In partnership with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), Kennesaw State University’s (KSU) Students for Socialism (SFS) organization participated in a “nationwide shutdown against ICE terror, war, and racism.” On January 20, the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration, over 400 students rallied on KSU’s green space to stop mass deportations, end foreign US wars, petition for accountability for ICE, and demand justice for Renne Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, and the countless others harmed at the hands of ICE officers.
Recently, Renne Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed by Jonathan Ross, an ICE officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A video of the fatal shooting immediately sparked Internet outrage and confusion as Ross claimed that her murder was in self-defense, but many, including politicians, believe this murder was an abuse of power. Weeks later, intensive care unit nurse Alex Pretti, 37, was also murdered by ICE agents in Minneapolis. CBS News reports that 10 shots were fired by two different agents, killing Pretti instantly. These are only two of the eight incidents in which an American was murdered by ICE in 2026 alone, according to The Guardian.
ICE, created in 2003, is a government organization established to uphold immigration laws within and around the United States’ borders, but since Trump took office in 2024, violent military-style raids have taken place throughout the country. ICE claims to be after illegal criminal immigrants, yet they continuously detain innocent American citizens and children.
On January 20, several Georgia universities, including KSU, Georgia State University, the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and more, participated in a walkout against ICE terror and racism. Over a hundred Georgia high schools walked out of class that week to protest ongoing violence. However, several administrators in DeKalb and Cobb County have threatened consequences for students who participated. This walkout and the many others happening across the country symbolize unity and solace for those who have gruesomely lost their lives at the hands of ICE agents.
“The U.S. has always weaponized immigration laws to discriminate against certain groups of people, so this is nothing new, but it is definitely being escalated on a level that we haven’t seen for a while in this country,” said Grace Blomberg, a student organizer for SFS.
Some compare the state of our nation to similar moments in history in which immigrants were attacked by the government and treated unlawfully. The Chinese Exclusion Act, passed in 1882, restricted Chinese immigration for a decade. During World War II, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were targeted for their ethnicity and incarcerated in internment camps, facing inhuman treatment.
Many would also associate President Donald Trump’s actions with those of previous dictators.
“I think it’s the beginning of fascism, and that’s not an exaggeration,” stated KSU freshman Skylar Morrow-Wilson. “I think they’re trying to get everyone to think the exact same way, and behave in an aggressive manner, which sounds like who? Adolf Hitler.”
KSU senior Stephan Sellers is another organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. During his speech, Sellers not only denounced recent ICE violence but also demanded social change and solidarity among the working class.
“We want money for healthcare and education and housing, not for endless war, not for deportations,” Sellers said. “Billions of our dollars are going towards war. Billions of our dollars are going towards ICE. We have the biggest military in the world, and we’re not able to feed people here at home. We’re not able to house people here at home. The entire working class is being neglected, and people are standing up and saying, ‘we don’t want that anymore.’”
Days after the protest on the green, KSU students were appalled to see a booth for Customs and Border Protection at the university’s career fair, attempting to recruit scholars. SFS organized an impromptu protest, and dozens of students gathered outside the Sports and Recreation Center to express their outrage. Despite pushback on social media and on campus, the university has yet to meet students’ demands.
This is not an isolated event; Kennesaw State has partnered with controversial organizations in the past. Currently, the university is collaborating with Lockheed Martin, a leading aerospace and defense company and a major supplier of weapons to Israel. Lockheed Martin sells various weapons to the country, such as F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, which are being used to bomb Gaza. With one of the company’s locations being mere miles from the KSU Marietta campus, the partnership is especially visible to engineering students, offering internships and even full-time jobs.
“The way we get real change in this country is not just through voting, it’s through exercising our real political power as working-class people. We have the power to shut it down and make real change,” Blomberg said.
