Hundreds protest Trump’s immigration policies, ICE in West Seattle

Hundreds of people gathered Sunday afternoon and walked miles along West Seattle’s waterfront to protest President Donald Trump’s deportation policies and show solidarity with immigrants.

Starting at Alki Beach, more than 200 demonstrators held signs, chanted phrases including “Si, se puede!” and cheered alongside honks from cars passing along Alki Avenue Southwest and Harbor Avenue Southwest. The protest spanned about a 6-mile round trip walk over two hours in chilly temperatures, before the crowd gathered near the Statue of Liberty Plaza.

Carmen Rueda, 19, said she decided to attend on behalf of others who are scared to speak up themselves. The Trump administration’s decisions hit “a sensitive spot,” and affect her family personally, she said.

The protest “represents those who can’t come out,” she said. “We still have to show up.”

The demonstration challenged Trump’s promises of mass deportations of people living in the U.S. undocumented and changes to other immigration policies, such as ending automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. and halting the refugee resettlement program. In interviews, protesters recounted fear within their immigrant communities and said they felt targeted because of their backgrounds.

The protest didn’t appear to have one central organizer. A poster advertising the demonstration, called “Protest Against Ice,” referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, circulated on social media but didn’t list any organizations behind the effort. That didn’t stop more than 200 people from attending. Several marchers said they learned about it through Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

Demonstrators reported traveling from Mount Vernon, Yakima and Tacoma to attend the protest. Many held up or were draped in Mexican and American flags, with a smaller number of flags from Guatemala, Colombia and Brazil.