Anti-ICE protest takes place at Tesla Dealership

Two protesters on top of power generators on Sat. Jan. 31, 2026. Photo by Paul Singh

At noon about 1,000 people had shown up outside the Tesla dealership on Van Ness St. to protest against President Donald Trump and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

In addition, there are signs that say “Honk For Freedom,” “Stop Fascism,” “War Monger,” “Abolish ICE,” and “Ice Kills” and a few big signs with one of them saying “Pure Evil.” Someone brought out their drumset to play while the protesters were waving their signs. 

Protester Diane Balter said that she hates the way that President Trump treats the American people as he only looks after his people and his family only. 

“I’m really disgusted with ICE,” Balter said. “Being out on the streets of so many American cities and beating people, I think it’s just horrible.”

Cars were honking in support with most of the cars on Van Ness with a few on O’Farrell St. People were climbing up on what seems to be power generators in the city to wave Anti-Trump signs. 

A nurse, Corri Flores, had come out to protest as she thinks the Trump administration is anti-science and that there is a kid in an ICE detention center. 

“I feel like we all have to do something, particularly as nurses and people involved in healthcare,” Flores said. “I really wish that I saw more of my constituents out here making noise, trying to contribute in some way.”

Cars honking in support of the protesters on Saturday Jan. 31, 2026. Photo by Paul Singh

Flores also thinks that Trump`s world interventions such as when the U.S. went to Venezuela and arrested Nicolas Maduro is distracting. 

“We need health care reform. We need to be taking care of our own people, not putting them in detention centers without due process,” said Flores. “I think that should be the major concern, the concern of American people and those of us that are trying to make a difference in trying to contribute to people’s well being and health.”

While the protesters were outside, Tesla`s staff were inside with the doors locked but had let one customer with his bicycle inside.

Another protester Jeff Grubler who is a social worker brought Anti-Trump posters inspired by the 1988 movie They Live by John Carpenter. Originally these posters were ICE recruitment posters and turned them in lenticular print showing Trump to the alien underneath. 

“In which aliens were collaborating with billionaires, with a human elite to basically take, to strip mine our plan using subliminal messaging, media manipulation, to do it,” Grubler said. “And it was a metaphor for capitalism under the Reagan administration.”

Protesters outside the Tesla dealership on Van Ness St. on Saturday Jan. 31, 2026. Photo by Paul Singh

Moreover, from Southern California, Emily who did not want to disclose her last name, from San Bernardino and Eli O from San Luis Obispo came to the Bay to stand up for their neighbors and immigrant communities. Compared to Los Angeles, the protests in the Bay Area a little bit more tame. 

“I feel like it kind of gets a lot bigger and a lot more chaos starts to happen,” O said. “I feel like up here it’s definitely a safer place for protesters, but in LA, especially last summer, there is a lot of escalation, especially because a lot of protesters were put in dangerous situations compared to here.”

In addition, another protester, attorney Nadra Ruiz with her pet dog, was chanting “C………. La Migra.” Ruiz said that Trump is in contempt of court with judges countermanding his ICE deportations. 

“The new idea on the block is power in the people. The authoritarian regime, the king. That’s an old style. The dictatorship, it’s an old idea. But the rights of the minority, when encountered the majority, equal protection. That’s a valuable idea,” Ruiz said. “We have to fight for it.”

Even though the protests were supposed to end at 2 p.m., people still stayed to protest. 

“The quiet bird doesn’t get fed. So the louder and more expressive things are, is going to show more,” Emily said. “And the more that we show that we do not want ICE in our neighborhoods, the more it’s going to be shown.”