Over a thousand protesters gathered in front of the Massachusetts State House Saturday to stand against ICE deportation efforts around the country and in solidarity with Minneapolis. 

Demonstrators braved Boston’s bitter cold in 20-degree weather for the ICE Out Everywhere protest, a national day of action supported by Mass 50501 and other local organizations. Saturday’s protest was to address the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officers in Minneapolis. Good and Pretti’s deaths have sparked nationwide outrage, with more than 300 ICE Out Everywhere protests taking place throughout the weekend of Jan. 30. 

Prior to the national protests, on Friday, hundreds of businesses shut down nationwide. Strike organizers called people to forgo work, school, and shopping in support of the citizens of Minneapolis who have been protesting for weeks. The statewide strike in Minnesota on Jan. 23 included an “economic blackout” organized by unions, churches, and nearly 100,000 community members to call for collective action toward justice.

Kate Reilly has been a staunch activist on online platforms as ICE officers landed in neighborhoods across the country. As the immigration efforts escalated, she emphasized that it is “important to be out in person too.” 

“I like to encourage people to get out,” she said. “I think a lot of people are scared to go out in person … to say you’ve been out there, it’s encouraging.”

Matt Hoyer, one of the band members of Boston Activist Brigade for Activist Musicians, also known as BABAM, a group of volunteer and activist musicians, echoed that sentiment.

“I wanted to show solidarity with other people who are showing their displeasure with the regime and with what’s going on,” he said. “Just the cruelty and inhumanity of what this administration is showing us right now.” 

Several protesters and speakers emphasized how the Trump administration was the source of the ICE raids, and they decided to target vulnerable individuals and those who criticize him.

“The Trump administration … is trying to dehumanize our neighbors, wants to make us forget, not think about what they are going through,” said Ximena Hasbach, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the main speaker at the protest. “It’s solidarity. It’s the immigrant and non-immigrant community standing together, shoulder to shoulder.” 

About seven speakers addressed the large crowd that spilled over Boston Common, leading anti-ICE chants and giving inspirational speeches about the communities that have been affected. 

Angela Palma, a Tufts University Student who spoke at the rally, is the daughter of recipients of Temporary Protected Status. 

Palma is a member of the Massachusetts Temporary Protected Status TPS Committee, an organization that helps prepare TPS recipients to apply for permanent residency. She said TPS was a lifeline for the immigrant community and her family.  

“[Immigrants have] built businesses … and held this country together through labor shortages,” Palma said. “TPS holders have also raised U.S. children like the one standing in front of you today.” 

The Department of Homeland Security grants immigrants temporary protected status within the U.S. when their home country is too dangerous to go home to due to ongoing conflict, environmental issues, or other extraordinary issues. It protects them from being deported and allows them to work for a set period of time. 

Having an activist father, Palma said she has fought for immigrant rights from a young age. She began as a 4-year-old, fighting for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — also known as DACA — recipients by sleeping on the Massachusetts State House steps with her father. She now works at Centro Presente, a nonprofit that assists Central American immigrant women. 

Palma said that the attack on temporary protected status for immigrants was a way for the Trump administration to “expand deportation pipelines through ICE.” This comes after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem terminated TPS for immigrants from countries still experiencing extreme conflict, including Haiti, Somalia, and Sudan. 

Stephanie Gonzalez, the Social Justice Representative at the Latin American Student Organization and a student at Northeastern University, echoed Palma’s sentiments. Gonzalez said that growing up in Texas as the daughter of two Mexican immigrants, her and her family, who are DACA recipients, and her Latino peers have been hesitant to speak out since the election of Trump in 2016, for fear that they or their loved ones would be deported. 

“What we’re fighting for is our futures, not just to survive, but to live with dignity, safety, and belonging,” Gonzalez said. “ICE has no place here, and neither does silence.”

Rebecca Winter, the executive director of Mass 50501, said ICE was endangering immigrants and activists alike.

“There are reports from Minnesota, Maine, and even here in Massachusetts, that ICE is showing up at activists’ homes, taking their photos, and telling them, ‘You are now on a terrorist list,’” she said in her speech. 

As a mother to two small children who made her a sign that she brought to the protest, Winter expressed her empathy for Liam Ramos, a 5-year-old boy who had been taken from Minneapolis by ICE. According to Winter, he was “ill with a fever and vomiting behind bars in an overcrowded cell.” 

As of Sunday, Ramos and his father have been released and are now back home in Minneapolis, per a ruling by a federal judge that ordered their release from an ICE detention facility in Dilley, Texas. 

The demonstration also focused on music as a means of activism, with the protest chorus BVOCAL and BABAM leading activism sing-alongs and playing music that inspired resilience and movement.

BVOCAL stood on the steps on Beacon Street of Boston Common, leading the crowd in easy-to-learn call and response songs, including “Take, takeover, a hostile government takeover.”

BABAM ended the protest, playing their tubas, drums, and trumpets and singing the classic tune, “This Little Light of Mine.” This group plays at protests, advocacy events, and parades, including the No Kings Day protest that took place in the fall. 

“A lot of musicians are really motivated to get out there and help everyone push back against oppression,” said Ben Carlson, a trombonist in BABAM. 

Another No Kings Day protest is planned for March 28, 2026, according to organizers. More information will be available online closer to the event. 

“We need to work with our neighbors and our school communities to keep our schools and our students and families safe,” said Jessica Tang, a speaker and a representative for the American Federation of Teachers.