Multiple anti-ICE demonstrations were held around Southern California on Saturday as a follow-up to Friday’s nationwide ICE Out of Everywhere National Day of Action. Though most events on both days were peaceful, a strongly worded Truth Social post from President Donald Trump warned against violence after several arrests were made in downtown LA on Friday night.
A crowd of several hundred protesters swelled to 2,500 in front of Los Angeles City Hall by mid-afternoon Saturday. They joined in chants of “These are our streets!” and called for abolishing ICE. Vendors of Mexican banderas, fruit cups, cold drinks and other fare set up near voter registration tables.
Speakers with 50501, a decentralized national political group whose slogan is “50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement”, exhorted attendees to “get ICE out of everywhere” and cut ties with corporations working with the federal government.
“This is the follow-up action to yesterday’s action, in solidarity with the people in Minnesota,” said Hunter Dunn, 23, SoCal press coordinator for 50501. “More than 300 events are happening today, and in two days, more than 600 events attended by tens of thousands across the country, so we’re looking at a pretty big impact.
“What we’re looking for is continued, consistent resistance.”
Tira Franco, 46, of Los Angeles brought her husband, sister and three children to the protest on her birthday.
“We’re here for the community. I told my children our government is failing us,” Franco said. This regime is not what we stand for and we need to stand up for what’s right.”
At least one protester said it wasn’t all that difficult. “It’s a beautiful, sunny day here, and when I think of the people in Minnesota standing up for what’s right in, like, minus degrees weather, I think I can keep at this,” said Lila, who asked that her last name not be used out of caution. “I can be uncomfortable, too.”
A protest in Torrance grew to around 2,500 people as of 1 p.m. Demonstrators lined the sidewalks in front of the Del Amo Shopping Center for the South Bay’s ICE OUT protest, organized by Indivisible South Bay LA.
Continual honking accompanied the chanting protesters, with hundreds of drivers laying on their horns in support as they drove by. The crowds along Hawthorne Boulevard erupted into song, singing the chorus of “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” by Twisted Sister.
94-year-old veteran Albert Hernandez made it out to the Torrance protest because he wants to see Republicans and Democrats alike “have a backbone and stand up to Trump.”
Hundreds gather in Torrance, CA on Jan. 31, 2026, to protest the ongoing actions of ICE across the nation. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)
Hundreds gather in Torrance, CA on Jan. 31, 2026, to protest the ongoing actions of ICE across the nation. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)
Hundreds gather in Torrance, CA on Jan. 31, 2026 to protest the ongoing actions of ICE across the nation. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)
Hanna Hickson drinks coffee during an Ice Out of LA protest at 3188 Baldwin Park Blvd. in Baldwin Park on Jan. 31, 2026. (Photo by Connor Terry, Contributing Photographer)
Angelenos rally in front of City Hall for a “ICE Out of Everywhere National Day of Action” on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Angelenos rally in front of City Hall for a “ICE Out of Everywhere National Day of Action” on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Angelenos rally in front of City Hall for a “ICE Out of Everywhere National Day of Action” on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Angelenos rally in front of City Hall for a “ICE Out of Everywhere National Day of Action” on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Angelenos rally in front of City Hall for a “ICE Out of Everywhere National Day of Action” on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Angelenos rally in front of City Hall for a “ICE Out of Everywhere National Day of Action” on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Show Caption
1 of 10
Hundreds gather in Torrance, CA on Jan. 31, 2026, to protest the ongoing actions of ICE across the nation. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)
“The darkest corners of hell are reserved for those who in times of crisis, take no stance,” he said. “I never thought that in my lifetime that we would have such an ignorant president as we have today.”
Hernandez, who served in the U.S. Air Force for many years, said he is disappointed that America has reverted to a state of “terror and unrest.”
“I’ve lived through WW II, Korea and Vietnam… I thought things would be better,” he said.
Many of the Torrance protesters cited the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis as their reason for taking to the streets.
Protesters of all ages held signs with phrases including “Healthcare not Warfare,” “Ashamed to be an American,” and “I Like my ICE Crushed.”
Physical therapist Laura Alanis, 33, rushed home from work to attend the Torrance demonstration.
She said that she thinks the only way there will be change is if President Donald Trump is removed from office.
“We need to fight back,” Alanis said. “We need to get him impeached.”
A 53-year-old Torrance resident who did not give her name due to fear of retaliation said that she was protesting Friday’s arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon.
“Everything our forefathers fought for is being erased,” she said. “We need to support freedom of the press.”
She, and many protesters near her, began to shout that the U.S. is turning into a police state.
“This is totalitarianism,” she said.
Bria Owens, a sophomore at San Pedro High School, said she came to the protest in Torrance because she is afraid for her friends’ safety.
“One of my friends didn’t come to school because ICE was near her house,” she said.
At 4 p.m. in Long Beach, a group of about 80 people gathered at Bixby Annex Park for a vigil to honor lives lost in connection with violence involving immigration officers or in detention in communities across the nation. The local immigrant rights organizations hosting the event include Órale, the Filipino Migrant Center and United Cambodian Community, as well as CLUE, Khmer Girls in Action and Long Beach for a Just Economy.
The event’s program began with a prayer for those who died.
In Baldwin Park, about 40 people protested at the corner of Baldwin Park Boulevard and Francisquito Avenue. Many held signs, cowbells and American flags. Signs had a wide range of messages, including “We Stand with Minneapolis” and “Make Orwell fiction again.”
Los Angeles resident Hanna Hixson said George Orwell’s “1984,” the dystopian novel about a totalitarian superstate, is “scarier to read now.
“I’m really terrified of what’s going to happen,” Hixson, 29, said. “It’s scary because ICE has complete immunity. It’s out of hand.”
For La Puente resident Blanca Chico, the protest is personal. Chico is a daughter of immigrants and said she’s worried about the violence she’s seen ICE enact on protesters and those they’re detaining.
“We have to stand united and make our voices heard,” Chico, 66, said. “It shows the community that’s being deported, harassed and victimized that we stand with them.”
Earlier, around 70 people had gathered at Matilija Collective in El Monte, where the Party for Socialism and Liberation organized a meeting for volunteers. Some attendees drove from as far as Orange County.
“We’re in El Monte today (because) people are outraged at the escalation and violence in detention (centers) and kidnappings against our immigrant communities, against activists that are doing what’s within their rights to defend our communities from this lawless violence,” organizer Edgar Reyes said.
Hailey Garcia said she’s been to five city hall meetings across the San Gabriel Valley to ask about what cities are doing to protect residents from ICE presence.
“I want to learn more, and I want more people to be upset, because that’s how I feel,” she said. “It’s okay to be upset. It’s okay to cry about things, because there’s just so much going on right now.”
Other anti-ICE rallies also were held in Compton, Corona, El Segundo, Culver City and Aliso Viejo.
Though most demonstrations throughout the region were peaceful, eight protesters were arrested in Los Angeles on Friday, according to LA police. Six were for failure to disperse, one for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer and one for a curfew violation.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Saturday that he has requested more federal officers for Los Angeles to protect federal property.
“The violence and destruction of property directed at our federal properties in downtown Los Angeles last night is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Essayli said. “I have authorized federal officers to arrest anyone engaged in violence on the spot.”
Trump doubled down on those sentiments.
“I have instructed Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, that under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat cities with regard to their protests and/or riots unless, and until, they ask us for help,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “We will, however, guard, and very powerfully so, any and all federal buildings that are being attacked by these highly paid lunatics, agitators, and insurrectionists.”
Staff writers David Wilson, Madeline Armstrong, Anissa Rivera and Christina Merino, freelancers Victoria Ivie and Joshua Silla and City News Service contributed to this report.
Protests, walkouts underway in Southern California against ICE, aggressive raids and Trump
An Altadena bakery is making anti-ICE cookies and they sell out in minutes