Chelsea Gonzalez came to Tommy Trojan on Thursday night expecting a rally against United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. Gonzalez said as a Mexican American, she wanted to support her community. But when she arrived, she said she was sad to see that only a handful of other students showed up. 

“If there was just a little more intent behind [the protest] and a little more distribution to it, and maybe talking to actual clubs, organizations and different student bodies, [it would have been better],” said Gonzalez, a junior majoring in law, history, and culture. 

At the same time, two Department of Public Safety cars parked next to Tommy Trojan. One student, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation against their family, said DPS’s presence concerned them. 

“There’s very few people here, and what I do see is that there is a … car, parked literally right in front of where we’re supposed to gather,” they said. “I’m worried that, even though it is allowed for students to protest at USC, that these officers are already trying to shut it down when it hasn’t even really begun.”

The DPS officers did not engage directly with protesters: The night prior, five or six juveniles assaulted and robbed a student near the center of campus, according to a University-wide Timely Warning Crime Alert email.

Last year was ICE’s deadliest year in two decades, and after a little over a month into 2026, at least eight people have died in interactions with ICE officials, according to The Guardian. Included in the death count are Renéee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, American citizens whom ICE agents shot during altercations in Minnesota. Their deaths sparked mass anti-ICE protests across the country, including in Los Angeles. 

The anonymous protester said they and two friends came because they disagreed with ICE’s actions across the country. The protester called the Trump administration’s actions unconstitutional.

“I’m here because I want to express [myself],” they said. “I want to use my freedom of speech, my freedom to protest, to gather, because I think it’s important that, even though I am here legally, there are people who cannot [be], who are victims of what’s going on right now, and it’s important that we use our voice.”

Another student who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation against their family said they came to Tommy Trojan because their parents are Mexican immigrants. They said their community feels targeted by ICE.

“I’m just here to support my parents and what they did to come to this country and all the people that are suffering because of ICE,” they said.

Several students said they found out about the protest from flyers posted on traffic signs near campus and through word of mouth. The Daily Trojan could not identify an advocacy group that organized the rally. 

Kenleonard Oparaji, a junior majoring in public relations and advertising and the director of communications for the Trojan Democrats, said he attended the rally because he saw flyers and Sidechat posts about it.

“While it didn’t generate a lot of attention, it stresses the importance of working with student organizations, working with people on campus and student leaders to really put on and put together and organize meaningful events that allow students to protest not just against the Trump administration, [but also] ICE, [the Department of Homeland Security], federal agents that are tearing apart Latino communities,” Oparaji said.

Oparaji said he hopes that the message the USC community gets from students protesting ICE is that they are not going through these difficult times alone, and that gathering together gives people a space to talk and discuss solutions. 

“You are part of a coalition that gets to hope that change is possible; being with others that believe that a better world is possible is honestly the first step to change,” Oparaji said, “So being part of that optimism is a message that I want the USC community to keep.”

Gonzalez said she hopes the USC administration will be more transparent with the community and more willing to have difficult conversations about ICE. 

“If [USC’s] mission was to serve the students, I feel like their duty is to have that communication and have that conversation with [students],” Gonzalez said. 

After about 30 minutes, the students around Tommy Trojan dispersed.