Inside New York's Protest Against ICE Raids: 'We Should Be Putting Resources Towards Life'

Yahoo

a day ago

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."
Carved onto the front of the New York State Supreme Court Building are words once written by George Washington: 'The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government.' The quote, which emphasizes the justice system as a stabilizing political force, loomed over thousands of protestors like a specter on Tuesday at Manhattan's Foley Square, the site of several federal immigration courts where plainclothes officers, emboldened by the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, have arrested dozens of migrants attending routine case hearings over the past few weeks.
The protestors had mobilized within 24 hours, spurred on by a call to action amplified by several local organizations including the People's Forum, Damayan Migrant Workers Association, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. For days, images and videos from Los Angeles—where thousands are rallying against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportations—have flooded social media and news feeds. The struggle has ignited dozens of more protests across the country.
'People are seeing that ICE is invading their communities,' says David Chung, an organizer with the People's Forum. 'They're seeing that ICE is spending all of these resources that they claim that immigrants are taking and they're ready to stand up and fight back.'
After protests broke out in LA last week, Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to quell demonstrations. Instead, the military presence has only escalated already jittery tensions. On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for the legally questionable deployment, which the Pentagon estimates will cost $134 million.
'That's money that could be actually used to feed hungry people here, house homeless people here,' says Chung, who immigrated to the U.S. from Korea at three years old. 'All we're saying is that we should be putting resources towards life, towards the people, and that's why we're protesting.'
For Beth Levy, an attendee at Tuesday's event and the chair of the Immigration and Justice Committee of an Indivisibles chapter that covers part of the Bronx and Westchester, the deportations are a horrifying callback to the past. 'It reminds me of the Holocaust,' she says. 'Innocent people, even people without status, deserve asylum and the right to be here.'
As different speakers stepped up to the mic, the demonstration at Foley Square remained as peaceful as it was emphatic, though there was a general sense of weariness of being perceived as the right kind of protestor. Over the past week, media outlets have inevitably characterized protests in LA as 'violent,' a descriptor that gives vandalism or a tossed rock the same—or even heavier—weight than, say, the LAPD aiming their flash bangs and rubber bullets against unarmed protestors (and, in one case, an Australian journalist during a live broadcast). Indeed, later on Tuesday night in New York, a faction of the protestors returned to Foley Square, near a government building where arrested migrants have been detained. Officers in riot gear were filmed dragging individuals by their backs and slamming them to the ground as they crossed the street.
Addressing the crowd onstage that afternoon, Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour encouraged critics to reorient their understanding of violence. 'The root of this problem is not protestors,' Sarsour said. 'The root of this problem is masked men who are kidnapping mothers and fathers and students.'
Half a year into the second Trump administration, it's an understatement to say that trust between exhausted Americans and public officials has deteriorated beyond partisan lines. For years, advocates have called for the abolition of ICE, Sarsour added. 'Liberals and Democrats called us radical. Democrats defended ICE and, in fact, gave them more resources,' she said. 'So I'm not really feeling the clutching of pearls when it's you, the Democratic party and Democratic leadership, that gave ICE the resources and tools to attack our communities.'
As helicopters and drones whirred overhead and dozens of New York Police Department officers lined barricades along the streets, New Yorkers raised bright yellow posters that read 'ICE Out of New York' and 'Stop the Deportations Now.' They marched west, stopping traffic on Broadway, where throngs of Big Buses bearing tourists looked on and outdoor dining spectators raised their phones to record. They chanted to the beat of drums and brass instruments, reciting, 'El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!' They wore keffiyehs and pins, they offered masks and water bottles, they passed anti-fascist pamphlets and fliers, and they waved upside-down American flags. In this city, the cacophony of honking is nothing new, but as halted drivers joined the passing parade by blasting their own horns, it sounded something like a jubilant chorus.
You Might Also Like
4 Investment-Worthy Skincare Finds From Sephora
The 17 Best Retinol Creams Worth Adding to Your Skin Care Routine