Immigrant rights march says ‘Stop carrying out Trump’s deportation agenda!’
Minneapolis, MN – Immigrant rights activists marched from the office of democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar to the Minnesota Republican Party headquarters May 25 to protest a new wave of immigration raids and deportations targeting Central American mothers and children in May and June. The protest was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee as part of the No More Deportations campaign.
As they rallied outside Senator Klobuchar’s office, three representatives of the group, including one Minnesota state senator, went inside to present information to Klobuchar’s staff and ask her to speak out publicly against the deportations being carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Obama administration. Last year MIRAC helped convince Senator Klobuchar to speak out publicly against the private prison ‘family detention centers’ where Central American mothers and children are being housed in Texas.
From Senator Klobuchar’s office, the protesters marched through the West Bank neighborhood to the Minnesota Republican Party headquarters on Franklin Avenue in the Seward neighborhood. In both neighborhoods the immigrant rights message received a warm welcome. When they arrived at the Republican Party office, protesters spoke out against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and all politicians who support his anti-immigrant agenda of mass deportations and an expanded, militarized border wall.
While some thought the Minnesota Republican Party might not support Trump, at the Minnesota Republican Party convention on May 21 in Duluth, Republican leaders and activists fell in line and united behind Trump as their presidential candidate. So while the demand to end deportations falls on ICE and the Obama administration which are carrying them out, the message also extends to Donald Trump and the Republicans who are pushing for even more deportations and border militarization.
A statement from MIRAC said, “Despite the Obama administration’s statements that it would not prioritize detaining and deporting families and children, these raids continue. We believe that breaking up families and targeting the most vulnerable refugees is cruel and wrong. Many of these women and children will be facing dangerous situations and even death if deported. We are asking Minnesota’s elected officials, including Senators Klobuchar and Franken, to demand a stop to these raids. The Democrats are failing their immigrant constituency if they allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to pursue Donald Trump’s deportation agenda. We say, ‘No more deportations!’”
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