11 a.m. February 3, 2025, people lined the streets of Los Angeles in protest. The protestors marched down to the city hall and, by 12:30 p.m., moved the protest onto the 101 freeway, where they blocked traffic flow. Protestors continued to flood the highway with only a brief moment when traffic could get through at 1:20 p.m. The protest continued until around 8 p.m. when The CHP announced on X that the 101 in Downtown Los Angeles was finally reopened. The demonstrations occurred due to President Trump’s firm stance on immigration as he has recently entered office.
Protestors on the 101 Freeway
People are enraged by his new policies that will limit both illegal and legal immigrants from entering the countries and the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. Many immigrants have come from around the world into America in the past, and people are worried that their family members will be sent back to their home countries. America has dealt with deportation before, with Obama deporting roughly 2.9 million immigrants, but what Donald Trump is doing has not been seen before.
The policies being protested against will limit the rights of undocumented immigrants and deport people without a court hearing occurring. People who have come into the country without inspection and have been here for less than 2 years are instructed to be deported if they cannot prove they have been here for more than 2 years. Illegal immigrants are no longer able to obtain work permits, which would restrict the income of immigrants and leave a lot of them out of jobs. Furthermore, illegal immigrants will not be given public health benefits as they used to. Biden’s policy on immigration has already been revoked, which helped immigrants apply for citizenship and enter the country legally while also preventing illegal immigrants from entering.
The Crisis at the U.S.-Mexico Border
California is not the only state facing the fear of illegal immigrants being deported, though. Protests have taken place in other states, including Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Texas, where people waved Mexican flags and signs containing phrases such as “We the immigrants, make America great” in North Carolina. Others chant other phrases for immigrants like “No justice, no peace, no ICE or police” and “Brick by brick, wall by wall, this racist system has to fall” in Florida.
Protestors in North Carolina
While all these states play a massive role in the widespread protests against immigrants, the Los Angeles freeway protest is getting the most media coverage out of any other demonstrations as they blocked traffic flow, and thousands of people showed up. Some protesters chose less peaceful ways to protest when they spray-painted profanities on a Metro bus and along the walls of the freeway, while others came to spread peace and speak up for the people who are affected by the policies. A female protestor said, “We wanna work. A lot of people just wanna work, we all wanna provide. … I’m out here to represent for my people. I’m out here to be the voice for the people that have been silenced out of fear”.
Protests have been used to incite change in policies and laws that restricted rights to groups of people, such as the protests for Women’s rights, Segregation, BLM, and gay marriage. With these events in mind and the widespread of these protests, the question has been raised for many: “Will these protests incite any change?”. Trump’s presidency has just barely started, and these policies have just barely been introduced, and some haven’t even been fully implemented yet. The future for illegal immigrants is unknown; if mass deportation does occur, many people around the United States will have to go to their country of origin, where they will be held in jail for an unspecified amount of time until they can be processed.
