This isn’t exactly political. You have been advised (ha). It’s kind of embarrassing to realize that you forgot about something, and it’s too late to join in. People are protesting across the United States in honor of those who have been killed by ICE. ICE Out has become quite a ‘battle cry’ for all of us. They are getting worse and worse. ICE and CBP do what they please. The vast majority of the time, we can’t do much. But we’ll keep those names of the ones who have been lost in our memories, and we will push ICE Out, one way or another. From National Shutdown’s website, via, and with appreciation to, Raw Story:
Popular outrage over President Donald Trump’s deadly campaign targeting immigrants and their defenders sparked a National Shutdown day of protests across the United States on Friday, as people from coast to coast took to the streets demanding an end to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “reign of terror.” “No school, no work, and no shopping,” the National Shutdown said on its website. “The entire country is shocked and outraged at the brutal killings of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, Silverio Villegas González, and Keith Porter Jr. by federal agents.” “While Trump and other right-wing politicians are slandering them as ‘terrorists,’ the video evidence makes it clear beyond all doubt: They were gunned down in broad daylight simply for exercising their First Amendment right to protest mass deportation,” the campaign continued.
Kudos to all who protested yesterday, no matter how big or small. We need to take our country back, and we will do so one step at a time. We might not be able to do anything about Trump yet, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing else to be done. There’s plenty. We can watch ICE in our neighborhoods and remember to always, always have our phones ready to record. We can stand along a street with a placard. There are myriad possibilities – which one could you do? No public answer is needed. Just do what you can do against these moronic thugs.
“Every day, ICE, Border Patrol, and other enforcers of Trump’s racist agenda are going into our communities to kidnap our neighbors and sow fear,” the protest organizers added. “It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough!” One week after an estimated 50,000 protesters marched in downtown Minneapolis for the “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom” rally, at least tens of thousands of people braved subzero wind chill temperatures to protest the ongoing Operation Metro Surge blitz in the Twin Cities. Rock icon Bruce Springsteen—who this week released a song called “Streets of Minneapolis” to pay tribute to activists fighting Trump’s assault on immigrants and American democracy—made a surprise appearance at a benefit concert for the families of Good and Pretti.
So, it’s people of all ages, shapes, nationalities, and more who are fighting back. It doesn’t matter if you are one of us or someone on the level of Mr. Springsteen. We do what we can, when we can. That’s what’s important. Trying is important. ICE Out.
Maine Public Radio reported that over 150 businesses, mostly in the Portland area, closed their doors Friday amid Operation Catch of the Day, during which ICE enforcers have arrested hundreds of people in the Pine Tree State. “Today, the working class of Portland has sent a clear message to those in power: Your power is derived from our labor, and we are not afraid to withhold our labor for the safety of our neighbors,” South Portland retail worker Keeli Parker told MPR.
Three hundred miles southwest of Salt Lake City in St. George, Utah, dozens of demonstrators rallied in the city center, holding signs reading, “ICE Out” and “the wrong ICE is melting.” //// Kelia Harold, a senior at the University of Florida in Gainesville, rallied on campus with around 100 other students. “Instead of sitting on my own and being helpless, it really helps to come out here,” she told the New York Times, noting Pretti’s killing. “If that could happen to him,” she said, “I don’t see why it couldn’t happen to anyone else.”
Bingo! It *could* happen to anyone, any time, anywhere. This is why we protest. This is why we speak up. This is why we make it clear to ICE, CBP, and the administration that we have voices and know how to use them. There are laws, and they need to be followed. That includes ICE. Laws are there for a reason. Laws are there to be obeyed. They cannot go around roughing up and disappearing everyone. They are *not* free to do what they want. And we are telling them so. ICE. Out.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise that among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
