On Friday, Jan. 30, thousands braved a freezing Boston afternoon to demand an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations and overreach, joining a national effort sparked by the murders of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota earlier this month. The demonstrations included school and workplace walkouts, along with an “economic blackout” that continued locally and nationwide throughout the weekend.
Among the crowd of protesters, signs, speakers, cameras, and hot chocolate at Copley Square were leaders from progressive organizations across the Northeast, including the LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts, the Party for Socialism and Liberation of Boston (PSL), the Palestinian Youth Movement , and Mass 50501. Mass 50501’s parent organization led the “national day of action” endorsed by student groups at the University of Minnesota.
Protests against ICE have been a familiar theme since President Trump first took office in 2017 and reassumed the presidency in 2025. In response to the murders in Minnesota and the Trump Administration’s general rollout of “Operation Metro Surge,” the name of the regional operation of mass deportation, tens of thousands have struck, protested, and demanded the abolition of ICE and expulsion of federal agents from cities nationwide.
Outrage over the Minnesota killings has been intensified by a broader pattern of aggressive federal action that has defined the Trump administration’s immigration strategy. The Trump administration has a long history of using masked federal agents to carry out widespread deportations and detainments. Agents from ICE, Customs and Border Patrol, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been directly involved with at least eight deaths since July 2025.
Despite the claim from President Trump that deportations are to “eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil,” undocumented immigrants “are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and drug crimes,” according to research conducted by the National Institute of Justice.
In the Commonwealth, “Operation Patriot” and “Operation Patriot 2.0” have resulted in the arrests of nearly 3,000 people, according to DHS. A suspected ICE vehicle was even spotted near Boston College’s campus in September.
Joe Tache, a U.S. Senate candidate with Boston’s PSL chapter, spoke at Friday’s demonstration. “We need to abolish the racist immigration system that gave rise to an agency like ICE,” he said. Other speakers included students from Harvard, several Boston public high schools, and U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley.
After several passionate speeches, the gathering continued into the frigid late-January night as thousands marched along Boylston Street to Government Center. Across the city, businesses closed their doors in solidarity to cause an economic blackout, while others offered to donate portions of their earrings to organizations like LUCE. “We support all of our customers who choose not to spend their money today,” said the staff of Brookline Booksmith in a post on social media.
The demonstration began a surge in political activism among young people, many of whom said Friday’s rally marked their first time attending a protest, according to a Mass 50501 organizer. Protests with extensive youth involvement are more than twice as likely to succeed, according to a Harvard University study.
This national display of outrage and call for change has made a real change in ICE efforts. “Border czar” Tom Homan ordered for the removal of 700 ICE agents from Minneapolis, with President Trump and DHS Supervisor Stephen Miller changing his stance on the actions of ICE following Alex Pretti’s murder and overwhelming public disapproval.
Boston has always been on the pulse of progressivism and resistance in its storied history. Friday’s demonstrations showed our persistent patriotic spirit as a city, as thousands gathered not only in opposition to federal immigration enforcement but in defense of community, accountability, and collective action.
The ability to protest is an integral right that has existed in the United States since the colonial era. Choosing to speak out in defense of civil liberty is an equally prevalent force in American history, one that generations continue to rely on to challenge authority and confront injustice—no matter what challenges they face. “We all know where the right side of history is,” Tache said.
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