According to Chicago Tribune, protesters gathered Saturday
to support immigrant rights at rallies around the U.S., denouncing
President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric and his pledges to
build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and to crack down on Muslims entering
the country.
"We are not going to allow Donald Trump to bury the
Statue of Liberty," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told a
standing-room-only crowd at historic African-American church in downtown
Washington during one of dozens of rallies around the nation.
In Chicago, more than 1,000 people poured into a teachers'
union hall to support immigrant rights and implore one another to fight for
those rights against what they fear will be a hostile Trump administration.
Ron Taylor, pastor of Chicago-area Disciples for Christ
Church and executive director of the United Congress of Community and Religious
Organizations, told the audience there, "Regardless of what happens in the
coming days we know that good will conquer evil and we want to say to each and
every one of you, you are not alone."
In Los Angeles, several hundred people rallied at a downtown
Mexican-American cultural center and plaza. Some carried signs saying
"Here to Stay" and chanted "Si se puede," Spanish for
"Yes, we can."
The protests mark the latest chapter in a movement that has
evolved since 2006, when more than a million people took to the streets to
protest a Republican-backed immigration bill that would have made it a crime to
be in the country illegally.
Saturday's events in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San
Jose, California, and elsewhere took place as thousands participated in a
"We Shall Not Be Moved" march and rally in Washington ahead of
Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
The line to enter Metropolitan AME Church in Washington
stretched nearly a city block. People attending included immigrants who lack
permission to be in the country and their relatives and supporters. Also
present were elected officials, clergy and representatives of labor and women's
groups.
Participants carried signs with messages including
"Resist Trump's Hate" and "Tu, Yo, Todos Somos America,"
which translates to "You, me, we all are America."
"I stand here because...... Read more here
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