Demonstrators circle Philly ICE office during ninja-style protest
On Facebook, more than 1,000 people said they would attend. Fewer than 100 turned out.
In the end, only a handful of people, including a protester in a dinosaur costume, actually bent forward and ran ninja-style around the Philadelphia field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday.
They led a parade of about 75 marchers who circled the building at Eighth and Cherry Streets, shouting and chanting slogans that demanded the abolition of an agency they say has unconstitutionally detained and removed immigrants.
The Naruto Run to Shut Down DHS ICE Philadelphia — named for the unusual running style of a popular Japanese anime character — drew a fraction of the 1,000 who said on Facebook that they would attend, or the 5,300 more who expressed interest in going.
“I approached this with no expectations,” said South Philadelphia artist Jeremy Sims, who cohosted the event with the Shut Down Berks Coalition.
He said he saw “a lot of positivity” during the event, as many of those who turned out embraced the anime, fantasy vibe of the demonstration.
One protester was dressed as Captain America, complete with winged mask, boots, and red, white, and blue shield. Another demonstrator doubled as Queen Elsa of Arendelle, from the Disney movie Frozen, as she held up a sign that said, “Mine is the only ICE people need.”
Her portrayal of Elsa was a fun way to send a message, said Rei Hiroki, of Newark, Del., but ending ICE operations is crucial — and to her, personal. Japanese members of her family were imprisoned in U.S. concentration camps during World War II, she said, and she sees parallels now in how undocumented migrants and their children are being held.
People cheered for cohost Shut Down Berks Coalition, a veteran activist group whose mission is to close the 96-bed migrant family detention center in Leesport, Berks County.
“If we can shut it down here, we can shut it down across the country,” group organizer Jasmine Rivera told the crowd. “A local fight is a national fight.”
Not everyone was supportive. “Go, Trump!” a man yelled from a passing car.
ICE officials said on Saturday that they had no comment beyond an earlier statement, in which they said the agency "fully respects the constitutional rights of all people to peacefully and lawfully express their opinions. However, the agency will continue to perform its immigration-enforcement mission consistent with federal law and agency policy.”
The Philadelphia ICE office, among the most aggressive in the nation, has been a regular target of protests and prayer vigils since President Donald Trump took office.
While those demonstrations seem to have little impact on policy, immigration activists say they’re a key part of a larger strategy: generating publicity and awareness, and creating a sense of purpose among those who share the same social justice aims.
Sims earlier told The Inquirer he was moved to act after reading a column that recounted a woman’s efforts to locate friends in ICE custody.
The Naruto running style was introduced by the character Naruto Uzumaki, a blond ninja in the anime TV series of the same name. He runs bent forward, chest out, with arms flung back, as if to minimize wind resistance.