Pro-immigrant organizers in Los Angeles and other cities are urging students, workers and families to participate this weekend in nationwide May Day demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
For Friday, May 1, more than 3,000 demonstrations are planned under the slogan “A day without immigrants” throughout the country, which join the demonstrations on International Workers’ Day.
Activists and organizers from the Center for Autonomous Social Action (CASA) called on people to reject the Trump Administration’s immigration policy and demand the abolition of ICE in a press conference held on Wednesday.
The mobilization includes a call not to attend jobs and to avoid purchases from large corporations, as a protest against the treatment of Latino communities in Immigration detention centers.
“What the Donald Trump Administration has done to immigrants since taking over executive power last year is nothing short of an abomination,” said Gloria Lerma, a small business owner and member of CASA. “Latinos, immigrants and American citizens are workers and consumers. Those two facts define our power. Therefore, the time has come for our work and our purchasing power to speak for us.”
“We call on our entire community to participate in broad and effective boycotts throughout the country in order to protect our human, legal and constitutional rights,” Lerma concluded.
CASA gathered outside the mural of the Virgin of Guadalupe, located at the Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles Catholic Church, to make their call. They are one of many organizations that have held press conferences and meetings this week to inform the community about how to participate in the demonstrations.
Activist musician Jesús Chuy Pérez calmed the small group with fighting songs to encourage people to join the boycott.
The organizing coalition also reminded the community that, although the joke is not to buy anything on May 1, 2 and 3, that is for large corporations, not for small business owners and they took the opportunity to make reference to those they can support, such as the merchants of Placita Olvera, who were right in front of the place where the press conference was held.
“We have suffered a lot, many of us; in fact, we are already thinking about what we are going to do when we have to close completely,” said an owner of one of the stalls in La Placita Olvera; He preferred not to share his name. “We support the demonstrations, the boycotts because we know that what is happening with immigration is wrong, we are all suffering, look how empty it is right now.”
“Do what has to be done, but please come and support our businesses, because there are many of us who are about to disappear,” he concluded as he began to close his stall.
This year’s theme for the demonstrations is “Only the people paralyze everything: no work, no school, no shopping”, commemorating the 20th anniversary of “The Great March” of 2006, considered one of the largest public demonstrations in the history of the United States and which took place in Los Angeles.
The organizers explained that this action seeks to make visible the working conditions that they consider unfair. Commenting that these companies have accumulated profits at the expense of low wages, unsafe conditions and the exploitation of workers, especially immigrants, who lack basic benefits. Many of whom have also suffered wage theft and whose employers threaten to call ICE.
“These companies are making enormous profits at the expense of immeasurable pain and suffering for countless families in Southern California and across the country,” said Laura Valdez, a member of VC Defensa, a community organization operating in Ventura County. “This illegal and un-American behavior by the Government is unacceptable to all law-abiding citizens and taxpayers of the United States.”
There are several demonstrations planned for May 1, starting with the Los Angeles May Day Coalition, which will begin at 10 a.m. in MacArthur Park. There will be another one in Mariachi Plaza, starting at 3 p.m., with presentations, crafts, music and food. And in other cities, such as Santa Ana, a demonstration is planned at the Murky Panther Park (Sasser Park) at 3:30 in the afternoon.
“The people united will never be defeated, that is not just a slogan, it is a reality; let us all unite, Latinos, blacks, Asians, indigenous people and whites, here and now, to retain our enormous purchasing power and send a message to the White House that we want them to end their deportation campaign now,” said Bill Gallegos, Chicano activist and author.
For the complete calendar visit: https://maydaystrong.org/
