St. Petersburg, FL – On December 23, organizers and faith leaders held a press conference in front of the Saint Petersburg Police Department to demand that Mayor Kenneth Welch and Police Chief Anthony Holloway end the city’s 287(g) agreement.
Attendees held signs that read “Chief Holloway: Don’t be a coward! End SPPD cooperation with ICE!” and “Partners in crime against immigrant families!” with images of Kristi Noem, Donld Trump, Mayor Welch and Chief Holloway. Many passersby and drivers shouted and honked in support.
The new year arrives with sharpening crises and struggle. A year into his second term and Trump is back more brazen and unhinged than ever. He and his cabal of billionaire bigots have rolled out an agenda that is violent and reactionary: this is most clearly seen in sending masked and often unmarked ICE, Border Patrol and other Homeland Security to terrorize mainly Chicano and Latino communities. From attacks on labor to dragging LGBTQ and reproductive rights backwards, from cutting climate protections to “unleashing” National Guard troops into cities with Democratic mayors, Trump is trying to push the country backwards on many fronts.
Kenner, LA — About 60 people gathered at the North Kenner Recreational Center on Saturday, December 27 to demand an end to the city’s collaboration with Border Patrol and continued ICE raids in the region. Just two days after Christmas, the coalition of protesters showed up in solidarity from around the Greater New Orleans region, to stand with the immigrant community of Kenner.
Aurora, CO – En la mañana del 22 de diciembre, Jeanette Vizguerra, una activista de derechos de los inmigrantes detenida por ICE en marzo de este año fue liberada bajo fianza del centro de detención de ICE, administrado por la empresa GEO, en Aurora.
En la tarde del 21 de diciembre, el Comité de Servicio de los Amigos Americanos anunció que Vizguerra por fin había logrado su liberación con una fianza de $5,000 dólares, después de nueve meses de detención.
Denver, Colorado – On Saturday, December 20, Aurora Unidos Community Service Organization (AUCSO) along with 30 community members took to the streets with a car rally to participate in national day action against deportation flights. At The Denver International Airport (DIA), participants lined up in their cars, some holding signs, others with writings on their vehicles with a clear message “From the ground to the air – stop deportations everywhere!”
Aurora, CO – On the morning of December 22, Jeanette Vizguerra, an immigrant rights activist detained by ICE in March of this year, was released on bond from the GEO ICE detention facility in Aurora.
In the evening of December 21, the American Friends Service Committee announced that Vizguerra had finally won release with a $5000 bond after a nine-month detention.
Los Angeles, CA – A principios de octubre, los informantes en White Memorial, un hospital adventista de Boyle Heights, filtraron información invaluable. Los informantes afirmaron que los agentes de ICE estaban llevando a los detenidos de una instalación inadecuada de ICE llamada “B-18” ubicada dentro del Metropolitan Detention Center en el centro de Los Ángeles, al hospital del barrio Chicano.
Denver, CO – Organizers in Denver are continuing the fight against local airline Key Lime Air, responsible for deportation flights.
Over the last week, the campaign to stop Key Lime Air from operating deportation flights has expanded. Organizers from Aurora Unidos CSO, Immigrant Partnership Teams, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, and Casa de Paz gathered outside of the Denver City Council meeting on December 15. The city councilors were scheduled to vote on Key Lime Air’s presence at Denver International Airport. If passed, the bill would expand Key Lime Air’s contract with the airport by increasing its operating space there.
Minneapolis, MN – With wind chills bringing temperatures below zero, 15,000 Minnesotans took to the streets in Minneapolis on Saturday to demand ICE get out. The protest was organized by a large coalition of immigrant rights groups and unions in response to an upsurge in attacks by ICE in the past month in the greater Twin Cities area. Many of these attacks have focused on the Somali community after Trump’s racist call for mass deportations of Somali Minnesotans.
Kenner, LA — Forty people gathered at North Kenner Recreational Center on the afternoon of Saturday, December 20, to demand ICE out of the greater New Orleans area. Some protesters drove from nearby New Orleans to show solidarity with their neighbors in Kenner, which has been a target for ICE raids in recent weeks.
Los Angeles, CA – In early October, whistleblowers at White Memorial, a Boyle Heights Adventist hospital, leaked invaluable information. The whistleblowers stated that ICE agents were taking detainees from an inadequate ICE facility named “B-18” located within the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, to the Chicano neighborhood hospital.
Santa Ana, CA – En la fría noche del 11 de diciembre, 100 miembros de la comunidad se reunieron para orar y rendir homenaje a la Virgen de Guadalupe, su santa patrona. Oraron bajo cientos de flores y luces brillantes instaladas por Luis Cantabrana. Él es un residente de Santa Ana que lleva 27 años transformando su casa en un hermoso altar dedicado a la Virgen de Guadalupe. Este año, a pesar de las redadas casi semanales del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) en Santa Ana, la tradición se celebró ampliamente.
Minneapolis, MN- On December 14, over 100 postal workers and supporters braved subzero temperatures to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) using post office parking lots as staging areas. The action was organized by rank-and-file members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 9, which represents Minneapolis workers.
Chicago, IL – A fiery rally took place in freezing weather beside the Little Village Arch on Saturday, December 13. Protesters commemorated Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe by demanding an end to deportations and ICE abductions, justice for victims of ICE, and legalization for all immigrants living in the U.S. as a part of a national weekend of action called by the Legalization for All Network.
Minneapolis, MN – On December 14, a freezing cold Sunday, over 100 activists, protesters and community members gathered for an indoor rally at Salem Lutheran Church on Lyndale Avenue to commemorate International Human Rights Day in Minneapolis.
Historically this event has been a protest or march organized by the MN Anti-War Committee, but unfortunately the weather this year, nearly 0 degrees, made being outdoors nearly impossible so event organizers made the last-minute decision to hold it indoors.
New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, December 12, a crowd of 100 people took to the streets of downtown New Orleans to protest the ongoing “Catahoula Crunch” ICE and Border Patrol operation in Louisiana. The action was part of a regular Saturday protest schedule by the No Troops coalition, an ad-hoc group of about a dozen organizations united against Trump’s federal takeover.
Tallahassee, FL – On December 13, members of the Tallahassee Coalition Against Trump rallied at the Florida Capitol to condemn the attacks on Palestine and Venezuela by the Trump administration.
The inaugural rally of this new coalition happened on International Human Rights Day in response to the United States and Israel’s repeated attempts to undermine sovereignty and peace in Venezuela and Palestine. The Israeli occupation of Palestine continues in Gaza and the West Bank, as Israel violates a ceasefire they never planned to uphold.
Santa Ana, CA – On the chilly evening of December 11, 100 community members came together to pray and pay homage to the patron saint la Virgen de Guadalupe. They prayed under hundreds of flowers and bright lights installed by Luis Cantabrana. He is a local Santanero, who has been turning his entire home into a beautiful altar for la Virgen de Guadalupe for 27 years. This year, despite the almost weekly raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Santa Ana, the tradition was celebrated widely.
Kenner, LA – On Saturday Dec 13, another pop-up protest in Kenner, Louisiana on Williams Boulevard rallied opposition to President Trump and Governor Landry’s attacks on immigrants. The crowd began as about 20 people, ballooning to almost 100 before the evening ended.
New Orleans, LA — On Friday morning, December 12, students rallied outside Tulane University while a member of Together United Louisiana Students for a Democratic Society (TUL SDS) met with administration. The meeting was scheduled after students’ hand-delivered letters in November demanding Tulane reject Trump’s compact for higher education.
