President Donald Trump dispatched over 100 law enforcement officers to the Bay Area on Oct. 22. Included were U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers. This was one reason why Berkeley High School students gathered at Civic Center Park on Friday, Nov. 7, in protest of “Trump’s authoritarianism and ICE kidnappings.”
According to the White House, the dispatching was part of an ongoing effort to remove “illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gangbangers, drug traffickers, and other violent criminals off our streets” by deporting them out of the country. Students who attended the protest said they view the increased number of deportations under Trump as problematic.
The action was organized by the BHS Sunrise Club, which is part of the national Sunrise Movement, a climate-activism-focused organization of young people “on a mission to put everyday people back in charge and build a world that works for all of us, now and for generations to come.” According to Amelia Stern, a member of the Sunrise Club and a BHS junior, anti-Trump protests like this one link back to the climate because “when dictatorship takes place, often the climate is not considered and there is lots of environmental damage that comes with it,” she said.
The club uses the term “ICE kidnappings” to refer to ICE arresting people. According to Transactional Records Across Clearinghouse, TRAC, a Syracuse University data project that tracks federal immigration enforcement, 42,755 out of 59,762 (71.5 percent) of people held in ICE detention as of September 2025 had no criminal conviction. Many of those who did have convictions were charged with only minor offenses, including traffic violations.
Activities at the event included button-making, where students could draw or write something on a small piece of paper with markers and then have it turned into a wearable button. Many students made buttons that said anti-ICE things, reflecting the event’s strong opposition to federal immigration enforcement.
There was also a “Trump piñata.” Participants gathered around in a circle, taking turns hitting the piñata with protest music playing in the background. Once the piñata had been hit open, students scrambled for candy before stomping on the remnants of the piñata.
Students also emphasized going to this protest to show that they wouldn’t stand by passively and let things happen. “I think it is important to show people that we won’t just back down and let people do whatever,” freshman BHS Mira Willis, a member of BHS Sunrise, said. Stern added to this, saying, “Authoritarian leaders are not wanting us to organize, so if we do, we’re showing resistance against (them).”
Authoritarianism is a form of government where power is concentrated within a small percentage of the population, civil liberties and political rights are limited, and various methods of control are used by leaders to maintain power. Critics of Trump’s presidency argue that his actions exhibit signs of authoritarianism.
“This is normally a pretty safe community … but lately it’s become less so, and I want to keep it safe for everybody here,” Euna Haggerty, a BHS freshman attending the event, said, explaining why he was attending the protest.
News about the protest was included in multiple bulletins, but only around thirty students showed up, and Willis said she was disappointed there wasn’t a larger turnout. Other people also expressed their frustration at the low turnout throughout the course of the event.
Despite the low turnout, Sunrise Club had 25 people sign strike cards, cards where students write that they will “take action with (Sunrise) every month leading up to a huge student strike on May 1,” Willis said. These actions are part of the national Students Rise Up Campaign, a branch of the Sunrise Movement that fights for affordability, security, and freedom for people across the country. “It’s important for youth to show their voices, because we’re the future,” Stern said.