Signs were held proudly in the air as truck horns blared over the shouts of protesters. As advocates marched on the streets, they made their way by the Weld County Courthouse in Greeley, Colorado on Saturday Feb. 1, 2025.
The protest drew crowds of hundreds of people who gathered, “To provide a voice to their communities as they were impacted by the new administration’s immigration policies.” Advocates stated to CBS News.
President Donald Trump signed at least 10 immigration orders and actions that will fulfill his actions of mass deportations. As of Monday Feb. 3, 2025 President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo of
Mexico deployed 10,000 troops to the border; to stop the flow of immigrants.
In addition to raids made by Ice, military planes and marines deployed from Guantanamo Bay were being used to deport undocumented people. Across the United States, “5,843 people were arrested” according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, “An average of 943 people a day.”
Andrew Jorgenson, a Civics teacher at Eaton High School said, “We’re a country of laws, and it’s a law, you know, illegally entering a country. It’s a lot of resources, a lot of money going to that, that’s for sure.” He said, “You want people to enter here legally, but it is difficult to enter here legally” because, “Sometimes, you know the law a lot of times isn’t black and white; it’s gray.”
Jorgenson said, “It’s affected a few kids for sure. Kids are not showing up because they’re afraid, or they’re in protest, and they don’t want to show up because they have family and friends that may not be here legally.” When teaching kids about their political rights, he said, “Look it up. The policies, the rules, even what past presidents have done.”
President Trump said he is looking to change the long-standing immigration policies, and he wants to deny U.S. citizenship to people here illegally. “We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminals, illegal aliens threatening American people,” he said.
Lucy Molina, a protestor in Aurora, told Fox 31 News, “ I always say that justice is not charity. It’s important for us to show up and show up for our people.” Another protester said, “Donald Trump, the people here are ready for a fight.” The protesters said that this was their chance to make their voices heard.
“There’s several of us that did ‘Day Without Immigrants,’ so we did not show up to school to honor our amazing immigrant staff that support our immigrant students,” Adrienne Anderson, a teacher in Montbello, told Denver7. A ‘Day Without Immigrants’ was organized to encourage immigrants not to spend money, and to emphasize the vital role they play in the U.S.
Protests soon began in Denver, as advocates rallied at the state capitol building. On Feb. 5, 2025, thousands joined together to coincide with the raids made by ICE and federal agents. A majority of these protesters were made up of students. They want to make their voices heard, so the government can’t silence them. As protests spread across every state, advocates all say one thing, “We’re not going anywhere.”
