WASHINGTON – More than 50 protesters wearing Somos CASA and United We Dream t-shirts, carried signs in the shape of red hearts that read “Keep Families Together” and chanted, “Undocumented, unafraid” in response to the Supreme Court’s 4-4 ruling Thursday on President Barack Obama’s immigration plan.
The president’s executive order would have effectively protected some immigrant families from being separated through deportation. But the standoff in the high court allowed an appeals court decision stymying Obama’s order to stand.
Like the chant, the protesters along with Service Employees International Union members, made it clear that the only people who should be worried about the noisy demonstration were presidential candidates and elected officials who vote against immigrant rights.
As Jaime Contreras vice president of the SEIU, Washington local, said, “The sleeping giant is wide awake. Know we’re even more pissed and going to vote in November.” He led the protesters in a raucous chant of “We’ll remember in November.
Listen to Jaime’s speech:
Rocio Saenz, international executive vice president of the SEIU, echoed Contreras in Spanish, “We are a strong community, we are a community that isn’t defeated, that fight to win an immigration reform so that 11 million people can live with dignity and respect.”
“We are a strong community, we are a community that isn’t defeated, that fight to win an immigration reform so that 11 million people can live with dignity and respect.”-Rocio Saenz, SEIU
By their votes, with their voices, and in their communities, Saenz said the growing Latino community now has political power.
Listen to Rocio’s speech:
Julia Garibay, of United We Dream, spoke directly to specific candidates and political parties in Spanish, fighting back tears. She shouted, “To the conservatives, Republicans and Donald Trump we are here and we aren’t going. We are going to remember in November.”
Listen to Julia’s speech:
But possibly the most moving indication of a looming political shift came when an undocumented immigrant, Rosario Reyes of Somos CASA, spoke in Spanish saying her family was one of the millions of undocumented families left in limbo as a consequence of the court’s tie vote. But she said she was no longer afraid.
Listen to Rosario’s speech:
“I will fight stronger than ever for my children because I am not a criminal. I have come to work and pay taxes like anyone else. That’s why I call on my conservative brothers and sisters to stop this madness. We have not lost. We still have the strength to continue to fight for my children and my family. And in November I’ll make sure all my friends that can vote, can support us.”
“I will fight stronger than ever for my children because I am not a criminal. I have come to work and pay taxes like anyone else.”-Rosario Reyes, Somos CASA
“Si, se puede” or “yes we can,” she called out, leading the protestors in the chant. It was never clearer whom that “we” had become as members of the Latino community prepare to cast their votes in the General Election this fall.