JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Community members and advocates gathered in Jacksonville on Saturday to demand an end to federal, state, and local deportation efforts.
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A rally organized by the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance took over the sidewalks at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and Southside Boulevard. Participants chanted and displayed homemade signs to cars passing by in hopes of getting their message across:
“We want to show not just the immigrant community but our elected leaders… we don’t stand for these mass deportations," said Maria Garcia, a member of the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance. “We don’t stand for these attacks on immigrants. We don’t stand for third country deportations and the flouting of the rule of law in this country, the flouting of the constitution. We don’t stand for it and we’re gonna keep fighting until we win.”
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A pastor from Riverside Church also spoke to the group, recalling stories she’d heard from immigrant members of their congregation.
“In Matthew 25, Jesus said, ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me,‘...so many people forget,” said Reverend Maddie Hilt.
The rally happened just hours after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the results of a “first-of-its-kind” partnership between state and federal agencies this week. According to ICE, its Miami branch, in collaboration with Florida law enforcement, arrested nearly 800 undocumented immigrants in the first four days of “Operation Tidal Wave.”
The agency then pushed to a webpage on its 287(g) program, which enables partnership with state and local law enforcement. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office signed an agreement to participate in the program’s Task Force Model in February, according to ICE. The University of North Florida’s campus police have done the same.
“Jacksonville is setting the standard for cities across America. We are taking decisive action to ensure our community is safe and we are fully supporting federal and state authorities in enforcing immigration laws,” said City Council Vice President Kevin Carrico, following the passage of a local immigration bill. “This policy demonstrates our commitment to upholding the rule of law and protecting the interests of our citizens.”
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The decision of local agencies and city leaders to join in on the national immigration crackdown does not sit well with Saturday’s protestors.
“We want to show them that this is not popular legislation, that this is not going to win them voters. In fact, we are going to vote all politicians that support this kind of discrimination, xenophobia, out of office,” said Garcia.
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