Hundreds gathered at Civic Plaza on Sunday, Jan. 18 to express their disapproval of President Donald Trump’s administration, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions, the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Trump’s “fascism,” according to the event flyer.
Among those who spoke at the rally were New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D), New Mexico Women’s March Founder and Chair Samia Assed and community organizer Selinda Guerrero.
Haaland was one of many rally speakers who encouraged attendees to vote in this year’s midterm elections.
“2026 is a very important election year, and that’s how we make our voices heard,” Haaland told the crowd.
Stansbury called for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump during her speech, calling it a “legal necessity” and a “moral imperative.”
“The president has waged an all-out assault on our communities, from deploying ICE and Border Patrol into communities across the country to frighten people and arrest them and violate their due process,” Stansbury told the Daily Lobo.
Stansbury said New Mexico is “leading” in showing how to “protect” people who live in the state, citing the special session of the legislature that provided $162 million in emergency funding for food assistance programs and other urgent state needs after the Trump administration announced it would not provide federal funding for these programs during the government shutdown.
“We also have a city government here in Albuquerque that is meeting regularly with advocates and civil rights and immigrant rights organizations,” Stansbury said. “I would say New Mexico is unique in that we are working across all levels, from our federal delegation to the state to local to tribal, to make sure that people are protected.”
Thalia Fort, who attended the rally, said she was grateful for the “Free America Rally,” but that she feels some protests “don’t offer meaningful resistance all the time.”
“I do think some of the people up there today are fighting for things I agree with, and it’s not enough,” Fort said. “I’m not okay with ‘vote blue no matter who’ I’m not okay with the Democratic Party in general.”
Fort said she wants to see members of the New Mexico congressional delegation “block,” “be irritating,” “interfere” and “meaningfully combat what the Trump administration is doing.”
“Just simply saying you’re not okay with it and it’s wrong isn’t doing anything to stop harm that’s happening to real people,” Fort said. “It’s not enough what’s being done right now when people are being ripped off the streets, when families are being torn apart, when people on the street are being murdered.”
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Kristi Sanchez brought her young daughter to the rally and said that she also has a son with autism whose special education resources lost funding over the course of Trump’s presidency.
Last July, $7 billion of federal funding meant for student learning and achievement, after-school programs, teacher training and adult education and literacy nationwide were frozen, according to Source NM.
“I want (my children) to have a future, for them to have a world to still live in,” Sanchez said. “I want a government to fight for them, not against them.”
Doris Fields came to the rally dressed as Tinky-Winky from the Teletubbies show, and said she was feeling angry and disappointed.
“I’m committed to addressing the major threat to freedom, the major threats to democracy that we are facing, living in right now,” Fields said. “So it was good to be here.”
Benjamin Lange attended the rally holding a sign that read “abolish ICE detention centers.”
“It’s abolishing the immigrant detention centers here in New Mexico because they’ve been proven to be really horrible places with very low standards of living,” Lange said. “They just need to be abolished.”
New Mexico has three immigrant detention centers in Otero, Cibola and Torrance Counties, with civil rights abuses reported in each, according to a September 2025 document produced by the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Talia Sledge carried a hand-drawn sign that she said represents her frustration with both the Republican and Democrat party.
“It’s not about Republican versus Democrat, it’s not about anything except the people versus the power and we need to take back that power for everybody,” Sledge said. “I really wish that the Democratic leaders that we have here today would take even stronger stances to actually act on their words. I love the words they’re saying, but we don’t see a lot of action actually happening where it matters.”
Leila Chapa is the photo and social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
