A popular Minnesota-based children’s music group, Koo Koo, released an explicitly anti-ICE song last week that’s now streaming on platforms like YouTube and Spotify.
“Get the heck out of Minnesota. If you’re an ICE agent then your soul is polar,” the song goes.
The track, titled “Ope (Ice Out Remix),” is a remix of their earlier Minnesota-themed single “Ope” and incorporates political lyrics that condemn Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and call for its abolition.
Koo Koo, led by Bryan Atchison and Neil Olstad, describes itself as a “kids band” and performs “family friendly” shows throughout the country.
The duo released the anti-ICE song because President Donald Trump’s “Department of Homeland Security is terrorizing our community by killing people in the streets, kidnapping kids and discarding our rights,” according to a Facebook post.
“We wish we could stick to writing songs about glitter and pizza but our home state is under siege by the federal government so we had to remix Ope into a protest song,” the group wrote.
“We are anti-fascist. Gonna keep it concise. Abolish ICE,” the song says. “You down with I-C-E? No way, not me.”
A Facebook post promoting the lyrics drew hundreds of reactions, with fans largely praising the band for being “brave and principled,” though others pushed back against blending political messages with music designed for young audiences.
“My autistic boy has loved your music for several years. I even bought [our] family matching KOO shirts. But please keep your music light and fun. Stay away from the polarizing issues. There’s enough division in our country,” one commenter wrote.
Koo Koo was created by the pair in 2008 and is one of the featured artists for the upcoming Great Big Jamboree, a family music festival in Bloomington, Minn., that’s taking place in May 2026.
Border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday that Operation Metro Surge has come to a close. That operation consisted of thousands of federal agents coming to Minnesota to carry out immigration enforcement. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the operation resulted in greater cooperation with state and local officials, 4,000 arrests, and locating “3,364 missing, unaccompanied alien children.”
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
