Crowds that stretched more than a city block marched from the Highlandtown library and wrapped around Patterson Park Sunday afternoon shouting "no hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here."
Organizers said they called the rally to protest recent arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore and Baltimore County. They said multiple individuals have been stopped by federal agents without cause and have been detained.
"People are terrified, they’re afraid," said Maria Gabriela Aldana Enriquez, the education director for the Creative Alliance in Patterson Park and a rally organizer.
A spokesman for ICE said he could not confirm any arrests without more information, and a city police spokesman said he was unaware of any recent ICE arrests in Baltimore.
Nationwide, advocacy groups say federal agents rounded up hundreds of undocumented immigrants last week in New York, California, Illinois, Texas and other states.
Aldana Enriquez said she and others felt compelled to show support to the immigrant community following a series of executive orders by President Donald J. Trump.
Pastor Fred Morris looked out over his congregation Sunday as news ricocheted around the world that American authorities were rounding up immigrants in an enforcement surge that President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail.
Parishioners did not smile as on any other Sunday morning. They…
Pastor Fred Morris looked out over his congregation Sunday as news ricocheted around the world that American authorities were rounding up immigrants in an enforcement surge that President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail.
Parishioners did not smile as on any other Sunday morning. They…
In his first weeks in office, Trump has signed orders to build a wall on the Southwest border, to hire more agents who conduct deportations, to take federal funding away from sanctuary cities, to suspend refugee admissions and to ban visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
He has said the orders, which fulfill campaign promises, will make the country more safe. A federal judge stayed the ban on visitors from the seven predominantly Muslim countries, and a fedreral appeals court upheld the stay last week.
At the rally Sunday, several speakers spoke of the arrest of a man stopped in Highlandtown last week.
Trump has framed his executive actions within a terrorism context, but they are part of an isolationist worldview America hasn’t seen since before World War II.
Trump has framed his executive actions within a terrorism context, but they are part of an isolationist worldview America hasn’t seen since before World War II.
Declaring that a "a new era of justice begins," President Donald Trump signed three executive orders on Thursday that he said were intended to reduce crime.
Declaring that a “a new era of justice begins,” President Donald Trump signed three executive orders on Thursday that he said were intended to reduce crime.
Aldana Enriquez did not have details about the arrest and did not give his name to a reporter.
"We are very concerned about ICE officials dressing up as police officers" and detaining people, she said. She referred to what she said has been more than a dozen recent arrests in Baltimore County, and two others in Baltimore, but did not have specifics.
ICE spokesman Matthew Bourke said Saturday he could not confirm an arrest of a Highlandtown man without more information. He said the agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for enforcing national immigration policy.
"Every day, as part of routine targeted enforcement operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Fugitive Operations teams arrest criminal aliens and other individuals who are in violation of our nation’s immigration laws," Bourke in a statement. "ICE conducts targeted immigration enforcement in compliance with federal law and agency policy. ICE does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately."
Baltimore County police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said this month that city police wouldn’t ask residents for proof of citizenship.
"We’re your Baltimore police department and we don’t care about your immigration status," he said. "We will not check your immigration status and we do not have a database to check your immigration status," Davis said."
Aldana Enriquez said the rally was also intended to express concerns about federal immigration enforcement tactics to local leaders.
Councilman Zeke Cohen attended the rally. In brief remarks to the crowd, he told ICE officials to "get out of Baltimore," drawing cheers from the crowd.
Some marchers carried signs that read "No Human is Illegal."
Some people walking their dogs in the park, joined the march. Others stopped and watched from the sidewalk taking pictures. Some residents heard the chanting inside their homes, and came out to watch from their stoops. A few drivers in vehicles, held up by the crowd, honked their horns in support.
One man stopped to shout "We love Trump" and shook his fist.
jkanderson@baltsun.com
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