Groups of local activists will take to the streets this month in a display of solidarity to mark the latest “No Kings” protest featuring music, food, a march, and more, according to a news release.

The demonstration, set for noon on March 28 outside Clinton Rosette Middle School, 650 N. First St., in DeKalb, comes as the nation deals with ongoing actions as the federal government carries out rampant immigration enforcement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. ICE action has been publicly scrutinized by local protesters for months in DeKalb County.

A march is expected to proceed around that time from the middle school’s parking lot and end at Hopkins Park.

Their main message, organizers said, is to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the federal actions of President Donald Trump and his administration. Organizers said they want to remind the public that in the U.S., power comes from the people.

Critics argue that Trump has the authority to make good on his immigration enforcement policies.

Meryl Domina of 350Kishwaukee said she takes issue with the federal government’s approach to immigration enforcement.

“While normally some level of customs enforcement is needed, it is currently out-of-control as ICE agents, accompanied by the National Guard, have been sent to Minnesota and other places around the nation,” Domina said in a news release.

Domina said she also believes that some leaders have lost sight of the nation’s problems.

She said she is concerned that federal cuts to social safety nets have gone too far. She lamented that working people require assistance to buy food and health care because of hourly wages that are too low.

“The United States is a rich enough nation that we should be able to support people who do not have enough money to purchase food or health care for their families,” Domina said in a news release. “Often, people who are not working have had multiple problems over their lives that interfere with stable employment.”

The nation’s longest government shutdown in history last year called on the federal government to help fund subsidies needed to help keep healthcare affordable, only for both sides of the aisle to fall short of that aim, multiple reports show. Since then, critics have questioned what’s being done to address their concerns.

DeKalb Migrant Aid lead coordinator Frankie DiCiaccio encourages everyone to get involved.

He said some ideas are for people to attend a “Know Your Rights” training, follow social media pages for what organizers have called “rapid response” teams – operating in DeKalb, Kane and other suburban counties – that track potential ICE movement.

DiCiaccio also recommends joining a local vigil or protest, contacting elected officials, attending public meetings, helping fundraise and supporting immigrant neighbors in need.

“[L]isten and attune to the wishes and needs of immigrant leaders and community members; spread love, build solidarity, and practice hope,” DiCiaccio said in a news release.

Veronica Garcia Martinez said the federal government’s push to police immigrants has been felt by many.

Garcia Martinez is a Democratic candidate vying for the seat of State Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore. She argued that federal immigration action is leading to racial profiling and persecution of Latino communities.

She said that has long-term negative impacts on children.

“Children are being chased, mocked, and tormented in the streets simply for standing up and making their voices heard,” Garcia Martinez said in the release. “The trauma they are living through is not abstract; it is shaping their childhoods and their sense of safety.”

DeKalb County Democratic Chairperson Anna Wilhelmi expressed a sense of urgency for people to act.

“This administration has expressed the desire to purge ‘criminals’ from this country and yet have recklessly and brutally arrested US citizens,” Wilhelmi said, “people who have never committed a crime, people who are legal with authority to be in this country, people who are indigenous to this Nation, and are threatening birthright citizenship for Americans, including Black Americans whose roots are deep in these native lands.”

A recent demonstration, interrupting a church service in Minneapolis, saw two prominent independent Black journalists, Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, among those arrested and charged with federal civil rights crimes, multiple reports show. Both have since been released.

Among those expected to participate in the March 28 protest are local activists from the League of Women Voters of DeKalb County, DeKalb County Democrats, 350Kishwaukee, DeKalb Migrant Aid, DeKalb Rapid Response Team, and Emerging Issues.

The demonstration is open to the public. Organizers said they encourage anyone to join in.

REACT Chairperson Cynthia DeSiefe said holding leaders accountable is important.

“The American people recognize the abuses of this administration and the threat to our rights and freedoms it represents, and we need a place to gather peacefully to exercise our First Amendment right to express our disagreement with this administration,” DeSiefe said in a news release.