A coalition of immigrant-advocacy, labor and community groups announced plans Friday for a 24-hour community strike by immigrants as part of its continuing protests against federal deportation raids.
“We have the power of our community and we are going to stop you with the power of our people,” Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said during a rally and news conference near Olvera Street north of downtown.
Salas said the community is demanding an end to raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that have been escalating in the Los Angeles area over the past month. She called the raids “a military operation — it is immoral, unlawful and it is purposely cruel.”
“Most importantly, what we are asking is a return of all of those people, all our loved ones, back home,” she said. “We want them back in L.A. We want them in their homes. That’s where they belong, and that’s what our fight is about. … And until those demands come, we will not stop organizing, we will not stop marching. And we call on Congress for accountability and oversight. We will file lawsuits and we will bring common sense to this deranged administration.”
Martin Manteca of Service Employees International Union Local 721 said the protests that have occurred in the downtown area over the past month against ICE activity will spread throughout the area.
“We will take our work — the artists, the educators, the people in the community, the activists, the organizers, clergy, nonprofits and labor — will go to every neighborhood in our beautiful city of L.A. to resist, and confront and fight back and push back and send the kidnappers back home,” Manteca said.
The coalition of groups said the plan to hold a general strike by immigrants on Aug. 12, sending a message that the work and spending power of immigrants drive the U.S. economy.
“We need to send a strong message that this country runs on immigrants,” Manteca said.