- Western Wisconsin AFL-CIO voted unanimously to support Minnesota unions in a Jan. 23 economic blackout protest.
- The protest responds to Operation Metro Surge, an ICE enforcement operation in the Twin Cities since December 2025.
- Minnesota unions demand ICE leave the state and prosecution of the agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good.
A Minnesota union and five regional labor groups will support a statewide economic blackout period on Friday in response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the state. A labor group in western Wisconsin has voted to join them.
Delegates of the Western Wisconsin AFL-CIO on Wednesday unanimously voted to join the Minnesota AFL-CIO and five Minnesota regional labor councils in supporting “the Day of Truth and Freedom,” an event that urges participants not to go to work, school or to shop on Friday in response to the immigration enforcement surge in the area.
The economic blackout is in response to Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement operation that began in the Twin Cities in December 2025. Around 2,400 people have been arrested since the start of the operation, KARE 11 reported. During the operation, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was killed in Minneapolis when an ICE agent shot into her car, prompting protests across the U.S. and more agents to arrive in Minnesota…