Tom Morello rallies protesters at anti-ICE march as ‘Hands Off’ signs flood NYC streets

Protesters packed the streets carrying anti-ICE placards that read 'Hands Off NYC' and chanting slogans against immigration enforcement policies, reflecting the growing national resistance movement tied to Trump-era immigration crackdowns.

The immigration court at Lower Manhattan’s Federal Plaza has emerged as a major focal point of ICE activity in New York over the past year, with masked agents frequently detaining immigrants and even entire families as they arrive for legally required court hearings.

Addressing demonstrators, Morello blasted Trump with what he described as an 'authoritarian clown show' while urging supporters to become a 'mass movement of peaceful anti-fascist crime fighters.'  Images and clips from the rally quickly spread online, with supporters praising Morello’s activism while critics attacked the performance, highlighting the intense cultural and political divide surrounding celebrity-led anti-ICE protests.

The guitarist led protesters through Woody Guthrie’s 'This Land Is Your Land,' transforming the rally into a protest concert atmosphere as demonstrators sang beside signs reading 'ICE is illegal' and 'Hands Off NYC.' “New York for All, for example, is an inspiration and template for action against this terrible rising tide of state terror, demonstrating that together, we must stand up for our neighbors and for ourselves, for democracy and for justice, because ain’t nobody coming to save us,” Morello said. “It is now or never. That is why right now, every act of art is an act of resistance... We are living in a time where ideas are a crime, where gender is a crime, where skin color is a crime, where the truth is a crime, while the real criminals dine and toast with dictatorship," he added.

Morello has been as vocal as always in his protesting this year. As recently as May 11, he joined The Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Similar to the ideas that Morello spoke of at the Plaza, Springsteen's tour is designed as a passionate political and cultural mission to defend American democracy, freedom, and the Constitution against perceived authoritarianism.