The Cambridge branch of Stand Up To Racism held a protest outside the Guildhall yesterday (26/01), in solidarity with the demonstrations against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) currently taking place in Minneapolis.

The protesters gathered outside the Guildhall just after 5pm, holding signs that said “Refugees welcome” and “Stop the far right”; one sign said “Abolish ICE”.

Some of the demonstrators distributed handouts advertising the an upcoming ‘March Against the Far Right’ in London. The initial crowd numbered around 20 people, but by the end of the demonstration around 50 people had gathered.

The leader of Cambridge Stand Up To Racism began by speaking to the crowd. He paid tribute to those protesting in Minneapolis, saying that they were rallying against the “occupation of their city by ICE”.

“What is going on in America is heading in this direction,” he added, arguing that the UK must ensure figures he identified as a far-right do not come to power.

The protest comes after the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti over the weekend by US Border Patrol officers, which itself followed the killing of Renée Good three weeks ago by ICE. Throughout the protest, various speakers read out the names of those who have died as a result if ICE operations, including Good and Pretti.

Another speaker, herself from Minneapolis, told the crowd that students in the city are terrified that their parents may be taken by ICE. She added that it was a question of “when, not if” the tactics she identified as employed by ICE in her city would be replicated in the UK.

A key focus of the protest was the growth of political parties protestors labelled “far right” in both the US and the UK. One speaker said that these parties “win elections, but fall apart in office,” arguing that the actions of American president Donald Trump with regards to the deployment of ICE were taken because “colidating dictatorship without a paramilitary” is impossible.

Another said that “the US has always been a cautionary tale for the UK,” and that the current political climate in both countries is a result of “manufactured rage” towards immigrants, stoked by politicians. Later, a Cambridge student addressed the crowd, saying that the British far right “have assembled a fascist hate movement, ready to carry out what ICE is doing in the UK”.

However, several speakers also argued that the current treatment of immigrants in the US is not a recent phenomenon, with one person highlighting deportations that took place under President Biden.

One attendee, a representative of Women Against Fascism, told Varsity that the demonstration was held “in solidarity” with those protesting in Minneapolis. Despite this, she was keen to highlight that the actions of ICE are not new: “it’s been happening for a while – one person earlier was talking about Biden”. She said that this protest sought to highlight “the brutality” of recent events in Minneapolis.

Earlier, when speaking to the crowd, she had described the group’s purpose as “organising because the fascist women are organising”. She referenced protests by women outside of hotels housing asylum seekers, and said that these women were “co-opting the narrative about violence against women and children” in a way that is “deeply racist” and “always ends up blaming migrants”.

The protest lasted about an hour, and closed with speakers reading two poems by a member of Queers Against the Far Right about the killings of Good and Pretti.

One student who attended the protest told Varsity afterwards: “the protest did a really good job of bringing attention to more of the victims of ICE’s brutality than just those in the last month. They were questioning the lack of attention given to non-white victims.

“I think they emphasised that we’re not powerless in this issue – the damage that ICE is doing to the US is going to ricochet across the world, and we need to be united against fascism.

“They also touched on hope – there is still hope despite growing fear, especially in Minneapolis, as long as we don’t become divided over party lines; we can’t wait until it affects us directly to act.”