{"id":161795,"date":"2026-02-03T11:46:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T11:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/161795\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T11:46:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T11:46:27","slug":"san-diegans-participate-in-nationwide-strike-against-ice-the-ucsd-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/161795\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diegans participate in nationwide strike against ICE \u2013 The UCSD Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of protestors took to City Heights\u2019 Teralta Park last Friday as part of the nationwide strike against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, following the fatal shootings of Renee Good<\/a> and Alex Pretti<\/a>. Strikers skipped work, school, and shopping for the day to attend local rallies against ICE.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, the University of Minnesota\u2019s Black Student Union and Somali Student Association organized a general strike against ICE in Minnesota on Jan. 23. Following its success<\/a>, the organizers called for a nationwide shutdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A general strike aims to pressure the government to act by disrupting the national and global economy. Strikers withhold labor, time, and money on a specific day; if enough people participate, society will effectively stop functioning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local activist organizations hosted more than 300 protests across all 50 states in response to the Minnesotan call to strike, according to National Shutdown<\/a>. The San Diego chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Peace and Freedom Party, alongside a coalition of other local advocacy groups, organized the City Heights rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast Friday, people in the Twin Cities and all across Minnesota had a day of \u2018no work, no school, no shopping\u2019 and shut it down,\u201d PSL San Diego\u2019s flyer<\/a> advertising the rally read. \u201cIt captured the imagination of the whole country. They\u2019ve shown the way for all of us \u2014 to stop ICE\u2019s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rally began at 2 p.m., when various community organizers addressed the crowd. In his opening remarks, PSL organizer Rick Guerrero said that the nationwide shutdown demonstrates the people\u2019s power against the government and ICE\u2019s recent activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are invading our communities, kidnapping our neighbors, and killing people who exercise their First Amendment right to protest,\u201d Guerrero said. \u201cWe demand the abolishment of ICE. We will not compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speeches emphasized fighting ICE by building coalitions and showing solidarity with neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about education,\u201d PSL organizer Alexis Oberg said. \u201cIt\u2019s about community, and it\u2019s about building the momentum so that we can do more to make change in this country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

At approximately 3:10 p.m., protestors marched around Orange Avenue, Marlborough Avenue, Fairmount Avenue, and University Avenue holding signs with slogans like \u201cStop ICE terror\u201d and \u201cNo one is illegal on stolen land.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three police cars followed the protestors as they marched. There were no reported police incidents.<\/p>\n

Around 20 PSL volunteers serving as security guards also followed the protestors in response to law enforcement officers who threatened demonstrators during the Jan. 12 \u201cStop ICE Terror\u201d rally<\/a> in downtown San Diego.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope [people] take away that we\u2019re not alone,\u201d Oberg said. \u201cWe\u2019re all in this together, and we have to stay unified in order to work together to stop the government from harming the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The protest ended at around 4 p.m. Local advocates also organized rallies in Mira Mesa, which more than 250 protestors attended, and Hillcrest as part of the nationwide shutdown. <\/p>\n