May Day rallies slam Trump immigration bid

REMINDER Protesters at Dupont Circle in Washington and across America send their message to US President Donald Trump in this placard. —AFP

NEW YORK—Thousands of people from New England to the Midwest to the West Coast chanted, picketed and protested on Monday as demonstrations raged against US President Donald Trump’s immigration policies along with the traditional May Day marching in favor of labor.

Protesters flooded streets in Chicago. At the White House gates, they demanded “Donald Trump has got to go!”

In Oakland, California, more than 1,000 people marched peacefully representing labor groups along with Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino and other immigrants. At least four were arrested after creating a human chain to block a county building where demonstrators demanded that county law enforcement refuse to collaborate with federal immigration agents.

And in Portland, Oregon, police shut down a protest they said had become a riot, as marchers began throwing smoke bombs and other items at officers. At least three people were arrested and police urged the rest of the protesters, who included families with young children, to clear out after they pulled the permit for the march.

Despite the West Coast clashes, most nationwide protests were peaceful as immigrants, union members and their allies staged a series of strikes, boycotts and marches to highlight the contributions of immigrants in the United States.

“It is sad to see that now being an immigrant is equivalent to almost being a criminal,” said Mary Quezada, a 58-year-old North Carolina woman who joined those marching on Washington.

She offered a pointed message to Trump: “Stop bullying immigrants.”

The demonstrations on May 1, celebrated as International Worker’s Day, follow similar actions worldwide in which protesters from the Philippines to Paris demanded better working conditions.

But the widespread protests in the United States were aimed directly at the new Republican president, who has followed aggressive anti-immigrant rhetoric on the campaign trail with aggressive action in the White House.

Trump, in his first 100 days, has intensified immigration enforcement, including executive orders for a wall along the US-Mexico border and a ban on travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries.

Illegal immigrants

The government has arrested thousands of immigrants in the country illegally and threatened to withhold funding from jurisdictions that limit cooperation between local and federal immigration authorities.

In Chicago, 28-year-old Brenda Burciaga was among thousands of people who marched through the streets to push back against the new administration.

“Everyone deserves dignity,” said Burciaga, whose mother is set to be deported after living in the United States for about 20 years. “I hope at least they listen. We are hardworking people.”

In cities large and small, the protests intensified throughout the day.

Teachers working without contracts opened the day by picketing outside schools in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Activists in Phoenix petitioned state legislators to support immigrant families.

In a Los Angeles park, several thousand people waved American flags and signs reading “love not hate.”

Selvin Martinez, an immigrant from Honduras with an American flag draped around his shoulders, took the day off from his job waxing casino floors to protest.

“We hope to get to be respected as people, because we are not animals, we are human beings,” said Martinez, who moved to Los Angeles 14 years ago fleeing violence in his country. —AP