PHOTOS: USC students join protest against ICE at statehouse

On Jan. 20, 2026, the first anniversary of Donald Trump's second administration, some USC students walked out of their classes to protest its actions, particularly those of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Later, those students joined with others at the South Carolina State House and in a march down Main Street to demonstrate the power of protest.

A crowd of protestors as seen from the street at the statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 20, 2026. The protesters, a large number of whom are students, hold signs and banners opposing the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Quinnie Mustian leads protest chants at a protest at the statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 20, 2026. The protesters, largely students, hold signs opposing the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Anson Foster, of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, speaks to the crowd through a megaphone as they prepare to march to Columbia City Hall. The protesters, a large number of whom are students, hold signs opposing the actions of the Trump administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Protesters carry signs from the Party for Socialism and Liberation opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a protest at the statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 20, 2026. Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the most recent target of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.

Kenneth J. E. Jones Jr. raises a fist to the crowd as it marches back to the statehouse from Columbia City Hall on Jan. 20, 2026. The banners they hold promote the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Midlands SC Defensa, who run an ICE sighting hotline.

Quinnie Mustian leads a group of students in protest chants on Greene Street outside the Russell House in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 20, 2026. Students walked out of their classes at 2 p.m. to protest the Trump administration and its aggressive deportation efforts.

A student sits with a sign at a protest on Greene Street outside the Russell House in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 20, 2026. Students walked out of their classes at 2 p.m. to protest the Trump administration and its aggressive deportation efforts.

A crowd of protestors is observed by police at the statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 20, 2026. The protesters, a large number of whom are students, hold signs opposing the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A group of students marches from campus to the statehouse to join a larger protest in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 20, 2026. The student walkout protest was connected to a 5 p.m. protest and march at the Capitol, mainly organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

A student, who did not give their name, holds a sign that calls U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement a “paramilitary organization” on the bridge across Pickens Street in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 20, 2026. The reverse of the sign says, “human rights are in danger.”