Will County residents came out by the thousands Saturday to express their views of the Trump administration, particularly the escalating crackdowns from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federalization of the National Guard.

Organizers of the Joliet No Kings protest said they estimated the turnout at around 2,000 people, about three times the turnout of a similar event in June.

“We had over 700 signed up online but we know a lot of people don’t do that because they want to remain anonymous,” said organizer and co-founder of In Union Christine Nordstrom. “We’re a little stunned by how big it got so quickly. The rain held off and people just keep coming. It’s fantastic.”

Protesters lined up along U.S. Route 30 outside the Louis Joliet Mall and stretched down from Mall Loop Drive, almost completely to Hennepin Drive, with others staking territory across the street along the Home Depot parking lot.

The crowd was estimated at more than 1,000 in Bolingbrook as people gathered at Janes Avenue and Boughton Road but then extended to the Interstate 355 intersection, lining both sides of Boughton Road chanting “no kings, no kings” as motorists honked their horns.

The event in Bolingbrook was organized by Working Families Will County and Invisible Illinois, according to State Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet. who dressed up as a frog for the event in support of a person that was attacked during a Portland protest.

“This is a peaceful protest,” she said.

Over 3,000 No Kings protests were planned around the world on Saturday.

[ Photos: No Kings protests in Will County draw large crowds ]

ICE and healthcare

Protesters in Joliet were greeted with a constant stream of blaring horns, shouts, and flashed peace signs from passing vehicles.

Several boomboxes blared protest music, while others chanted anti-Trump and anti-ICE slogans. Most protesters held homemade signs and many wore costumes.

“I think this costume says a lot about how many people are feeling right now,” said Ashley Momani, a protester from Coal City dressed as a woman from “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

“The way ICE has been behaving, not just grabbing ‘the worst of the worst’ like they’ve said, but grabbing citizens off the street is more Gilead than anything I’ve ever seen,” she said.

Crowds at both events included people across multiple demographics, and ages from children to senior citizens.

“Democracy is eroding, you have to protest and make yourself known because what’s being done is unacceptable,” said Medard Narko of Romeoville, who sat on the protest line in his wheelchair.

Narko cited several reasons for his protesting including cuts to healthcare programs, recent attacks on Venezuelan ships, the anti-vaccination policies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Trump’s expensive renovations to the White House.

“It’s only been nine months,” Narko exclaimed. “How could they do so much damage in just nine months? And there’s no one standing up to him to stop it. Who’s protecting us? That’s why so many people are out here, because no one else will stand up to it.”

One issue, though, loomed larger than the rest for many of the protesters at the Joliet event – immigration, and the escalation of deportations and arrests by ICE.

“We’re both Army veterans, and some of the greatest people we served with weren’t born here,” said Megan Lord, who was attending the rally with her husband, who is a Latino immigrant. “It’s scary. We have a Latina daughter and we hope she doesn’t have to deal with this as she grows up. You don’t have to be born here to be a great American.”

Miguel Duron, who immigrated from Mexico in 1978 at the age of 17, said, “We’re out here today because we’re against what Trump is doing targeting immigrants. He’s saying we’re criminals, when we’re the hardest working people in the country. Immigrants built this country. The only true Americans are the native Indians. We’re all immigrants.”

Duron was attending the protest with his family, including his American-born children and grandchildren, and was carrying a Mexican flag. He said he thought it would be a good idea at future protests if more people brought and flew the flags of the countries their ancestors migrated from to illustrate the country’s immigrant history.

“I feel like all immigrants should stick together,” he said. “Even if your family has been here for generations, you’re still descended from immigrants. And I think more people should bring their children with them to teach them to support democracy. ”

First time protester, Kristin Kozlowski, a Bolingbrook resident who brought her two sons to the Bolingbrook event, came to ensure that her children “will be able to vote in a free and fair election in the future.”

Fellow protester Cyndi Totter came out in Bolingbrook to “save this country” for her granddaughter and “her rights.”

Likewise, Bolingbrook’s Marjorie Mroczek came to the event for her seven grandchildren, noting that “I want a world to be good for them. I want them to live in a democracy and be able to do this.”

The event also included veterans like Alvin Simmons of Bolingbrook who draped United States flag around his shoulders.

Simmons who served in the United States Marines for four years in the 1970s said, “All those who say we are not American should serve their country.”

Joliet’s A.J. Depaolo came out to protest for the very first time with his mom out of concern over the attacks on “everyone’s basic human rights”

Several uniformed Bolingbrook Police officers were assigned to the event as well as several undercover officers, according to a Bolingbrook Police officer.

Joliet Police Department officers were out at the scene in Joliet to make sure things remained safe. No counter protests developed.

Donations collected

The Joliet event was also being used as a drive to collect donations for the Will-Grundy Medical Center.

“We’re just here to help the community get what they need,” said Nordstrom. “Mutual aid is a form of resistance. With them [the medical center] not getting all the funding they need we thought we would try to help supplement them, so all of this will go back into the Joliet community.”

Nordstrom gestured to a table overflowing with donations of socks, gloves, food, and hygiene supplies brought by protesters, which her co-founder Tracey Curran and other volunteers were trying to stack.

“We’re overwhelmed,” said Curran. “It’s a great turnout.”

Freelance writer Cathy Janek also contributed to this article for Shaw Local News Network.