On Wednesday, January 21, students and faculty demonstrated outside of the JFK Library to demand federal immigration agents keep out of EWU. They held up handmade signs that said: “Families Belong Together,” “Fuck ICE” and “I Like My ICE Crushed.”  They chanted: “Love, not hate, makes America great!” and “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.” The protestors shared important information on how to protect yourself and others if you encounter ICE agents. 

The EWU demonstration took place as part of a national protest movement against what many see as authoritarian overreach by the Trump administration in its efforts to deport immigrants. Not only has the administration, often using brutal and violent tactics, detained and deported people who are here legally, it killed three American citizens at demonstrations this month. The protests were largely mobilized in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol actions in Minneapolis, which has seen an especially intense deployment of federal immigration enforcement, frequent raids, and use of force that has drawn national attention and intensified public outrage.