Thousands Block Streets, Wave Foreign Flags Across U.S. To Protest Trump’s Immigration Policies

Protests erupted in cities across the U.S. over the weekend as people hit the streets to voice opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies as federal agents ramp up arrests and deportations.

Thousands of people blocked a section of the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles as they blasted Mexican music and danced in the streets on Sunday. Protesters waved Mexican and Salvadoran flags, and some carried signs that read, “MAGA — Mexicans Always Get Across,” “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” and “I drink my horchata warm because f— I.C.E,” The Los Angeles Times reported.

The L.A. protest lasted throughout the afternoon and evening before police in riot gear began dispersing the crowd around 7:00 p.m. The 101 Freeway was cleared and reopened by 8:00 p.m. The Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol said no arrests were made.

UPDATE: The view from the 101 Freeway overpass on Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles. The freeway is closed once again as demonstrators poured back into the lanes, after being briefly reopened at about 1:20 p.m.

Read more: https://t.co/K60ImdzmDi pic.twitter.com/1MWoMdMY4g

— KTLA (@KTLA) February 2, 2025

More than 1,000 people — many of them displaying Mexican flags — also took to the streets in St. Louis on Saturday in response to Trump’s immigration policies. Hundreds more gathered in Atlanta on Saturday, waving flags from Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. In Dallas, around 2,000 protesters crammed into Dallas City Hall Plaza on Sunday afternoon.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been conducting raids in cities across the country since Trump was sworn into office. In the first two weeks of Trump’s second term, ICE made more than 7,000 arrests, CBS Austin reported. Last week, the president also directed the Department of Defense to use Guantanamo Bay to hold criminal illegal immigrants before they are repatriated to their home countries. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told The Washington Post that the U.S. government would “hopefully” begin using Guantanamo Bay for illegal immigrants “within 30 days.”

Trump has made immigration a top priority, sending U.S. troops to the southern border and pressuring the country’s top trading partners — Mexico and Canada — to secure their sides of the border and stop unlawful crossings and drug trafficking. Over the weekend, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and the two countries quickly retaliated with 25% tariffs on U.S. goods.