Thousands chanted and marched in New York City on Friday to protest the Trump administration’s escalating mass deportation campaign.
Among the protesters were young and old people, all braving plunging cold temperatures in thick coats, hats and gloves.
As the sun began setting, demonstrators chanted against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), referring to that agency, the Ku Klux Klan, and fascism in the same breath.
“Abolish ICE!” and “No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA!” the crowds chanted. They also chanted, “Chinga la migra” – which is a colloquial way to say “fuck immigration enforcement” in Spanish.
The demonstration in New York was part of a nationwide day of action advocating for “no work, no school, no shopping” to protest the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdowns.
After a series of speeches at Foley Square, demonstrators began marching north through the ice-covered streets of Manhattan.
Brad Lander, a congressional candidate and former New York City comptroller who unsuccessfully ran for mayor, was among those demonstrating after spending days in Minneapolis, where federal agents ignited public outrage after shooting Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti to death on 7 January and 24 January, respectively.
People in Minneapolis “are heartbroken – and they are enraged”, Lander said of the two 37-year-old US citizens’ killings.
Lander, who in 2025 repeatedly protested at the New York City ICE office, where immigrants recently detained by the agency are held, also said: “They are organizing to protect their neighbors, and they know the eyes of the world are on them.”
Young people and students led many of the chants on Friday.
John Eddy, a student from Las Vegas, came to the anti-ICE protest after refusing to attend class all day.
“We’re students – we took the full day off of school,” Eddy said. “We haven’t been to any classes at all. We are out here.”
His friend, Abdou Seye, had just arrived from Minneapolis, where he is from and where his family is based.
“Really it’s ‘Fuck ICE,’” Seye said. “You have to do what you have to do.”
Referring to Pretti and Good, he continued: “The thing is, if it’s them today, it’s us tomorrow, so we have to keep going. We have to keep this up.”
Throughout the protests in Minneapolis, Seye observed how officials confronted demonstrators there aggressively. He said his mother, working behind the city hall building, was stuck there for nearly two days because of authorities’ tactics.
Another protester, Julia Parris from Brooklyn, decided to come protest on Friday after watching the mass demonstrations across the country. She had participated in other demonstrations during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests that spread after Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd there.
“I am disgusted,” Parris said. “There are no strong enough words to describe how I feel about this administration. We are fed up.”
As demonstrators marched through the streets of New York City, stalling traffic, people in their cars began honking in solidarity. At one point, one man blasted music from his stereo and sat on top of his car, waving and smiling.
Beside Good and Pretti, immigration agents under the Trump administration’s command have killed Keith Porter in Los Angeles and Silverio Villegas González in Illinois.
Friday’s national protest leaders, many of them students at the University of Minnesota, are calling for federal immigration agent to leave Minneapolis after a nearly month-long operation there. The organizers say economic pressure through work stoppages and consumer boycotts is just one way to demand accountability and reform.
