Walkouts and events were planned from northern Utah to St. George.<\/p>\n
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People attend an anti-ICE protest at City Hall in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Note to readers \u2022 This story is developing and being updated. Watch sltrib.com for additional coverage of shutdown events. <\/p>\n
Utahns gathered at City Hall and marched in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon as part of a \u201cNational Shutdown<\/a>\u201d aimed at protesting President Donald Trump\u2019s crackdown on immigration.<\/p>\n In cities across the state, business owners have closed their doors<\/a> and students have walked out of classes<\/a> in support of the national effort. Events on Friday and Saturday were also planned in Utah cities that include Ogden, Logan, Price and St. George.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n In Salt Lake City\u2019s downtown, more than a thousand protesters packed into Washington Square before the march began. Together, they held signs and shouted chants including, \u201cPower to the people, no one is illegal,\u201d and, \u201cNo justice, no peace, we want ICE off our streets.\u201d<\/p>\n Passing cars honked their horns. A banner hanging from City Hall read \u201cSLC [loves] YOU.\u201d Community members handed out hand warmers, freshly baked cookies and free coffee.<\/p>\n (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People attend an anti-ICE protest at City Hall in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People attend an anti-ICE protest at City Hall in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n The national action was planned to protest the actions of agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agencies\u2019 agents killed Silverio Villegas Gonz\u00e1lez in a Chicago suburb<\/a> in September, Keith \u201cPooter\u201d Porter Jr. in Los Angeles<\/a> on New Year\u2019s Eve, and Renee Good<\/a> and Alex Pretti<\/a> less than a month apart in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n A nurse at the Salt Lake City protest held a sign that read: \u201cNurses for Alex Pretti.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump administration has said that its immigration policies make the country safer. The operations have \u201cresulted in countless dangerous criminal illegals being removed from the streets \u2014 including rapists, murderers, burglars, drunk drivers,\u201d White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement earlier this week.<\/p>\n Sue Widdison joined Friday\u2019s protest from Millcreek and mused that recent events have seemed relentless.<\/p>\n \u201cA sign that I saw last year said, \u2018Too much s— for one sign,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it really feels like that because you get your sign made, you get up in the morning and it\u2019s totally outdated. Something else has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Utah groups listed as supporters on the national organizing site included the Salt Lake Community Bail Fund, Peoples\u2019 Freedom Party Utah, Organization of Utahn Young Adult Activists and the Utah Valley University Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers\/American Association of University Professors.<\/p>\n (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People attend an anti-ICE protest at City Hall in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People attend an anti-ICE protest at City Hall in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n Protester Autumn Blaustein-Olfen said \u201csomething has to be done.\u201d She said she hopes politicians will \u201cthink, \u2018wow, okay, they want us to put a stop to what ICE is doing to immigrants,\u2019\u201d and that \u201cwhat people will take away is that, yes, we should help and get out there, because there\u2019s enough people doing it now, that there\u2019s no reason to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n Randi Hardy spoke from inside a pink blow-up axolotl costume and waved at cars as they passed on State Street.<\/p>\n Condensation collected in the small window that showed her face, but it was important to her to dress this way. She said she wore the costume for \u201cvisibility\u201d and to show onlookers that protesters aren\u2019t scary or \u201cout of control.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dI think we need to stop killing people in the streets. The federal government needs to be held accountable to what they\u2019re doing,” she said, \u201cand the camaraderie in the community that we have here is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n (Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Protesters march during a demonstration against ICE and federal immigration policies in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n (Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Protesters march during a demonstration against ICE and federal immigration policies in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n Protesters in Utah\u2019s capital began marching at about 3:15 p.m. toward the local field office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services along 200 East, between 600 South and 700 South.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n From there, demonstrators marched to 700 South before turning on State Street and heading back to Washington Square Park. The crowd began dispersing shortly before 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n (Brooke Larsen | The Salt Lake Tribune) A woman holds a sign during a protest against ICE and federal immigration policies in downtown St. George on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n In St. George Friday, around 40 people gathered downtown on the corner of Main Street and St. George Boulevard to protest ICE. Drivers honked their horns as they passed, and the occasional driver yelled \u201cgo back to California\u201d out their window.<\/p>\n Attendees ranged from local retirees to tourists taking time out of their vacation to protest. They held signs that said, \u201cICE out\u201d and \u201cThe wrong ice is melting\u201d while wearing shorts and T-shirts on a warm southwest Utah day.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Marie Straka was visiting from Minnesota, a state that has been a focal point of the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown. \u201cI was involved in protesting at home in Minnesota,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot easier here.\u201d <\/p>\n She showed up to protest during her vacation because she wants immigrants to be protected, she added.<\/p>\n Peter Dowdle, a student at Southern Utah University, drove down to St. George for the protest from Cedar City. <\/p>\n \u201cLetting people in communities like this know that they\u2019re not alone in their dislike of what the government is doing right now, I think that is the best support I can do from some random rural town in Utah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u2014 This is a developing story. Check back for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walkouts and events were planned from northern Utah to St. George. 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