Demonstrators spoke out in cities around the Bay Area today, on behalf of immigrant workers.
In San Francisco’s financial district, hundreds of people gathered in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building to protest what they see as restrictive executive orders from the Trump Administration. Carlos Cruz held a Honduran flag and had the U.S Flag wrapped around him.
“I was born in the United States, but my mother came from Honduras,” said Cruz. His mother, Juana Ramirez, traveled to the states in 1984 and marched alongside her son “I’m here representing the country I was born in, and the country my mom came from.”
Across the Bay, at least four people were arrested at the Alameda County Administration Building. They were protesting perceived collaborations between county officials and ICE agents.
Other protests were organized by the California Teachers Association.
“I'm here to sub. I heard you needed some help,” a man said as he joined the other substitute teachers gathered in the main office of Buena Vista Horace Mann, a Spanish Immersion school located in San Francisco’s Mission district this morning.
Principal Richard Zapien said that 31 of 39 teachers at the elementary and middle school took a personal day. “The idea is ‘a day without immigrants.’ I can only extrapolate what that means for our staff. We are focused on Social Justice and I’m assuming that’s what they’re doing today.”
The district sent eleven substitutes, plus employees from the main office showed up to help. Zapien told them he appreciated the support, but probably wouldn’t need everyone, because of lot of parents kept their kids out of school. “There's not as many kids, but we'll still need some subs but not to the degree we anticipated.”
Zapien says he doesn’t know where students spent the day out of school. He did receive an email from one mom who said she was taking her daughter to the march.