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March to demand action against threat of deportations
Governor Newsom is urged to grant pardons to immigrants and legal residents who are serving their sentences
By Araceli Martinez Ortega | 03 Dec 2024, 15:16 PM | Opinion
Hundreds of immigrants from all corners of the state of California marched around the State Capitol in Sacramento to ask lawmakers and Governor Gavin Newsom to take concrete action against the mass deportations announced by President-elect Donald Trump.
“We are teachers, nurses and engineers. We are also painters, day laborers and farm workers,” said Carlos Flores, a union leader and school board member in Solano County who participated in the march.
“We are calling on Governor Newsom to make sure he does everything within his power to protect working families,” Carlos said.
The call, which drew groups from Los Angeles, the Central Valley, Orange County and the Bay Area, coincided with the first day of legislative sessions of the year in Sacramento.
“The goal was to call the governor to see how he is going to coordinate. We want to see what he is going to do to survive the storm that might come,” said Adriana Jasso of the Friends of San Diego Committee.
“California – home to nearly 11 million immigrants, two of them undocumented – is known for protecting this community, and we want the victories achieved, such as the Sanctuary Law, to remain firm and for us to be a countercurrent against a government that comes with more resources.”
Despite the Trump administration's plans for mass deportations, Jasso said there is optimism and unity among the migrant community to weather the storm.
“We saw this in this march with families who came with their children from all over the state. We had between 300 and 400 demonstrators participating.”
Many of the marchers carried photos of their families and loved ones, as well as hand-painted signs with requests such as “a pardon is an act of love,” “no pennies for mass incarceration,” and “dignity, not detention.”
During the rally, participants noted that some of the first Californians who could be targeted by the Trump administration are members of the community.
This includes permanent residents who completed their sentences many decades ago, and are a vital part of California as parents, mentors, caregivers, neighbors, and local leaders.
While California has enacted important protections to keep families together like the Sanctuary Law, under current circumstances, people who have completed their sentences and gained freedom can still face double punishment when they are transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.
Maria Legarda, a Filipino community leader who works as a reintegration consultant with the Asian Prisoners Support Committee and who applied for a pardon, said she does not want this Christmas to be the last she spends with her husband, grandmother, father, brother, friends and community.
“Exercise your power to pardon people like me who are at risk of deportation and keep us safe here with our families and community,” she told Governor Newsom, who has repeatedly vetoed a bill to prevent prisoners serving their sentences from being turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for detention and deportation.
Hours into the 2024-25 legislative cycle, the governor announced his proposal for the legislature to allocate $25 million for a legal defense fund to challenge Trump's decisions that harm the state.
It basically seeks to protect state investments in the environment and disasters from Trump's conservative agenda.
“We will work with the incoming administration and want President Trump to succeed in serving all Americans,” Newsom said in a news release.
“But when there is overreach, when lives are threatened, when rights and freedoms are attacked, we will take action.”
Newsom’s proposal is included in two bills. One would set aside $25 million for litigation; the second would immediately allocate $500,000 to fund initial case preparation.
Demands for Newsom:
- Granting pardons is an act of love. As the holidays approach, they call on Governor Newsom to use his pardon power for members of the immigrant and refugee community with deep roots in California who have served their sentences and earned their freedom, so that they will not be doubly punished with detention and deportation under the Trump administration.
- Not a penny for mass deportation: The legislature should ensure that tax dollars are used to promote the safety of all Californians, not to hand over neighbors to a Trump “roundup” of mass deportations and family separation. The governor should take executive action to stop the transfers of community members who have earned their freedom from the state prison system into Trump’s deportation machine.
- Dignity, not detention: Leaders also need to ensure that California does not sell or lease any land or facilities that could be used for mass detention, including private prisons that are rife with systemic abuse and violations of basic standards.
The demonstration at the State Capitol was promoted by the ICE out of California Coalition.