Over 1000 protesters demand an end to deportations and no ICE in San Jose

San Jose, CA – On February 2, over 1000 San Jose residents took to the streets to demand no ICE in San Jose and no deportations following the presence of ICE agents in East Side San Jose. The Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, along with endorsers, called to action to mobilize against ICE operations in the East Side, a community with a high immigrant population.

A mass of people had started to gather at the corner of Alum Rock and S. King Road by 1:40 p.m., chanting “Aquí estamos y no nos vamos, y si nos echan nos regresamos,” meaning “Here we are and we’re not leaving, and if they throw us out, we’re returning.”

The Mexican Heritage Plaza sits on the corner where people gathered. The site used to be a Safeway grocery store and was one of the first locations picketed during the grape boycotts led by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

Aztec dancers joined in the protest held a danza. The danza has become a tradition for immigrant rights protests in San Jose.

The program began with a youth from the community organization Amigos de Guadalupe, who shared her own personal experiences with immigration. The young member called on the attendees to advocate on behalf of immigrants in San Jose.

Uriel Magdaleno, a community organizer with the Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, condemned the targeted operations of ICE against East Side San Jose’s immigrant community. “We, as a community, won’t let ICE intimidate us. We’re here also to stand in solidarity with our most vulnerable communities!” exclaimed Magdaleno. “Whether we were born here or came here as immigrants, we have every right to exist here,” Magdaleno declared, alluding to Tom Homan’s (Trumps current “Border Czar”) threats to deport entire families regardless of legal status.

Spontaneous calls had been circulating throughout the community for a February 3 day without an immigrant. Magdaleno made a statement declaring that the Silicon Valley Immigration Committee “wants to unite with the call, however, it takes a more concerted, organized effort to successfully call a nationwide strike.” Magdaleno continued, “Every year, on the first of May, we celebrate International Workers Day. We want to highlight the immigrant struggle and the worker struggle. Let’s build up that movement to call a day without an immigrant on International Workers Day!”

Peter Ortiz, San Jose City Council member, was present in solidarity. “Are we ready to fight for workers? Are we ready to fight for communities of color? Are we ready to fight for our brothers and sisters in the LGBTQ community?” Ortiz asked the crowd. People shout back, “Yes!” Ortiz shared a resolution he had authored to reaffirm San Jose’s status as a sanctuary city that has since passed.

Victor Vazquez, a community organizer with SOMOS Mayfair, came next in the program. Responding to Trump’s attacks on immigrant communities and executive orders, Vazquez stated, “We have endured these attacks since colonization, every single century, every single year and guess what? Look around you, we are still here!”

As the program ended, the Aztec dancers prepared to lead the 1000-person march. The protesters marched down to Story and King, another historic location for immigrant rights and immigrant/Chicano culture.

During the march, the crowd chanted, “Unete, unete, a la lucha unete!” meaning “Join us, join us, join us in the struggle!” with the support of drivers honking and passersby joining the march. Protesters marched directly past a Target store that has allowed ICE agents to park behind the store, thereby remaining hidden from the community. The protesters demanded that Target stop allowing ICE agents to use the parking lot and called a local boycott until this demand was met.

The march concluded at the plaza in the corner of Story and King, where a local priest spoke in solidarity with immigrants and let protesters know that the church will be a safe space for immigrants and that he would be willing to be arrested in order to protect immigrants from ICE.

The rally ended with Magdaleno reasserting the importance of protecting immigrant communities and a call to organize for May Day and “Fight for immigrant and workers’ rights!”

#SanJoseCA #CA #ImmigrantRights #SVIC #Trump

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/over-1000-protesters-demand-an-end-to-deportations-and-no-ice-in-san-jose?pk_campaign=rss-feed