Thousands of protesters marched through Manhattan on Friday to demand an end to the federal immigration crackdown that’s targeting communities throughout the nation.
A crowd of roughly 3,000 demonstrators, representing more than 70 organizations, gathered at Union Square around 4 p.m. before setting off on a march that wound through downtown Manhattan and up to Madison Square Park.
Along the way, the procession stopped outside storefronts and corporate offices of businesses considered allies of the Trump administration, including Amazon, Home Depot and Palantir, calling them out.
The march — part of a “National Day of Truth & Freedom — Solidarity With Minnesota” — coincided with sweeping anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests that have been rocking Minneapolis, where two weeks ago federal officers gunned down mother-of-three Renee Good.
“We’re watching our neighbors being kidnapped and families being separated,” said Micah Walsh, 39, a tour guide from Queens. “I grew up in Minnesota, so this is close to my heart.”
Protesters were outraged by the callous tactics ICE agents have employed since Good’s death, including detaining a 5-year-old boy whose family was in the U.S. legally on an asylum claim.
“Compassion shouldn’t be radical,” said Chrystalleni Stivaros, 33, of Manhattan. “I’m a teacher and they’re putting children in cages. You’re pretending you’re taking criminals off the street. I’m watching you arrest a baby with a Spider-Man backpack and a bunny hat.
“It’s disgusting.”
One protester said it’s only natural for New Yorkers to come out in support of immigrants.
“We’re a multiracial and multicultural city,” said Marina Metalios, 63, a tenant organizer from Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan. “We stand on the shoulders of immigrants. I want to thank New York City for letting my great-grandparents and grandparents — all four of them — come to our great city. Immigrants are why I love New York.”
The protest followed an event dubbed “ICE Out, No To Slave Patrol 2.0” in Washington Square Park, where about 40 college students gathered in opposition to ICE.
Saniyah Yolanda, 21, a political science and journalism student at SUNY Albany, had taken the train down to Greenwich Village earlier in the day so she could join the demonstration.
“Once ICE had unjustly murdered Renee Good and Keith Porter, we have decided that it was time to escalate these student walkouts,” she said. “We are standing in solidarity with Minneapolis… so that we can align with them and really maximize our voice.”
The Department of Homeland Security said Porter — who was killed in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve by an off-duty ICE agent — was pointing a rifle at the agent during a confrontation. Porter’s family says he was firing celebratory shots into the air.
