This year’s May Day in the Central Valley was a day of action focusing on the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies and in defense of immigrant workers and their families. Across the country, there were demonstrations in nearly 1,000 cities.
About 400 people attended a rally and march in north Fresno organized by the Fresno May 1st Coalition for Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Rights. The coalition issued a statement saying that this year “it is more critical that we come together in unity to defend, uplift and organize our community as our democracy and our communities are under attack.
“We also join massive protests across the state and nation as part of International Workers’ Day that are demanding the respect and dignity of our communities.”
Speakers at the Fresno demonstration included Reverend Tim Kutzmark of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, who said that “we are one of the congregations in the Valley that opposes the Trump administration. When I think of the administration, I think of three words, tres palabras—immoral, illegal and inhumane.”
When asked by Leonel Flores, emcee of the event, if the church would provide sanctuary for undocumented workers, Kutzmark replied that the church would.
“I’m here as an immigrant, I’m here as a woman, I’m here as a Muslim,” announced Sukaina Hussain of the California Immigrant Policy Center, “and I am here as one of the communities that has been attacked by this administration.”
She raised concerns about Trump’s plan to cut $880 billion in healthcare funding to the Medicaid program. In Fresno County, more than half of the population relies on Medi-Cal.
Reverend Dr. Floyd Harris of the New Light for New Life Church of God said that he came from West Fresno to “stand in solidarity with you here today.
“My ancestors went through the same thing you are going through. The only reason we got through it is because we stood up, and we fought back. Sometimes you have to go to jail. The Freedom Riders—they went to jail.
“There’s no illegal immigrants anywhere on the planet Earth…Teach your children that we have to stand up and fight back.”
Huron Mayor Rey León addressed the demonstrators in Spanish, noting that the farmworker city of Huron has formally declared itself a “sanctuary city” to try and shield its undocumented residents from the threat of deportation.
The Jan. 15 sanctuary resolution, passed by the Huron City Council days before Trump’s inauguration, prohibits the use of City resources or personnel to assist federal immigration enforcement actions, except when it has to do with a convicted felon.
The resolution also affirms that all residents, regardless of immigration status, will have equal access to City services, programs and facilities without fear of discrimination or retaliation.
The Fresno demonstration was diverse and multi-generational. Sandra, a student at Fresno State, said, “What’s happening is unbelievable. Trump is kidnapping and deporting people to places like El Salvador. He’s violating the Constitution and their rights to a fair trial.
“Now is the time to do everything we can to defend immigrants.”
“We have to stand up, we need to be out here [and] we have to stop this government now—before it’s too late,” said Emma, an elderly woman from Fresno. “To remain silent these days is doing what the Germans did when Hitler rose to power.”
Miguel, a young man from Madera, stated that his parents were undocumented farmworkers. “They led a hard life to provide for our family. We need to respect all immigrant workers. They add so much to this country.”
