On the evening of Jan. 23, protesters gathered outside the ICE Field Office downtown as part of a coordinated national action calling for an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] practices and drawing attention to recent detentions and deportations.
Among those in attendance was Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman, who said showing up alongside constituents was especially important amid growing fear surrounding immigration enforcement.
“I think it’s very important for people to see their elected officials, stand with them, especially at such a scary time for a lot of people,” Romman said. “And also very important for us to show that we should have power, and now is the time to insist on all rights.”
Concerns about ICE, she said, center on how the agency operates and how enforcement actions affect families.
“This is an entity that has been operating extra-legally… an entity that has tried to skirt the law,” Romman said. “Their propaganda said we’re only going after criminals, and yet they are using five-year-olds as bait.” Romman is referring to preschooler Liam Ramos, who was detained by ICE in an attempt to track down his father.
Questions about federal spending priorities also surfaced.
“I would much rather use that funding for… needs that our community is desperate for, like health care or education or literally any of the other programs people need right now,” Romman said.
For the state representative, attending the rally did not require a single inciting incident.
“This is what principled leadership is,” Romman said. “It’s one that doesn’t require for something big to happen, for you to show up.”
She expressed that the administration has underestimated public resolve.
“This current administration thinks that they can silence us and intimidate us into cowering in fear,” but they have gravely miscalculated… how much our communities care for each other,” Romman said.
Spread across the ground nearby, a large laminated poster covered with photographs and names drew attention from passersby. Too large to be held or displayed as a sign, the poster was created with help from “Dave,” from Refuse Fascism.
“So these are people who have been disappeared by ICE… we wanted to put names and faces to the people, because they’re human beings,” Dave said, adding that families are being torn apart “as part of an overall program to demonize immigrants.”
The Atlanta rally, he said, was part of a broader national response.
“People coming out all over the country in solidarity with Minneapolis because of the murder of Renee Good… and the ICE attacks against immigrants,” Dave said, pointing to “the suppression of any kind of dissent.”
Years of protest experience shaped his view of the current political moment.
“This is the worst situation that I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Dave said describing a federal government “run by a lunatic fascist with his finger on the nuclear trigger.”
Refuse Fascism, he said, formed during the first Trump administration. “We formed… calling out the fact that this is not just normal Republicans. The only way to stop that is for people to rise up nonviolently… to demand that Trump must go.”
Elsewhere at the rally, “Andrew” attended while openly carrying a firearm, which he described as a deliberate political statement. His involvement in protests in Atlanta, he said, spans several years.
“I’ve been coming to protest in Atlanta for several years now,” Andrew said, referencing pro-Palestine and Venezuela protests.
Civic responsibility, he said, motivated his presence outside the ICE Field Office.
“When we start to see what the government is doing, it’s up to us to resist,” he said, adding that the Second Amendment exists “against a tyrannical government.”
Criticism of federal rhetoric and enforcement practices followed.
“I think right now, the government… they’re being stochastic terrorists,” he said, describing language used to “demonize, dehumanize… and then deny all wrongdoing.”
The death of Renee Good marked a turning point, he said. “When they escalate and they act violent… I think it’s up to us to not let that happen to our people.”
At the same time, tensions among liberals with firearms were acknowledged.
“We don’t want school shootings anymore,” he said. “But the Second Amendment does stand.”
As the rally continued outside the ICE Field Office, protesters and speakers emphasized visibility and solidarity, framing the gathering as part of a broader national effort to challenge immigration enforcement practices and to show that, in Atlanta, showing up remains a form of resistance.
