New York, NYC – On a bitterly cold Martin Luther King Jr. Day, hundreds of demonstrators filled the streets of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, transforming a day of remembrance into a forceful call for action. Marchers crossed the Brooklyn Bridge to protest the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), denounce what they described as rising authoritarianism in America, and reaffirm the civil rights legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The day began with a rally at Cadman Plaza, where community leaders, faith organizers, and immigrant advocates gathered beneath gray winter skies. From there, protesters streamed across the iconic bridge, carrying signs, chanting slogans, and marching toward 26 Federal Plaza, an immigration courthouse that activists say has become a flashpoint for aggressive ICE enforcement.
Speakers framed the demonstration as a continuation of Dr. King’s unfinished work, arguing that the struggle for racial justice, human dignity, and equality under the law remains as urgent today as it was during the civil rights era.
“If Dr. King were alive today, he would be calling on us to march,” said Minister Kirsten John Foy, who addressed the crowd with an impassioned warning about the country’s direction. Referencing the recent fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minnesota, Foy said silence in this moment would carry devastating consequences for future generations.
“We are standing at a crossroads,” he said. “If we fail to act, our children and grandchildren will inherit a nation defined by fear, repression, and the loss of fundamental freedoms. That is not the America Dr. King dreamed of.”
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams echoed those concerns, urging demonstrators to view the march not only as a protest, but as a moral obligation to future generations.
“People who are not even born yet are depending on what we do right now,” Williams told the crowd. “In the name of Dr. King, we have to leave them a country that is better than the path we are on today.”
Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said the march honored Dr. King not through symbolism, but through action. He reminded participants that King’s warnings about injustice remain deeply relevant for immigrant families living under constant fear of detention and deportation.
“Today we honor Dr. King not as a statue or a soundbite, but as a mandate,” Awawdeh said. “Injustice anywhere is still a threat to justice everywhere, and today that injustice is felt by immigrant communities who are treated as disposable despite their contributions to this country.”
The march itself was led by a large banner bearing the images of Dr. King and Renee Good, symbolically linking the civil rights movement of the past with present-day struggles over policing, immigration, and state power. As demonstrators reached Lower Manhattan, chants echoed outside 26 Federal Plaza, where activists say masked federal agents routinely detain immigrants attending court hearings.
For many participants, the day served as both a remembrance and a form of resistance, a reminder that Dr. King’s vision demands vigilance, courage, and collective action. As the crowd dispersed, organizers vowed that the march would not be the end, but part of a broader movement pushing back against fear, repression, and the erosion of civil liberties in America.
By the Midtown Times Staff
