Thousands of protestors swarmed ICE’s Washington DC headquarters amid nationwide demonstrations against President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk.

The protesters formed a ring of steel around the structure on Saturday, decrying Trump’s mass deportation policies following the detainment of doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, from Tufts University.

It came as hundreds of thousands of others took to the streets to protest the, ‘Trump-Musk billionaire takeover and the Republican assault on our freedoms and our communities’.

Videos posted on social media showed demonstrators clutching Palestinian flags and signs that read, ‘Let Gaza Live!’ rallying around the the Customs and Border Protection headquarters.

The president was far from the action however and spent the day playing golf at his Florida resort. 

Ozturk was detained by ICE agents while walking down a suburban Boston street on March 25 and placed in a detention center in Louisiana. 

The Department of Homeland Security said she and two other Palestinian students at Columbia University, Ranjani Srinivasani and Mahmoud Khalil, were detained because of their ‘support for Hamas’.

Their detentions have sparked outrage from civil rights advocates and immigration lawyers who claim they were unlawfully detained.

On Saturday the students’ supporters marched side by side members of almost 200 groups as part of the ‘Hands Off!’ demonstration.

The organization said that nearly 600,000 people signed up to participate.

‘Whether you’re outraged by skyrocketing healthcare costs, job cuts, attacks on privacy, or the gutting of essential services—this moment is for you. Whether you’ve been in the fight for years or you’re just fed up and ready to take action—this moment is for you,’ the organizer toolkit read. 

Britt Jocovich, a spokesperson for MoveOn, another progressive organization leading the protests told the New York Times ahead of the protests, ‘We need to bring in new people, and that’s where Trump’s policies are so consequential.’

Jocovich also argued that ‘reality has hit’ differently during Trump’s second administration than it did in his first term.  

Leah Greenberg, the co-founder of Indivisible, told the Times that the march is intended to show the public that economic attacks and attacks on civil rights are intertwined. 

‘They are not different things. They come from an anti-democratic alliance taking over and attacking fundamental parts of our democracy.’

Representatives join the fight 

Representatives also joined the protests amid calls from Democrat constituents for their party to present a stronger front against Trump and the Republicans. 

Texas Representative Al Green, who made headlines in March after he was censured for shouting during Trump’s address to Congress, spoke at the Washington DC demonstration. 

‘You don’t deserve the office you hold,’ Green said, addressing Trump. 

‘You can’t be entrusted with liberty and justice for all. You can’t be entrusted with the government of the people by the people for the people. I’m coming for you,’ he concluded, as reported by The Hill. 

Green attended the Washington rally wearing a shirt that fittingly read, ‘censured not silenced.’ 

In New York, thousands were seen flooding 5th avenue with American flags, Ukrainian flags, and signs that pictured Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Trump captioned, ‘Have you no shame?’ 

Protestors also lined the Boston Common in Massachusetts with signs that read, ‘This is the government our founders warned us about,’ and ‘You can’t spell hatred without red hat.’

Representative Maxwell Frost shared photos on X at a Florida rally and captioned the post, ‘Fight for freedom, save America.’ 

 Georgia Representative Hank Johnson shared a video of himself on X marching with protestors while holding a sign that read, ‘Hands Off!’ 

California Representative Eric Swalwell took his speaking opportunity at a DC rally to slam Trump for going on a golf trip amid tariff concerns. 

‘So, to Donald Trump, I say, get your a** off the golf course and face the people,’ he taunted. 

The demonstration marks the first massive protest against Trump since the Women’s March in 2017. 

The Women’s March included A-list stars like Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Jane Fonda, and Cher. 

Trump on defense 

Trump hasn’t responded to the protests yet, but defended his tariff economic plan on Truth Social on Saturday morning claiming, ‘China has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close. 

‘They, and many other nations, have treated us unsustainably badly. We have been the dumb and helpless “whipping post,” but not any longer.’

He went on to say that his administration was leading an ‘economic revolution’ and that the end result would be ‘historic.’ 

Trump landed in his Florida sanctuary on Thursday, where he attended a Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament. 

On Saturday he won the Senior Club Championship second round and is expected to compete in Sunday’s Championship round.