There's a huge winter storm moving across the country today and while it's not passing directly over Minnesota, the weather in the state this morning is unusually and dangerously cold.
The entire state is under an extreme cold warning, according to the National Weather Service. NEXT Weather Alerts are also in place for Friday and Saturday.
Twin Cities residents are waking up to temperatures in the double digits below zero, with wind chills dipping as low as the 40s below zero. Frostbite can take hold in minutes in these conditions. The forecast high in the metro is 9 below zero.
The hazardous cold has caused schools across the state to close on Friday.
Despite all of this, some progressives are holding a kind of general strike today to protest ICE. Businesses of all kinds are closing as a form of protest and the plan was for all of those people who are freed up from having to work to hold protests outside. But given the weather that's probably not a good idea.
As tensions mount and a sense of fear of detention by immigration agents permeates the state, vendors, labor unions and residents said they would participate in an economic blackout and gather at prayers and protests on what organizers called a “Day of Truth and Freedom.”...
The day of the strike, which was set to include outdoor demonstrations, dawned with much of the Midwest, including all of Minnesota, under an extreme cold warning from the National Weather Service. The cold was particularly bitter in Minneapolis, with temperatures as low as minus 20 forecast for much of the day, with wind chills even lower.
Parts of the city seemed like a ghost town on Friday morning, with many cafes and local coffee chains shuttered, signs posted in their windows expressing solidarity with the strike.
Honestly, today does sound like a good day to stay home. There's not going to be a lot of foot traffic when it's 40 below zero. It sounds like it's mostly smaller mom and pop shops that are striking while big companies aren't saying much of anything. Maybe they learned their lesson in the summer of 2020.
Minnesota is a mecca for corporate headquarters, with 17 Fortune 500 companies based in the state. But those organizations have not spoken publicly about the federal immigration activity, and none of Minnesota’s 15 biggest employers, including Target, UnitedHealth Group and Xcel Energy, responded to requests for comment on Thursday.
Still, Friday may be the largest worker action in the state’s history, said Christa Sarrack, president of a labor union that represents about 6,000 of Minnesota’s hospitality workers.
So there is a strike happening and the plan was to have all the schools close so students could protest. Luckily, the weather made that happen.
Hundreds of schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin have closed or shifted to virtual learning on Friday amid dangerous cold.
Anoka-Hennepin, Minnesota's largest school district, and St. Paul Public Schools are among those closed for the day. Minneapolis Public Schools already planned to be closed for a teacher work day.
Some protesters were out this morning trying to keep ICE from leaving their facility.
BREAKING: A top ICE official reveals that anti-ICE rioters showed up this morning to the agency's office in Minneapolis with a U-Haul van full of riot shields and are now trying to block agents from leaving the building
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) January 23, 2026
"They are ... currently trying to impede us from getting… pic.twitter.com/hcrBTTFtJo
Here they are.
Minnesota's Got the ICE Melt!" Protesters chant from FREEZING temperatures in Minneapolis outside the Whipple Federal Building from Minneapolis w/ @JTCestkowski at ICE protests in MINUS 20 DEGREES (-38 wind chill). LIVE NOW ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/4IccZSw92q
— jerrynmn1 (@jerrynmn12) January 23, 2026
They are also apparently trying to shut down the airport.
Faith leaders are putting their bodies on the line—blocking roads outside Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport as Minnesota shuts down to protest ICE.
— In These Times (@inthesetimesmag) January 23, 2026
Reporting from the ground by @sarahlazare, with @workdaymagazine.https://t.co/GHrnMiLn1Y pic.twitter.com/q947m4iRze
Some are marching around and protesting inside the airport.
Activists are at the Minneapolis St Paul Airport as part of the general strike against ICE operations. pic.twitter.com/nE7VWVbiQM
— Clint Combs (@Combs0294) January 23, 2026
The big anti-ICE march today is scheduled for 2 pm. It's going to be a cold one.
When protesters march through downtown Minneapolis at 2 p.m., the National Weather Service is forecasting an air temperature of negative 10.
The wind chill at 2 p.m. could be around negative 30.
Maybe you get used to that sort of thing if you live in Minnesota. I wouldn't know. I'll try to update this post later once the main protest starts.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Hot Air's conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member