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Thousands of people across the country flooded the streets on Tuesday in a mass walkout protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement, marking exactly one year since Donald Trump was sworn in for his second presidential term.
The walkout, dubbed the “Free America Walkout” is spearheaded by the Women’s March, the same group that mobilized millions of protesters against Trump’s first administration in 2017.
According to its website, organizers urged people to walk out of schools, workplaces and businesses around 2 p.m. local time as part of the “Free America” movement, with the aim to “withhold our labor, our participation, and our consent.”
Videos of the scene captured dozens of protesters converging in major metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, New York City, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C, as part of the coordinated demonstrations.
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In some areas, high school students walked out of school during snowy conditions, exercising their political voice despite being too young to vote. Ahead of the planned walkouts, principals at several schools reportedly notified parents and arranged supervision for the protests, according to the Virginia news outlet LoudounNow.
In other cities, crowds of demonstrators filled streets and public spaces in protests that were largely orderly and peaceful. In New York City, for example, demonstrators marched to the area outside Trump Tower, chanting slogans and holding signs calling for changes to federal policies.
Organizers accused the Trump administration of being “fascist” after the president deployed thousands of ICE agents and other federal troops to major cities in an escalated crackdown on illegal immigration.
“One year into Trump’s second regime, we face an escalating fascist threat: ICE raids on our communities, troops occupying our cities, families torn apart, attacks on our trans siblings, mass surveillance, and terror used to keep us silent,” the group said on its website. “It is time for our communities to escalate as well.”
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The organizers of the protest said that holding the walkout on a weekday allows the demonstration to have a greater impact by disrupting the normal routine of schools, workplaces and public life.
“A walkout interrupts business as usual,” the website for the march said. “It makes visible how much our labor, participation, and cooperation are taken for granted — and what happens when we withdraw them together.”
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Trump’s immigration agenda has sparked widespread outrage, particularly after an ICE agent fatally shot 37‑year‑old Renee Nicole Good while her vehicle blocked a Minneapolis immigration enforcement operation. The killing has since intensified scrutiny over the use of force in the administration’s crackdown.
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