Hundreds arrested as Minnesota protests Trump immigration crackdown VIDEO

About 100 clergy were arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport while protesting the Trump administration’s heightened immigration enforcement, as thousands braved Arctic temperatures to demonstrate downtown.

The arrests followed clergy members exceeding the bounds of their demonstration permit outside the main terminal, disrupting airline operations. They were issued misdemeanor citations for trespassing and failure to comply with a peace officer before being released, said Jeff Lea, a Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman, KSL reports.

The Rev. Mariah Furness Tollgaard of Hamline Church in St. Paul said protesters stayed to be arrested in solidarity with migrants, including members of her congregation afraid to leave their homes. “We cannot abide living under this federal occupation of Minnesota,” she said, adding she would return to her church for a prayer vigil.

The Rev. Elizabeth Barish Browne, a Unitarian Universalist minister from Cheyenne, Wyoming, joined the downtown rally despite a high of minus 9 degrees Fahrenheit. “What’s happening here is clearly immoral,” she said. “It’s definitely chilly, but the kind of ice that’s dangerous to us is not the weather.”

Protests have continued daily in the Twin Cities since January 7, following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer. Activists have frequently confronted federal law enforcement over the operation, which authorities describe as the largest-ever immigration enforcement initiative.

Statewide, more than 700 businesses closed in solidarity, from Grand Marais to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. “We’re achieving something historic,” said Kate Havelin of Indivisible Twin Cities, one of over 100 participating groups.

Meanwhile, Good’s autopsy confirmed her death as a homicide from multiple gunshot wounds, and an independent autopsy commissioned by her family provided further details on the injuries.

Legal battles over detained children also drew attention Friday. A two-year-old was reunited with her mother after being held with her father in South Minneapolis. Lawyers challenged federal custody in court, citing pending asylum claims. Similar cases involving a five-year-old, Liam Ramos, have drawn criticism from advocates and state officials.

By Vafa Guliyeva