A "raid-free zone in Providence" was the stated goal of 30 protestors who gathered in front of Providence's Immigration and Customs Enforcement office yesterday. The protest - which lasted about an hour and a half - was organized in response to a raid last week on a New Bedford, Mass., leather manufacturing factory, resulting in more than 300 workers being detained to confirm their immigration status.
Most of the protestors were students, though some community activists and concerned families were present. Rep. David Segal, D-Dist. 2, was also in attendance.
The protestors gathered in a circle directly in front of the doors of the ICE office and chanted and sang in English and Spanish. Many also held signs with messages such as "Stop the Raids!," "No Human is Illegal," "ICE Raids are Terrorism" and "Mobilize Union Power to Stop the ICE Gestapo."
Many community organizations endorsed the protest, including Jobs with Justice, English for Action, the Olneyville Neighborhood Association and the International Socialist Organization. Several student groups also came out to support the protest, including members of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Atzlan, the Latin-American Students Organization and the Student Labor Alliance.
Several leaders addressed the crowd through a megaphone, calling for amnesty for illegal immigrants and for Providence to be a "raid-free zone."
SLA member Will Emmons '09 called the group's endorsement of the protest "tactical and moral." Emmons said pro-labor groups such as SLA "can't support any worker without supporting all workers."
Segal told The Herald he attended the protest because he believes "we shouldn't be deporting immigrants who are mothers of small children." Segal said the protest will raise public awareness about the issue but may not have any legal ramifications.
"The people who perpetrated the raid are not terribly accountable to anyone," he said. "One has to do something."
About halfway through the protest, a man charged the protestors' circle, obtained a megaphone and attempted to shout down the protestors, according to Emmons. Protestors from the ISO quickly took the megaphone back and called the man a racist, Emmons said.
Renae Chaves, a Providence resident who brought her children to the protest, said she hoped the protest would call attention to the "dire situation" in New Bedford. "I am a breast-feeding mother," she said. "For nursing children to be taken away from their mothers is unacceptable."
MECdA and LASO members Vivian Garcia '10 and Agnes Barrios '09 said they attended the protest to draw attention to the New Bedford incident.
Garcia said she wanted government officials to "see that there are a lot of people disturbed" by what happened. Barrios said she hoped the protest would help solicit donations of clothing and food for "children left without families."
Some of the protestors are coordinating donations of canned food, bottled water and baby products for families affected by the New Bedford raid, to be left at the entrance of Norwood House, which houses the Department of American Civilization, and the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.
