What began as a ripple from Los Angeles has quickly surged into a wave of nationwide protest—and now, it’s crashing hard in Texas. On Monday night, demonstrations erupted in both Dallas and Austin, where protesters rallied in solidarity with anti-ICE riots in LA, pushing back against President Donald Trump’s intensifying deportation campaign and sweeping immigration enforcement orders.
But what was billed as peaceful protest quickly escalated into confrontations with law enforcement, drawing a clear line between civil dissent and disruptive insurrection.
In Dallas, the flashpoint came at the Margret Hunt Hill Bridge, a major artery into downtown. As night fell, protestors tried to occupy the roadway—prompting police to block their advance. Authorities declared the gathering an “unlawful assembly” by 10 p.m. and began making arrests after multiple warnings went ignored. The exact number of individuals taken into custody remains unclear, but the tone was unmistakable: the city would not allow mob control of its infrastructure.
Dallas: Anti-ICE protestor forgets how to spell “TRUMP” while tagging the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge. https://t.co/LqWofyMT9E pic.twitter.com/tHk9xjzuSv
— Tony Ortiz (Current Revolt) (@CurrentRevolt) June 10, 2025
Further south in Austin, tensions mirrored Dallas but escalated more aggressively. State troopers deployed tear gas after demonstrators refused to disperse. Protesters defaced the federal building in the state capital, plastering graffiti across its façade—a move that invited immediate rebuke from local observers. “That’s not protesting. That’s vandalism,” one user, Noah Webster, posted on X.
These flashpoints across Texas come amid a backdrop of heightened outrage over viral footage from Maryland, where ICE agents were caught arresting a 52-year-old Salvadoran mother without showing a warrant. The woman, reportedly in the midst of legal immigration proceedings, was pulled from her vehicle after officers shattered her window in front of her distraught children. The scene, captured on camera, ricocheted across social media and inflamed the already-volatile public mood.
Yet this moment is part of a larger strategy. President Trump’s second-term mandate was crystal clear: carry out the most extensive deportation campaign in U.S. history. The deployment of 700 U.S. Marines to assist the National Guard in Los Angeles sent the message that federal immigration enforcement is no longer just an administrative policy—it’s a central pillar of Trump’s domestic agenda.
ICE protesters covered parts of the federal building in graffiti.
Here is what they left. https://t.co/MlEXObx2bO
— DASH (@DocumentingATX) June 10, 2025
In the minds of many protesters, however, what’s unfolding isn’t just policy—it’s a constitutional crisis. Arrests without warrants, ICE raids at courthouses, and immigration detentions that seem to blur the line between legal and illegal status are feeding a nationwide resistance movement that stretches far beyond LA.
Demonstrations also spread to San Antonio on Sunday, showing that the anger has not been contained—and may be intensifying.
But as these protests escalate, cities and states are being forced to draw hard lines. What starts as a march can quickly devolve into unlawful occupation, property destruction, and clashes with police. And while the motivations behind the protests are rooted in deep concerns about justice, civil rights, and due process, the methods are increasingly being tested—and met with force.
