BURLINGTON — Thousands of people took to city streets on Saturday as part of nationwide protests countering President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy and family sepations at the southern border.
Event organizers estimate 2,000 to 3,000 people attended the rally.
Demonstrators chanted “no papers, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” and called for the abolishment of ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement – while marching down South Winooski Avenue, Main Street, up Church Street and ending in Battery Park. Streets were temporarily closed to traffic as police escorted the protests through the downtown.
The march began with a rally in the courtyard of the Unitarian Universalist Church.
Kesha Ram, one of the event organizers, told the crowd of her father’s experience immigrating to the U.S. from India. She said he was frequently told to “go back to Mexico.” Ram said she was arrested by police in Los Angeles when she was 13 years old — after she was asked if she was Mexican.
“I grew up to fight, and to hope that no other children would experience the same thing, and now we have children as young as 2 months old, who are being detained on the border without their parent,” she said.
Ram told the crowd to continue to protest after Saturday’s march. “We are not here to say that this is not us, but this is who we have been, this is who we are, and this must change,” she said.
Abenaki educator Judy Dow spoke of the Vermont eugenics movement to demonstrators, a government-led effort in the early 20th century which included sterilization of people of French-Canadian and Native American descent.
“Knowing your past will help you to understand today,” Dow said. “Understanding today will help you to direct the future in a good way.”
Protestors of all ages turned out from all parts of the state – and beyond.
Betsy Hoehl of Clearwater, Florida, decided to attend the march while visiting family in Vermont. She said she felt compelled to do something after seeing the government’s treatment of immigrants.
“Separating the children, that’s a sin,” Hoehl said. “I don’t care who you are, what side of the political fence you lie, no one should want that.”
The protests in Burlington were one of three planned demonstrations in Vermont on Saturday. Hundreds of demonstrations took place across the country. Over 600,000 people were expected to turnout at demonstrations across the U.S.
Hoehl said the protests are inspiring.
“I get teary at times thinking how many people are coming together for people they don’t know,” she said.
Jim McGum, of Colchester, said he feels it is his “civic duty to speak out against the Trump administration.
“Hopefully it will send a message that some major changes need to be made in the government,” McGum said.
The protest drew a substantial number of young people. Among them was Emma Bauer, an 18-year-old from Stratford who marched with a sign that read, “America was my grandfather’s refuge from fascism. What would he think?”
Bauer said her Jewish grandfather fled Austria in 1938 after experiencing hatred. She said the camps at the migrant detention camps at the southern border are too similar to the hatred her family historically experienced. Bauer said she was compelled to speak out and not be silent.
“It’s good to know that we have a support system, even when all this stuff is happening in our country, it’s the bit of hope that we have,” Bauer said.
The rally ended by the Battery Park bandstand with speakers from Migrant Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont and other community advocacy groups. One woman, a migrant worker, said her husband had been detained by ICE during a traffic stop.
Ram urged protesters to sign a petition directed at Gov. Phil Scott. Ram called for Scott to issue an executive order refusing to send any state resources or personnel to the southern border.
Representatives from the offices of Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger and all of Vermont’s congressional delegation were present.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy tweeted in support of the rally on Saturday.
A table in a shaded pocket of Battery Park, run by youth, helped register people to vote.
Jay Diaz, a staff attorney with the ACLU, urged Vermonters not to back down, even in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of the president’s travel ban.
“Lawsuits can only do so much, but with the power of the people judges feel they can stand up to this administration, as they should and can,” Diaz said.
