What's at stake?
More than 50 people gathered to protest immigration enforcement detentions in Fresno, Minneapolis and other cities across the county, highlighting national concerns about aggressive ICE operations and their impact on immigrant communities.
“One struggle, one fight, all unite for immigrant rights!”
“Money for jobs and education, not for war and deportation!”
These chants rang out Tuesday evening as more than 50 people gathered outside of the Immigration and Customs (ICE) office in downtown Fresno.
The protest, Stop ICE Terror, was one of many across the country marking one year since President Donald Trump began his second term in office. It was organized by the Central Valley Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) alongside other organizations.
“It is not ICE that makes this country run,” Atticus Martin, member of Central Valley PSL, addressing the crowd. “It’s us, the working people, the immigrants of Fresno, the workers that make this country run.”
Across the country, protests began around 2 p.m. local time as part of what organizers called the “Free America Walkout,” encouraging people to walk out of school or work to withhold their labor, participation, and consent.
While the Fresno protest took a different form, organizers said the goal was the same: to oppose what they described as Trump’s efforts to wage war on working people at home and abroad, including threats to access to food and healthcare, increased immigration enforcement, and the use of taxpayer dollars for military actions overseas.
Speakers also urged people to learn more about a general strike planned in Minneapolis on January 23, when thousands of workers are expected to withhold their labor until demands are met. Organizers encouraged Fresno residents to see the strike as part of a growing national movement.
“We anticipate that this strike on Friday the 23rd will be a serious blow to the system,” Martin said. “It is something that we also anticipate happening in more areas as it becomes clear that we cannot wait idly by while our neighbors are terrorized.”
Lucius Noble said they attended the protest because of “the horror of what’s been inflicted on people,” and as a white U.S. citizen, felt a responsibility to be there and speak out.
Noble, who has attended multiple local protests advocating for immigrant rights, said that compared to last year, the community is more informed and better prepared to stay safe during demonstrations. That includes not engaging with anti-protesters, allowing organizers to handle situations, and being more cautious about taking photos and sharing information on social media.
The protest comes amid heightened national concern following events in Minnesota. In the first week of 2026, the Trump administration sent thousands of federal immigration agents into Minneapolis as part of a large-scale enforcement operation, and during that surge an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good on January 7.
In Minnesota, the Trump administration used fraud allegations to justify sending thousands of federal agents into the state, expanding ICE operations and federal oversight. Administration officials have since described that approach as a model that could be used in other Democratic-led states, including California and New York, raising concerns about increased immigration enforcement, more detentions, and threats to withhold federal funding tied to programs like Medicaid and sanctuary policies.
Locally, immigration enforcement activity has already been reported. Over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, two people were detained by immigration enforcement in Fresno and Clovis, according to social media posts from Faith in the Valley’s Valley Watch Network. One detention was reported near Belmont and Mariposa in southeast Fresno, and another near Shepherd and Willow in Clovis.
Roman Rain Tree, a community organizer with Faith in the Valley, confirmed the two incidents and said the watch network needs more legal observers and community members to bear witness to immigration enforcement activity. The next training is scheduled for January 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. You can contact Faith in the Valley for more information.
“Just doing this [protesting] is wonderful, but when you leave here and you are a trained legal observer, you are on the clock, your eyes will be able to spot ICE anywhere in our community and report it, and we could begin to mobilize,” Rain Tree said. “Without more people, without more eyes on the scene in our community, we are just left vulnerable.”
He said Faith in the Valley plans to hold a vigil on February 4 from 10 to 11 a.m., which he described as the hour when people are most likely to see individuals being detained and transferred to nearby detention centers. During that time, he said, detainees are often brought in through the front and taken out the back.
In Fresno, news of the Minnesota killing and local enforcement activity has prompted continued demonstrations. Hundreds of people protested near downtown ICE offices on Jan. 8 and at River Park on Jan. 11. Following the protests, some Fresno County supervisors called on the community to publicly support ICE at a news conference, citing concerns about increased attacks on the agency.
In response, immigrant rights organizations held a separate press conference outside the Hall of Records, calling on the Board of Supervisors to acknowledge the harms of increased enforcement and improve oversight.
Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias also claimed that large-scale ICE raids were imminent, but later walked back his statement, leaving some community members frustrated and angry.
The protest concluded with organizers urging community members to speak with them, learn more, get involved, and mobilize, while chants from the crowd continued.
“While we feel like there has never been a time in history similar to the one we are living in, I’m here to say it’s time to wake up,” Chyanne Ayala, member of the Vote Socialist Campaign, said to the crowd. “The acts of this administration are nothing new, and they are not partisan. They are following the authoritarian playbook, and we are watching the United States slip into tyranny.”
