Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton.

What do we run?

A vast network of labor unions, progressive organizations, and clergy called on

Minnesotans to stay away from work, school, and stores for a massive protest of President

Trump's immigration crackdown today.

Organizers say more than 700 businesses

closed. Federal law enforcement officers have repeatedly squared off with community members and

activists in recent weeks. Guy Hammack from St. Paul says people who support ICE are on the wrong

side of history. It's made me angry. It made me feel like I got to do something and I feel like

there's people who are scared to go outside and people who aren't being targeted. I feel like there's an obligation for

those people to stand up for those who are being targeted. So I'm just here to show my support for my

neighbors. Meanwhile, an army battalion in Fort Carson, Colorado has received a prepare to deploy

order to Minnesota. That's according to an official not

authorized to speak publicly. President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act,

which allows a president to deploy the military domestically. Military units from North

Carolina and Alaska have also been told to prepare to deploy to Minnesota. The Federal Emergency

Management Agency is abruptly halting a policy of

terminating federal disaster workers. That's ahead of a severe winter storm that's hitting the U.S.,

as NPR's Lawrence Summer reports. FEMA relies on thousands of disaster workers to respond on the ground

when storms and wildfires hit. Those workers are on two or four-year contracts, which generally are renewed.

Recently, FEMA has been terminating employees whose contracts are up, something disaster response

experts say could hurt the agency's ability to respond. On Thursday, FEMA abruptly stopped that policy,

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