Demonstrators in Ithaca took to the streets to protest ICE Friday afternoon, joining a nationwide wave of protests against the federal agency.
This latest round of demonstrations comes after two people, Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis this month. Organizers called for people to skip work, school and shopping to protest the ongoing immigration enforcement crackdown in Minneapolis and across the country.
At least six people have died in ICE custody since the start of 2026. Thirty-two people died in ICE detention in 2025, according to reporting from the Guardian, nearly triple the number of people that died in custody the previous year.
Some activists and elected officials are calling for ICE to be abolished altogether.
Kady Nawrocki is an organizer with the Finger Lakes branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, one of the groups that set up the Ithaca protest. Nawrocki said her organization wants to see ICE abolished.
“We want ICE out of our streets. We want ICE agents held accountable. We want the ICE agents that are murdering our neighbors to be tried and not just moved to the back. We want justice for everyone that has been murdered by ICE since its founding in 2003,” Nawrocki said.
Robin Trumble, the alderperson for Ithaca’s 4th Ward, also attended the demonstration.
“People are angrier and angrier at each one of these rallies,” Trumble said. “And while that anger isn't directed towards anything here in Ithaca, I think that the more we call out [the] federal government, the more we kind of start to recognize the potential for smaller levels of change here in Ithaca.”
Ithaca and Tompkins County both have sanctuary policies in place.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Friday that she will seek to end participation in the federal program commonly referred to as 287(g). The program allows local law enforcement to carry out some immigration enforcement duties.
Nearby Steuben, Broome and Otsego counties all signed 287(g) agreements with ICE in 2025.
