About 300 people gathered on 13th Street and University Avenue at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon, walking out of work and school as part of a nationally organized day of action to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The crowd held signs reading “Stop ICE terror,” “Abolish ICE” and “I like my ICE crushed.” They yelled “Power to the people, no one is illegal” and “F—k ICE” while banging drums.
Eventually, the protestors crossed the street, blocking the intersection as police officers tried to direct them back to the sidewalk. People stepped out of businesses and shops to film them.
Protester Tiffany Kaar, a 46-year old social worker and teacher, said she was marching against violence, government overreach and unlawfulness. In doing so, she hoped to create a better world for her children, she said.
“There’s power in numbers,” Kaar said. “People are rising up and coming out into the streets and showing with their physical self that they’re willing to put themselves in harm’s way for democracy.”
In her work as a teacher, Kaar said, she teaches many students from countries like Venezuela and Colombia. Those students deserve someone who is able to stand up for them, she said.
After taking over the intersection, the crowd walked 13 blocks to Bo Diddley Plaza in downtown Gainesville, where more protesters awaited their arrival. Organizers helped police officers coordinate traffic as more than eight police cars surrounded them.
Around 20 officers were diverted to help manage the roads, according to Gainesville Chief of Police Nelson Moya.
Moya said GPD would try to coordinate traffic as much as they could in order to protect Gainesville residents’ freedom of assembly.
Leif Jenson, the membership coordinator for Alachua County’s Democratic Socialists of America, said his organization decided to participate in the protest because of what its members have seen ICE doing.
Jenson said American leaders are being loyal to the people that give them money, rather than their constituents. He said he hopes after this protest, people will see they are not alone, be exposed to new ways of thinking about the world, and be emboldened to take action.
Many university students also joined the crowd. Benjamin Valdes, a 22-year old UFsenior, said as a history major, he sees patterns of facism being repeated that need to be protested against. He said he was protesting ICE, the killing of Alex Pretti and the general distrust the government is putting on the public.
“I’m against them violating people’s rights, whether they be American rights that are in the constitution, like the Second or Fourth Amendment rights, or just basic human rights,” Valdes said.
Valdes has been protesting since 2020, he said, and often attends UF protests when he hears about them. He said the amount of people protesting has increased, probably due to recent events with ICE.
Another student, 22-year old UF philosophy and women’s studies senior Delilah Sabatella, said she participated in the protest because it felt like one of the only things she can do to show support for abolishing ICE.
Sabatella said she disagrees with the killings ICE has carried out and is protesting the institution. She hopes to get people’s attention as they drive by the street or walk by the protesters and eventually have ICE agents held accountable, she said.
“I hope ICE melts,” she said.
Others echoed Sabatella’s hope for change — like 70-year old retired teacher and Gainesville resident Francesca Violich, who said she was at the protest to be a part of the movement against ICE. Although retired, she would’ve walked out of work for the protest, she said.
Violich said she was glad that older people were out on the street protesting, as well as college-aged students. Her hope is that protests lead to ICE being abolished.
For years, Violich taught immigrant communities in Miami. Her mother and relatives were also immigrants, and she is astonished at the way Americans are treating immigrants, she said.
“I’ve seen brutality, I’ve seen inhuman treatment, I’ve seen racism,” she said. “I’ve seen no compassion, and I couldn’t stay home.”
Contact Angelique Rodriguez at arodriguez@alligator.org. Follow her on X @angeliquesrod.
Angelique is a first-year journalism major and the Fall 2025 graduate school reporter. In her free time, she'll probably be reading, writing, hanging out with her friends or looking through the newest fashion runway shows on Vogue.
