Minneapolis, MN – Despite cold and rain, 60 people rallied in Minneapolis to voice their opposition to Trump’s Muslim Ban, March 16. Starting the rally out were chants of “Hey Trump, let’s be clear: Muslims are welcome here!” and “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA!” which reverberated off the glass of both the Federal Court Building and the Minneapolis City Hall across the street. The protest was organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee.

The protest’s speakers represented the broad coalition necessary to defeat Trump’s Muslim ban and included Imam Hassan Mohamud, Director of the Islamic Dawah Center; Stephanie Taylor, Anti-War Committee; Imam Hassan Jama, Executive Director of Islamic Association of North America; Brad Sigal, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee’s No More Deportation Campaign, and Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations – MN. The diverse speakers emphasized confidence and resolution with the latest court victory against Trump’s Muslim Ban.

The critical role played by protests in the streets in defeating Trump’s agenda was a common theme of all the speakers, and was underscored by Stephanie Taylor of the Anti-War Committee, who stated, “This racist ban was halted by popular outpouring of opposition combined with legal challenges from movement lawyers. However, we must challenge ourselves to continue the resistance and we are here with you to continue to fight back.”

Brad Sigal of MIRAC’s No More Deportation Campaign explained the pressing nature of immigrant raids and deportation campaigns in his speech, “There have been over 3 million deportations and families separated in the last eight years and now Trump wants to increase that even more. We say, ‘Enough is enough!’ This is not a faraway issue. This is happening right here, right now, all around us.”

Jaylani Hussein of the Council on American Islamic Relations – MN urged those present to come to the “10,000 who CAIR Call to Action” on March 25 from 4 to 8 p.m. at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in Saint Paul, an effort to “activate 10,000 Minnesotans in the fight against bigotry and hatred.”

Hundreds of thousands, including tens of thousands in the Twin Cities, protesting in the streets, airports and other locations were critical to pushing for these defeats of Trump’s agenda. It was also clear that despite the current legal setbacks, the Muslim ban and other parts of Trump’s racist agenda will only be defeated by millions in the streets. The necessity of broad, militant coalition of forces was typified by Hassan Jama when he reminded the crowd that we must demand, “No ban, no wall, no wars! Unite!”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #US #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #MinnesotaAntiWarCommittee #DonaldTrump #MuslimBan