Unity. Courage. Passion. Those are the three words that student Malachi Norman used to describe the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest held at the Russell Union Rotunda on Jan. 28. 

The protest started gaining some traction online when flyers started appearing on social media early last week. Students took to their platforms to repost the information and encourage others to come to the protest. 

Students began crowding the rotunda around noon with signs and chants, expressing their frustration concerning the recent immigration and deportation situations across the country. While this may be the first ICE protest in Statesboro, it’s nothing new for the state or the nation. Several protests started earlier this month when ICE agents fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, MN. Three weeks later, on Jan. 24, another incident occurred in Minneapolis when Alex Pretti was killed by a Border Patrol officer.

The protest was organized by freshmen Jalaia Ross and Priscilla Allen, and it all began when they posted a flyer on the popular social media site, YikYak. 

“I think that this protest specifically will help encourage people on this campus to be more outspoken about their rights,” Allen said. “I think it’ll also impact the empathy of people around this campus to remember that just because things haven’t started to happen here in Statesboro doesn’t mean that the things happening around the country right now don’t apply to all of us.”

“It’ll spread more awareness and help people realize that this is a big issue,” Ross added.

Ross and Allen were invested in putting the protest together, but they weren’t alone. Catherine Richmond, a local community member, also looked into the logistics of planning a protest. Richmond ran into some bumps when she realized that she needed a reservation to hold something at the rotunda, but she combined efforts with the students and helped spread the word.

“I didn’t really expect so many people to be on board with it,” Richmond said. “It wasn’t about who got credit for it; I just wanted people’s voices to be heard in any capacity.”

The initial group consisted of over 50 students and community members, who took turns using the platform to share their thoughts. 

Allen, one of the organizers, took the time to speak to the attendees. She expressed how thankful she was for the turnout and how passionate she is about this cause. Then, the group gathered their signs and marched up and down campus. As the group worked its way back to the rotunda, it almost doubled in size.

Students could be heard chanting “No ICE! No K.K.K! No fascist USA!” repeatedly as they marched up and down campus, as well as “Abolish ICE out of sight,” and “The people are united. We’ll never be defeated.”

Riley Ellis is a sophomore at Georgia Southern, and she attended the protest with her friend Jaden Connolly. Ellis explained that she is from Minnesota, so it meant a lot to her to see protests on her college campus. “I could not be prouder of my home state,” she explained. Connolly added, “I hope it’s a big enough impact to show why this is wrong.”

Jack, a junior at Georgia Southern, noticed the protest as he was walking on campus. “ICE is supposed to keep an eye on the immigration into the U.S., but the way ICE has been conducting their business is a problem. How they’ve been treating both immigrants and non-immigrants, that is a problem,” he said.

After the group’s second march around campus, students noticed bystanders watching the rotunda as Turning Point USA, a registered student organization, set up a table across the way. Cody Garcia, Turning Point President, commented on the protest by saying, “Turning Point is about discussing your beliefs,” he said. “I can agree that some of the issues are concerning, but I’m concerned that people just don’t want ICE at all.”

The protest organizers hope that this will spark some conversation on campus. For the students who attended, it was a way for them to make their voices heard on the issues that matter to them.