Thousands Mobilize in New York City After Trump Signs Anti-Immigrant Executive Orders
January 25, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Washington Square Park, New York City. On January 25 thousands responded in angry protest against Trump's anti-immigrant executive orders. Photo: revcom.us/Revolution
On Wednesday, within hours after Trump signed executive orders on the border wall and dialing up repression against immigrants (see “Today in Fascism: Trump Orders Start of Border Wall, Leap in Anti-Immigrant Repression, and Attacks on Sanctuary Cities”)—people responded by the thousands in angry protest in New York City's Washington Square Park. In addition, smaller but significant actions took place in Washington D.C.; Chicago; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; and other cities.
Those who were at the NYC protest reported that Washington Square Park was packed with protesters. The emergency rally was organized by the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. On Facebook the Council wrote, “As a city of immigrants, we cannot stay silent in the face of such hate. We ask you to gather tonight (Wednesday), to show President Trump that all New Yorkers stand with our Muslim and Latino neighbors. Together, we will form a beacon of light against the coming darkness.”
At the protest in Chicago, immigrant rights and community-based organizations denounced Trump's orders. One speaker said they're “gearing up for resistance to racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic policies from a president who doesn't have a mandate from the people.” A speaker from Asian Americans Advancing Justice said Trump's immigration policies are a "haunting reminder" of the Chinese Exclusion Act of the 1880s and the Japanese internment camps established during World War II.
In Los Angeles dozens of protesters took to the downtown streets to protest and gathered outside City Hall. At the same time, lawyers representing the immigration community held a news conference, where Angelica Salas, executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), said: “We have to be vigilant, we have to take him extremely serious, and we also have to fight back.”
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