Hundreds of individuals braved single-digit temperatures to assemble in downtown Chicago in opposition to President Donald Trump and his agenda because the forty seventh president was sworn in Monday.
Supporting quite a lot of causes together with immigrant rights, help for Palestinians, and safety of ladies’s reproductive rights and LGBTQIA rights, they gathered at Federal Plaza within the Loop to show, then set off to march to Trump Tower throughout the river.
The demonstrators carried posters studying “Free Palestine now!”, “Stop the Trump agenda”, “Immigrant rights and legalization for all” and referred to as for an finish to “police crimes”. They chanted “Donald Trump, you racist clown, individuals will convey you down” and “No hate, no concern, immigrants are welcome right here.”
The rally was supported by a broad coalition of dozens of organizations, starting from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression to the Chicago Teachers Union, the United States Palestinian Community Network and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrants’ Rights and refugees. Amid experiences that Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids would start Tuesday in Chicago, the place Trump’s border czar appeared to backtrack after the information, representatives of the teams stated they have been united in defending their causes within the face of Trump’s dedication to accentuate repression. .”
A sister march in Streeterville was additionally supposed to start Monday however was postponed as a consequence of chilly temperatures.
The rally and march that came about at Federal Plaza marked the start of Trump’s second presidential time period, eight years after the native Women’s March flooded downtown with an estimated quarter of 1,000,000 protesters and introduced Grant Park to most capability. The 2017 Women’s March in Chicago, on an unusually delicate day, was one in every of lots of worldwide that day.
This 12 months, in Chicago, the smaller demonstration marked the start of “the battle in opposition to this incoming racist and fascist regime,” Muhammad Sankari, lead organizer of the Arab American Action Network, stated at a information convention earlier than the rally .
“We all keep in mind what the primary Trump administration seemed like,” he stated. “We keep in mind the racist assaults in opposition to so many communities, from the Arab Muslim neighborhood to the Black neighborhood, to the Latino neighborhood, to so many different immigrant communities and communities right here at dwelling.”
Chicago Teachers Union consultant Diane Castro stated that in response to Project 2025, thought of the Republican playbook for the brand new presidential administration, the academics union is looking for to strengthen protections for the LGBTQIA neighborhood, secure colleges and lodging.
“No youngster is a legal,” he stated, talking on the pre-rally press convention.
Highlighting considerations about what the Trump administration may imply for immigrants, the Hana Center, a company targeted on Korean, Asian Americans and different multi-ethnic communities, used Monday’s occasion to announce a brand new rights app of immigrants that the group launched on inauguration day. The app reads an individual’s rights aloud to legislation enforcement or ICE agent and may ship a message to an emergency contact, amongst different assets, stated Executive Director Danae Kovac.
“A giant a part of our battle is to make sure that our immigrant communities know our rights and are geared up to train them in each scenario, wherever we’re,” he stated.
Faayani Aboma Mijana of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression vowed at Monday’s press convention to battle to “cease police crimes,” free unjustly incarcerated individuals and cease mass deportations, pledging solidarity with immigrants .
“We acknowledge that Trump is the symptom of a decaying system and we refuse to let him go,” they stated. “We will battle in opposition to this. Black individuals on this nation haven’t forgotten what the primary Trump presidency gave us. It has introduced us additional financial degradation, intensified police repression, and additional mass incarceration of our communities.”
Days earlier than the rally, some organizers of the postponed Sisters’ March had portrayed the occasion as a repudiation of each events. Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, denounced each Democratic and Republican insurance policies on immigration and Gaza at a information convention final week, a view reiterated by some at Monday’s rally. Although a ceasefire settlement has been reached between Israel and Hamas, some organizers have stated their protection of the Palestinians will proceed.
“This is a march in opposition to each events, not simply Donald Trump,” Thayer stated.
At the time, the organizers additionally spoke out in opposition to Trump’s plans for mass deportation.
“We wish to make it extremely clear to the neighborhood, to Latin America and past, that they don’t seem to be alone,” activist Rafael Cervantes stated by way of a Spanish translator ultimately week’s press convention. He added that “a lot of the issues that migrants are scapegoated for,” akin to financial instability, are “unfounded” and “unsubstantiated.”
“These are our neighbors, each socially and on this planet of labor,” Cervantes stated. “We reject the message of division whereas the fact is of peace.”
Carolyn Stein contributed.
