The Center Joins 'ICE Out' Protest at City Hall, Calls for Defunding of ICE

On Friday, January 30, the Los Angeles LGBT Center joined thousands of Angelenos and other community organizations at City Hall for a powerful demonstration in support of immigrant communities. Alongside other partners and advocates, the Center condemned violent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities, demanding justice and safety for all those impacted.

Protestors spoke out against ICE intimidation, unsafe detention facilities, and federally funded violence affecting our communities. The crowd carried signs bearing the words “Defund ICE” and “No human is illegal,” marching from the steps of City Hall to the historic, predominantly Latino neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

The “ICE Out” demonstration was organized in response to intensified ICE activity across the country—including recent operations in Minneapolis that have resulted in the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the killing of Keith Porter Jr. in Los Angeles. These actions have deepened a growing human rights crisis, disproportionately harming immigrant families, particularly LGBTQ+ immigrants who face heightened vulnerability.

Rather than making our streets safer, the Department of Homeland Security’s oversight of ICE has fueled fear and isolation within immigrant communities, including LGBTQ+ people and their families and neighbors, undermining community safety and weakening the social fabric of our country. ICE has used violence with impunity in service of its deportation agenda, leaving many people, including U.S. citizens, without due process

The Center stands in solidarity with immigrant communities and rejects the normalization of policies that undermine human dignity and threaten the safety of immigrants and the broader community. Take action today by contacting your elected representatives to demand that they defend human rights and work to end ICE violence in our communities.