Protesters held “no work, no school, no shopping” strikes across the United States to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown .

The demonstrations on Friday took place amid widespread outrage over the killing Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was shot multiple times after he used his cellphone to record Border Patrol officers conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. The death heightened scrutiny over the administration’s tactics after the January 7 death of Renee Good, who was fatally shot behind the wheel of her vehicle by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

“The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country – to stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN,” said one of the many websites and social media pages promoting actions in communities around the United States.

Some schools in Arizona, Colorado and other states preemptively cancelled classes in anticipation of mass absences. Many other demonstrations were planned for students and others to gather at city centres, statehouses and churches across the country.

Just outside Minneapolis, hundreds gathered in the frigid cold early on Friday at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, the site of regular protests in recent weeks.

After speeches from clergy members, demonstrators marched towards the facility’s restricted area, jeering at a line of DHS agents to “quit your jobs” and “get out of Minnesota”. Much of the group later dispersed after they were threatened with arrest by local law enforcement for blocking the road.

In Michigan, dozens of students walked out of Friday morning classes at Groves High School in Birmingham, north of Detroit. The students braved the zero-degree temperatures and walked 1.6 kilometres to the closest business district where a number of morning commuters honked horns in support.

“We’re here to protest ICE and what they’re doing all over the country, especially in Minnesota,” said Logan Albritton, a 17-year-old senior at Groves. “It’s not right to treat our neighbors and our fellow Americans this way.”

Numerous businesses announced they would be closed during Friday’s “blackout". Others said they would be staying open, but donating a portion of their proceeds to organizations that support immigrants and provide legal aid to those facing deportation.

Portland mayor Mark Dion, a Democrat, spoke about the importance of speaking out in the wake of ICE’s actions in the city.

“Dissent is Democratic. Dissent is American. It’s the cornerstone of our democracy,” he said.

In Los Angeles, where Trump's immigration surge first began in June, thousands of protesters gathered in front of city hall in the afternoon and later marched to the federal detention center. As the demonstration stretched into the evening, federal agents began using chemical sprays to push the crowd back.

In Nebraska on Thursday, a student was hit by an SUV flying a Trump flag at a student-led protest against the immigration crackdown.

Video from the scene shot by News Channel Nebraska shows a red SUV displaying a blue Trump 2024 flag accelerating as a student carrying a sign walks in the direction of the vehicle. The student is knocked onto the hood and falls onto the ground. The vehicle stops briefly and then takes off. (AP)