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Oakland joins ‘Day Without Immigrants’ to protest nationwide deportation efforts

Protestor at Oakland rally
Eliza Peppel
/
KALW
Protestor at Oakland rally

Starting near Fruitvale Plaza in Oakland around 11:30 am, a group began walking down International Boulevard, holding signs and waving flags from various countries. Passing cars slowed to honk in support, and many drivers rolled down their windows to cheer and wave.

The protest was part of a 'Day without Immigrants' a nationwide initiative where immigrants walked out of their jobs for a day to give communities a sense of what their absence would feel like.

I talked to Tomas Enguidanos, who was walking in the back of the group, playing a guitar.

"I'm a consultant for public schools. I feel strongly that the administration is attacking good and hardworking people.

I'm a son of immigrants myself. I work with immigrant families and I have my whole career. They're not criminals or... all that stuff that Donald Trump says they are... we are."

Nearly a third of Oakland residents are foreign born according to Census data from 2023.

Since Trump’s inauguration, he has issued several executive orders regarding immigration, including declaring a national emergency at the Southern border and promising mass deportations. These directives have led to I.C.E. raids in several major cities.

The executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Marlene Sanchez, shared some points of hope.

"I feel sad, I feel angry, but I also feel inspired by the outpour of community standing together and it's going to really take all of us to stand up and not take the threats of the terror that we're facing. And it's really about all communities coming together."

'A Day Without Immigrants' first took place back in February 2017, as a form of protest against Trump’s anti-immigration stances during his first term.

Another protestor, Rochelle Towers, said this issue concerns everybody.

 "I'm a 76 year old white Jewish woman who knows that when they start rounding up what they consider the lower hanging fruit, they'll come for everybody."

Demonstrations are planned to continue in the coming weeks.

Born in the Bay Area, raised in California and France, Eliza is a news producer and audio reporter. She studied creative writing at The New School in New York before completing a BA degree in journalism at Fordham University in 2021. She likes 70s funk and riding her bike.