AND THE INGLEWOOD TRIBUNE, CARSON BULLETIN, WILMINGTON BEACON, THE CALIFORNIAN, THE WEEKENDER & EL MONTE BULLETIN WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
AN AMERICAN PRINT MEDIA PUBLICATION
Immigrant Groups, L.A. Leaders Hold ‘Families Belong Together’ March
AP Photo/Richard Vogel Members of a group of clergy hold hands and sing in the middle of the street during a civil disobedience protest in front of Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.
LOS ANGELES—A coalition of advocacy groups flooded the streets of downtown Los Angeles, with thousands of people turning out to decry the Trump administration's policy of detaining families caught trying to enter the United States illegally at the Mexico border or come seeking legal asylum.
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If you are pro-family, you cannot separate families," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said to the crowd at Los Angeles City Hall Saturday. "... We've got a message for the White House: We care, and so should you," Garcetti said. The mayor's speech was followed by remarks from model Chrissy Teigen, and then a performance of "What's Goin' On" and a new song, titled "Preach," by her husband, singer and musician John Legend. "This is a reflection moment," California Sen. Kamala Harris said.
"This is a moment in time that is requiring us to look in a mirror and ask a question, and that question is ‘Who are we?' I believe the answer is ‘We are better than this."' Rep. Maxine Waters, D-South Los Angeles, who has been embroiled in an escalating war of words with President Donald Trump in recent days, later took the stage and did not hold back. "How dare you take the babies from mothers' arms?" she asked of the Trump administration. "How dare you take the children and send them all across the country into so-called detention centers. You are putting them in cages; you are putting them in jails, and you think we're going to let you get away with that? I don't think so!" "I know there are those who are talking about censuring me, kicking me out of Congress ... shooting me," Waters continued, alluding to recent death threats that prompted her to cancel two speaking events in the South she had planned for this weekend. "If you shoot me,
you better shoot straight—there's nothing like a wounded animal." Other scheduled speakers included Secretary of State Alex Padilla, county Supervisor Hilda Solis, California Lt. Gov. and
ment in o m a s i s i Th uiring q e r s i t a h t time irror m a n i k o o us to l estion, u q a k s a d an tion is s e u q t a h t and e? ‘ Who are w Harris la a m a K . S en (D - CA)
gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom, and state Sen. Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles. MoveOn, CHIRLA, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, the Women's
March LA Foundation and the Council on American-Islamic Relations were among the many groups participating. The "Families Belong Together— Freedom for Immigrants March," was set to follow the rally, and will end in front of the immigration holding facility on Aliso and Alameda streets. Attendees were urged to wear white in a show of unity. The L.A. march was one of more than 700 protests held nationwide on Saturday. O t h e r #FamiliesBelongTogether Southern California rallies were held throughout the Southland including Burbank, Pasadena, Long Beach, Irvineunty, Malibu, Laguna Beach, Carlsbad, National City, Ramona, San
Diego, Palm Springs, Moreno Valley, Riverside and Temecula. For the past several weeks, the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy on undocumented immigrants—including the nowrescinded policy of separating children from their parents when they are apprehended at the Mexican border—has sparked an international outcry. Trump agreed to rescind the separation part of the policy in late June, but opponents say the administration has no plan for the speedy reunification of those families and that more than 2,000 children are being held in detention centers around the country. On Friday, the U.S. Justice Department filed papers in Los Angeles federal court seeking to have the families held together, indefinitely, in detention centers. n Mack, see page 2
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Pro-Trump Demonstrators Say They Were Threatened at L.A. Rally
LOS ANGELES—About 20 people were threatened and cursed while at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles Saturday to stage a counter-demonstration in response to the "Families Belong Together" rally and march, in which thousands of people opposed to the administration's border policies were demonstrating. Organizer Arthur Schaper of the group L.A. County For Trump
carried a sign with pictures of American children allegedly killed by illegal immigrants. "Somebody stole my sign," he said. A YouTube video of the counter—demonstration showed a woman picking up his sign when he accidentally dropped it and walking away with it. The pro-Trump demonstrators tried to be respectful of the Families Belong Together protesters, Schaper said. "There were many threats
made against us," he said. "One man threatened to shove a megaphone up my butt. They used another word." The counter-demonstrators were escorted to their cars by motorcycle officers from the Los Angeles Police Department as a result of the threats, Schaper said. The "Families Belong Together— Freedom for Immigrants March" was among more than 700 protests held nationwide Saturday.
See story, more photos on Page 7 lauren woods, The Evidence of Things Unseen #2 (You're Gonna) (2016).