Some 200 people rallied outside the Statehouse in Columbia Friday to lead a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
The group gathered on the day of a nationwide general strike Jan. 30 in which people were asked to not spend money and to walk out of their school or place of work. The call to strike and protest came after 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis Jan. 24.
While it was the fourth protest against ICE activity organized outside the Statehouse in January, Friday's gathering in particular was chock full of students. Dawned in coats amidst a winter storm warning, the group eventually began to march down to Columbia City Hall, as was consistent with previous demonstrations. And as the group marched, they chanted.
One University of South Carolina student who led chants through a megaphone was Abby Still. The 21-year-old senior said it was imperative for students to amplify their voices when possible and deemed necessary — beyond protests against ICE activity.
"If they will do this to American citizens, they will do this to anyone. If they will do this to immigrants, they will do this to anyone," she said. "This isn't okay."
Still helped lead USC walkouts both last week and Friday. The crowd in those groups grew from about ten people in the first walkout to three or four dozen in the following demonstration. She said even though national attention is centered around Minnesota, where Pretti and 37-year-old Renee Good were killed by federal officers, it was imperative to stand with local immigrant communities.
"I live near so many immigrants. I drive past them every single day. ," she said. "They deserve to live — not in fear — just like us."
Not all of her USC classmates share her views regarding ICE activity. But still, Still called for unity amidst what she sees as perpetually expanding polarization in the nation.
The protest was organized and endorsed by groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Midlands SC Defensa. Representatives from the groups urged attendees to have their voice heard beyond protests; leaders asked the crowd, many of whom were college-aged students, to register to vote and join community organizations.
More than thirty agencies in the state have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE, according to data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The memorandums allow local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law that they could not otherwise. The Lexington County Sheriff's Department and Gaston Police Department are two Midlands law enforcement agencies with different types of 287(g) agreements in place. The Lexington County agreement allows officers to process and identify "removable aliens who have been arrested and booked" into its correctional facilities.
Right now, House Bill 4764 sits in the South Carolina House with almost 50 sponsors from lawmakers. The bill would require law enforcement agencies throughout the state that operate a correctional facility to enter 287(g) program agreements.
Lukas Alvarado-Barahona was one of the protest's few Hispanic attendees. He is a son of immigrants born in Honduras. His parents took the measures to immigrate legally and are naturalized U.S. citizens. He said they have been avoiding usual parts of their routine like visits to church and restaurants out of fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"My father paints houses, my mother sells ice cream and makes bread just to live. It's difficult for them, but it's not as difficult as it was in their home counties. That's why they're here," he said. "They shouldn't have to be scared here."
He said he was encouraged to see people who look nothing like him rally together.
"I feel like community is something that we lack in today's age," he said. "Seeing people who might not be directly affected as much still here supporting my family and people like me — this is what we need."
