Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 25th, 2017, at 1:00 PM Eastern Time (rally at 1:00 PM, hearing starts at 2:30 PM)

Washington DC – President Trump proclaimed April 2 through April 8, to be “National Crime Victims' Rights Week,” singling out undocumented immigrants for bigoted attacks.

St. Paul, MN – Seventy people protested outside the Whipple Federal Building, March 24, to send the message “No more deportations” and “ICE out of our communities” to the Trump administration. The emergency response protest was called just two days earlier in response to local provocations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its umbrella organization, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

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.

Detroit, MI – Michael Deutsch, Jim Fennerty, and the rest of the legal defense team for Rasmea Odeh are gearing up for trial, now scheduled for May 30. New motions filed this week put the question of Israel and its torturers front and center, and will be considered at a hearing on April 25 (moved from April 4).

Police detain pro-immigrant protester assaulted by Trump supporter

Salt Lake City, UT – One month after delivering demands for a sanctuary campus to the University of Utah administration, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) sat in and shut down their office on March 8.

Chicago, IL – Over 1000 people gathered at the headquarters of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) to celebrate International Women’s Day, March 8. Speakers from CTU, Fight For 15, the teachers union at the Charter School Aspira, AFSCME and other unions shared the stage with Rasmea Odeh, along with Filipino, Iranian and undocumented immigrant women.

The U.S. has a long history of women rising up against their bosses and demanding economic justice. The first industrial strike in the U.S. was in May 1824, when 102 women workers in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, left their looms after the mill’s owners announced a wage cut. They refused to return to their stations and, instead, gathered the rest of the workers (including children) and took to the streets. They marched to the factory owner’s house while throwing rocks and shouting obscenities. Before the strike ended, the protests affected factories in eight nearby towns. The workers only returned when the factory owners reinstated their wages.

Minneapolis, MN – President Donald Trump signed a revised Muslim ban executive order March 5. The Minnesota Anti-War Committee will hold a protest at 4:30 p.m. at the U.S. Federal Courts Building (300 S 4th St, Minneapolis) on Thursday, March 16, the day the executive order will be put into effect.

St. Paul, MN – Pro-Trump supporters came to the MN state capitol, March 4, for their “March 4 Trump” rally, while protesters showed up to oppose the Trump regime and to shut down the rally. The counter protest was organized by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Minnesota. They were joined by other citywide groups and Twin Cities residents to unite against the Trump rally under the slogan “Make Racists Afraid Again.”

On Feb. 22, students voted to make Florida State University (FSU) a sanctuary campus by a vote of 67%. The referendum vote was part of the Spring 2017 Student Government Association elections at FSU.

On Feb. 9, during the swearing-in ceremony for new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump signed three executive orders concerning policing. The orders were said to be directed at public safety but in fact could have a devastating impact on Black and brown communities.

Tampa, FL – On Tuesday, Feb 14, more than 20 students at the University of South Florida (USF) gathered to demand that the administration bring Iranian student Mehdi Zeyghami home. The rally, which began at 12 noon, marked the beginning of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society’s (SDS) new campaign: “Sanctuary for All.”

On Feb. 18, more than 2500 people gathered in Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis to protest President Trump’s recent executive orders against immigrants. The MN Anti-War Committee and the No More Deportations campaign co-sponsored the rally which was followed by a community march to show solidarity with the immigrants and refugees targeted by President Trump’s executive orders.

With less than a day’s notice, 30 people gathered at the historic Mariachi Plaza, Feb. 16, rallying in support of the undocumented on “A Day Without Immigrants.”

On Feb. 15 protesters gathered on the corner of 5th and 57th, across the street from Trump Towers. The protest was called because earlier that day President Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had just finished meeting in Washington DC, where they colluded against the Palestinians.

On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the removal of 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent from the West Coast of the U.S. to concentration camps. Despite not a single case of espionage by Japanese Americans, they were removed en masse by a combination of what has been called “war hysteria, racial prejudice, and a failure of political leadership” under the guise of national security.

3 arrests, cops use pepper spray

Tucson, AZ – At the federal building in downtown Tucson around 150 people displayed their anger at Trump’s recent ICE raids, Feb.16. The raids targeted hard-working undocumented immigrants, including a mother in Phoenix.

The Trump administration has been discussing a proposal to mobilize up to 100,000 National Guard troops in the four states bordering Mexico (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas) as well as seven more bordering these states (Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana). The National Guard would be used for a massive round-up and deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants, which Trump has pledged to do. The round-up would be based on Trump’s Jan. 25 executive order, which expands to the target of deportations to virtually at least eight of the 11 million undocumented.