On Jan. 21, 2025, one day after taking office, President Trump removed restrictions from sensitive locations when arresting undocumented immigrants.
In doing so, mass deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have swept over major U.S. cities. With over 7,000 undocumented immigrants deported in the first week after President Trump’s inauguration, others fear for what the future holds.
The removal of restrictions from sensitive locations include places of worship, schools, hospitals and courthouses as areas where arrests could take place.
Some of the people who stood against President Trump’s new policies, started posting on TikTok under the #CUTEWINTERBOOTS. TikTok users posted dates when “sales” will take place for those “boots” and “how great they are.”
The hashtag has accumulated over 50,000 videos thus far.
TikTok users utilized the hashtag to communicate about the political climate in the U.S. regarding ICE and deportation, without their content being banned or “censored.”
Sophomore neuroscience major Beatriz Dato Barreirinhas showed her support for the hashtag and its cause. “I am supportive of being very vigilant of where ICE is to support people who are trying to avoid them.”
In many cases, #CUTEWINTERBOOTS was used as a way to organize protests opposing new policies. Others used the term to indicate arrests carried by ICE or what actions individuals should take when witnessing an arrest.
“The hashtag is used to group people to form protests against or in retaliation to what is going on in our current state of government,” said Alexa Somoza, a freshman biological sciences major.
Prior to President Trump’s new policies regarding deportation enforcement, on Jan.18, as many opened their phones for their daily dose of scrolling on TikTok, they were startled.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” notification in the app stated.
Many ran to social media to express their grief for the ban. This was short lived, as 13 hours later, TikTok users found that the app was back and operating as normal.
But some disagree.
“I don’t think it changed,” Ashly Moya Perez, a sophomore biological sciences student, said. “I’ve seen some people going crazying saying that it has changed.”
After TikTok’s return and rising suspicion of censorship on the app, users felt that in order to continue the conversation about mass deportation, they needed to use a language that the algorithm isn’t able to detect.
Few UB students knew about #CUTEWINTERBOOTS, but the movement has gained momentum countrywide. People have marched in NYC, Seattle, Denver, Washington D.C. and Salt Lake City to demonstrate their frustration with the new policies.
The features desk can be reached at features@ubspectrum.com
