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Thousands Rally In Solidarity With Immigrants On International Migrants Day

by Gabe Ortiz on

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Thousands of marchers in cities across the country rallied in solidarity with their immigrant neighbors this past Sunday, International Migrants Day.

Two of the day’s biggest marches occurred in California and New York, two states that have taken the lead in pledging to stick up for immigrants in the face of a promised crackdown under a Trump Administration.

“Ours is a city of immigrants,” Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) told the crowd.

From CBS New York:

Hundreds of New Yorkers marched to Trump Tower Sunday in solidarity with immigrants who worry about their future under the incoming Trump administration.

At a rally near the New York Immigration Coalition, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito vowed to fight.

“This battle is just beginning,” she said. “We are going to have to be out on the streets insistently to push back against what they’re attempting to do.”

“We will fight any ill-conceived, mean spirited federal law that goes against immigrants in this country,” Brooklyn Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez.

The New York Immigration Coalition organized this protest to say they stand with those who came to the United States from other countries.

In California, State Senate leader Kevin de Leon declared to a downtown Los Angeles rally that “we are all ready to defend the human rights of all Californians.” 

From the New York Times:

About 2,000 people protesting against the rhetoric and proposals of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump marched peacefully through downtown Los Angeles on Sunday in advance of Monday’s planned Electoral College vote to formally choose him as leader.

“I want to tell Mr. Trump that we are immigrants, we help this economy grow, we don’t want nothing for free,” said marcher Horalia Jauregui.

Marchers in Los Angeles carried signs with phrases such as “Stop Trump,” “Refugees Welcome,” and “Make America Think Again,” a play on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.

Heavily Democratic California voted overwhelmingly for Clinton in the election, and its leaders have begun positioning the most populous U.S. state to fight the incoming Trump administration on any challenges to its progressive policies on issues such as immigration, the environment and healthcare.

On Sunday, state Senate leader Kevin de Leon, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said he would fight any moves by Trump that conflict with what he called California’s values.