|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
From
Detroit
to D.C.:
Nationwide
'ICE
Out'
Shutdown
Looms
Friday
Amid
Shooting
Fallout
Marc
Kennedy
-
National/Politics
Tell Us
USA News
Network
WASHINGTON
-
Thousands
of
people
nationwide
are
expected
to join
a
coordinated
“National
ICE OUT”
protest
on
Friday,
marking
the
latest
escalation
in a
growing
movement
demanding
that
Immigration
and
Customs
Enforcement
be
defunded,
removed
from
local
communities,
and held
accountable
for a
series
of
recent
killings
of U.S.
citizens
by
federal
immigration
agents.
National
call for
a
shutdown
Organizers
have
called
Friday a
“National
Day of
Action”
and
“nationwide
shutdown,”
urging
participants
not to
attend
work or
school
and to
avoid
shopping
in order
to
demonstrate
the
economic
and
social
power of
communities
targeted
by ICE
enforcement.
The
actions
are
being
coordinated
through
networks
including
NationalShutdown.us,
local
coalitions,
and
student-led
groups,
who say
they
want to
“shut
down”
business
as usual
until
ICE
violence
ends.
In
promotional
materials
and
social
media
posts,
activists
describe
the day
as an
escalation
from
earlier
“ICE Out
For
Good”
marches
and
vigils
that
have
filled
streets
in
cities
and
small
towns
across
the
country
throughout
January.
Friday’s
actions
are
expected
to
include
walkouts,
street
marches,
silent
vigils,
and
gatherings
outside
federal
buildings
and the
offices
of
members
of
Congress.
Protests
rooted
in
recent
shootings
The “ICE
OUT”
mobilization
follows
a string
of
high-profile
shootings
involving
immigration
authorities,
including
the
killing
of Renee
Nicole
Good, a
37‑year‑old
U.S.
citizen
and
mother,
by an
ICE
agent in
Minneapolis
on
January
7.
Activists
also
point to
the
subsequent
killing
of
another
U.S.
citizen,
Alex
Pretti,
in
Minneapolis
by a
Customs
and
Border
Protection
agent,
as
evidence
of what
they
describe
as a
pattern
of
lethal
force
and
lawless
operations
by
federal
immigration
agencies.
From
Northampton,
Massachusetts,
to
Memphis,
Tennessee,
to
Saranac
Lake in
upstate
New
York,
protesters
have
already
been
marching
under
the “ICE
Out For
Good”
banner
this
month,
holding
signs
reading
“ICE out
forever,”
“Ban
ICE,”
and “Due
process
is for
everyone.”
Organizers
say
Friday’s
coordinated
action
aims
both to
grieve
the dead
and to
pressure
elected
officials
to rein
in ICE
and CBP,
which
they
accuse
of
endangering
immigrant
communities
and
eroding
civil
rights.
Local
actions
and
student
walkouts
Friday’s
protest
is
expected
to build
on
student‑led
walkouts
that
have
swept
high
schools
and
colleges
in
states
such as
Georgia,
where
thousands
of
students
recently
left
class
chanting
“No More
ICE” and
carrying
signs
declaring
“ICE
Melts
Quickly
in the
South.”
Organizers
there
say they
have
planned
additional
walkouts
at more
than 70
schools,
alongside
campus
rallies
and
community
marches,
as part
of the
national
call.
Similar
demonstrations
are
planned
or
underway
in
Minnesota,
California,
Michigan,
Tennessee,
New York
and
other
states,
often
led by
coalitions
of
immigrant‑rights
advocates,
youth
organizers
and
faith
groups.
In Elk
Grove,
California,
activists
have
promoted
a Friday
protest
explicitly
branded
as part
of the
national
“ICE Out
for
Good”
movement,
while in
cities
like
Detroit,
demonstrators
have
already
taken to
the
streets
outside
ICE
offices
and City
Hall
demanding
that
their
communities
cut ties
with the
agency
and
adopt
sanctuary
policies.
Demands
on
Congress
and the
White
House
Alongside
calls to
abolish
ICE or
remove
it from
their
communities,
organizers
are
targeting
Friday’s
message
squarely
at
Washington,
D.C.,
urging
Congress
to block
new
Department
of
Homeland
Security
funding
that
they say
would
entrench
current
enforcement
practices.
In
recent
days,
protesters
in
Detroit
and
other
cities
have
rallied
outside
the
offices
of
Democratic
Sens.
Gary
Peters
and
Elissa
Slotkin,
asking
them to
“stand
firm”
against
a
sprawling
federal
spending
package
that
includes
billions
for ICE.
Immigrant‑rights
groups
argue
that
Trump
administration
policies,
including
a pledge
by
President
Donald
Trump to
carry
out the
largest
immigration
enforcement
operation
in U.S.
history,
have
contributed
to mass
deportations
and the
detention
of
scores
of U.S.
citizens
by
mistake.
They say
Friday’s
“National
ICE OUT”
protest
is
intended
as both
a
memorial
and a
warning
that,
absent
major
policy
changes,
unrest
will
continue
to build
in
communities
that
feel
under
siege.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|