Hundreds gathered Saturday in Aurora’s snow-covered Fletcher Plaza to voice their opposition to mass deportations and other policy proposals championed by President Donald Trump.
Addressing the crowd near Colfax Avenue — where some passing drivers honked and shouted in support of the group — speakers from progressive activist groups urged participants to support Aurora’s immigrant community and oppose federal enforcement actions.
“We’ve all heard Trump’s rhetoric – the xenophobia, the racism, the misogyny, the transphobia and the absolute disgust for marginalized people around the world,” Kat Draken of the Freedom Road Socialist organization told the crowd.
“We’re not just going to sit around and do nothing for the next four years. We are going to continue to resist. We will stay on the streets. We’re going to do everything we can to make the US ungovernable. And as we do this, we’re going to build the people’s organizations. “
Often cited as Colorado’s most diverse city, Aurora was catapulted into the national spotlight last year when Trump cited Venezuelan mob activity at a troubled apartment complex as evidence of the Biden administration’s failure to secure the country’s southern border .
Tenants of the complex – Edge of Lowry, where the crowds marched after leaving the square – had long complained of neglect by the property’s owner. Aurora has since moved to close the apartments, which a municipal judge ordered shuttered Feb. 18.
While the full scope of Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants remains unclear, he last year dubbed the effort “Operation Aurora,” sparking fears of family separations among locals.
Daniel Rea, an Aurora resident whose family emigrated from Mexico, said the threat of children being taken from their parents in particular prompted him and others to brave the winter weather on Saturday.
“With everything (Trump) has gotten away with, it’s time for us to speak up,” he said. “We can’t let this continue and get worse.”
Another participant, Ash Navarro, described her frustrations as a social worker describing an increase in anti-immigrant sentiment and the risk of government funding drying up for her clients.
“In recent years I have become angrier and angrier. Growing up, I was always told by my parents and my family that this should be the promised land, and you should have big dreams, and I ended up becoming a social worker to continue fighting for my family,” she said.
“As time has passed and I have gotten older, I have noticed that our community has changed.”
Participants in Saturday’s rally came from across the state, with activist organizations from as far away as Colorado Springs setting up booths.
Maria Jimenez of the Denver-based Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition was one of a dozen speakers — she described her experience being deported from the United States in the aftermath of a traffic stop, which separated her from her children for five years.
“It was humiliating and very difficult for me and my family. There were sleepless nights of crying. I could barely sleep thinking about my kids,” Jimenez said through an interpreter. “I thought about things like, ‘Have they eaten? Are they okay?'”
Since returning to the U.S. with the help of advocacy groups, she said she recognized the importance of immigrants standing together to oppose policies that divide families.
“We must continue to fight so that they do not continue to separate our families and our communities,” Jimenez said. “Together we will struggle to change the narrative that is about us. …We are the migrants. We are the economy. We are the workforce. “
In addition to the president’s stance on immigration, speakers also expressed opposition to U.S. support for Israel’s military intervention in the Gaza Strip and conservative positions on LBGTQ+ issues and other topics expressed by Trump and his allies.
“When we say our struggles are connected … we don’t mean it abstractly,” said Katie Leonard of the party’s Denver Chapter of Socialism and Liberation, who helped organize the rally. “The same people who send billions of dollars to kill people in Palestine are the same people who are willing to spend endless amounts of money to deport people here.”
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