At Statehouse human rights protest, Kansans brandish outrage at ICE killing and political cowardice
Demonstrators hold signs at the Jan. 14, 2026, "human needs are human rights" rally at the Statehouse in Topeka. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Every one of us has a voice. The question is whether you use it.
The hundreds of Kansas who showed up at the Statehouse on Wednesday for a human rights rally understood that better than most. An array of civic organizations sponsored the event, which featured speakers, songs and chants — including a particularly pungent one directed at U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Yet the most memorable commentary could be seen throughout the crowd, thanks to dozens of handmade signs.
These signs, fashioned from poster board or even plain cardboard, varied in complexity. Some were colorful and artistic, others were hurriedly scrawled. What they shared was visceral outrage at our state and nation’s drift toward authoritarian violence. Most sharply criticized he Trump administration’s deployment of ICE agents against immigrants and protesters.
The death of Minneapolis mother Renee Good fueled Kansans’ anger. However, the crowd understood it as part of a broader effort, one meant to muffle resistance and grab ever more power for White House commissars.
Here at the Kansas Reflector opinion section, we talk about raising the voices of residents who would other not otherwise hear or see themselves in the mainstream media. We work “to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate,” as the blurb repeated underneath every column says.
In the interest of fulfilling that mission, I hereby present a sign roundup from the Wednesday protest.
Demonstrators hold signs at the Jan. 14, 2026, “human needs are human rights” rally at the Statehouse in Topeka. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Legislators: Who do you serve?
The power of the people is stronger than the people in power
Health care and education are rights!
What was the $ bonus ICE got for murdering Renee??
J. Moran and R. Marshall please help save U.S. democracy
We’re not here because there’s hope. There’s hope because we’re here.
Trans people belong.
Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in a democracy anymore!
Respect KS voters
Justice for Renee
History will remember the cowards that kept quiet
Hold human rights above corporate greed.
So ashamed of America
Stop pretending that your racism is patriotism.
You are witnessing the nazification of America
We are your neighbors. Deserving immigrants too. We are not the enemy. Please hear our voices. Can we talk?
This is not a right or left moment. It’s a right or wrong moment. Where is your empathy?
No kings: I am a Christian against Christian nationalism
Without due process it’s kidnapping
Unmask and disarm ICE killers
ICE = Trump’s Gestapo
Renee Nicole Good is not collateral damage.
We will never forget the cowards in Congress who kept quiet (with photos of Moran, Marshall and Estes)
When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty
Republicans are pathetic failures who ruin everything and believe in nothing
Democracy needs your courage
I’m here for the old hippie & veteran at home: Abolish ICE
Be a good human.
Salt melts ICE
Stop the crazy s***
An array of signs were made and held by protesters at the Wednesday rally at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Shared concerns
Throughout 2025, I thought we had reached various turning points against President Donald Trump‘s administration. There were the crude cuts by Elon Musk‘s Department of Governmental Efficiency. There were the attempted deportations of various legal immigrants. On the postive side, there were the October No Kings protests.
While all these events dinged Trump‘s popularity, it wasn’t until the government shut down that his administration finally took a serious hit.
The ongoing ICE raids — following a year of harsh tactics — have brought us to another fraught moment. In you listen closely, you can hear a difference in the way that even the most diehard Republicans talk about immigration and efforts at immigration enforcement.
Exhibit A? Longtime reporter Roy Wenzl’s story for the Journal of the Kansas Leadership Center: “Does Kansas need its immigrants despite crackdown? Key business leaders say ‘yes’ ”
Businesses, immigrants and community activists all agree that the current system doesn’t work. That was also the immigration system under former President Joe Biden and his predecessors. While many hoped that Trump would fix well-documented problems, he has instead spread chaos.
I don’t expect that Wenzl’s Republican sources will join demonstrators at the Statehouse anytime soon. However, their calls for a just and humane approach suggest that less division exists than generally supposed.
“Nobody from a city wants to move to western Kansas and work in slaughterhouses,” former state Sen. John Doll, R-Garden City, told the reporter. “It’s absurd to say those workers could be replaced by citizens. If they leave, southwest Kansas with its meatpacking plants will become a series of ghost towns.”
Most Americans, liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, want an approach to immigration that recognizes those who have spent years or decades in this country. A similarly broad coalition wants smart and effective security at our nation’s borders.
I doubt Trump or ICE will bring us to that space of agreement and compromise anytime soon. In fact, both seem dedicated to fanning the flames.
But underneath it all, the hope for something better remains.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.