By SUZANNE DOWNING
About 40 people gathered Friday in Fairbanks to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a turnout so small it barely filled a corner of the sidewalk, even as Alaska itself remains locked in a deep freeze of literal ice. Organizers said it was more than 100 but that number appeared inflated.
It was a familiar scene this week across the state: a handful of activists standing in sub-zero temperatures, holding signs and chanting against “ICE,” while surrounded by the kind of ice that defines Alaska for much of the year.
A similar protest took place Thursday in Anchorage, where a small but noisy group rallied with picket signs and a large banner, chanting “ICE off our streets now.” The group drew attention but not a crowd, with passersby far outnumbering demonstrators.
At a small protest in Juneau on Jan. 8, we counted four people holding signs near the bridge, as snow and ice overwhelmed the city.
Another protest is scheduled for Sunday in Wasilla, organized by Indivisible, the national radical group that has coordinated anti-Trump and anti-immigration-enforcement protests across the country for years. The Wasilla event is from 2 to 3:30 pm at Newcomb Park near Wasilla Lake, along the Parks Highway.
The irony hasn’t been lost on Alaskans watching the protests roll out. With snow piled high, lakes frozen solid, and temperatures well below freezing, “ice” is everywhere.
Despite the multiple events, the numbers remain small. Even when the Anchorage rally grew loud, it never grew large.
In Alaska, ice is a fact of life. This week, for a few determined protesters, it was also a cause.
6 thoughts on “Ice, Ice, maybe: Small crowds turn out to protest ICE in wintery Alaska”
The ‘Ode to ICE’ …
“They don’t sleep when the border burns at night,
don’t flinch when the cartel’s money talks loud.
Just quiet boots on cracked desert ground,
carrying law where mercy’s not allowed.
They cage the snake, not the child it would bite,
cut the chain that drags families through lies.
Not heroes in capes — just people who fight
so the rest of us wake under safer skies.
Respect to the cold ones who do what we won’t:
stand in the dark so our mornings stay bright.
ICE — unglamorous, necessary, blunt —
the thin blue line where the law meets the fight.
Congratz Boyz(!!!) … Appreciate your service.
They watching too much tv and social medias just like gullible Christians and MAGA watching those independent journalists talk everything deep state propaganda stuff, rapture date stuff.
They all are so confused. They don’t even know why they walk around all angry looking
ICE arresting ordinary people is crazy conspiracy talk
That even a couple Alaska sitting democrat legislators have stated publicly during a meeting
They sound crazier to even be repeating it. They sound just as crazy as Christian talking to me like they know when a rapture is going to take place because of trustworthy media sources they watch lol
Are we sure they aren’t protesting the pansification of leftist mayors who won’t plow snow when it’s cold outside and refuse to pick up refuse?
They should stop worrying about ICE. It will all go away by June save at the highest of altitudes.
Bold stance from a state where ice is both geography and refreshments.