Around 300 Georgia Tech students joined schools and universities across the country, leaving classes and jobs at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 20 to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and President Donald Trump.
The afternoon protest, one of more than 70 nationwide walkouts, was peaceful. Students gathered in a crowd at the edge of the Tech Green on Fourth Street on the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s second term in office.
Student representatives from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Young Democratic Socialists of America, and United Campus Workers of Georgia led the early afternoon protest.
While some students represented specific organizations, others heard about the gathering and joined in. Some made signs with messages like “Contact Your Reps,” “Keep Tech Safe,” “ICE is American Gestapo,” “Solidarity Solves Disunity,” and “Immigrants Make America Great.”
The protest included dozens of signs, expletives, and call-and-response chants, criticizing ICE, Trump, and his administration’s foreign policy.
Anti-ice movement is growing
Julia Byrne, working on her master’s degree in industrial and product design, told the crowd that the anti-ICE movement is growing.
“It is not fun to live in interesting times; it kinda sucks,” she said. “There’s an opportunity, though, an opportunity to stand with each other.”
Byrne, an on-campus employee, is a member of the United Campus Workers of Georgia, a statewide higher education labor union. During her turn at the megaphone, she promoted the organization to fellow students and encouraged solidarity.
Isabella Tallman-Jones, a community organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said she had no idea what to expect at the protest but thought the turnout was unprecedented for Tech students.
“ICE is terrorizing our communities, ripping families apart,” Tallman-Jones said. “This administration is cutting off vital aid … accelerating the destruction of the environment, and doing nothing as healthcare costs are set to spike.”
Protests focus on Rene Good, foreign policy
Protestors focused their speeches and chants on ICE activity, the killing of Rene Good in Minneapolis, the Trump administration’s foreign policy in Europe, the Middle East, and South America.
“We demand an end to mass deportations now and the end of the deployment of ICE in our cities from Atlanta to Minneapolis,” Tallman-Jones said. “Today is a part of a nationwide action … this is a coalition with a bunch of different organizations. We all need to unite so that we can fight collectively.”
Estevan Hernandez, a volunteer with Party for Socialism and Liberation, Atlanta, confirmed that more than a dozen Georgia schools, including Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, Lakeside High School, and the Atlanta University Center schools, participated in walkouts to denounce the recent ICE raids.
At Lakeside High School, more than 300 students walked out of class, according to the PSL Atlanta Facebook page. Video footage showed massive turnouts at Kennesaw State and Georgia State as well.
PSL organization officials said the high school students set the bar for walkouts across metro Atlanta.
“Lakeside High School students in Georgia are setting the example for all of us,” read a statement from PSL. “Immigrant students are being forced to stay home from school and having to discontinue their education out of fear of the racist mass deportation machine. This is shameful and unacceptable. Like the youth are doing — workers and students across the country will unite and shut it down to see an end to ICE terror and an end to the violence being unleashed on working class communities.”