Isla Vista community members gathered around the Anisq’Oyo’ Park stage to protest against United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration on Feb. 7. This protest was the first demonstration held by the new Isla Vista chapter of the grassroots organization, Indivisible.
I.V. community members marched through Anisq’Oyo’ Park protesting Immigration and Customs enforcement on Feb. 7. Sara Stevens / Daily Nexus
Indivisible is a nationwide organization founded in 2016, working to “stop the rise of authoritarianism in the United States and to demand a real democracy,” according to its website. Isla Vista’s chapter was formed this year by second-year political science and philosophy double major Tallula Borman, second-year geography major Kira Valles-Knoll and second-year political science and philosophy major Juju Johnson.
Since President Donald Trump began his second term, over 380,000 people have been arrested by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.), including over 1,600 people across Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County.
Before the protest started at noon, student volunteers handed out water, pamphlets with chants and QR codes for fundraisers and petitions. Speakers soon took the stage to address the crowd of about 150 that had formed.
Borman, who serves as the I.V. Indivisible president, spoke about the goals of both Indivisible as a whole and the new chapter.
“We are dedicated to this fight against I.C.E., and you all are here to join us as students, as community members and as people. We must make it known that this is not a world that we will accept,” Borman said. “We call for I.C.E. out of our communities, for the protection of the rights of immigrants as well as the rights of human beings.”
Following Borman’s opening address, other representatives from Indivisible spoke, including a speech given in Spanish by Valles-Knoll, as well as mentioning donation opportunities available such as to 805 UndocuFund, a local non-profit organization that offers financial assistance to immigrant and mixed-status families in the 805 area code.
According to Borman, the emergency relief fund goes directly to families who are impacted by I.C.E., such as immigrant families and people whose primary providers are detained by I.C.E.
Santa Barbara City Councilmembers Oscar Gutierrez and Wendy Santamaria emphasized the significance of community action.
“[The political system in place] is designed to oppress us and to exploit us and harvest labor off the backs of Black and Brown and Indigenous communities,” Santamaria said. “Our job as young people, as folks in the community who care about one another, is to number one, realize that there are way more of us than there are of them and recognize that their hate … and their apathy is nothing compared to what every one of you here can create and multiply as you come together.”
Following the councilmembers’ speeches, protestors went around the Embarcadero loop four times, yelling various chants such as “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” “No I.C.E., no KKK, no fascist USA” and “Money for jobs and education, not for war and deportation,” among others.
Indivisible is a nationwide organization that aims to fight authoritarianism. I.V. ‘s chapter was formed this year by three UCSB students. Sara Stevens / Daily Nexus
In an interview with the Daily Nexus, Borman spoke about the formation of Isla Vista’s Indivisible chapter, which she formed after attending one of the Santa Barbara chapter’s protests. She said members of the protest were thanking them for “being there as young people,” which inspired her to bring the organization to I.V.
“It just felt so backwards, because we felt like we should really be the ones thanking them, because it was our future that this is concerning. This is going to have a huge effect on the world, and it already has and I think we need to realize that it’s going to affect our future,” Borman said.
After emailing the Santa Barbara chapter’s president, they began taking the steps to form I.V.’s chapter. Borman said she felt I.V.’s chapter of Indivisible differentiates itself by appealing to “the young people of our community.” She continued by saying she hopes this allows I.V. residents to “express their own passions” in a way that’s “activism-like.”
“The fact that it’s just such a young demographic, and we just have so much energy and we’re willing, we have time, we’re here, I think that sets us apart a little bit from the older demographics that tend to go to the other Indivisible things,” Borman said.
I.V.’s chapter of Indivisible aims to appeal to the young people of the community and promote activism work. Sara Stevens / Daily Nexus
Borman concluded by emphasizing that the I.V. chapter is “for our community.”
“We’re for the students. We want people to get involved, we want people to reach out to us. We want to help people advocate for themselves, and we are here for our community and we want to help organize people to fight for their passions,” Borman said.
A version of this article appeared on p. 6 of the Feb. 12, 2026 edition of the Daily Nexus.
