Over 1,000 Rally in Oakland to Defend DACA
Sep 13, 2017
Posted in Against White Supremacy, Equal Rights/Equity, Immigrant Rights, Responsive Government
By Post Staff
More than 1,000 people rallied in front of Oakland City Hall Frank last Saturday afternoon and marched through downtown to protest President Trump’s decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals (DACA), a program that protected about 800,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation.
DACA is five-year-old Obama-era policy that allows young people brought to the U.S. by their families to remain in the country and to work legally.
Last week, President Trump ordered the end of the program in six months if Congress does not pass a replacement.
“I will not apologize for coming here illegally,” said Marlene Gutierrez, a DACA recipient whose parents brought her from Mexico to America at two years old, speaking to the e crowd in English and Spanish.
“There may not be a piece of paper to say we are American, but it is written across our hearts and minds,” said Gutierrez, according to the Daily Californian.
Other Bay Area rallies were held last week in defense of DACA: Tuesday at the San Francisco Federal Building and the UC Berkeley campus, Thursday at Hayward City Hall Plaza and Sunday in downtown San Jose.