Hundreds of mostly young protesters swarmed downtown San Diego on Sunday, Feb. 2, protesting Trump’s immigration policies and raids by ICE. After converging on the Convention Center, the crowd set off on a huge loop through downtown, taking over streets with their march, many waving Mexican flags and signs of protest. I saw a few American flags and a good number of half-American, half-Mexican flags.
San Diego police accommodated the demonstrators, corralling off streets as they went. It appeared to be a non-permitted event — yet it was very festive.
The marchers returned to the area near the Convention Center — now several thousands. Vehicles bearing flags followed the demonstration — and besides chants, yells and the blare of horns, the event was entirely peaceful.
CBS8 quoted several: One Latina said: “Divided is not gonna get us anywhere we have to stay strong and unite.”
Another said, “Nobody should be treated like a criminal. Nobody should have to live in fear and be afraid to walk out their door. Viva la raza!”
Another woman in downtown said, “I know I grew up wondering what would I have done in the time of Martin Luther King, in the time of Cesar Chavez. This is the time when you figure out what you would have done. Either stand up and chant and voice your demands or sit at home and when history is written you know what side you stand on.”
NBC7 also covered the event downtown. It reported:
More than a thousand demonstrators gathered near the entrance of the San Diego Convention Center on Harbor Drive and Fifth Avenue and marched to the nearby “Coming Together” sculpture at Park Boulevard in support of immigrant rights.
Carlos Gomez Perez, a Silver Star disabled U.S. Marine veteran, told the station:
“We’re here. We’re not here to destroy. We’re here to stay. We deserve to be here. We’re taxpayers, we’re not criminals as you want to label us.”
Gomez Perez came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child with his undocumented family. He later became a legal resident in order to join the military.
Andrea Ortega is the wife of a Mexican national who became a citizen after their marriage. They share children with dual citizenship.
“(We want) to be on the right side of history and to defend the people that might not be able to defend themselves or who are too afraid to defend themselves right now,” Ortega said. Their mother went back to Mexico with him, too.
“Having a family member ripped away from you at a young age is horrible. It’s something no one should ever have to go through,” said Alondra.
Her sister, Reyna, said “I think it’s more complicated than a solution. I think we need to be more welcoming, more open to our brothers and neighbors just like it says in the Bible.”
Reyna Jauregui (left) and her sister, Alondra Jauregui, are U.S. citizens whose father was deported back to Mexico when they were just in elementary school.
Mairene Branham is with the East County Latinos En Accion organization. She carried a sign during the demonstration inviting cooperation with President Trump by extending amnesty to undocumented immigrants.
“It (amnesty) allows us a pathway to citizenship. It allows us to be able to secure the borders now that we have a president willing and able to secure the border and pair it with regulating companies that are hiring illegal immigrants,” Branham said.
“The solution is to not deport people who have not committed dangerous crimes simply because they’re in the country without documentation. It is not a crime worthy of deportation,” said Kirstin Jarstad, immigrant ally and supporter.
Amelia Knezevich also called herself an ally.
“So, if you deport all the workers, what’s going to happen to our prices? They’re going to go up. You don’t have to be a bleeding-heart liberal. If you’re thinking with your pocketbook, then think with your pocketbook.”
A smaller but vocal rally occurred Escondido also on Sunday. CBS found Jocelyn, who lives in Escondido, who said, “”I’m a proud Mexican woman and I would do this everyday for my parents if I could.”
A daughter of immigrant parents who has lived in San Diego all her life, stated she would be left to raise her younger siblings if her parents were deported.
“Most days I come home and I’m not sure if I will see my parents at home. My mom has been sending my sister and I for groceries because all she can do is go to work, home, work and home.”
She and many other say staying silent is not an option.
Protest attendees say Sunday’s demonstrations are just the start and they’ll continue to make sure their voices are heard.
Similar demonstrations were being held across the country, including in Los Angeles where a large protest blocked the 101 Freeway and prompted the Los Angeles Police Department to declare a “non-permitted demonstration.”
KTLA reported:
As thousands of protesters demonstrating against President’s Trump mass deportation and immigration policies clogged the streets and 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles Sunday, smaller protests erupted in several cities across Southern California and the United States.
In Ventura County, what appears to be at least a few hundred protestors in Moorpark gathered on a corner of Los Angeles Avenue.
Another large crowd in Riverside County gathered at the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and Tyler Street in Riverside to show their support for immigrants, with woman carrying a sign that read “Fight ignorance NOT immigrants.”
“We’re here standing in solidarity with immigrants, with the undocumented community, with our friends, family, neighbors, the folks who helped build this country and make this community run,” one Riverside protester told a KNN News photojournalist. “Donald Trump and his far-right billionaires’ agenda have been attacking undocumented immigrants. We’re saying no to that.”
In downtown Dallas, Texas, thousands gathered in front of City Hall, chanting and blocking the streets.
Protests also erupted in Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia, Newsweek reported Sunday.
Under Trump’s new orders, ICE is now allowed to target migrants at sensitive locations, like schools and churches, for arrests and potential deportations.
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Watch movies like Walk Out.
Go visit the museum of tolerance.
I pray we are kind to one another.
Surprised you were not marching with them Frank.
I followed the march partly in my Nissan Nolt.
There’s a difference between a “protest”, and a “rally”.
The rest of your comment PatS was not printed as it sounded as if it was right out of Trump’s mouth. You can be so right on on local housing issues (ADUs, density, etc) but you sound just like Trump on this and other issues. Trump positions will NOT find a welcome mat here — as they’re really un-American. Hopefully someday you’ll see the light.
is there a mtp25 (musk’s trump’s project2025) protest today? i though there would be at the conventions center at noon. anybody?