Hundreds gathered in front of the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines on Saturday to support immigrants and express their opposition to newly inaugurated President Donald Trump’s vow of mass deportations.
“We are standing together with people all across the country the attacks against immigrants,” Jessica Brown of the Party for Socialism and Liberation of Iowa told the crowd. “How many immigrants do we know that have been forced out of their home countries because the billionaires have overturned their governments?
“And now those same billionaires try to convince us that immigrants, people who are friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, are the ones that are criminals,” Brown said. “But we know that it is the billionaires who are the real criminals.”
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Another member of the group, Aya Salem, added that “we are here today as part of a national movement to say that immigrants will not be the point that our family deported, that our families will stay together, and that the Trump agenda will not pass across the entire country. This time, we know what a Trump administration looks like.”
Scattered throughout the crowd were handmade signs emblazoned with phrases like “NO ONE IS ILLEGAL ON STOLEN LAND” and “YOUR VOTE WAS A HATE CRIME.”
CBS News reported a similar rally occurred Saturday in downtown Chicago. Originally planned for Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, it had been delayed because of bitterly cold weather.
Julietta Coronel of Ottumwa, originally from California and with roots in Jalisco and Guanajuato, Mexico, came to the rally with a handmade sign that said “Proud daughter of immigrants who’s strong labor makes America great.”
Julietta Coronel, far right, stands with a sign during Saturday’s rally at the Iowa Capitol.
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“I am here for my family. I am here for my husband, my parents, my friends, my community, my people,” Coronel told the Register. “I’m really proud of who I come from, and I’m really thankful for all the sacrifices so that we can be here and live a privileged, privileged life. And you know, get a shot at the American dream.”
“Immigrants make America great,” she said.
Speakers at the rally said Trump’s plans will put agriculture, the economy and democracy at risk.
“We need to claim all of the immigrants in this country as our family, our children, our fathers, our mothers,” Salem said. “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must care for each other and protect each other. We have nothing to lose.”
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Preceding the rally, the protesters marched their way from East Locust St. to the doors of the Capitol, chanting curses against Gov. Kim Reynolds, Trump, Elon Musk and others.
Reynolds’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
They skipped over a chains across the building’s stairs and made their way up to the western doors of the Capitol, watched by people inside through glass doors.
A state trooper opened a door and told the protesters they could only enter the Capitol through the public entrance on the building’s south side, where guards screen visitors with metal detectors.
Jacob Grobe, one of the speakers at the rally, told those at the front line of that they shouldn’t “storm the Capitol,” and the protestors stayed put
On the stairs just steps away from the capitol’s western doors, Lizbeth Martinez of Des Moines reflected on attending a rally put on by the PSL in 2016 after Trump was elected for his first term with her immigrant parents. This time, her parents were unable to make it.
Lizbeth Martinez of Des Moines holds a sign that says “Proud daughter of immigrants.”
“I have immigrant parents, and they came here for a better life,” Martinez told the Register, just steps away from the capitol’s doors. “Me and my sister, we had to come here and support and just be the voice that they can’t be.”
Martinez was holding a handmade sign that said “Proud daughter of immigrants.”
“They influenced me throughout my life, and they helped me get to where I am right now,” Martinez continued. “I’m just here because of them and family, friends and the community itself — I know that if we all stand together, we could make a change.”
Kyle Werner is a reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@dmreg.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Rally opposing Trump deportations held on Iowa Capitol steps
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