Thursday, January 29, 2026

State Senator Urges Pasadena Residents to Join National Shutdown Friday

California State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez at the “No Kings” 2 demonstration in Pasadena on Saturday, October 18, 2025. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]

Sasha Renée Pérez calls for “no work, no school, no shopping” to protest ICE enforcement

State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez is calling on Pasadena residents to stay home from work, skip school, and avoid shopping on Friday as part of a nationwide economic protest against federal immigration enforcement.

The “National Shutdown,” scheduled for January 30, has gained momentum following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on January 24 — the second U.S. citizen killed by federal immigration officers in that city this month.

Organizers want to pressure the federal government to scale back Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

“I do believe this will be effective and I do believe that this is how we will get the federal government to stop its violence against American citizens,” Pérez said in a FOX 11 interview Monday.

Pasadena-area residents have been mobilizing for weeks. More than 800 people gathered locally on Tuesday to train in community defense tactics.

Earlier, San Gabriel Foothills Indivisible organized a demonstration on January 10 at Garfield Avenue and Colorado Boulevard that drew several hundred protesters.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) joined Pérez in supporting the shutdown.

“This is a moment for the people of this country to stand up to this administration and say ‘enough,'” Bryan said. “We’ve seen that people power is moving the needle.”

Pérez, speaking at an early January protest, urged the gathering to “take photos, take videos, because we know the federal government is willing to lie through their teeth to protect their agents. ..We must fight back.”