In the midst of a heat wave, activists opposing ICE march through DC
Hundreds of community leaders, activists and immigrants joined together in Columbia Heights last Saturday to rally against raids in DC a week earlier by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The event was organized primarily by Sanctuary DMV, but several local advocacy groups — ranging from the Justice for Muslims Collective to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — braved blistering heat to show their support.
“We’re organized,” said Claudia Quinonez, a field manager for youth-focused immigrant group United We Dream. “And we’re going to do everything in our hands to make sure that no one is taken from their community and from their homes.”
After listening to speakers and music, the protesters marched to Adams Morgan under the careful watch of DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, which blocked traffic to clear their path.
The June 22 ICE raids, in which at least two people were detained, took place in Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan. They came roughly one year after similar raids saw 12 District residents detained.
President Donald Trump had recently promised that a series of ICE raids planned for June 22 in 10 major cities — including Baltimore and New York, but not DC — would deport some 2,000 families. Trump later announced a two-week delay and said the ICE operation would occur sometime after the July 4 holiday weekend.
“People are tired of sanctuary cities and what it does and the crime it brings,” Trump told reporters on the morning before the June 22 raids in DC. Trump was speaking to reporters on the south lawn of the White House before heading to Camp David.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has declared DC a “sanctuary city” and reiterated that status after Trump’s initial announcement of the raids, but many at Saturday’s rally drew a direct line between Trump’s threats and the recent ICE activity in Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan.
“After the president tweeted the raids were suspended, ICE was in our neighborhoods!” Mary Small, a volunteer with Sanctuary DMV, told the crowd.
According to reports received by Sanctuary DMV, ICE agents visited several businesses in Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights and asked probing questions. Representatives from United We Dream said the two people detained as a result of the raids were taken from an apartment.
Several speakers explicity accused MPD of collaborating with ICE to target undocumented DC residents. If true, such action would undermine DC’s sanctuary status. Broadly defined, a sanctuary city is one in which local law enforcement limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities in order to prevent deportations of undocumented immigrants who have not committed serious crimes.
MPD, in a tweet before the raids were scheduled to take place, said it “will not enforce civil immigration laws, which only create a strong divide between the police & community members.” The tweet added: “MPD officers are prohibited from asking about residency/immigration status.”
At the rally, Susana Durán of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of DC called on Mayor Bowser and the DC Council to halt any cooperation between MPD and ICE and end the DC Department of Corrections policy of alerting ICE to undocumented immigrants in its facilities before they are released. (Though the DOC does not hold undocumented people for ICE, they do notify the agency before releasing individuals with ICE detainers lodged against them.)
“If there is no justice for the people, let there be no peace for the government!” Duran said, prompting thunderous applause from attendees.
Ward 1 DC Council member Brianne Nadeau told the crowd that “not everyone in this government has gotten the message. Not everyone understands there are consequences for working with ICE.” She went on to lead demonstrators in an “Abolish ICE” chant.
Nadeau — the only DC official to participate in the rally — was instrumental in the council’s creation of a fund for helping undocumented immigrants access legal services. She also introduced legislation that passed unanimously in December 2016 condemning ICE’s targeting of Central American families in DC and the expected increase in enforcement action once the Trump administration took office.
Soon after Nadeau finished speaking, the demonstrators took to the streets, marching southwest toward Adams Morgan. Several MPD vehicles tracked the march as it snaked its way down the middle of the road, with officers temporarily shutting down traffic. A handful of detractors shouted insults at the protesters, but more people showed their support; most of the onlookers just watched or recorded the marchers on their phones.
The march passed directly in front of Sarbin Towers, one of the apartment buildings from which immigrants were detained in last year’s ICE raids.
As the protesters marched, a trio of activists worked quickly to affix fliers displaying the number for an immigration emergency hotline to lampposts. The fliers implore undocumented people to leave their doors closed and to remain silent if ICE comes to their homes.
“Ice-sta la vista!” shouted onlooker Frances Blackman as the march passed the CVS where she works as a security guard.
“They need to do this more often,” Blackman said in an interview. “I’ve never seen a protest about deportation to be honest, but I don’t feel like a lot of people address it that often. … I feel like you should just be [made] a citizen because you’re working hard. You work hard for the government! We pay for all these programs! And they want to separate people from their families.”
The march came to a stop at the intersection of 18th Street and Columbia Road NW in Adams Morgan, where demonstrators blocked traffic and played more music before finally dispersing nearly three hours after the event kicked off.
Protester Ingrid Vaca, an undocumented immigrant, sat down to rest as the second phase of the rally died down. The recent raids have made her fearful about going to work cleaning houses and babysitting. She told The DC Line that, based on what she heard from community members, she believes MPD worked with ICE.
“Why do they have to chase me?” Vaca said. “I’m not a rat. I’m not an animal. I pay my taxes. I build this country. My kids build this country.”
Vaca said her children are 23 and 25. They came to the United States when they were 5 and 7 and benefit from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA provides protections to immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, allowing them to hold jobs without fear of deportation. The Trump Justice Department announced an end to the program in 2017, sparking a series of legal challenges. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case this fall.
Meanwhile, activists worry about the prospect of more arrests and deportations. According to Ben Beachy, a member of Sanctuary DMV and one of the rally’s organizers, raids like those that occurred last month aren’t abnormal in DC, despite its sanctuary city status.
“The reality is that ICE is coming into our community regularly and trying to tear our community apart,” Beachy said. “The basic message today is that ICE is not welcome in DC. To make that message real, we need our elected officials to sever all ties with ICE.”
The level of idiocy here is unbelievable. You even quote an ILLEGAL ALIEN who says she “pays her taxes”. Baloney.
DEPORT THEM ALL. Maybe liberals will one day understand that their spinelessness has caused this issue. ENFORCE OUR LAWS.
Time to stop all federal funds to “sanctuary cities”.