Written by Emily Carmela Nelson, Olivia Brandon, Cole McAdams
Car horns honked enthusiastically as protestors gathered Friday afternoon on the lawn and steps of the Idaho Capitol, joining the nationwide ICE OUT movement to protest the administration’s immigration enforcement practices and the recent deaths linked to violence at the hands of federal agents in Minnesota.
Some protestors carried homemade signs, while others held signs handed out by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, reading “Justice for Alex Jeffery Pretti killed by CBP” and “Arrest Jonathan Ross for murder now.”
“It’s awful what’s been happening recently. There’s just no reason for it,” protestor Maxwell Speiser said. “It’s been happening a long time before Renee Good, and it’s nice to see there being a lot more action about it. The more action that is done, the more chances we have of ending the horrible things going on.”
Speiser added not taking action is no different than being apolitical and said he believes it is important for individuals to be educated on the issue.
“ICE and the government in general have been stepping on our rights as Americans and treading on the Constitution,” Nova Kurtz, another protest goer, said. “America was built on immigration and could be a great country if we stand for freedom. We should let people come here and live the life they want, try to achieve the American dream, and try to make it possible. With how it’s been going, it’s been impossible, so I’m trying to fight so we can achieve a good life for anyone who wants it.”
Kurtz said they were not expecting the large turnout, as protestors squeezed into the side pathways and stepped onto the Capitol steps to make room for others.
Students showed out, too. Boise State Psychology major Kat Martin and College of Idaho student Ella Rubel came to the protest holding signs that read ‘Liberty and justice for all,’ with ‘ICE’ in the word justice crossed out.
“ICE is rampant and overrunning everything. They should not be killing innocent people in the streets and they shouldn’t be separating families,” Martin said, emphasizing she was “really proud of Boise” for participating in the movement. “[It] takes away the idea that everyone is the same, especially in predominantly red states, people are showing up and showing that they care and it’s really important that we are fighting that stereotype.”
Rubel shared while she loves her country, it does not currently feel like a safe place for everyone.
“I love our country and I love being an American but I’m not happy with our government right now. I want [my country] to be a safe place for people to live and feel welcome,” Rubel said. “What we’ve seen from the last year, we’ve actually had a lot of Idahoans turn out, and I’m really proud of that. We’re a small state and I don’t think people think we have as much of a voice as we do.”
Out on the lawn, attendee Joseph Vasquez cited his immigrant father as an inspiration of his.
“My dad is one of the hardest-working men I know. I’ve grown up working with him in blue-collar fields — landscaping, drywall, general construction,” Vasquez said. “All I see around me is immigrants, and they’re the ones who build our communities. Now, we have politicians telling us that we need to attack the people that literally build our communities.”
Just down the street from the Capitol, The Record Exchange kept its doors open, donating all of its sale proceeds on Jan. 31 to ACLU of Idaho, Idaho Familias Assistance Fund, Poder of Idaho and the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota in solidarity with the strike.
Brion Rushton, The Record Exchange’s general manager, said his team initially considered closing the store to align with the general strike but decided to use the opportunity to serve as a resource to the community.
“The community knows where we stand, and if they didn’t, they do now,” Rushton said. “We were dismayed by all the chaos going on in Minnesota and around the country over the last year and thought instead of losing a day’s worth of sales we could stay open and be a resource for the community where people can gather and experience a sense of normalcy while raising money [for these organizations].”
Sales for The Record Exchange doubled in comparison to the average Friday in January, with Rushton noting an overwhelmingly positive response from the community.
In Hyde Park, Sagebrush Collaborative, a maker gift shop and community space, closed early and operated as cash only throughout the early hours of the day.
A variety of pastel-colored posters with sentiments that read “Hope will never be silent”, “Keep families together” and ”Build a longer table, not a taller wall” were sold for $10, with all profits donated to a rotating list of organizations in Idaho.
“Art is political for so many reasons,” Jess Wagner, founder and sole owner of Sagebrush, said. “You think about all of the music and art that comes out during resistance movements, on top of the fact that our artists are made up of marginalized communities. How would I feel if I was selling the work of marginalized people, profiting off of it to keep the store running and not speaking out for those people? What kind of community space would I be running?”
Wagner closed the shop at 1:30 p.m. to attend the demonstration, giving away free cardboard signs to community members. While the shop likely only raised a few hundred dollars, she said the limited hours created space for meaningful conversation.
“In the past couple years, a lot of people thought it was performative to speak up on social media,” Wagner said. “Yesterday, seeing how many people posted from the morning to the evening, I don’t think it’s performative. [These posts and movements] are getting people to talk about [these issues] and see where people stand. It’s not really politics anymore.”
