Bellingham joins day of protest against ICE tactics with walkouts, shutdowns
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Hundreds of people turned out at gatherings across Bellingham on Friday to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tactics.
Hundreds of students walked out of class at Western Washington University starting at 11 a.m. By mid-afternoon, hundreds of other protesters had gathered at the Federal Building in downtown Bellingham.
This comes amid ongoing nationwide calls to shut down businesses, stop shopping and walk out of schools to stand up against ICE raids, deportations and violence by agents.
Bellingham activists have held several protests and vigils in recent weeks to stand in solidarity with the community of Minneapolis, which has seen widespread protesting after thousands of ICE agents moved into the city and two protesters were shot and killed.
Western Washington University Solidarity Walkout
Hundreds of Western Washington University students took to campus to protest Friday.
The protest began at 11 a.m. near the University’s Recreation Center, where students and members of the Bellingham Community gathered in solidarity of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by ICE agents in Minnesota.
They then took to The Stairs To Nowhere on south campus to call for changes in policy, including ICE-specific training for faculty and staff.
“We want clear, direct communications from university admin about ICE on campus and the surrounding neighborhoods,” a media liaison for the protest said. “This is important for student safety.”
The group then marched to north campus and Red Square to express further outrage, share stories, song and dance. The protest ended at the front of Old Main, Western’s Administrative building.
“Today’s student protest demonstrated the importance of peaceful civic engagement and the ability to make one’s voice heard as a core component of a healthy democracy,” WWU spokesperson and Senior Director of University Communications John Thompson said in an email to The Bellingham Herald. “We also acknowledge that the profoundly upsetting incidents in Minneapolis have deeply affected many members of our community, and that the emotions surrounding these events highlight the need to create space for reflection, expression and dialogue during difficult times.”
Bellingham ‘ICE Out For Good’ protest at downtown Federal Building
Roughly a hundred protesters gathered outside the Federal Building in downtown Bellingham on Friday afternoon. They stood on all four corners of the intersection of Magnolia Street and Cornwall Avenue waving signs and chanting.
Many cars driving past stopped to honk in support, garnering cheers from the protesters.
Michael Vendiola, a member of the Swinomish Tribe with ancestry in the Lummi Nation and Phillipines, led the crowd of protesters in a chant of “ICE out!”
“It’s time for us to really come together to address some of the really ugly things that are happening in society,” Vendiola told The Herald.
Vendiola is a longtime activist and educator who received the Lifetime Peacemaker Award from the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center with his wife in 2024. He said the rights of Indigenous people have long been violated despite the presence of treaties, and it’s important to make sure the rights of everyone are being protected.
“I’m out here to make a stand and continue to fight for justice and fairness,” Vendiola said. “As a Coast Salish person, that’s what we stand for: trying to take care of one another, love one another and share with one another.”
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