DeKALB – Signs such as “No Kings! Hands off our country” were seen at South First Street and Route 38 on Saturday, as a crowd gathered to protest a variety of perceived issues with the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk’s involvement with the federal government.
The event was part of a series of nationwide peaceful protests called “Hands Off!” that took place in all 50 states on Saturday.
The demonstrations were organized by a variety of organizations seeking to publicly resist the mass firing of government employees, changes to the Social Security Administration (SSA), proposed budget cuts to Medicaid and many more issues relating to the Trump administration and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
DeKalb educator and guidance counselor Alison Genslinger said she is concerned with changes to the Department of Education.
“I’m really concerned about my kiddos who are LGBTQ+, to see what’s happening with them — little 12 year olds coming to school afraid. As well as immigration. I’ve had little girls coming in bawling and crying because their parents have to put a black box in the closet so if they disappear some night, she knows what to do,” Genslinger said.
Genslinger mentioned feeling hopeless but emphasized the importance of “Hands Off!” and other events like it.
“It gives you impetus to go home and write a letter, or to go to the next march, to talk to your friends about those difficult conversations that we all fear having,” Genslinger said.
Before the group marched to NIU’s Founders Memorial Library, several figures spoke to the crowd including Linh Nguyen, who ran in the 2025 mayoral election.
Nguyen called upon the protesters to unite with their nation and fight against the forces of facism and oppression.
“Facism thrives on division, fear and hatred. It seeks to silence the voices of the marginalized and our decency,” Nguyen said. “We are witnessing a resurgence of this toxic ideology and it is our moral obligation to stand up, to reject them and to fight against them.”
Nguyen spoke on the importance of freedom, highlighting the difference between the freedoms enjoyed in contemporary America with the lack of freedoms she and her family endured growing up in an authoritarian Vietnam.
“Many of my family members died for freedom, for democracy, for the right to vote, for freedom of speech, expression, assembly, political participation,” Nguyen said.
The final speaker at the protest was Frankie DiCiaccio, an organizer for DeKalb Migrant Aid and an NIU Performance and History, Literature and Criticism instructor. They spoke primarily about due process and immigrant rights.
“We’ve seen hundreds of Venezuelans who have been moved to a notorious prison in El Salvador despite a federal judge’s order to halt those removals and a complete lack of due process offered to those individuals,” DiCiaccio said.
DiCiaccio discussed the Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act against Tren De Aragua, a transnational gang from Venezuela which the U.S. Government designated as a terrorist organization.
“This administration is trying to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, which by definition is to be invoked against a foreign government. Well, they’re saying that Tren De Aragua, this gang, is good enough, even though the act talks about being invoked against a foreign government that is invading us,” DiCiaccio said.
DiCiaccio highlighted the importance of immigrant rights.
“It’s important to note these rights don’t just apply to citizens, they don’t just apply to legal permanent residents. They apply to everyone,” DiCiaccio said.
Activists attending the protest each had concerns with the Trump administration.
“What he did to the (veterans) is horrible,” Marine and Army veteran Ronald Nightingale said, referring to mass layoffs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the gutting of healthcare for veterans and more. “I’ve been in a hospital where a lot of vets have no legs or are a total mess emotionally, physically, so it’s not right.”
Others expressed concern with the United States’ relationships with other countries.
“I think we’re losing our favor with other countries, how they’re looking at us,” Aurora resident Judy Cornett said. “This whole thing about buying Greenland and turning Gaza into a MAGA place – it’s not a good look, I don’t think, for our country and what it stands for.”
Others expressed fear and concern about the rapidly shifting state of American democracy.
“It’s just terrifying to watch these things happen,” DeKalb resident Ashley Henning said. “People are going to continue to say things like, ‘Oh, it will improve later,’ or ‘we’re working on it,’ or ‘this is happening,’ or ‘see how everyone is waking up.’ Well maybe you see how everyone’s waking up if you’re in an enclosed space, but I’m out here in the world and I’m not seeing the same about people noticing what’s actually happening to us.”
