As hundreds of National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles Sunday following clashes with protesters and federal immigration authorities, activists gathered in downtown Detroit to voice their concerns over recent ICE raids.
Dozens came together for a protest outside the Detroit ICE field office located at 985 Michigan Avenue.
“Right now L.A. is experiencing a lot of raids that can very much happen anywhere in the country,” said Kassandra Rodriguez with Detroit Community Action Committee, an immigrant rights organization. “We decided to come out, show our support, do a day of action, try to get this on the national level.”
The confrontations in L.A. follow a series of sweeps and ICE arrests taking place across the city this week. Although the unrest is happening on the other side of the country, local activists from various grassroots organizations felt called to show their support for L.A. protestors.
“I came all the way from Kalamazoo to drive out here to stand in solidarity with the people that are fighting in Los Angeles through nonviolent means,” said veteran Sean McLaughlin.
For McLaughlin, who is a marine veteran with the organization Common Defense, it’s a cause that hits close to home.
“We have some honorably discharged veterans who are undocumented people and are getting deported,” McLaughlin said. “Some have actually been deported. They’ve served this country already. They put in that blood, sweat, and tears, and they deserve citizenship.”
With concerns that other cities could face the same response to similar protests against the ICE arrests, some Detroit activists want the city’s immigrant community to know they’re not alone.
“You look at what’s happening in L.A. and in Chicago and in Minneapolis and these are people that are hitting the streets and they’re defending their community members and they’re getting hit with tear gas,” said Jo Pico with the organization Michigan 50501. “I think that is just monstrous.”
“It’s important for us to support those immigrant neighbors,” Gonzalez said. “Our family, our friends and neighbors, it’s important for us to protect them.”
Gonzalez said there is another protest planned in Southwest Detroit that will take place on June 14th at 1 p.m at Clark Park.