A protestor holding a sign. (Jonathan R. M. Charles/FAMUAN)
On Jan. 31, over 400 locals, activists and college students alike rallied at the Florida State Capitol to demand “ICE out of Tallahassee,” bundling in coats and scarves as wind chills dipped into the 20s during one of Florida’s coldest snaps in years.
This protest comes after the death of Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed during an interaction with Immigration Customs Enforcement officers in Minneapolis. His death, along with the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Keith Porter Jr., have ignited the flames of protest across the nation after a medical examiner ruled Pretti’s death a homicide. As political unrest, confusion, frustration and fear continue to spread across the country, residents of Tallahassee rallied to address the issue independently.
Protesters listening to Justin Jordan, president of FAMU SDS. (Jonathan R. M. Charles/FAMUAN)
For the organizers of the Capitol rally, the protest was as much about local policy as national outrage. Tallahassee’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement became a flashpoint in 2025, when the city manager and the Tallahassee Police Department signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE, allowing local officers to perform specific immigration duties under ICE supervision.
“We are pushing for our city to reverse the agreement that allows ICE to collaborate here,” said Delilah Pierre, president of the Tallahassee Emergency Action Coalition. “We want a public hearing about the agreement. We’re also fighting for someone who was kidnapped by ICE in our city and needs to be released immediately. We want legalization for all immigrants we want all immigrants, undocumented and documented, to have full rights.”
Different student groups from nearby campuses are centering their demands on the complete removal of university-level cooperation with ICE.
“We’re pushing for FSU to drop their 287(g) agreement with the police department,” said Kaiden Rosa, vice president of Students for a Democratic Society at Florida State University. “We’re also pushing for FSU to have a town hall on our campus, led by us and other identity-based organizations, where we can speak about the racism we face on campus and, of course, the issue with ICE as well.”
Rosa explained that 287(g) “is the agreement that any police department can make with ICE that basically turns their police into ICE agents as well.”
Protesters line the lawn of the state capital. (Jonathan R. M. Charles/FAMUAN)
The deaths of Pretti, Good and Porter loomed over the crowd’s chants and signs.
“When we look at the countless murders, ICE has done, even before these people whose lives, of course, matter,” Rosa said. “We just see that people are ready to fight now. They represent the movement against ICE. It’s the time to fight, the students are going to fight, the community is going to fight, and we have to come together to defeat 287(g) all over.”
Pierre put it in more direct political terms,
“I think that Alex Pretti, Reneé Good, and Keith Porter show how bankrupt and depraved the Trump administration are,” she said. “They’re an example of what’s going to happen to the rest of us if we allow our democratic rights to keep being stripped away.”
Speakers also stressed that ICE’s impact is already being felt in Tallahassee, thousands of miles away from the streets of Minneapolis, where Pretti was killed.
“Just this past summer in Tallahassee, over 100 workers were abducted by ICE while doing their construction jobs,” Rosa said. “These are people who are just trying to provide for their families and contribute to this country. It’s absolutely disgusting.”
For some students, the city’s decision to deepen cooperation with ICE through 287(g) feels like a direct attack on campus safety.
“It’s honestly very disheartening, but not surprising that Tallahassee accepted the money,” Florida A&M University student Paris Billings said. “I’m mainly concerned about how these immigration efforts could affect students. This can easily escalate onto campuses by making students feel anxious and unsafe.”