‘We won’t put up with ICE’: Thousands march against Trump’s violent deportation campaign

Emily Kade attended the protest with an upside down American flag, a symbol of dire distress. Kade said she wanted to draw attention to what she called a “fascist takeover” by the Trump administration that has led to rampant racial profiling — sanctioned by the U.S. Supreme Court — and the abuse of immigrants. 

She said she joined Friday’s protest to speak out against ICE in Arizona, and to speak out against the potential for ramped up enforcement in the Valley. The city has been bracing for an increase in ICE activity since earlier this month, when reporting indicated the agency would soon shift its focus to Phoenix. 

“The violence that we’ve seen in Minneapolis, I do not want to see that happen here,” Kade said. 

The civil infraction of crossing the border without authorization doesn’t merit the degree of aggression federal immigration authorities have been employing, Kade added. 

That perspective is increasingly shared among a majority of voters in the wake of the Minneapolis shootings. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that public approval of Trump’s immigration policy has dropped to its lowest point, with 53% of Americans expressing disapproval of it and just 39% siding with Trump. And more Americans currently support abolishing ICE than reforming the immigration agency. 

The situation in Minneapolis has been particularly upsetting for Richard Erickson, who grew up in the city before moving to Arizona in the late 1980s and still frequently visits. He held up a sign that read “Noem is a terrorist,” to criticize the assertions from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that Pretti committed an act of “domestic terrosim.” Erickson noted that anyone, including himself, could have been in Pretti’s place. 

“What happened to Alex Pretti could’ve happened to me,” he said. “I can see myself doing what he did.” 

Arizonans of all ages exercised their First Amendment rights. Maribel Bertin pulled her 11-year-old son out of school so they could protest together because the preteen expressed a desire to get involved and speak out against what he’d been seeing on TV. 

“It’s important to show him our voice matters,” she said. 

Over the past week, hundreds of Arizona students have walked out of school and joined demonstrations to highlight their opposition to ICE amid enforcement operations that have ensnared minors and pulled apart families. But that mobilization has drawn criticism from the state’s public schools chief, Republican Tom Horne. In anticipation of Friday’s events, Horne issued a statement affirming that students also have the right to protest but called for that right to be exercised after school hours. 

Bertin waved away that criticism, saying that students are aware of what’s going on around them and schools should be more involved in helping them understand how to stay safe. Most teachers, she lamented, don’t talk with their students about the possibility of interacting with ICE agents, despite the fact that it’s now highly likely. On his second day in office, Trump revoked a Biden-era directive that prohibited ICE agents from entering sensitive areas, including schools. While federal agents haven’t entered schools in Arizona yet, enforcement activity around them has notably increased. 

For some protesters, the threat of ICE’s aggression hit close to home. Victoria Serna wrapped herself in a Mexican flag to honor her heritage. Her father is an immigrant from Tijuana, Mexico. Serna said the killings in Minneapolis horrified her and convinced her to attend her first protest on Friday. She said she worries about her father being caught up in ICE enforcement activity and felt it was necessary to speak out against the federal government’s anti-immigrant agenda. 

Jazmyn Solis Vazquez and Jimena Solis Vazquez also joined the Phoenix protest decked out in a green Mexico soccer jersey and a Mexican flag in recognition of their immigrant heritage. Their father is from Guerrero, Mexico. Jimena said the violence demonstrated by ICE agents has made her particularly afraid for her father, especially considering an arrest could end in him being taken to a detention facility, which are notorious for poor conditions. 

Last year, 32 people died while in ICE detainment, the highest number on record. And this year is already setting a record-breaking pace, as six people have died in ICE facilities in January. 

Jimena added that, on top of daily check-ins with their dad, the two have been concerned about their own safety — despite being citizens — because of the rampant racial profiling by ICE agents. 

“It’s not making us feel safe,” she said. “The color of our skin isn’t safe.” 

The crowd of protesters spent nearly two hours trading defiant chants at the entrance of Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, undeterred by the lack of shade and the abnormally warm January sun. The group quickly grew to fill the paved median between the plaza and the state Capitol, flanking traffic with colorful signs on both sides. 

Afterwards, the crowds moved onto the road itself, stretching across both sides of the intersection as they marched eastward, towards downtown, stopping at Central Avenue and Van Buren Street before making the trek back. 

Protesters kept up a steady chanting of “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!” and shouted expletives at Trump, Noem, and ICE. Many blew on whistles, a sound that has become the unofficial anti-ICE rallying cry after activists in Minnesota used them to alert communities about ICE activity. Cheering erupted when passing cars honked, and people in high rise apartments or atop construction scaffolding waved in support. 

Several people waved posters with pictures of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. One woman hand drew their portraits on each side of a canvas. Others wrote “be good” on their signs. And organizers led the crowds through chants that memorialized them. 

“Say her name! Renee Good! Say his name! Alex Pretti!” they yelled.