Over 200 people gathered to defend immigrants’ rights at Depot Park Tuesday evening. The Gainesville Party for Socialism and Liberation organized the emergency protest in response to the L.A. protests against immigration raids.
The protesters gathered at 5 p.m. in front of South Main Street North and the Southeast Depot Avenue roundabout with handmade signs. One read, “Protesting is a right, not a crime.” Another, “The wrong ICE is melting.”
Flags from Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela and Palestine were held up or wrapped around shoulders.
Some cars honked as they drove around the roundabout, earning cheers from protesters. One protester brought a drum, and the crowd chanted to its beat.
Natalia Cano waved a Mexican flag as cars drove by honking. The 23-year-old landscaper came directly from work to advocate for people who don’t have a legal status. Protesting felt like a moral obligation, she said.
“ There's a lot of fragmentation within the Latino community, and I think that having a big, strong movement really helps us to become a collective and also just care for people in our community,” Cano said.
She said she’s seen widespread fear caused by ICE, but she’s also seen the community come together to alert each other about raids.
“ I think that it's enraging that we even have to come out here to do this,” she said.
Much of the Southwest U.S. belonged to Mexico prior to the 1840s, giving people of Mexican heritage a right to the land, she said.
The protesters began to march down Main Street at 6:15 p.m. Volunteers with bright yellow vests stopped traffic as the protesters marched, chanting, “Donald Trump, let’s be clear, immigrants are welcomed here.”
Six police cars blocked Main Street in front of the Alachua County Courthouse. Law enforcement officers lined up and spoke to volunteers as the crowd continued to chant, “No justice, no peace, no ICE in our streets.”
Marilyn Wende, a 31-year-old member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said the police officers threatened to arrest protesters. The organizers quickly moved the march to the sidewalk.
“Our top priority, given people might not be prepared to be arrested, was to just keep people safe in that moment,” Wende said. “It was a clear indication that the cops in this community are not working to keep us safe.”
Passersby stopped to watch and record as the protesters marched to University Avenue and down Southeast First Street before taking Southeast Second Place to circle back to Depot Park. Some onlookers cheered, and a few joined the march.
Kevin Craven, a 65-year-old La Crosse, Florida, resident, drove 45 minutes to attend the protest. He held a sign that read, “Protect democracy, impeach Trump.”
“[I’m] just tired of sitting there yelling at the TV,” Craven said. “I figured I'd come show what I feel out here in public.”
The Trump administration’s response to protests in Los Angeles is the first sign of a dictatorship, he said. The National Guard shouldn’t be sent out to deal with something the Los Angeles Police Department can handle on its own, Craven said.
Gainesville’s protest was one of many across the nation sparked by ICE protests in California.
ICE launched large-scale raids across southern California June 6, sparking large protests. Some confrontations between protesters and police led to violence.
Trump deployed 2,000 more National Guard troops Tuesday afternoon to join the 4,100 troops National Guard troops and 700 Marines who have been deployed since June 7. It was the first time in decades the state’s National Guard has been deployed without the request of the state’s governor.
Gita Lakshminaraya, a 29-year-old UF medical student, said the amount of money being used on ICE and weaponry is wasteful.
“The amount of money that's being poured into ICE right now, the money that's being poured into overseas weapons,” Lakshminaraya said. “All of that could be used for, I don't know, maybe universal healthcare?”
Lakshminaraya joined the protest as part of UF’s Students for a National Health Program, a student organization that advocates for a universal single-payer national health program. Being a medical student means caring for the health and safety of everyone, she said, and deportation achieves the opposite.
She knew people who feared participating in the protest because of personal issues with ICE.
“I hope that those people see that we are here, and we're supporting them as best as we can,” she said.
Jayce Benet, a 19-year-old Gainesville resident, said he was pleasantly surprised by the protest’s size. Gainesville is a smaller town, but every person coming out supports a larger cause, he said.
Benet said he will continue to show up in any way he can. No human is really illegal, he said, and it’s important to preach for their rights.
“Bad people win when good people stay quiet,” Benet said.
Contact Maria Avlonitis at mavlonitis@alligator.org. Follow her on X @MariaAvlonitis.
