Protests in Cities Around the Country Condemn Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Attacks and Call for Resistance
January 15, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
On January 14, people marched, rallied, held vigils, in some 70 cities across the country in a national day of action to express their anger at the threats that president-elect Trump has made against immigrants—his slander of Mexican immigrants and promise to deport millions of the undocumented, and “build a wall” on the U.S.-Mexico border; and the threat of creating a directory, a list of the names of all Muslims present in this country. And despite the fear that these threats have created in immigrant communities, people were there to express their determination to resist—to say they will not be driven out—they’re “Here to Stay.”
In the Call to Action for the day, organizers wrote: “The Trump team has already announced that some of their first acts of brutality will be to lash out against immigrants and Muslims…. It is time for us to link arms and stand as a line of defense against Donald Trump’s promised reign of terror.”
Actions were held in cities large and small: Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Tucson, Albuquerque, Fresno, San Jose, Denver, Las Vegas, Houston, Dallas, and many more. In Broward County, Florida, a protest was held outside of a detention center where immigrants are imprisoned, awaiting deportation. Well over 2,000 rallied and marched in Washington, D.C.
In Chicago over 1,000 packed the Chicago Teachers Union Hall for a Resistance-Unity-Respect Rally. Well over half of those who came were immigrants; most were Latino, but there were also groups of people from Korea and the Philippines and Muslims from different parts of the world. And there were also many young U.S.-born white and Black people, including youth. Organizers from RefuseFascism came with the poster: “NO! In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America!“—in three languages; English, Spanish, and Arabic. They were extremely popular; some felt the three posters together expressed the idea of “In the Name of Humanity.”
Hundreds protested in L.A. A spokesperson for CHIRLA—Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights—said, “We’re not going to sit idly by while he destroys our community.”
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