Protesters in the United States have launched a nationwide “No Work, No School, No Shop” strike in response to deportations by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Friday’s strike, organized by a range of activist groups, comes after kill Immigration enforcement officers arrested two more U.S. citizens in Minnesota this month, following last week’s statewide strike.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would launch a civil rights investigation into the Jan. 24 killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents.

However, it still has not taken action to investigate the Jan. 7 shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in a case that may have violated her rights.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minneapolis, is among the elected officials pushing for Friday’s strike.

“Solidarity with everyone participating in today’s general strike against ICE’s terrorist activities,” Omar wrote on X.

“You’re changing the world,” she said.

civil rights investigation

The killings of Goode and Pretty come after the Trump administration sent a large number of immigration agents to Minnesota specifically to target alleged fraud in the Somali-American community.

The deployment comes amid a wider deportation drive that observers say has seen immigration agents use dragnet techniques to reach sharp increase Detention quotas.

Earlier this week, border security chief Tom Homan, officially dubbed the “border czar” by the White House, pledged that the state would continue enforcement operations but said increased cooperation with local officials could lead to “drawbacks.”

On Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Branch confirmed that the agency was conducting a civil rights investigation into Pretty’s killing, saying “we are looking at anything that sheds light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to the incident.”

The statement came as Trump administration officials confirmed that the FBI would take over the investigation of the shooting from the Department of Homeland Security. Many Trump administration officials initially falsely claimed that Pretty had waved a gun at immigration officials before being shot.

Branch did not elaborate further on why the department did not open a civil rights investigation into Goode’s killing, saying only that the department is not involved in every law enforcement shooting and that there must be circumstances “worthy of investigation.”

Trump officials immediately labeled Goode, who was shot while trying to run over an ICE agent, a “domestic terrorist.” Video analysis of the killing shows Goode was trying to drive away from officers when he was killed.

Federal authorities have barred local and state authorities from conducting independent investigations into the killings.

“Dissent is democratic”

Protesters gathered at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on Friday to plan a march to the White House.

“I think it just shows how many people are against this and how it’s harmful to our country,” one student told Al Jazeera.

“I think us all coming together and speaking out against this shows our government that we’re not happy with this and we’re not going to let it slip away,” she added.

Meanwhile, schools in states including Arizona and Colorado are closing in anticipation of mass absences. Dozens of students at Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan, dropped out of morning classes.

“We’re here to protest ICE and what they’re doing across the country, especially in Minnesota,” senior Logan Albritton, 17, told The Associated Press. “This is not right to treat our neighbors and fellow Americans.”

Protests are also planned in major cities such as Atlanta, Georgia, and Portland, Oregon, with Mayor Mark Dionne urging people to express their displeasure.

“Dissent is democratic. Dissent is American. It is the cornerstone of our democracy,” Dionne said.

Some businesses reeling from the blizzards that hit the eastern United States last week have found other ways to express their opposition to government actions.

The New York Otway Bakery said in a social media post that it would remain open and donate half of its proceeds to the local nonprofit New York Immigration Alliance.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted on X that the strike was a “direct challenge to ICE’s brutality.”

“Your courage inspires the world. Power belongs to the people. Solidarity with every striker,” he said.

Duchess Harris, an American studies professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, told Al Jazeera that public pressure can change a government’s approach even if other avenues fail.

She pointed to the Justice Department’s move to launch an investigation into Preeti’s killing as evidence.

“I think history tells us that these moments either deepen divisions or become turning points for reform, and sometimes division precedes reform,” Harris said.

“I think if you look at the history of the United States of America … we’ve only achieved results through resistance,” she said.