Hundreds Rally in DC in Support of Immigrant Rights

“We are here because you are there,” hundreds chanted in front of the White House on Saturday afternoon. The phrase, a grim reminder of the United States government’s legacy of violent interventions abroad, called attention to the root causes of migration from Latin America and other parts of the world.

“We are here because you are there.”

The chant followed a lengthy overview of US foreign policies that have, over several decades, left societies around the world unstable, economically devastated, and, in some cases, literally in ruins. Millions of people dead, displaced, and suffering.

“From 1980 to 1992,” an activist read into a microphone, “during the Salvadoran Civil War, the US gave financial support to successive military governments. The war caused 75,000 deaths and saw 8,000 people disappeared.”

After another activist took the microphone.

“Since 2001, in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, the War on Terror has resulted in the slaughter of at least 2 million individuals andcounting. The War on Terror continues to destabilize countries, prop military puppet regimes and monarchies that are friendly toward American empire.”

This segment of the rally included a somber memorial for the world’s victims of US imperialism. Participants placed colorful flowers atop a map of the United States.

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The rally was held amid renewed federal efforts to raid and deport undocumented immigrants on a mass scale. Just over a week ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deported 131 Guatemalans after a series of raids. The Department of Homeland security is currently planning similar operations, though on a much larger scale.

It was in response to these aggressive policies that immigrant rights activists gathered in Washington, DC on Saturday. While the activists’ various demands, read aloud through a PA system, extended to issues such as Palestinian rights and ending police violence in Black communities, the central focus was immigration. Those at the rally repeatedly called for an “immediate end” to raids and deportations. Colorful signs and banners reiterated the demand and addressed the grievous impact that raids and deportations have on families and communities across the country.

The event, which lasted about two hours, concluded with one activist leading the rally in a Lakota prayer for peace.