đ Good News from the Resistance, January 18-24, 2026
Minnesota resists in subzero temps, Free America holds nationwide walkout, Public opinion tanks
Welcome to How to Resist, a compendium of resistance actions based on nonviolence, mutual aid, and community building.
Dear Resisters,
On Friday, tens of thousands of Minnesotans marched through subzero temperatures as over 1,000 businesses shut down in a coordinated general strike demanding that ICE leave the state and end operations nationwide. Over 100 faith leaders blocked airport roads and were arrested in prayerful protest. The Brass Solidarity Band played for protesters, speakers rallied at the Target Center, and businesses closed their doors or became warming centers, handing out free coffee. Protesters, with ice crystals forming on their eyelashes, beards, and face masks, risked frostbite as they marched through downtownâ some walking miles back home as the Twin Citiesâ light rail overflowed its capacity.
Minnesotans showed the nation what they are made of this week, although none of us should be surprised to see this response from the only state that did not vote for Reagan in 1984, held a general strike in 1934 that faced violent suppression from police, whose indigenous women, two-spirits, and water protectors led opposition to the Line 3 pipeline, who elected some of the first openly LGBTQ officials in the country, and of course more recently, face the militarization of their communities during the aftermath of George Floydâs murder. 1 2 3 4
The country stands with Minnesota. Solidarity marches, rallies, and strikes were held in more than 300 cities where communities demanded limits on ICE operations and accountability for federal violence. Tech workers urged their CEOs to publicly oppose the raids, while volunteers delivered 150,000 whistles to Minneapolis to strengthen neighborhood alert systems. Faith communities across the country fasted, traveled, and prayed in solidarity with Minnesotaâs strike. Everywhere, local organizers drew inspiration from Minnesotaâs organization, discipline, coordination, and courage.
Earlier this week, during the Free America Walkout, students and workers nationwide left classrooms and workplaces to protest Trumpâs escalating authoritarian agenda, from ICE raids to threats against transgender rights. Cities across the U.S. saw crowds gathering outside capitol buildings and public squares to reject fear and refuse cooperation.
People are losing patience with Trump, his administration, and his enablers. 58% of Americans believe that Trump has goone âtoo farâ in using presidential power, 56% of Americans believe that the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis used force inappropriately, 51% of Americans believe that ICEâs enforcement actions are making cities less safe, and only 6% of Americans are satissfied in the level of disclosure regarding the Epstien files.5
For the moment, Minnesota remains at the center of this national crisis (read more about resistance actions in Minnesota and across the country below!) But weâve already seen ICE start to move into new communities in Maine.6 As I write this, a third person has been shot in Minneapolis. 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen, Alex Pretti, died of his wounds. Things are serious. I know this substack brings a lot of hope to readers, but I hope it also brings the courage to act. Now is the time to get organized in our own communities, rally support for communities under threat, and bring every bit of pressure we can muster to Republicans in Congress. As Heather Cox Richardson pointed out yesterday, it would take only 16 Republicans voting with the Democrats to stop this. It would take 23 to impeach and remove Trump.
Twenty-three Republicans.
If you are living in a Republican state or district, this is now your job. Call the congressional switchboard (202-224-3121) daily and tell your representative itâs time for them to choose: Trump or the Constitution. Trump or Democracy. Trump or The People.
Not living in a red state or district? One of the most powerful things you can do as an individual in this moment is join an organization that is engaged in concrete actions to challenge, disrupt, and protect. Find local organizations and follow them on Facebook or Instagram. Join their actions or support in ways you can. This weekâs news round-up features the following grassroots organizations that are turning dissent into strategic collective action. Check out these great organizations or find one near you and join today!
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
PASOâWest Suburban Action Project
Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America
New York Immigration Coalition
Ready for more? Check out these two posts on how to resist:
đ 45 Acts of Non-Compliance for Ordinary People
đ 35+ Ways America is Resisting ICE (that go beyond protest)
Keep scrolling down for this weekâs news summaries, pictures, and videos. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other, and weâll talk again soon.
M-.
Minnesota Resists in Subzero Temperatures
Minnesota Workers, Clergy, and Local Businesses Join Massive Strike to Demand ICE Leave the State
Tens of thousands of Minnesotans marched through subzero temperatures as hundreds of businesses shut down statewide in a coordinated general strike protesting President Trumpâs immigration crackdown. Led by labor unions, faith leaders, and community groups including Faith in Minnesota, demonstrators blocked streets, rallied at the Target Center, and staged sitâins at the MinneapolisâSt. Paul airport, where about 100 clergy were arrested for refusing to move while calling on airlines to stop assisting deportation flights. Protesters cited the ICE killing of Renee Good, violent raids in schools and neighborhoods, and the detention of children as reasons for the escalating movement, which drew widespread solidarity from small businesses, educators, nurses, and immigrantârun shops who closed their doors to show collective resistance to what Minnesotans describe as a federal occupation of their communities.7 8 9 10 11
~100 Faith Leaders Arrested for Blocking Airport Roads to Challenge Trumpâs ICE Crackdown
Around 100 clergy, backed by unions, community groups, and workers participating in Minnesotaâs statewide shutdown, were arrested for engaging in civil disobedience at the MinneapolisâSaint Paul International Airport to protest the Trump administrationâs sweeping ICE operations. Braving subzero temperatures, faith leaders blocked a major road, prayed as they risked arrest, and joined thousands rallying against mass abductions, violent home raids, and the recent killing of Renee Good. Grassroots groups, including MN50501, UNITE HERE Local 17, SEIU Local 26, and multiple faith organizations, helped lead the action, which called for ICE to leave Minnesota, for the agent who killed Good to be held legally accountable, and for an end to unconstitutional abuses that are tearing families apart.12 13
Bay Area Faith Communities Mobilize to MN, Fast in Solidarity With Minnesotaâs AntiâICE Protests
Faith leaders from the East Bay traveled to Minneapolis while dozens of Bay Area congregations joined a 24âhour âsolidarity fastâ to protest President Trumpâs immigration crackdown and the ICE killing of Renee Good. Organized by groups including the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Kehilla Community Synagogue, Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church, and Jewish Voice for Peace, participants framed fasting and travel as moral acts of resistance in support of Minnesotaâs statewide general strike demanding ICE leave the state and that federal immigration funding be cut. As protests intensify nationwide, organizers emphasized spiritual accompaniment, community protection, and sustained nonviolent resistance in the face of escalating federal enforcement.14
Students Use Megaphones, Pots and Pans, Trombones to Protest ICE Presence at Campus Hotel Despite Arrests
Hundreds of University of Minnesota students and community members gathered outside the Graduate Hotel to protest the presence of ICE agents on campus, using megaphones, pots, pans, and coordinated noise to disrupt the agentsâ stay. Demonstrators remained peaceful, but police intervened after barricades were reportedly moved, deploying chemical irritants that caused widespread coughing among students. Three people were arrested for unlawful assembly.15
Volunteers in Minnesota Deliver Groceries So Immigrants Can Hide at Home
As federal agents intensify immigration sweeps across the Twin Cities, the Minneapolis church Dios Habla Hoy has launched a massive volunteerârun grocery delivery network allowing immigrant families to remain safely indoors. Led by Pastor Sergio Amezcua, the effort has grown from a few hundred deliveries a week to a citywide operation with thousands of volunteers packing boxes, vetting drivers, and responding to more than 25,000 requests for help. Supported by community members and food banks, the network has become a lifeline amid widespread fear, with volunteers offering both material aid and a protective presence as families avoid public spaces where ICE may be operating.16
Hundreds Gather for MultiâFaith Service Defending Immigrant Communities Amid ICE Crackdown
Hundreds of Minnesotans from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and other faith traditions gathered at Temple Israel in Minneapolis to show solidarity with immigrant communities as the Trump administrationâs enforcement surge continues. Clergyâincluding nearly 700 faith leaders who traveled to Minnesotaâoffered prayers, lit candles for Renee Good and those detained by ICE, and called for unity, dignity, and nonviolence in the face of fear.17
Brass Solidarity Uses Music to Support Minneapolis AntiâICE Protests
In Minneapolis, the community band Brass Solidarityâfounded after the police killing of George Floydâhas become a regular presence at memorials and antiâICE demonstrations following the killing of Renee Macklin Good by a federal immigration agent. The musicians play in George Floyd Square and at protest sites, updating their songs with lyrics critical of ICE while helping set a calmer, more united tone as Trump threatens military deployment to the city. Despite freezing temperatures, the band continues to show up, using music as both emotional support and an act of resistance alongside local organizers.18
Solidarity with Minnesota
Minneapolis General Strike Movement Spreads to 300 Cities on Friday
A rapidly growing network of labor, community, and immigrantârights groups is organizing Minneapolis General Strike solidarity actions across the country to oppose ICEâs occupation of the city. Payday Reportâs tracking shows actions in at least 300 cities, with organizers reporting the wave may have already reached thousands as they prepare for a nationwide May Day general strike. Advocates say the Minnesota strike has become a model for resisting Trumpâdriven immigration raids, inspiring coordinated walkouts, business shutdowns, and community solidarity efforts aimed at pushing back against federal enforcement tactics.19
New Yorkers March in Solidarity to Resist Expanding ICE Tactics Targeting Immigrant Communities
Thousands marched through Manhattan in freezing temperatures to protest nationwide ICE crackdowns under the Trump administration, including the widely publicized detention of a 5âyearâold in Minnesota. Organized by leaders including the New York Immigration Coalition, the march filled Union Square before moving through Manhattan, where protesters stopped outside Palantir and Home Depot to condemn corporate ties to federal enforcement. Demonstrators called on state lawmakers to expand legal protections for immigrants and curb cooperation with ICE, framing the action as a defense of democracy and a rejection of escalating federal raids.20 21
Boston Residents and Labor Groups Rally to Push Back Against ICE Raids
More than 300 people gathered at Bostonâs South Bay Mall to stand in solidarity with Minnesota demonstrators resisting intensified ICE raids, urging Massachusetts leaders to push back against similar enforcement tactics locally. Organized by labor unions, teachersâ unions, and progressive groups, the rally highlighted fear sparked by recent detentions in Massachusetts and other New England states, with speakers from grassroots organizations like Mujeres Victoriosas describing the toll on families and communities. Protesters targeted businesses such as Target and Home Depot, which organizers said had been used for ICE stakeouts elsewhere, and called for greater preparedness, collective organizing, and statewide resistance to Trumpâera immigration crackdowns.22
Educators Nationwide Rally Behind Minnesota Teachers Demanding ICE Stay Away From Schools
Education Minnesota is leading a statewide day of action urging ICE to keep out of schools after recent incidentsâincluding the shooting of a community member, the detention of a Minnesota educator, and the use of pepper spray on studentsâprompted widespread alarm. Connecticutâs CEA and educators across the country are joining in solidarity by wearing blue on January 23, calling for schools to remain safe, welcoming spaces free from federal enforcement. Organizers emphasize that ICE activity near classrooms has disrupted learning, forced lockdowns, and left families too afraid to send children to school.23
Protesters rally against ICE across Connecticut Friday in solidarity with Minnesota demonstrations
Dozens of organizations and community members rallied across Connecticutâin Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, and Willimanticâin solidarity with Minnesota protests following the death of Renee Good. Led in part by the Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America, the actions brought together unions and advocacy groups calling for stronger state-level limits on ICE and renewed pressure on federal lawmakers to abolish the agency. Organizers launched a petition at the Hartford rally urging the state legislature to further restrict ICE operations, emphasizing that broad, unified action is essential to countering the Trump administrationâs immigration policies.24
Free America Walkout
Nationwide Walkouts Challenge Trumpâs ICE Raids and AntiâDemocratic Policies
People across the country walked out of schools and workplaces on January 20 as part of the âFree America Walkout,â a coordinated protest against President Trumpâs intensified ICE raids, National Guard deployments, and threats to transgender rights. Organized in part by the Womenâs March and the broader Free America coalition, the action marked the anniversary of Trumpâs second inauguration and framed the day as a collective refusal to âcooperateâ with Trumpâs escalating authoritarian agenda. Demonstrations took place from Washington, D.C., to Brooklyn, Oklahoma City, and Minnesota, where outrage over the ICE killing of Renee Nicole Good has fueled ongoing resistance. Protesters held signs demanding accountability, rejecting fascism, and calling for an end to ICE violence, emphasizing communityâled organizing in harsh conditions to show that grassroots resistance remains active nationwide.25
America Resists
Whistleblowers Expose ICEâs Warrantless Home Entry Policy
Two government employees, represented by the legal advocacy group Whistleblower Aid, disclosed an internal ICE memo instructing officers to enter homes without a judicial warrantâa directive lawyers say violates Fourth Amendment protections. Their disclosure has spurred advocates, including the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and FWD.us, to publicly challenge the Trump administrationâs expanding enforcement powers and highlight the dangers of replacing judicial warrants with administrative ones signed by ICE officials. Attorneys, policy experts, and former immigration judges are speaking out about the memoâs potential for unchecked abuses, while whistleblowers report retaliation inside the agency for resisting the policy.26
Jack Smith Pushes Back Against Trumpâs Efforts to Undermine Accountability
In a tense congressional hearing, former special prosecutor Jack Smith forcefully defended his decision to prosecute President Trump, arguing that Trump âengaged in criminal activityâ that destabilized democracy and caused the Jan. 6 attack, pushing back against Republican claims that he acted out of political bias. Smith used the rare public forum to assert that no president should be above the law and warned that Trump and his appointees were seeking to intimidate prosecutors and dismantle independent investigations, framing his testimony as a stand against efforts to erode democratic checks on presidential power.27
Judges Push Out Unlawfully Appointed TrumpâBacked U.S. Attorney After Defying Court Orders
Federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia forced the departure of Lindsey Halligan, a Trumpâinstalled U.S. attorney, after repeatedly warning that she was unlawfully holding the position and defying court orders by continuing to identify herself as the districtâs top prosecutor. Her short tenure was marked by significant courtroom missteps and politically charged indictments of Trump critics that were later thrown out, prompting judges to issue an extraordinary public call for applicants to replace her. The judicial rebuke is a rare institutional pushback against the administrationâs attempts to bypass legal appointment processes.28
Anonymous Artists Confront TrumpâEpstein Ties With Provocative National Mall Installation
An anonymous activist art collective called the Secret Handshake installed a 10âfoot replica of a sexually suggestive birthday message allegedly sent from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, placing it prominently on the National Mall to draw public attention to the presidentâs past associations with the convicted sex offender. Timed to coincide with Epsteinâs birthday, the display invites visitors to leave messages and includes mock boxes of redacted files, challenging the ongoing efforts to obscure the TrumpâEpstein connection.29
Top Catholic Cardinals Challenge Trumpâs Violent Foreign Policy Direction
Three of the highestâranking Catholic leaders in the United StatesâCardinals Blase Cupich, Robert McElroy, and Joseph Tobinâissued a rare joint statement warning that President Trumpâs escalating military actions in places like Venezuela, Ukraine, and Greenland threaten the global moral order and undermine longâstanding norms against domination and unilateral force. Inspired by discussions with Pope Leo and alarmed by the administrationâs disregard for international law, the cardinals called for a foreign policy rooted in peace, human dignity, and restraint, rejecting what they described as a dangerous shift toward powerâbased rule. Their intervention adds significant moral pressure against Trumpâs aggressive posture abroad and aligns the U.S. Catholic hierarchy with broader resistance to the administrationâs actions.30
Chicago ImmigrantâRights Groups Rally in Solidarity With Minnesota and Demand Cuts to DHS Funding
Community organizations across Chicago, including the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and PASOâWest Suburban Action Project, gathered in Pilsen to condemn the Trump administrationâs aggressive immigration raids in Minnesota and Chicago and to demand major cuts to the Department of Homeland Security budget. Speakers denounced ICE and Border Patrol operations that they say have terrorized neighborhoods, citing the killing of Renee Nicole Good and previous shootings during Chicagoâs âMidway Blitz.â Organizers urged residents to pressure lawmakers to defund federal enforcement and voiced support for Minnesotaâs statewide economic blackout, calling for ICE to leave communities in both states and nationwide.31
Vermonters Rally in Freezing Temperatures to Demand ICE Leave the State
Roughly 300 Vermonters gathered outside the ICE facility in Williston, blocking traffic and marching along Harvest Lane to demand an end to federal immigration enforcement in the state. Braving subâzero windchill, protesters condemned the Trump administrationâs nationwide raids and the killing of Renee Good in Minnesota.32
Tech Workers Urge CEOs to Pressure Trump to End ICE Raids
More than 200 tech workers from companies including Google, Amazon, Meta, TikTok, Salesforce, Mozilla, and Nokia signed a public letter urging their CEOs to âpick up the phoneâ and demand that President Trump withdraw ICE agents from Minneapolis and other cities facing violent immigration raids. Organized through the grassroots site IceOut.tech, the effort highlights rankâandâfile dissent within an industry whose leaders have grown quieter under Trumpâs second term. Workers cited earlier moments when tech executives successfully pushed the administration to halt federal deployments and called on companies to cancel ICE contracts and speak out publicly against escalating abuses. Despite layoffs and fears of retaliation, signatories are using collective power to demand that industry leaders defend immigrant communities and oppose the administrationâs authoritarian drift.33
Chicago Organizers Send 150,000 Whistles to Minneapolis and Nationwide to Help Communities Resist ICE
Chicago organizers and artists, including members of the Pilsen Arts & Community House and a loose network of volunteer âprinter rogues,â have distributed more than 150,000 whistles and knowâyourârights materials to cities facing aggressive ICE operations, most recently Minneapolis. Led by Emily Hilleren, Lauren Vega, and Teresa MagaĂąa, volunteers sourced, 3Dâprinted, and assembled whistle kits paired with instructional zines designed to alert neighbors when federal agents appear. Their decentralized mutual aid network, built on lessons shared between Los Angeles, Chicago, and other hardâhit communities, has rapidly expanded as people nationwide join efforts to protect immigrants through collective warning systems and solidarity organizing.34
International Support
Activists Light Up Davos Mountainside to Reject Trumpâs Authoritarian Agenda
Local activists in Davos climbed an Alpine slope carrying nearly 450 torches to create a massive âNO KINGSâ message ahead of President Trumpâs appearance at the World Economic Forum. The action echoed a U.S. protest movement built on the principle that âAmerica has no kings,â pushing back against what organizers describe as Trumpâs authoritarian overreach. Visible across the town just hours before Trumpâs speech, the display served as a dramatic act of nonviolent resistance, reminding global leaders that no president is above democratic accountability.35
Want more from How to Resist?
Check out these posts:
đ 45 Acts of Non-Compliance for Ordinary People
đ 35+ Ways America is Resisting ICE (that go beyond protest)
đ Helping people leave MAGA
đ Take Action: Bystander intervention
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https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/01/23/chicago-minnesota-protest-ice-border-patrol-funding-bill
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https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/01/21/chicagoans-send-whistles-ice-immigration
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/trump-arrives-at-davos-to-find-massive-no-kings-protest-message-on-mountain/articleshow/126995434.cms
AI boycotts!! break the bank that feeds the beastt!
Cut the power to the ICE-holes sleeping quarters, when they come out of the building soak them with fire hoses and strip them of their masks and guns, then put them all on school busses and drop them off at the airport so they can get the FUCK out of town!