Jacksonville, FL – On Sunday, March 8, the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance (JIRA) honored International Women’s Day with a community event at Lovelace Park. The slogans for the event were, “Stand with immigrant women!” and “No ICE!”

Different Central and South American nations were represented within the performances, and a Puerto Rican band played live music. Event attendees danced along to the music. Performers came dressed in traditional attire to pay homage to their home countries. The event programming was in both English and Spanish to accommodate the multilingual crowd. Lovelace Park is situated in a large immigrant community, so Spanish was the primary language for many attendees.

Vanessa Alvarez, JIRA organizer stated, “Immigrant women are facing escalated levels of violence and discrimination at the hands of border patrol, ICE, and local police forces,” adding, “reproductive violence in detention centers that is not garnering sufficient outrage. Immigrant women in detention are not receiving healthcare.”

Many organizations cosponsored the event and had tables set up around the perimeter, including Jacksonville Community Action Committee, Planned Parenthood, Florida Rising, Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Maria Garcia, JIRA organizer said, “The women in detention centers should not be forgotten. We need to continue to uplift their names and stories.” Garcia, talked about Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman who was detained in March 2025. Kordia is being held at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.

Garcia stated, “The struggles these women are facing are connected with so many other struggles. So, we all need to work together for a shared liberation.”

The Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance is holding their next General Body Meeting on March 21. They invite community members to join and to follow them on Instagram @jira.jax.

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