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More than 100 people gathered in Boston Common on Memorial Day to protest the Trump administration and recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests across the state.

Touting signs celebrating the contributions of immigrants to the country, attendees marched from Boston City Hall to Boston Common, where they listened to speeches from local city officials, veterans, and organizers. The rally was organized by Massachusetts 50501, an organization founded to protest President Donald Trump’s second term.

“We just want all of our elected officials to know that we will stand behind them if they do stand up to the Trump administration and against ICE,” Kylie A. Bemis, an organizer for the event, said.

Organizers distributed a “call script” at the rally, encouraging attendees to call on state and local leaders to terminate all cooperation with ICE. Rebecca V. Winter, an organizer for the event, said in an interview that she hopes the rally will “invigorate people to get active” in local politics.

The script demands that Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey ’92 issue an executive order terminating statewide cooperation with ICE and urges the state attorney general to file an emergency lawsuit against the agency.

“We expect a response — in actions, not just words,” the script reads.

The event comes as Massachusetts faces a rise in ICE activity and deportations. Earlier this month, several teenagers in Chelsea were detained by ICE, and the arrest of a woman in Worcester drew statewide attention as onlookers protested the federal agents.

Cambridge residents and local officials have also expressed concern over ICE presence in the city, after police confirmed that an ICE arrest took place in Cambridge. And Customs and Border Protection officials mistakenly detained an American citizen outside the Cambridge District courthouse in Medford earlier this month.

“We’ve seen this essential invasion of ICE agents coming in and terrorizing our communities,” Bemis said.

Organizers invited Leo Gerdén ’25 to speak at the rally, who criticized ICE’s detainment of Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Öztürk and Columbia alumnus Mahmoud Khalil.

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“By setting an example out of a few students, they successfully silence thousands more,” Gerdén said. “Let’s call it out for what it is: it is pure fascism. He is using ICE as his private army.”

Gerdén, a student from Sweden, also touched on the Trump administration’s recent actions against Harvard’s international students. The crowd booed as he recounted the Department of Homeland Security's revocation of Harvard’s ability to enroll international students.

“Trump is using us as poker chips in a battle between the White House and Harvard, in his attempt to install himself as provost of our university,” Gerdén said. “It is deeply, deeply dehumanizing.”

Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem, who introduced speakers during the event, emphasized the “incredible amount of solidarity” behind the rally’s message.

“I think the biggest point is to try to show that we’re united,” he said in an interview after the rally. “We have all these differences on small issues, but at the biggest levels, in terms of national politics, we’re all on the same page.”

Azeem added that Massachusetts residents must stand united to weather the Trump administration’s attacks.

“To make it through — not just in first four months, but the next four years — is going to take an incredible amount of solidarity and work and realize that all of us are in this together,” Azeem said.

—Staff writer Ayaan Ahmad can be reached at ayaan.ahmad@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AyaanAhmad2024.

— Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Caroline G. Hennigan can be reached at caroline.hennigan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cghennigan.