‘A turning point’: Anti-ICE protests reach the Philadelphia suburbs
In the wake of the fatal shooting of Renee Good, anti-ICE protests spread into the Philly suburbs — suggesting the breadth of opposition to Trump's immigration agenda.
Legions of suburbanites decried federal ICE actions on Sunday in a series of vigils and protests across the Philadelphia area, signaling the breadth of opposition to a central part of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Expressions of anger, sadness, and resistance poured out into the streets of major cities nationwide this weekend in response to the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE officer in Minnesota. But that dysphoria also spilled into small towns — including in places like Gloucester County, New Jersey, where voters favored Trump in 2024.
» READ MORE: ‘ICE out’ protesters take to the streets in Philly and around the country
“I’ve been quiet and timid my whole life, and now I’m just trying to speak up,” said Cristen Beukers, one of more than 100 people who attended a demonstration in Gloucester’s county seat, Woodbury, a city of about 10,000. Gathered along North Broad Street, near the Gloucester County Courthouse, participants’ signs, whistles, and bullhorn-led protest chants were met with beeping car horns and the supportive shouts of drivers.
Beukers, 40, of nearby Paulsboro, called for a proper investigation into the shooting death of Good, a mother and poet, on Wednesday.
Thousands of ICE agents and federal troops have swarmed blue American cities as part of Trump’s unprecedented campaign to arrest and deport millions of immigrants. Good was shot three times in the driver’s seat of her SUV after a brief confrontation with ICE agents on a residential Minneapolis street. Trump administration officials insist ICE agent Jonathan Ross fired out of self-defense; video footage appears to show he was not in the vehicle’s path when he fired.
“It’s an S.O.S.,” said Alex Baji, 31, of Woodbury, who said he’s a former IRS auditor laid off last year by the Department of Government Efficiency, overseen by billionaire Elon Musk. “Masked goons murdering U.S. citizens — and the vice president says it’s perfectly justified.”
The turnout in Woodbury suggested a new level of urgency for the tight-knit suburban community, said Kaitlin Rattigan. Rattigan is a community organizer with Mi Casa Woodbury, a group that formed in response to ICE activity in their neighborhoods. Mi Casa has held a demonstration every Sunday since mid-November, even if just a few people attended.
“I think it’s a turning point for many people — and frankly for white people,” Rattigan, who is white, said.
According to a recent poll conducted by Pew Research Center, 50% of American adults surveyed in October disapproved of the Trump administration’s approach to immigration, while 39% approve. (Some participants responded “neither.”) While 53% of respondents said the country is doing “too much” when it comes to immigration enforcement, a large majority continue to say at least some people living in the United States should be deported.
Trump has derided propagandized protesters as “paid insurrectionists,” “domestic terrorists,” or radical leftists — people who are not representative of mainstream Americans, Steve McGovern, a political science professor at Haverford College, said in an interview. Anti-ICE rhetoric in the suburbs threatens Trump’s narrative, according to McGovern. Trump’s 2024 win was fueled by key gains in Philadelphia’s suburbs, an Inquirer analysis found.
» READ MORE: Five charts that explain how the Philly suburbs helped Trump win
“The popular image of suburbia continues to be a place where lots of middle-class, mainstream people live and work,” he said. “If suburbanites take to the streets and in large numbers, that would send — I think — a powerful message that a strong majority of the country is increasingly fed up with the outrageous, lawless, and even murderous behavior of ICE agents.”
At least one Republican observer was skeptical. Guy Ciarrocchi, a GOP analyst, said in a statement these protests no longer influence independent voters, nor intimidate Republicans.
“Unfortunately, these ‘rallies’ are political theatre — plug [and] play crowds with professional signs for any ‘cause.’ Tools to rally extremist Democrat voters,” he said. “Ms. Good’s death was a tragedy. And, ICE’s work is important and necessary. No ‘rent a rally’ will change either of those truths.”
Outside the Delaware County Courthouse in Media, hundreds shouted into the bitter wind: “United we stand, divided we fall.” The voices came from attendees of all ages — older people in wheelchairs, young parents pushing babies in strollers, and children holding crayon-drawn signs etched with messages like “ICE Cream, not ICE” and “NO ICE because it’s cruel.”
“The entire nation is watching Pennsylvania,” said U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Delaware County Democrat. “We can reject Trumpism at the state and federal levels this year. ... We will not be bullied out of the future that we and all our children deserve.”
In the increasingly blue suburban county — that not long ago was solidly red — the vocal opposition to Trump has grown louder in recent years, said Cathy Spahr, coleader of Delco Indivisible, which organized Sunday’s vigil for Good.
“We didn’t have this during the first [Trump] administration,” she said of the event’s turnout. Spahr said she was especially heartened by the attendance given that the vigil was announced only days before — and ended an hour before the Eagles’ first playoff game of the year.
But Spahr and several attendees said there’s something special about coming together closer to home. And logistically, it’s easier.
Corinne Fiore, 75, of Media, and her 4-year-old Doberman, Laser, cherish the opportunity to be involved in the anti-Trump movement in Delaware County.
“I just can’t get in a car and go for 10 hours somewhere,” she said. She’s thankful she doesn’t have to. “Delaware County has a lot of responsible people in it. They’re good and kind people. Patriotic people.”
For families with young children, the Media vigil also presented a convenient opportunity to teach their children the importance of standing up for their neighbors.
“I want to show them it’s important to stand up to a bully,” said Candice Carbone Bainbridge, 42, of Wallingford. Nearby, her 8-year-old daughter, Cora, held a sign with pink and purple lettering that read: “Be a good human. It’s not that hard!”
Sixteen miles southeast, in Bellmawr, N.J., dozens gathered along Black Horse Pike, hoisting signs, cheering on supportive honks from passing commercial trucks, and dancing to the Rascals’ 1968 anthem, “People Got to Be Free.” One poster read, “American foundations are being destroyed, no one is safe, stand up now.”
Karen Kelly, 72, who drove 40 minutes and DJed the demonstration, said she’s frustrated by apathy and disengagement.
“All the people staying home — doing nothing — have to get the heck up,” Kelly said.
» READ MORE: Congress is debating possible consequences for ICE and Noem after Renee Good’s killing
Residents in the outskirts of Philadelphia expressed similar sentiments to their suburban counterparts.
“This is not law enforcement, this is brutality,” said Susan MacBride, 84, at a protest in Roxborough, which was largely attended by residents of Cathedral Village, a retirement community in Northwest Philadelphia. Tired of what she described as the Trump administration’s cruelty and disrespect, MacBride felt compelled to put a pause on her retirement and join the 160-person rally at Ridge Avenue and Cathedral Road.
“Kids need to know this isn’t normal; it’s a period of disruption, but we can’t let them get used to this,” she said.
Nearby neighbor Lorraine Webb, 73, agreed with MacBride.
“This isn’t what we are about, we need to do better,” Webb said. “We need to show up because this isn’t just a Center City issue; it’s a Philadelphia issue.”