February 16 In cities and towns across the country protests were held and countless businesses closed as immigrants stayed home from work and school in protest of Trump’s threats and attacks on immigrants. An activist associated with Refuse Fascism interviewed a woman who helped pull together the “Day Without Immigrants” protest in Milwaukee on February 13. Below are excerpts from that interview.
“This is a disastrous program … what it does it trains sheriffs to perform duties of immigration agents…. It’s a disastrous thing not just for the person who is being deported but for their families, and for the teachers in their schools that are now dealing with this kid that is crying everyday cause they don’t see their dad anymore, its all of these things. … [Trump] signed an executive order … everyone is fair game. That’s huge, that’s a really, really scary thing. So today’s march is to protest not just (Milwaukee Sheriff) Clarke , but what he represents … When we think of mass deportation,Trump talking about it on the campaign trail, you think of all these buses and this huge operation … laying down the ground work for something that could have devastating effects on the immigrant community.”
News video of Albuquerque Day Without Immigrants