A nationwide protest movement is reportedly set to unfold Saturday as activists mobilize against the Trump administration's plans to significantly expand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities.
The demonstrations, organized under the banner "Communities Not Cages," are being driven by immigration advocacy groups seeking to build on recent "No Kings" protests, which opposed several Trump administration policies.
Organizers with the Disappeared in America campaign say immigration enforcement was a top concern among those demonstrators and expect similar energy this weekend.
Protesters are demanding the administration halt plans for new warehouse-style detention centers and are urging local communities to reject public funding, permits, and other support tied to expanding migrant detention.
They are also calling for greater transparency and local approval before any new facilities are developed.
The push comes as ICE expansion efforts accelerate following funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill, which could add at least 116,000 detention beds nationwide.
The administration is also planning to construct eight large detention centers and 16 processing facilities as part of President Donald Trump's broader immigration enforcement agenda.
"I think for a really long time, people were able to turn the other way, or maybe ignore it," Nanci Palacios, organizing and membership director of Detention Watch Network, told Axios.
But with facilities potentially being built closer to residential communities, "it's hard to ignore," Palacios said.
Opposition to the expansion is surfacing in both Democratic-leaning and Republican-leaning areas.
In Maryland, a judge ruled in mid-April that the Department of Homeland Security did not adequately evaluate environmental impacts for a proposed detention site, noting concerns it could strain local infrastructure.
In Social Circle, Georgia — where voters overwhelmingly backed Trump in 2024 — some residents opposing a proposed facility argue it could significantly increase the town's population and put pressure on local services.
Meanwhile, a Florida detention site dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" has drawn criticism from environmental and Indigenous activists who claim it damages the surrounding ecosystem and exposes detainees to "torture" and "inhumane" conditions.
Critics of the system point to longstanding concerns about detention conditions, including sanitation and oversight.
Palacios says detainees are being held in "conditions that are meant for storing products, not people."
More than 150 demonstrations are expected to take place across at least 33 states.
Palacios also cited two on-camera deaths in Minneapolis earlier this year as a motivating factor for activists, calling them "a wake-up call that it could happen to you."
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson pushed back, asking Axios, "Where are the protests on behalf of the victims of criminal illegal aliens?"
A White House spokesperson echoed that criticism, telling the outlet that anti-Trump protesters are "nowhere to be found when illegal aliens murder or otherwise harm innocent American citizens."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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