Los Angeles protests spread to the rest of the US: ‘ICE, out!’

Thousands of people took to the streets of New York City this Tuesday in solidarity with the demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration raids, which began in Los Angeles last week. Chanting “ICE, out!” or “Fuck immigration,” and waving Mexican, Puerto Rican, Peruvian, Colombian, Cuban, and Palestinian flags, New Yorkers joined a protest movement that, after erupting in California over the weekend, has now spread to the rest of the United States. Rallies have been held in almost every major city throughout the week.

The protest in the Big Apple on Tuesday began at Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, where the offices of several federal immigration agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the city’s main immigration court are located, and where other demonstrations have taken place in recent days. The shouts and cheers of thousands of protesters echoed off the facades of the buildings where dozens of immigrants have been detained in recent weeks while attending court dates, as the Trump administration intensifies its detention and deportation campaign.

The protesters were met with a heavy police presence and barricades. While the majority marched north through the streets of Manhattan after 6:00 p.m., a small group remained in the Federal Plaza area, where some scuffles later broke out between protesters and authorities. Several arrests were made — at least 20, according to protest organizers.

Hundreds of people have been arrested at demonstrations across the country, while federal agents have used tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets against protesters. In Los Angeles, nearly 5,000 soldiers have joined the police crackdown on protests that entered their fifth day on Tuesday, having begun last Friday in response to immigration raids carried out in several parts of the city.

In New York, protests began on Saturday, hours after they erupted in the Californian metropolis. That day, around 100 people also gathered in Federal Plaza. Protesters eventually clashed with authorities after blocking a white van leaving a building in the area, which, according to those present, belonged to immigration enforcement. Videos shared on social media show protesters forming a human chain to stop the vehicle. Other images show the ensuing clash, in which authorities arrested 22 people and used pepper spray to disperse the crowd. Several protesters were injured in the altercation and had to be taken to nearby hospitals.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat and Trump ally, has already warned that he will not tolerate the type of clashes that have erupted in Los Angeles, calling them “unacceptable.” “I understand that some New Yorkers may be angry, afraid, and ready to express that. New York City will always be a place to peacefully protest, but we will not allow violence and lawlessness,” he said Monday night. Hours earlier, a group of protesters staged a peaceful sit-in inside the lobby of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The action resulted in 24 arrests, according to local police. In addition, others gathered again near Federal Plaza, where at least eight people were detained.

Beyond New York and California, there have been rallies in states such as Illinois, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Florida, Massachusetts, Georgia, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Washington. In total, demonstrations have been reported in more than two dozen cities, and it is possible that these will overlap with the thousands of anti-Trump protests already planned nationwide for next Saturday, the president’s birthday. Most have been peaceful and controlled, outside local ICE offices or in front of city halls. The size of the actions has varied: some have gathered a few dozen participants, while others have drawn thousands of people.

In addition to demanding an end to the ICE raids, protesters have also taken to the streets to show support for David Huerta, a prominent union and civil rights leader who was arrested last Friday in Los Angeles while protesting an immigration raid. Huerta was released on bail Monday but faces a felony charge of conspiracy to obstruct a federal agent. His arrest, captured in videos and images shared on social media, has made him a symbol of the protests.

Texas has also been the scene of confrontations between protesters and law enforcement. In Austin, the state capital, tense clashes with authorities erupted Monday night. The march began at the Capitol and continued to the J.J. Pickle Federal Building, which ICE uses as a detention center. There, some threw paint and rocks at officers and scratched at the building’s windows. Images on social media and in the local press show a large number of people running to escape the pepper spray deployed by guards. Local police chief Lisa Davis said law enforcement used gas, although she declined to call it tear gas. At least two arrests were reported during the day.

For his part, the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, a Republican and staunch ally of President Trump, especially on immigration issues, wrote on his X account on Monday: “Peaceful protesting is legal. But once you cross the line, you will be arrested. FAFO,” using the abbreviation for “fuck around and find out.”

In Dallas, about 400 people gathered on Monday at the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge near downtown. According to local media, the demonstration began with signs, flags, and slogans supporting immigrant rights. However, around 10 p.m., police threatened the protesters with arrest if they did not leave. Around 11 p.m., officers surrounded a group and arrested at least one person. The pastor of a local church reported being pepper-sprayed by an officer, while, with his hands raised, he told the officer, “I am not a threat.” It was confirmed that officers used the spray against other protesters.

“As ICE agents, police, and the National Guard flood the streets of Los Angeles to brutalize those exercising their right to protest, we remember that all change has been won only through struggle. To win, we must continue to fight,” the Houston branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, one of the organizers of the protests in that city over the weekend, said in a statement. Peaceful protests were also held in the Texas city of San Antonio, where hundreds of people marched over the weekend under the slogan “Money for jobs and education, not racist deportations.”

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