By Angela Mathew
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
MCKINNEY — A crowd of dozens of people lined State Highway 380 Saturday afternoon to protest the Trump administration weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers killed two people in Minnesota. The protesters came from all over Collin County, a historically Republican stronghold, and waved American flags while they chanted slogans such as “Power to the people, no one is illegal” and “No Kings, No Crowns, No Thrones.”
Many protesters said they were motivated to speak out following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two people killed in Minneapolis by ICE officers during an immigration crackdown in that city.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
The Trump administration called Good a domestic terrorist who tried to run over an officer with her vehicle. State and local officials have rejected that characterization, The Associated Press reported.
President Donald Trump had asked officials to prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants since he took office last January. More than 70,000 people are in ICE detention so far for fiscal year 2026, according to data released by ICE.
In McKinney, many protesters said they were independent voters or former Republicans who felt compelled to publicly show their opposition to Trump.
Monica Martino, 76, who has organized 17 similar protests opposing Trump since April, said she found the tactics of ICE officers “unconscionable.”
“Defending the laws of immigration does not mean mask-wearing, throwing tear gas and smoke bombs at anybody assembled, shooting people in cars,” Martino said, referring to Good’s Jan. 7 killing.
Martino, who is a Plano resident and a political independent, said she has been consistently surprised by the number of people who attend the protests she organizes at the intersection of SH-380 and U.S. 75.
“Collin County feels more purple than it ever has,” Martino said.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Jacob Kennedy, a 27-year-old software programmer from Allen, is among a core group of political independents that regularly attend protests in McKinney. On Saturday, he took turns holding up a volleyball net with the words “END ICE TERROR” attached to it in large, orange letters. Kennedy said he started attending protests when he heard about U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s opposition to vaccines last year
“I don’t even like calling myself a Democrat, but I started becoming involved when I heard about our government being anti-science, shooting people in the street … and threatening to take our elections away,” Kennedy said.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Suburban mother Lynley VanSingel came from Sachse to attend her third protest in McKinney. VanSingel, who identifies as an independent voter, held up a sign that read “Imagine hating immigrants more than pedophiles,” referencing Trump’s previous reluctance to release the Epstein files and what she sees as the administration’s focus on mass deportations as opposed to pursuing justice for victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking.
“It’s very sad that we are putting the hate of immigrants who have done nothing but … make this world better for us, ahead of pedophiles, especially with this last release of the Epstein files,” Van Singel said. “They’re choosing to ignore and not take care of the victims.”
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Alena Cedeno, 19, said she attended the protest because she has seen a rise in hatred and racism towards immigrants like herself since Trump got elected. Cedeno, a Plano resident, who immigrated to the United States from Costa Rica when she was 4 years old, said she was troubled by ICE deporting people without due process.
“People are … just doing very evil things towards immigrants,” Cedeno said. “I definitely think that these protests are bringing awareness … we’re really seeing how the country feels despite what our government is trying to tell us.”
Angela Mathew is a reporter covering Collin County on the local government accountability team. Her primary coverage focuses on the cities of Frisco and Allen. Angela grew up in Mumbai, India, and graduated from the University of Notre Dame.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
