Buford Highway, Plaza Fiesta packed with protestors supporting Atlanta immigrants

Protesters waving flags stand on top of a car at a rally in Buford Highway on Saturday, Feb, 1, 2025, against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcements arrests.
Protesters waving flags stand on top of a car at a rally in Buford Highway on Saturday, Feb, 1, 2025, against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcements arrests. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

More than a thousand people marched along Buford Highway Saturday to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcements raids that swept metro Atlanta at the end of January.

The raids were part of a push to arrest migrants without authorization in cities around the country and Georgia, including Savannah. ICE did not release the number of those arrested in the Atlanta area, but at least one man was arrested at his church in Tucker after Sunday service ended. 

“My dad is an immigrant. My mom is Mexican American as well,” said Rose Castillo, who protested with friends at Plaza Fiesta. “I’m a teacher, an ESOL teacher specifically. Remembering who I represent, who I teach is really important.”

Protesters waving flags and holding signs at a rally in Buford Highway on Saturday, Feb, 1, 2025, against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcements arrests. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

Castillo held a sign that read, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”



“It’s in reference to the agricultural workers who put food on our tables every day,” she said. “It’s very strenuous work. It’s work that goes unnoticed.” 

Protestors waved flags from countries like Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala and gathered for hours Saturday, as the portion of Buford Highway in front of Plaza Fiesta stood at a standstill. Cars blared music and kids hung out windows with flags and signs denouncing the raids. 

Protesters waving flags and holding signs at a rally in Buford Highway on Saturday, Feb, 1, 2025, against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcements arrests. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

“I have a little sibling. So if they take my parents away, I’m stepping into that role, said one 18-year-old protester named Jasmine. WABE is not using her last name to protect her privacy. “It’s scary to go to school not knowing what will happen to my parents,” she said. “I’m just hoping to God that nothing will happen.”

President Donald Trump has focused on reducing the number of unauthorized migrants and shrinking the number of incoming immigrants to the U.S. in the first month of his second term. Raids to ramp up deportation numbers are part of that plan, as well as ending ways for migrants to seek asylum at the U.S. border. 

“Our parents are immigrants, but they’re not illegal. They work hard for us and this country,” Jasmine said. “They gave us what we have now. It’s not illegal to give your children a better life.”

Protesters waving flags at a rally in Buford Highway on Saturday, Feb, 1, 2025, against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcements arrests. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)