Metro Detroit businesses respond to calls for National Shutdown on Jan. 30

In an effort to stand with immigrant communities and protest recent federal actions on that theme, protest organizers called for a nationwide strike on Friday. 

The campaign, which is being called a national shutdown, was widely shared on social media in recent days and asked for "No Work. No School. No Shopping. Stop Funding ICE." 

The campaign happens as Congress is considering a final round of federal budget bills that include the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The DHS authority includes the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The agencies have come under increasing scrutiny, including among some Republicans, in the wake of two U.S. citizens' shooting deaths at the hands of federal immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis. 

There are public demonstrations expected on Friday in Metro Detroit on this theme. 

The NAACP Detroit Branch hosted a press conference on Friday morning discussing its call for accountability from the Trump administration on the recent actions involving ICE. The branch also called for the U.S. Congress to vote against funding for ICE. 

Some Metro Detroit businesses posted announcements on social media that they intended to be closed on Friday in keeping with the protest theme. Among them are Next Chapter Books on Warren Avenue in Detroit, which said it would be closed "in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Minnesota, Detroit and across the country in the General Strike to protest ICE." 

The bookstore encouraged its followers to contact federal lawmakers regarding a pending vote on ICE's budget and also gave the following suggestions: "Connect with your neighbors. Share educational resources. Join community organizing. Donate to mutual and legal aid caring for our immigrant populations. Sign petitions. Make art, music, poetry. Read and discuss books. There are ways we can stand together against this hatred."