Large No Kings march in Detroit

Detroit, MI – Over 5000 people rallied in Clark Park, June 14, for the national No Kings day of action to declare a “Day Without Immigrants.” Clark Park resides in the historic Southwest area of Detroit, which is known for its strong Mexican-American community.

Amongst the organizing groups were Detroit Community Action Committee, Detroit Anti-War Committee, Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, General Strike U.S., 50501 Michigan, Indivisible, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

The rally had several performances from Southwest Detroit musicians and poets and speeches from activists, community members and politicians. While listening to the programming, many organizations and nonprofits tabled and provided attendees opportunities to get involved. People bought food from local vendors and small businesses. Protesters brought out Mexican and Palestinian flags and signs that demanded ICE be kicked out of the city.

Before the march, several people spoke, including Representative Rashida Tlaib; City Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who represents southwest Detroit, and Detroit Community Action Committee member Marcel Ulacia. Echoed throughout many of the speakers was the need to fight back against ICE. Everyone, no matter their group affiliation, was aligned on the right to resist.

Some of the organizations behind the “Day Without Immigrants” rally and march, such as Detroit Community Action Committee, made clear demands to the policymakers who were in attendance, particularly Gabriela Santiago-Romero. The demands most commonly issued were seen on the banner that led the march, “End DPD-ICE cooperation” and “Make Detroit a sanctuary city now.”

This comes as no surprise. Only a few days before, on June 10, many Detroiters attended city council and demanded the city be declared a sanctuary, as opposed to its current designation as a “welcoming city.” After the city council meeting, Santiago-Romero told Malachi Barrett of BridgeDetroit, “When I see a majority of white folks asking me to make the city a sanctuary city, they’re not going to be the ones impacted when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes into our communities. Are they ready to come out and put their lives on the line to protect residents?”

Her comment did nothing to deter the June 14 speakers from demanding a sanctuary city. Wayne State Students for a Democratic Society speaker, Dr. Michael Muczynski, spoke on student deportations and the school’s cowardice when it came to defending the students whose F-1 visas were revoked. It is because of this that Muczynski called for Wayne State to be made a sanctuary alongside Detroit. He issued a warning to “any administration, whether it is Wayne State, city council, Detroit police, or a president that stands in our way. There is no going back. The people are in the streets, and we demand to be heard!” The crowd roared in response.

After Muczynski, Nova Williams from the Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression spoke on the need for community control of the police to “protect our people in this city from police violence and our resistance from political repression.” As part of the DAARPR’s efforts to fight back against state violence, Williams demanded a sanctuary city.

Speaking for the Detroit Anti-War Committee, Daanyal Syed made the point that lawmakers need to do more to combat Trump’s attacks, which includes divesting from Israel and declaring Detroit a sanctuary city. She discussed the connections between the Israeli occupation forces committing the genocide of Palestinians and ICE, which cross-trains with Israel. In Syed’s words, Detroit Anti-War’s demand to end cross-trainings between Detroit Police and “any other agencies that use Israel’s murderous, racist tactics” is “unable to be separated from” Detroit Community Action Committee’s demand to end cooperation between Detroit police and ICE.

Later in the program, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib talked about the importance of protesting because “no one in the political establishment is doing enough.” She continued, “We did not get the civil rights act because someone in Congress woke up that day and said, ‘Geez, that’s a really good idea.’ It’s when people protested, they marched, they boycotted.” She ended her speech by chanting “Whose streets? Our streets!”

Jackson Robak of Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “Throughout history, there are tests. You either pass or you fail. Right now, Donald Trump is failing that test. Right now, those racist Republicans in Congress are failing that test. ICE is failing that test. Yet at the same time, Democrats like Sri Thanedar, who just signed on to support ICE, have also failed that test.” As Robak took a breath, the protesters shouted “traitor” and booed at Thanedar’s name.

Robak continued, saying, “Any politician who fails to support real change, like fighting for a sanctuary city and ending DPD-ICE cooperation, has failed that test. I look at all of you, and I know we will fight, we will pass this test of history, and we will win!”

Towards the end of the rally, Gabriela Santiago-Romero spoke, opening her speech by celebrating that Detroit was the first city to pass a ceasefire resolution after October 7. At the same time, she disagreed with the prior statements regarding a sanctuary city. She explained, “We are only six months into this fascist government. We need to come together to protect each other. No resolution will do that.” Similar to her comment to Barrett, she demanded that everyone needed to “put their bodies on the line” to protect people from ICE while at the same time saying that policy is not an effective way to fight Trump.

Marcel Ulaciaof the Detroit Community Action Committee doubled down on the demand for a sanctuary city, calling out Gabriela Santiago-Romero directly by saying she “claims that fighting for sanctuary city policies does more harm than good. Let’s be clear, walking away from your central campaign promise the moment it becomes politically inconvenient is not leadership, it’s abandonment. Sanctuary city policies are not symbolic; they are one of the most effective ways we resist the Trump-era, racist attacks on immigrant communities.”

The No Kings event finished off with a march to the Detroit Police and ICE headquarters with the community chanting “Chinga la migra” and “Viva la Raza” on the way there and back.

At the ICE headquarters, protesters gathered around the building, chanting “Fuck ICE.”

Marcel Ulacia spoke a final time, continuing to issue the community’s demand for a sanctuary city and an end of Detroit Police’s cooperation with ICE, stating politicians “think we will cower and run because Donald Trump gives them the go ahead to ravage people’s lives. And yet – here we are by the thousands loudly and proudly defending those under the boot of his racist administration.”

After Ulacia, Jackson Robak spoke once more about building towards revolution in the United States, pointing towards Los Angeles as an example of how the people must fight back. Robak said, “Aztlán, the Southwest, is on fire, and I’m proud that my comrades are fanning the flames, showing that ICE needs to be scared, they need to be full of fear, if they want to come into our cities and our neighborhoods.” The crowd cheered and whooped in response before marching back to Clark Park.

Detroit sent a clear message to the Trump administration and local and state governments: Detroiters are angry, and they’re not going to allow their neighbors to be taken lying down.

#DetroitMI #MI #ImmigrantRights #NoKings

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/large-no-kings-march-in-detroit?pk_campaign=rss-feed