Hundreds march in Philadelphia to protest ICE: ‘We’re not going to let this stand’

The protesters called for workers to join a general strike started in Minnesota against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation organized a rally demanding ICE stay out of Philadelphia and calling for a general strike at City Hall on Jan. 26, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

Hundreds march in Philadelphia to protest ICE: ‘We’re not going to let this stand’

The protesters called for workers to join a general strike started in Minnesota against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

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Hundreds of people marched in the bitter cold from Philadelphia’s City Hall to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Chinatown on Monday to demand federal immigration agents withdraw from U.S. cities, including Philadelphia.

The demonstration joined a wave of protests after federal immigration officers shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, just weeks after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good in the city and an off-duty ICE officer fatally shot Keith Porter in Los Angeles.

“We’re not going to let this stand,” said Timour Kamran, a resident of North Philadelphia and member of the Philadelphia branch of the Party of Socialism and Liberation who helped organize the protest. “The people of the United States are opposed to this kind of brutal police violence.”

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Protesters outside City Hall hold a banner reading FROM PHILLY TO MINNEAPOLIS STOP ICE TERROR
Hundreds of protesters marched against ICE in Center City, Philadelphia on Jan. 26, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
a sign reads JUSTICE FOR JUSTICE FOR with photos of Renee Good and Alex Pretti
Philadelphians called for justice for Alex Pretti and Renee Good at a rally outside City Hall in Philadelphia on Jan. 26, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Protesters outside City Hall
The Party for Socialism and Liberation organized a rally demanding ICE stay out of Philadelphia and calling for a general strike at City Hall on Jan. 26, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

Monday’s protest was the latest in a series of actions in Philadelphia against President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown in recent months, with several happening in just the last week.

On Friday, hundreds of people marched from City Hall to ICE’s field office to protest the agency’s deployment in Minneapolis, and the next day, anti-ICE demonstrators rallied at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s book event over how state police share information with the agency. Last Tuesday, over two dozen demonstrators with No ICE Philly temporarily blocked a garage at the agency’s field office.

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The Trump administration’s crackdown has featured high-profile surges of federal agents into Democratic-led cities and clashes with protesters in which federal agents have used tear gas and flashbang grenades. A Department of Homeland Security hiring spree has more than doubled the number of ICE agents and officers across the country.

The Trump administration has said it is targeting the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.” In the first nine months of Trump’s second term, immigration agents arrested around 75,000 people without a criminal record and held at least 170 U.S. citizens against their will. NPR reporters have witnessed immigration agents questioning people of color in Minneapolis about their immigration status.

“We are out here today to demand an end to racism, to demand an end of the oppression of our communities,” Talia Giles, a Kensington resident and member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation, said during Monday’s protest. “‘Cause let’s be clear, that’s what this is about. They’re detaining citizens, kidnapping people off the streets, including right here in Philly.”

Rachel Wilder speaks to protesters
Rachel Wilder, an organizer with Socialist Alternative, rallied against ICE outside City Hall in Philadelphia on Jan. 26, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Two South Philadelphians hold signs at a protest against ICE
South Philadelphians Willa Rath (left) and Abigail Christensen (right) joined protesters at a rally again ICE at City Hall on Jan. 26, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Protesters outside City Hall
Hundreds of protesters marched against ICE in Center City, Philadelphia on Jan. 26, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

In Philadelphia, there have been reports of dozens of ICE arrests outside the courthouse in Center City over the past year, as well as arrests and detentions at workplaces and parks. Earlier this month, a man died in ICE custody after being held at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia.

Organizers of Monday’s protest, including Sam Diaz, a high school teacher in Philadelphia and child of immigrants, called on workers to join the general strike started in Minnesota against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“Disagreeing with words won’t save us,” Diaz said. “It is collective action of thousands of workers and students specifically withholding our labor that turns the tides for struggle against racism and exploitation.”

ICE did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

Sam Diaz gives a speech to protesters
English teacher Sam Diaz called on members of the workforce to strike in protest of ICE at a rally outside City Hall in Philadelphia on Jan. 26, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
a protester holds a sign reading MAKE THE MN GENERAL STRIKE GO NATIONAL!
Hundreds of protesters marched against ICE in Center City, Philadelphia on Jan. 26, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

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