Protestors gather to object to various Trump administration policies, particularly its immigration crackdown, on July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy/Arizona Mirror)
A smattering of protests in Phoenix took place Thursday as part of a larger round of national anti-Trump demonstrations under the name Good Trouble Lives On, in a reference to the late civil rights icon and member of Congress John Lewis.
Thursday’s protest took place a little over a month after the “No Kings” protests took place on Trump’s 79th birthday, which drew over 5 million people nationwide. The Good Trouble Lives On protest in Phoenix drew a much smaller crowd than its No Kings counterpart, between 150 to 200 compared to 5,000, but enthusiasm for the cause was still strong among attendees.
“You have to get out and demonstrate, you have to show your displeasure,” the 80-year-old Elissa Hugens, who said she’s been protesting since the 1960s, told the Arizona Mirror. Hugens said that voting matters but putting pressure on elected officials by voicing your concerns has a large impact.
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Many who were in attendance at the state’s Capitol Thursday morning carried signs protesting the administration’s immigration policies, in particular the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the continued immigration crackdowns.
“He’s taking away people that we really care about just to count bodies,” Hugens said, adding that the issue of immigration, “hurts her” the most.
Prior to the protest at the Capitol, some gathered at an ICE field office in downtown Phoenix.
Dozens of protestors lined the sidewalk in front of the local ICE field office, waving handmade signs criticizing the agency at passing cars. One man flew an enormous black flag with “ICE” crossed out in bold red lines; he’d later join protesters at the Capitol.
A woman held a poster reading “UNMASK ICE, NO SECRET POLICE” above her head. Some posters were leftovers from the previous “No Kings” and “Hands off” protests — a reminder of the frenzy of activism that has occurred in just the last six months — but the majority singled out the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant stance.
And the theme of the day, according to attendee Teresa Brice, was acknowledging the contributions of immigrants and recognizing that most Americans were transplants once. Some protestors waved British flags, others wrapped German flags around them like capes. The 70-year-old glued pictures of the Canadian and Mexican flags onto her poster in honor of her grandparents, above which was written in Spanish: ‘I am from both sides of the United States: Canada and Mexico.”
“We are all immigrants,” Brice said. “Unless you’re Native American, all of our families come from somewhere else.”
Angela Mendoza attended the protest to advocate for his parents, who are from Mexico and Guatemala, but have lived in the U.S. for more than 40 years.
“I’m here to speak up for them,” he said. “This is the struggle I need to show up for to pay for their struggle.”
Activism isn’t new to Mendoza’s family. His mother was arrested while protesting against SB1070, Arizona’s notorious “show me your papers” law, and she’s still involved in efforts to keep immigrants aware of their rights. But, Mendoza said, while his mother’s bravery inspires him, he still worries about the future. He frequently checks in with his extended family to make sure no one’s been detained overnight. And the massive appropriation Congress recently set aside for ICE only heightens that fear, Mendoza said.
Republicans allocated $170 billion for Trump’s immigration crackdown, with $30 billion of that sum awarded to ICE, making it the country’s highest funded law enforcement agency. The money is expected to fund 10,000 new ICE positions, detention centers and border wall construction through 2029.
“It was scary under Arpaio, but this is one hundred times crazier,” Mendoza said, referring to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose tenure saw unprecedented levels of racial profiling. “And it’s just going to get more crazy.”
Multiple protesters said the event was one of the first times they’d decided to join a public demonstration in the hopes of making a difference. Katherine Hartley, 66, said it was important to make her “disgust” with the current administration’s policies known.
“I hope this f***ing country comes to its senses and the cruelty ends,” she said.
Dale Cooper, who experienced Jim Crow laws in the South as a child, said he’s always been concerned about standing up for what’s right. But his involvement until this year was mostly limited to calling his representatives. That changed when he saw how hostile the Trump administration was being towards immigrants, who he said have contributed so much to the country.
“I need to be out here,” he said, propping a large upside-down American flag against his shoulder — the traditional signal of national distress and political protest. “If people don’t show up, it’s all going to be allowed to happen.”
Timothy Jarman said he was unsure whether the protest would have any impact, but said he still felt it was necessary to try. The 37-year-old taped a sign emblazoned with the phrase “END ICE” above an LGBTQ+ pride flag, to draw attention to the Trump administration’s erasure and disrespect of LGBTQ+ people, he said, particularly trans Americans.
“I recognize I’m a small person in a big system, but I have to do something,” Jarman said.
The Trump administration’s actions have brought out many fresh faces to the protests that have been occurring both locally and nationally. They also seem to have galvanized younger, progressive voters.
“The young people are seeing that the old school Democrats are not working,” Hugens said, alluding to primary wins by progressives such as Zohran Mamdani in New York and Adelita Grijalva in Tucson. “I think you’re seeing the younger crowd gravitating to the far-left ‘cause the center is not working.”
Thursday’s protest also included allusions to conspiracy theories that the left has often shied away from. One protester in attendance held a sign demanding a hand recount of the 2024 election making accusations similar to the unfounded ones made by the Republicans in 2021.
Additionally, attendees led several chants demanding for the release of files related to the case of Jeffery Epstein.
Epstein was a wealthy businessman who was arrested for sex trafficking of minors but died in custody before he could face the charges and his death has led to a plethora of conspiracy theories. Releasing the files has long been a priority of the Trump faithful, who have seen it as a way to indict Democratic lawmakers, but Trump has since reversed on releasing the files leading to an uproar among his base.
“Trump is in the Epstein files!” protesters chanted as they marched along the Capitol grounds. “Trump is on the list!”
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This post was originally authored and published by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, Gloria Rebecca Gomez from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
