7 July 2025
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
Hundreds of people from around the country descended on New Orleans last Tuesday to protest the ongoing, and brutal arrests of immigrant workers by federal Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents locally, across the South and throughout the nation.
Often wearing masks, performing swarming raids on workplaces, and carrying little in the way of warrants or court orders, ICE forces continue to arrest and detain thousands of immigrants trying to carve out a better life for themselves and their loved ones across the U.S.
Several mass protests and marches have taken place in New Orleans since the Trump administration took office in January and almost immediately began launching the ICE raids. The protests have also railed against the threats to the constitutional rights and freedoms of speech and assembly of all Americans, citizens or not.
April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Photo by Robert Stewart/Verite News
Marching under the theme of “Freedom. Family. Justice,” last Tuesday’s rally in downtown New Orleans was led by workers and staff from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), more than a dozen partner organizations, from both the New Orleans area and across the country.
The event drew faith leaders, union organizers and other local allies, with the march beginning at Spanish Plaza (the intersection of Convention Center Boulevard and Poydras Street) and ending at Lafayette Square. It took place last Tuesday in late afternoon and early evening and proceeded smoothly and without incident, said SEIU national organizer James Phipps.
He said the rally brought together members of every generation – young, middle-aged and seniors – from across the area and the country in a city that has become a focal point of ICE activity and the fight against the injustices perpetrated by the federal agency.
“When those people return to their home communities,” Phipps said, “they will carry the message that it’s your right as a human being to live with dignity and respect.”
Phipps said the goal of last week’s march was to continue pushing for the human rights of all people in the country, especially immigrant workers and other socially and economically vulnerable populations. He said countless immigrants from all over the world – from far-flung places like Sudan and El Salvador – have come to the U.S. and continue to work hard to make a life in a country that supposedly values commitment and determination.
“They did it with honor, pride and the belief that America is the place to come to prosper and succeed,” he said.
A veteran of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, Phipps compared current protests against ICE actions and the creeping erosion of constitutional liberties to the battles for integration and racial justice more than a half-century ago.
He said the rallies in New Orleans and around the country are just part of the effort to combat the injustices perpetrated by ICE and the Trump administration. Phipps said that organizers and volunteers are willing to go community by community, and even door to door, to protect everyone’s basic humanity and dignity.
“This is what we have to do to stay in step, stay in solidarity with our brothers and sisters trying to work and live,” he said.
He added that “no man is an island,” meaning that it’s crucial for everyone to strive to sustain our shared “hope, aspirations and ideals.”
“We have to unite together to carry that message all over the country,” Phipps said.
In recent weeks, the number of ICE immigration arrests and detentions in the Deep South and New Orleans region have spiked, according to agency figures and media reports.
ICE numbers released last week covering the area patrolled by ICE’s New Orleans regional office – which includes Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas – stated that roughly 2,000 arrests took place in June, in addition to more than 8,300 deportations.
The White House has set a national goal of 3,000 immigration arrests per day.
This article originally published in the July 7, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.