By Aristeidis Pahoundis and Aife Pasquale

Graham, WA – on Thursday, January 29, over 200 high school students walked out in the middle of the school day in solidarity with the popular movement against ICE terror in Minneapolis. Students marched for two hours in the rain, defending each other from reactionary Trump supporters, and despite threats of repression from the school admin.

Tampa, FL – On Thursday January 29 around 40 people attended a protest held by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society near the USF campus.

San Jose, CA – On January 28, around 80 San Jose State University students gathered near the Arch of Dignity and then marched to protest against recent ICE killings and in solidarity with the ongoing struggles against federal agents in Minneapolis and elsewhere in the country.

New York, NY – On Tuesday, January 27, around two dozen NYU students and faculty gathered in Garibaldi Plaza, Washington Square Park for an emergency speak out against ICE’s murder of Alex Pretti.

Madison, WI – On Tuesday, January 27, over 1000 students from UW-Madison and the surrounding area joined Madison Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) to protest the murders of Alex Pretti, Renee Good and Keith Porter by ICE agents. Students rallied for ICE out of the Midwest and demanded that UW-Madison be made a sanctuary campus.

Jacksonville, FL– On Tuesday, January 20, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) quietly set up a recruitment table on the University of North Florida campus. Shortly after, a member of Jacksonville Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) reported the table’s presence, and the group quickly organized an emergency protest.

New York, NY – Over 150 students from across the city gathered in Washington Square Park to demand ICE get out. The citywide walkout was organized by Get Free NYC, with the NYU Students for a Democratic Society helping to organize NYU students for the walkout.

New Orleans, LA — On January 20, students from Benjamin Franklin High School organized a walkout and rally of more than 400 of their classmates to resist the escalating violations of civil and human rights by ICE. Chants that “ICE Gestapo has got to go!” echoed through the fields of the campuses of Ben Franklin and the neighboring University of New Orleans.

Chicago, IL – On Thursday, January 15, students rallied on the University of Illinois Chicago campus to demand the release of Venezuela’s democratically-elected President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores who were kidnapped by the United States, and an end to U.S. intervention in the country.

Despite the extreme cold, students showed up to the UIC quad and united to condemn the illegal actions of the Trump administration.

Milwaukee WI – On January 20, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) students organized with Youth Empowered In the Struggle (YES!) won their campaign for the School Board to pass a resolution that would provide additional transparency and accountability for the School Resource Officers (SROs) that have returned to MPS this year.

Chicago, IL – On Thursday, December 15, around 50 students and staff from progressive organizations and unions at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) rallied outside of the quarterly University of Illinois Board of Trustees meeting to demand that the board fund diversity measures.

Orlando, FL – On January 14, University of Central Florida (UCF) Students for a Democratic Society rallied more than 100 students to march on Millican Hall, the campus’s primary administrative building, to demand UCF President Alexander Cartwright meet with student leaders about making UCF a sanctuary campus.

Chicago, IL – On January 13, over 40 students rallied on the University of Illinois Chicago campus in response to ICE’s murder of Renee Nicole Good, and to demand justice for all victims of ICE terror. Students responded to the national week of action by the National Students for a Democratic Society.

We’re ready to fight back

Gio Araujo, from New SDS at UIC, spoke on the importance of taking the lessons of 2025 into the new year. “We’re not going in blind, we’ve experienced a 2025 of ICE terror in our communities and have learned the tactics and strategies.”

Tampa, FL – On January 13, approximately 70 people attended a rally at the intersection of USF Palm and Fletcher to demand ICE off campus and justice in the wake of the killing of Nicole Renee Good in Minneapolis.

The protest was organized by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society as a call to action against ICE.

Jacksonville, FL – On Wednesday, January 7, students at the University of North Florida gathered for a banner-drop demanding the school be declared a sanctuary campus. The demonstration, organized by the Jacksonville chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), was the latest in a long line of protests against the university’s cooperation with ICE.

Fight Back! News is circulating the following statement from the New Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois Chicago (New SDS at UIC).

New Students for a Democratic Society at UIC is proud to announce that we’ve successfully pushed UIC administration to commit to increasing funding for all seven cultural centers on campus! In the era of Trump 2.0, this is an important victory in the struggle to defend diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education. When we dare to struggle, we dare to win!

New Orleans, LA — On Friday morning, December 12, students rallied outside Tulane University while a member of Together United Louisiana Students for a Democratic Society (TUL SDS) met with administration. The meeting was scheduled after students’ hand-delivered letters in November demanding Tulane reject Trump’s compact for higher education.

New Orleans, LA – On December 3, students at Loyola University New Orleans showed up to oppose the second attempt at chartering a Turning Point USA chapter on their campus.

In October of this year, a small group of conservative students attended a student senate session to propose a TPUSA Charter at Loyola. At that meeting, over 100 students packed the room to show their opposition to a chapter on campus. When the senate denied the charter, the pro-TPUSA students appealed to have their proposal heard again.

New York, NY – Students attended a teach-in about the NYU board of trustees, December 3, led by members of the Students for a Democratic Society at NYU. The teach-in talked about what the board of trustees were, their interests as a body, specific members of the board of trustees and the necessity to organize and take action.

Milwaukee, WI – On Thursday, November 20, students gathered outside the Fire and Safety Building, demanding that the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee administration and the UWM Police Department stop its repression against student and community activists.