the Twin Cities as well as broader calls to reform and defund ICE.
The demonstrators in Minneapolis carried posters with slogans such as "ICE OUT NOW!" Others held images of Renee Good and called for Trump and US Vice President JD Vance to be impeached.
The protests were part of an event called the "National Shutdown," which called for a "nationwide day of no school, no work and no shopping."
In addition, demonstrations were also reported in US cities, including Los Angeles. US media also reported that students walked out of high schools in states such as Indiana, Wisconsin and Maine.
DOJ opens civil rights probe into Alex Pretti killing
The demonstrations come as the US Department of Justice has opened a civil rights probe into the killing of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by US Border Patrol agents.
"We're looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened," US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said of the investigation.
ICE surveillance: A growing digital dragnet
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The decision to open an investigation has raised questions about whether the federal government can accurately probe a killing by its own agents. Moreover, the federal government has not opened an investigation into the killing of Nicole Good, who was shot dead by an ICE agent.
The killings of US citizens — and the deaths of six non-US nationals while held in ICE custody — and reports of unconstitutional activity by ICE and Border Patrol triggered demands from federal Democratic lawmakers for reform, and abolition, of ICE.
The US Senate on Friday voted to fund most of the government through the end of September, dodging the worst impacts of a government shutdown. However, the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for ICE and Border Patrol, will only be funded for two more weeks.
This stopgap measure gives legislators time to discuss possible ICE reforms, such as a ban on face masks and an end to warrantless roving patrols.
"Senate Democrats were successful in separating and passing the five bipartisan government funding bills from the DHS bill," Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said. "Now I am willing to give the White House and Republicans two weeks to work with Democrats to reform ICE and the campaign of terror we've witnessed in Chicago Minneapolis and around the country. After two weeks, I make no promises."
Many Republicans have rebuked the Democrats' demands and defended ICE.
"There is no way in h--- we're going to let Democrats knee cap law enforcement and stop deportations in exchange for funding DHS," Republican Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri said ahead of the government funding vote. He accused Democrats of wanting to make it "impossible to actually enforce our immigration laws."
The Senate government funding deal will now move to the US House, which will not convene until Monday. This means the government will partially shut down for a short period, as funding runs out on January 30.
