Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been in the news headlines, on protest signs, and sending fear into the hearts of Americans over the past year. ICE activity has been exponentially increasing since President Donald Trump‘s reelection. As part of Trump’s plan to “Make America Great Again,” ICE has not only been deporting undocumented immigrants, but also documented immigrants, citizens, and, really, any person of color. ICE has been confronting people in their own homes, places of work, and on the streets, asking to “see their papers” and arresting them. These deportations violate due process, which is outlined in the 14th Amendment in the Constitution as a right for all people in the United States, and have been accused of being based on race instead of law. Sophomore Eysha Hurley shared her opinion on the deportations.
“Assuming people of one specific race are illegal immigrants is a problem because they are just living their lives,” Hurley said. “Most of them are just people, and even if they are undocumented immigrants, they are not hurting anybody. They are just living, doing jobs, and paying taxes. It’s racism.”
These illegal deportations have inspired mass protests across the country. People across the country have been rallying in the streets and on the steps of government buildings to protest ICE’s presence in their communities. ICE has responded to many peaceful protests with guns, brutality, and arrests. ICE has arrested at least 73,000 people and killed nine people in 2026: Kieth Porter, Geraldo Campos, Victor Diaz, Parady La, Luis Yanez-Cruz, Herber Dominguez, Luis Nunez Careres, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti.
On January 23, an army veteran named William Vermie was forcefully taken by ICE, just because he resisted an agent who tried to push him away from a scene where they were arresting two young men in Vermie’s neighborhood. Vermie stood his ground and did not allow the agent to push him back until three to four ICE officers tackled and detained Vermie. Vermie said he was driven to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, where he was detained in a cell. Four attorneys told ABC News that they had attempted to reach their clients, who were also contained in the building, but ICE did not allow them. They argued that ICE’s actions violated the 5th and 6th Amendment rights, which protect due process and the right to consult with counsel.
Protests have been particularly active in Minnesota since Minnesotan Renee Good, a young mother and poet, was killed. Good was trying to protect her neighbors from ICE agents by blocking them with her car, and ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot her three times as she was attempting to drive away. Vice President JD Vance said that Ross would not be charged for murder, as federal officials have “absolute immunity.” In reaction to Renee Good’s death, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to “get the f*** out of Minneapolis” on January 7.
On January 23, across the country, people participated in the statewide “Ice Out” protest, where hundreds of businesses closed, workers did not attend their jobs, and students did not go to school. And now cities across the United States are protesting and standing with Minnesota in solidarity against ICE. Junior Amelie Wong shared her insights on the ICE activity.
“With recent developments of kidnappings of children, ICE is detaining children, and children can not leave their homes, and they can’t go to school,” Wong said. “It’s just all reminding me of how the Jews hid and fled during WWII. It’s very reminiscent of that.”
On January 20, after coming home from preschool, five-year-old Liam Ramos was taken into ICE custody in a Minneapolis suburb. ICE is tearing individuals from their families, deporting them to countries they have never lived in, and stripping them of human rights. This has spread outrage across the United States as ICE is not arresting dangerous criminals, but children, citizens, and above all, innocent people.
