Demonstrations against the intensified immigration enforcement by the Trump administration, primarily centered in Los Angeles, unfolded throughout the United States on Tuesday. Major cities including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Omaha, and Seattle saw significant participation from protestors.
In New York City’s Foley Square, thousands rallied against the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. Participants held signs expressing sentiments like “ICE out of New York” and chanted, “Why are you in riot gear? I don’t see no riot here.”
Shirley, a 29-year-old protestor, expressed her disdain for the administration’s actions, describing them as contrary to the country’s foundational values. “I come from immigrant parents,” she stated, with a Mexican flag draped over her shoulders. “It’s infuriating to see that this particular government is going into labor fields, taking people from construction sites, into industry, plants, into farms, and taking away what is the backbone of this country. So I’m here today to remind everybody that the United States started as an immigrant country, and it’s a nation of immigrants, and I just want to make sure that I’m here for those who can’t be here today.”
Brooklyn Councilmember Shahana Hanif addressed the crowd, criticizing both the Trump administration and New York Mayor Eric Adams over their immigration policies. “Mayor Adams has made it clear that he doesn’t care about working class people,” she asserted. “He does not care about any one of us. He is collaborating with Trump to use tactics. He’s complicit.”
Hanif emphasized her commitment to maintaining New York as a sanctuary city and urged for greater protections for international students, shouting, “Stop the attacks and assaults on our students!” which was met with enthusiastic cheers from attendees.
In Chicago, thousands gathered outside an immigration court and marched through downtown, chanting, “No more deportations!” amid reports of a car narrowly missing protestors during the demonstration. In Atlanta, hundreds marched along Buford Highway to show solidarity with protestors in Los Angeles, while in Omaha, around 80 arrests in an immigration raid at a meatpacking facility ignited cheers for the chant “Chinga la migra” (translated roughly as “F*** ICE”).
In Seattle, about 50 protestors congregated outside the Henry M. Jackson federal building, demonstrating support for those in Los Angeles. Following their rally, they barricaded driveways using e-bikes and e-scooters to obstruct vehicles suspected of transporting detained immigrants.
Additionally, large rallies took place in Dallas and Austin on Monday, with an estimated 1,800 protests anticipated nationwide this coming Saturday, coinciding with a military parade hosted by Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., for his birthday.