Several hundred demonstrators gathered along Richmond’s 23rd Street Sunday afternoon, braving rainy conditions to stand in solidarity with the city’s undocumented community.
The march was organized by local high school and university students in response to increased immigration enforcement ordered by the Trump Administration. Marchers had planned to walk on the sidewalks, but so many people showed up they spilled onto the street.
The Richmond demonstration was just one of many that took place around the country on Sunday. In both Houston and Los Angeles, thousands of protestors took to the streets to protest Pres. Trump’s immigration policy.
Ivonne Hernandez, a UC Berkeley student and one of the event’s organizers, thanked the demonstrators for showing up despite the weather.
“Many of us growing up heard our family telling us they would move mountains and cross deserts but what many of us don’t realize is that a lot of them actually did,” she said. “I want the immigrant community to know we cherish, admire and acknowledge the strength, courage and drive that has carried you to where you are today.”
In the days since his inauguration, Trump has moved quickly to reshape immigration policy through executive action. His orders include a freeze on refugee admissions, penalties for sanctuary cities that don’t fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities, and an effort to reexamine birthright citizenship, athough several of these measures face court challenges.
Immigration enforcement has already intensified, with the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials conducting more frequent arrests. Trump’s comments about potentially using Guantánamo Bay as a migrant detention facility have caused widespread concern in immigrant communities.
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“I want the immigrant community to know we cherish, admire and acknowledge the strength, courage and drive that has carried you to where you are today.”
— Ivonne Hernandez
Both Richmond and John F. Kennedy high schools have large Latino student populations. Kennedy High has a student population that is 75% Latino, 16% Black, 4% Asian and less than 2% other ethnicities. Richmond High’s student population is 89% Latino, 4% Black, and 2% or less of other ethnicities, according to West Contra Costa Unified School District statistics.
Demonstrators first met at Richmond High School around 12:30 p.m. where a number of students spoke and led chants before marching south toward Barrett Avenue. Richmond’s 23rd Street corridor represents the heart of Richmond and San Pablo’s immigrant business community, many of them Latino-owned.
Julissa Blandon, a Kennedy High senior who helped organize the event, said that the idea for the demonstration was due to a “shared hurt” over possible deportations of loved ones.
Blandon added Richmond youths will stand in support of their undocumented family and community members.
“To all of you who are scared and who feel no one hears them, there’s a voice louder than anyone and it’s our youth,” she said. “We are done standing on the side and watching. We will not allow these injustices to pass. We have done nothing but work hard and earn everything we have.”
Richmond city officials surprised by number of attendees
The city of Richmond has for a number of years implemented policies to protect its immigrant residents, such as reducing cooperation with ICE and shifting away from police practices that disproportionately affect undocumented individuals. Those initiatives included a 2009 decision by Richmond police to discontinue routine driver’s license checkpoints, as well as a 2018 measure preventing the city from contracting with businesses that share information with federal immigration agencies.
Mayor Eduardo Martinez, who spoke at the rally, told Richmondside that the city is still looking at possible ways to expand legal protections to Richmond’s undocumented community. One of the ways, he said, may be to reconsider a recent council decision to approve a contract between Richmond police and Flock Security — a license plate reading system.
“I trust that our police department will do the right thing,” he said. “Flock, however, is based out of Georgia so they are not bound by the same limitations as we are here in California.”
District 2 council member Cesar Zepeda fought back tears as he observed the demonstration and said that he had to call Richmond police to bring additional officers after more people than expected showed up to the march and joined in as it was happening.
“This is very empowering. This is the power of the people. They were expecting only 100 people on the sidewalk,” Zepeda said. “It’s great. It’s the people fighting back.”
Zepeda said that demonstrations like Sunday’s can ease the community and dispel tensions among the most vulnerable residents who might want to stay isolated due to fear.
“We need to change the perception. I know that it is very scary and I speak from a different lens,” he said. “But I am hoping I can share that I’m going to be here for my community. If there’s anything we can do to keep them safe, we are going to do it.”
Zepeda also added that, although there has been no specific legal options decided on by the council currently, he hopes that whatever is done can protect undocumented residents without incurring the wrath of Trump.
The Richmond Police Department, in a Saturday Nextdoor post, said it understands that some people are fearful due to their immigration status and that the department is committed to upholding Richmond’s Sanctuary City status.
“We will never question a persons (sic) immigration status, and we do not detain individuals for civil immigration violations. We DO NOT participate in ICE raids or assist in federal immigration enforcement. We want victims and witnesses of crime to be able to come forward without fear that we will question their immigration status. We are here to protect, not enforce immigration laws,” said the post by Lt. Donald Patchin.
For demonstrators, Sunday’s march also was an opportunity to encourage undocumented residents to participate in “A Day Without Immigrants” — a national strike of the immigrant community planned for Monday.
Yaquelin Valencia, a Kennedy High School coach and local youth organizer with Faith in Action, encouraged attendees to stay home from work Monday and to not send their children to school.
“The point is for them to not see us,” she said. “Tomorrow we need to show them we are going to stop (working) so we can affect the economy of this country.”
