Valentine’s Day “Sin Amor” for ICE and Trump

SAN FRANCISCO (02-14) –Valentine’s Day was the one-year anniversary of weekly protests outside the Tesla showroom, where demonstrators called to “Take Down Trump” in denouncing and lamenting the erosion of constitutional freedoms, the weakening of democratic norms, and a continued shift toward autocratic rule.

Since its inception last year, the former #TakeDownTesla protest has morphed from resistance to Elon Musk to that of Donald Trump and his policies, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attacks against American citizens as witnessed in Portland, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, along with the implementation and realignment of our government as outlined in the conservative right-wing Project 2025 political initiative.

Indivisible SF and 50501 SF, organizers of the very loud weekly protest, summed up their continued resistance to the Trump regime by saying that “We do not consent to Trump and his billionaire allies taking a chainsaw to our government and our economy for their benefit! San Francisco is a sanctuary city, and We the People need to defend the values that make it so. Let’s stand united and oppose the endless assaults on our communities, our civil rights, the rule of law, and our democracy.”

While many people question how protests can result in change, the evidence could not be clearer than what has happened with the Minneapolis ICE “Operation Metro Surge.” The arrests and killings clearly demonstrate how public pressure, direct action, protests, resistance and outrage has brought about changes against the brutal tactics employed by ICE agents along with their complete and defiant disregard for civil rights and the constitution.

Trump’s reaction was to bring in border czar, Tom Homan, who, after making sweeping changes in leadership and tactics due to that pressure, announced that “Operation Metro Surge” was a “great success” and was being concluded by a drawdown.

He went further, despite the obvious, saying “I’m not going to say anybody did anything wrong,” admitting only that “there were some issues” and promised that ICE was “not going away.” A pledge that, in turn, galvanized activists nationwide who remain committed to resisting the agency’s presence wherever its next surge occurs.

Left out of Homan’s comments was the fact that the ICE “operation” was a public relations disaster of unprecedented historical proportion. And that those “issues” including two deaths, and the kidnapping and jailing of children, continue to resonate negatively with people across the country.

Those very same “issues” were also part and parcel of why Congress has voted not to fund ICE until certain concessions are made in its operations. Among the long list of reforms are the banning of face masks by agents, visible IDs along with wearing activated body cameras, no racial profiling of persons, protecting sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship, and upholding use-of-force standards among others.

None of this was lost on protesters here who continue to call for resistance, Trump’s removal from office, their laser focus for full disclosure of the Epstein files, beating fascism, the defunding of ICE, the concern that Trump will rig mid-term elections, Trump’s corruption in enriching himself in office, and the loss of our freedom and democracy that remain under continual attack.

No one is under the illusion either that resisting and overturning any of this will be easy or that these matters will be quickly resolved, but activists are confident that in the long haul, “Standing together is better than standing alone. Let’s get together and call out the Trump/MAGA regime as a community.”

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

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