Pittsburgh politicians, advocates and labor leaders rallied in outrage over federal immigration raids at a July 5 “Stand for Immigrants” rally in front of the City-County Building in downtown Pittsburgh.
“In DC, they think it's funny. Then they'll tell you that they're Christians,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, speaking on how some politicians reacted to a new federal detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alley,” which began accepting immigration detainees two days prior, on July 3. “They'll tell you that they care about the people, and yet you create something like this? That's why we have to be the ones that continue to speak about injustice.”
The mayor introduced City Councilperson Barb Warwick, who asserted Pittsburgh wasn’t seeing as many federal immigration raids as other areas because city leadership and residents “have the backs of their immigrant neighbors.”
“You need to call out your leaders,” she continued, pointing out State Rep. Jessica Benham among the crowd of 500 at the Saturday afternoon rally. “You need to write to your representatives,” said Warwick, “and say, ‘Hey, I was at the rally this weekend, and I didn't see you there. Why not?’”
Gainey and other speakers stood at a podium with a sign bearing Casa San Jose’s 24/7 “ICE watch hotline.” The stage was flanked by two large handmade signs with 3-foot-tall bright orange letters sewn onto mesh netting, created by citizen group Pittsburgh Overpass Project. They read “RESIST INJUSTICE DUE PROCESS FOR ALL” and “WHO WOULD JESUS DEPORT.”
Julia Whiteker, of The Disappeared, told the stories of several men deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison. One man, she said, Kerbin Antonio Martinez Vargas, 27, was diagnosed with intellectual disabilities as a child and participated in the Special Olympics for Venezuela at the age of 17. Whiteker said he was named as a member of the gang Tren de Aragua because of a tattoo of an insect on his hand, and like many others, now faces life in prison seemingly without the chance for parole at a maximum security prison in a country where he had never lived.
“If I have to tell you why abducting people is wrong, then we’ve lost the plot,” said Farooq Al-Said, director of operations at 1Hood.
“This is not going to be solved by nonprofits — this is not going to be solved by lawyers,” said Tanisha Long, of the Abolitionist Law Center, urging direct action. “We need you to bring out everybody. We need people in the courts. We need people in the streets. We need people who are standing up and saying ‘no.’”
The event, organized by 50501 Pittsburgh and Casa San Jose, began with speakers from those two groups. Jaime Martinez, Casa San Jose’s community defense organizer, told the crowd how he was with some of those detained after a late June federal immigration raid at a Mexican restaurant near Cranberry, Pa.
“I asked my friend in this detention facility, what's the best way that you think that we can help you right now? ¿Cómo te podemos ayudar?” And he burst into tears, and he told me, ‘Please don't forget about me. No se olvídenme’.”
The rally was peaceful except for one tense minute when a man in an AC/DC t-shirt yelled something about Hamas at one of the speakers. Rallygoers attempted to peacefully separate the man from the rally, blocking him with signs and umbrellas, and drowning him out with cries of “Free, free Palestine.”
After about an hour, the crowd marched toward Market Square, led in chants by United Steelworkers organizer Guillermo Perez. Many waved flags and carried homemade cardboard signs with slogans like “Resist fascism” and “No human is illegal.”
Gainey closed his remarks with a challenge to rallygoers: “The next time you see one of these Christian wannabes, ask them, do they love their neighbor? And if they say yes, say, come stand with us.”
