Protests against the crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis this month by ICE agents are taking place across the country this weekend, including metro Atlanta.
The “ICE Out Everywhere” protest is calling for a day of “no work, no school, no shopping” on Friday, Jan. 30. Additional protests and marches are planned for Saturday and Sunday, although the winter weather might play a factor in attendance.
On Friday, Jan. 30, an “ICE OUT” protest is set for 5 p.m. at 3360 Buford Highway, organized by the Immigrant Rights Alliance.
A number of Atlanta businesses posted on social media – including Criminal Records in Little Five Points, and Revolution Doughnuts locations in Atlanta and Decatur – indicated they would be closed on Friday in solidarity with the protest.
Additional rallies are happening in Atlanta, both on Sunday, Feb. 1.
“ICE Out Of Atlanta” will take place at noon at Centennial Olympic Park, featuring speakers, music, and more. This event is also being organized by the Immigrant Rights Alliance.
Another is at 3 to 5 p.m. at Selena S. Butler Park near the Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Site in Atlanta. The protest is being coordinated by 50501 Georgia, the same grassroots organization behind local “No Kings” rallies.
Midtown High School students walked out of class on Thursday, Jan. 29, for a rally in the stadium.
DeKalb County Schools Interim Superintendent Norman Sauce issued a warning to students in light of dozens of walkouts denouncing federal administration and immigration enforcement on Jan. 20 and ahead of student protests planned this weekend
Sauce sent a letter to DeKalb County families on Jan. 27 with suggestions for alternatives to students expressing themselves through a school walkout, despite their disillusionment following recent fatal ICE incidents.
Last week, reportedly more than 1,500 students at the Tucker-area Lakeside High School and hundreds at other nearby high schools participated in the “Free America Walkout.”
Tensions in Atlanta over immigration enforcement ramped up this week after it was confirmed that a new ICE field office was operating near College Park, and Georgia U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter called for a surge in ICE operations in Atlanta.
The latest spate of protests comes after ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both U.S. citizens, in Minneapolis earlier this month. The Trump administration dramatically escalated its ICE enforcement in Minneapolis, leading to clashes with protesters.
Good, an award-winning poet and mother of three, was killed on Jan. 7 by an ICE agent who fired multiple shots into her car as she tried to drive away during an operation, a death later ruled a homicide by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.
Just weeks later, on Jan. 24, Pretti, an ICU nurse documenting and opposing the same federal operation, was shot multiple times by ICE agents.
Stephanie Toone and Logan C. Ritchie contributed to this report.