THE mayor of Minneapolis said on Sunday that United States President Donald Trump’s plan to send active duty soldiers into Minnesota to help with an immigration crackdown is a ridiculous and unconstitutional idea.

The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers based in Alaska who specialise in operating in arctic conditions to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, two defence department sources said on Sunday.

Mayor Jacob Frey urged protesters to remain peaceful, losing the president his excuse for sending in the US military.

Mayor Frey told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday: “It’s ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government.

“It is not fair, it’s not just, and it’s completely unconstitutional.”

Thousands of Minneapolis citizens are exercising their First Amendment rights and the protests have been peaceful, Mr Frey insisted.

Daily protests have been ongoing throughout January since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers.

At least three hotels in Minneapolis-St Paul that protesters said housed officers in the immigrant crackdown were not accepting reservations on Sunday. Rooms could not be booked online before early February at the Hilton DoubleTree and IHG InterContinental hotels in downtown St Paul and at the Hilton Canopy hotel in Minneapolis.

Over the phone, an InterContinental hotel front desk employee said it was closing for the safety of the staff but declined to comment on the specific concerns.

The DoubleTree and InterContinental hotels had empty lobbies with signs out front saying they were “temporarily closed for business until further notice.”

The Canopy hotel was open, but not accepting reservations. Anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) protesters have staged noisy protests outside The Canopy aimed at preventing Ice agents from sleeping.

In a diverse neighbourhood where immigration officers have been seen frequently, US postal workers marched through on Sunday, chanting: “Protect our routes. Get Ice out.”

Susan Becker, a letter carrier, joined dozens of other postal workers on Sunday to march against the immigration crackdown.

They passed by the place where an immigration officer, Jonathan Ross, shot and killed Renee Good, a US citizen and mother of three, during a January 7 confrontation.

Ms Becker said she came out to march because it’s important to keep telling the federal government she thinks what it is doing is wrong.

She said that people on her route have reported Ice breaking into apartment buildings and tackling people in shopping centre car parks.