Local police arrested dozens of clergy members on Friday as part of a day of protests and walkouts against U.S. President Donald Trump's deployment of thousands of immigration enforcement officers to the Twin Cities.

The protest, in which clergy sang hymns and prayed as they knelt on a road at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, was part of an "ICE OUT!" day of action. Organizers and participants said scores of businesses across Minnesota shuttered for the day and workers headed to street demonstrations and marches in what they described as a general strike.

It came after senior Trump administration officials called for cooperation with local Democratic leaders to calm tensions following weeks of sometimes violent confrontations between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and protesters opposed to Trump's crackdown on immigrants.

Ahead of an afternoon rally downtown in frigid weather, hundreds of people headed to the state's main airport. Organizers said their demands included legal accountability for the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, in her car this month as she monitored ICE activities.

Across the state, bars, restaurants and shops were shuttering for the day, according to organizers and participants. Many Minneapolis workers were heading downtown for a march and rally, intended by organizers to be the largest display of opposition yet to the federal government's surge, which Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democrats have likened to an invasion.

Trump launched the Minnesota crackdown, targeting both undocumented individuals and lawful residents, in part in response to fraud allegations against some members of the state's large community of people of Somali origin. He has called Somali immigrants "garbage" and said they are to be removed from the country as part of his effort to expel more immigrants than any of his predecessors.

Minnesota residents have responded with anger, making noise in the streets day and night with whistles and musical instruments. Some agents and protesters have yelled obscenities at each other, and agents have deployed tear gas and flash-bang grenades to scatter crowds. The Trump administration says some protesters have harassed agents and obstructed their work.

Senior Trump administration officials have gone to Minneapolis to defend ICE, with Vice President JD Vance telling reporters during his Thursday visit that the administration is "doing everything we can to lower the temperature."

Patty O'Keefe, a 36-year-old nonprofit worker, said she was among those willing to join Friday's march and "expose ourselves to the elements to demonstrate the level of anger and frustration that we have."

"We continue to be under siege from the federal government, and it feels like we need to do more because our normal forms of protest and resistance have shown to not be enough yet to really send a strong enough message to Trump," she said.

The numerous Fortune 500 companies that call Minnesota home – mostly based in the Minneapolis area – have refrained from public statements about the immigration raids. Minneapolis-based Target, which has come under fire in the last year for retreating from its public commitment to diversity policies, has faced more criticism for not speaking out about activity at its stores. State lawmakers have pressed the company for details of its guidance to employees if and when ICE officers show up at stores.

The company declined a request for comment. Reuters also contacted Minnesota-based UnitedHealth, Medtronic, Abbott Laboratories, Best Buy, Hormel, General Mills, 3M and Fastenal. None immediately responded to requests for comment.