Hundreds protest President Trump’s mass deportation order
Jimena Giles ’28
gilesj@lakeforest.edu
JOUR 320 Student
On February 2, Saturday hundreds of people gathered at Rose Park in Waukegan to demand that local officials keep U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents out of Lake County.
Holding signs that read “Keep ICE Out,” “Families Belong Together,” and “The People United Will Defend Immigrant Families,” rally participants applauded a series of speakers demanding that ICE stop arresting innocent families. The large group then marched along Belvidere Road.
For Miriam Argueta, the fear of deportation is not just political—it’s personal. Argueta, like many others, has lived in the United States nearly her entire life.
“We must do everything we can to keep our community safe and educated if we are encountered by ICE,” Miriam Argueta, a Lake County notary public, told the crowd.
The local rally, organized by the Party of Socialism and Liberation of Lake County, took place on Feb. 2 [2025], shortly after President Trump signed an executive order carrying out his pledge for the “largest deportation in American history.” Congress also passed the Laken Riley Act, which significantly expands the range of offenses for which undocumented immigrants can be held in federal custody, including shoplifting, theft, and larceny.
The recent demonstration is part of a growing national movement to resist federal immigration crackdown on undocumented immigrants with no criminal history. The Trump administration, which is reportedly now trying to ramp up arrests of undocumented migrants, maintains that any individual who illegally enters the United States of America is, “by definition a criminal.”
“If they broke our nation’s laws, yes, they are criminal,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to reporters in January.
Immigrants’ rights advocates, including the ACLU, are fighting the arrests and have sued the Trump administration for access to immigrants transferred from the U.S. to Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.
As of late January, [Jan. 28], more than 1,100 immigrants have been arrested nationwide, including half of whom had no prior criminal record besides entering the country illegally, according to NBC News. The news outlet also reported that DHS posted on X that, as of Feb. 3, its agents had arrested 8,768 people.
Just days into the new presidential term, CBS News reported that ICE arrested more than 100 people in the Chicago area. Lake County is home to the second-highest Hispanic and Latino population in Illinois, with 40% living in Waukegan.
Organizers in Waukegan said the event served not only as a call to keep agents out of Lake County but also as an opportunity to educate residents on how to protect themselves if confronted by immigration authorities. During the rally, organizers handed out red “Know Your Rights” cards, in both English and Spanish, and other information about legal representatives willing to help families.
As a daughter of immigrants, Rose, 22, (she declined to give her full name due to safety concerns) said she fears that her family members will be wrongfully detained by ICE agents.
“We’re all just trying to live a good life and provide,” she said. “But now I have to go out and buy food for my family because they’re too scared to go out.”
Giselle Rodriguez, 22, a documented immigrant from Mexico, said she heard of arrests of individuals who were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
“There’s going to be collateral damage, but ultimately they should just focus on arresting the actual criminals,” she said.
Mike (he declined to give his full name due to safety concerns), a 23-year-old from North Chicago and one of the event organizers, agreed.
“We have to fight back and continue to help hard-working immigrant families that want a better future and make sure that they understand their rights,” he said.