Americans launched a nationwide strike on January 30 to protest the intensifying and brazen fascism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. The protest was called “National Shutdown: No Work. No School. No Shopping. Stop Funding ICE.”

The 300 protest actions and strikes were held across 50 states, led by more than 1,000 organizations. Filipino groups such as Anakbayan, Malaya, League of Filipino Students, Defend Migrants Alliance, and Migrante USA participated in organizing the actions. The protest highlighted the walk out of thousands of high school and college students from various cities. Several thousand businesses temporarily closed and supported the strike.

The strike erupted amid growing state violence in Minnesota. Operation Metro Surge deployed around 3,000 Department of Homeland Security agents to hunt down immigrants and terrorize residents. The violence peaked when an ICE agent murdered writer Renee Good on January 7. Agents of the CBP followed with the killing of nurse Alex Pretti on January 24. Aside from the two, ICE agents killed US citizen Keith Porter and Mexican immigrant Silverio Villegas González.

Minnesota residents first launched a general strike on January 23. Up to 50,000 people joined the protest, and more than 700 businesses shut down that same day. About 80,000 Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation workers participated in the action.

Since Trump took office, more than 30 people have died while detained in ICE facilities, mostly from criminal neglect of detainees’ health.