A cross-section of Waukeganites marched nearly two miles through the city and rallied to show support for their immigrant community, and disdain for the treatment newcomers are receiving from federal agents enforcing the deportation policy of President Donald Trump’s administration.
“They are part of this city that is proud to be a melting pot of culture, languages, histories and beautiful people,” Mayor Sam Cunningham said. “We’re going to peacefully get ICE out of our city,” he added, referring to federal Immigrant and Customs Enforcement agents as he led the march.
Cunningham led more than 300 people walking on Monday from Corrine J. Rose Park to City Hall in a march organized by the Coalition of Concerned Citizens in Waukegan to show support for a community where many immigrants are gripped with fear over the actions of federal agents.
Callie Slater, who was involved in organizing the march and rally, said the event was a powerful display of unity by all facets of the community. Non-citizens were urged to stay away to avoid the fate of 11 people taken earlier that day by U.S. Border Patrol and ICE agents.
“We’re doing this for safety,” Slater said. “All marchers are citizens as far as we know.”
During his speech after the march, Cunningham made it clear that no one in the city is unseen. He recognizes the fear on faces in the streets, and knows they are afraid to leave home. Businesses have fewer customers, he added.
After marching from Corrine J. Rose Park to Waukegan City Hall, more than 300 participants listened to speeches from leaders and organizers on Monday in Waukegan. (City of Waukegan)
“For me, those living in fear are not invisible,” Cunningham said. “I see you, I hear you and I stand by you. Waukegan will be a city that chooses compassion over cruelty, and unity over fear. We are all out here not with silence, but with strength.
Slater said she sees fear in the community during her work in the public health field. Immigrants, both undocumented and legally in the country, are afraid to go to the doctor for preventive care because they are scared to leave home.
“They’re not worried about what the doctor will say, or what they might have,” Slater said. “They are worried about coming, going and what’s going to happen on the way,”
Standing near Slater before the march began was Lola Madison, wearing a ball gown she made with the words “Viva Las Inmigrantes” and showing drawings of a nurse, a teacher, a farmer, a superhero and other types of people.
Lola Madison, center, made a dress supporting immigrants to wear at the march and rally Monday in Waukegan. (Steve Sadin/For the Lake County News-Sun)
“These are the jobs immigrants do for us in America,” Madison said.
Dulce Ortiz, the executive director of Mano a Mano Family Services and a Waukegan Township trustee, talked to the group after the march saying she spent much of her day dealing with the actions of Border Patrol agents in Waukegan, North Chicago and Gurnee.
“Here in Lake County, we believe in dignity, democracy and safety for all — regardless of immigration status,” she said. “We are here to publicly condemn these kidnappings and shootings. Now is the time to step up.”
Clyde McLemore, the executive director of Black Lives Matter in Lake County and another who helped to organize the event, said it is important for all members of the community to be united and work to end what he terms the injustices imposed by the federal agents.
Before more than 300 marchers left Corrine J. Rose Park to walk nearly two miles to City Hall, they joined in prayer Monday in Waukegan. (Steve Sadin/For the Lake County News-Sun)
“This is about all of us — Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander — because injustice to one of us is injustice to all of us,” McLemore said. “For too long, they’ve tried to keep us divided to make us think our struggles are separate. But they’re not.”
Apprehended by Border Patrol agents outside the Waukegan Police Department a week ago, Dariana Fajardo, a native-born American, said her fear is behind her. She encouraged the crowd to remember who their immigrant community members are.
“These are not statistics,” Fajardo said. “They are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, dreamers and workers. People who bleed the same, hope the same and love the same.
“And to those who turn away, I don’t hate you,” she said. “I pity you, because if you can look at suffering and feel nothing, you’ve forgotten what it means to feel at all.”