The immigration crackdowns have affected local companies, according to state representative Gabriel Sanchez, D-Smyrna, who spoke at the event and is the son of immigrants from Columbia. He condemned the arrest of 12 migrant workers at a Cobb County nail shop in June, which was a component of a broader federal initiative to stop illegal immigration.
Sanchez told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Unfortunately, it’s frightening a lot of people in our community.” Many Latino companies in the area are seeing a decline in their clientele.
50501 Georgia’s treasurer and secretary, John Morris, demanded an end to the controversial masked and unmarked immigration enforcement operations that had been going on for months. He also objected to the administration’s efforts to abolish birthright citizenship and President Donald Trump’s attempt to end Temporary Protected Status.
Morris told the crowd that even though the great majority of those detained by ICE are not criminals and do not represent a serious flight risk, they are nonetheless housed in for-profit prisons instead of more affordable, community-based facilities with high compliance rates. It’s not a wise policy. That is simply harsh.
With placards and international flags in hand, the demonstrators marched from the King Center to the ICE field office in Atlanta. They made a quick stop to the city’s oldest Black congregation, Big Bethel A.M.E. Church, where Rev. Lairalaine Morgan White spoke in favor of the gathering.
“We will ensure that we remain upright,” White stated. We will take a proud stance.
Quentin Coach Q Pullen, a Fayetteville dual-service veteran, was also present at the rally on Saturday. He claimed that his concern for the rights of immigrants led him to get engaged with 50501 in January. Pullen is a member of the Georgia chapter’s 50501 board of directors.
Pullen remarked, “I didn’t go to war and fight for this country to watch our country being denigrated like this right now.”
Using 287(g), a program that allows local law enforcement officials to carry out some of the functions of immigration agents, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp stated in March that the state will further collaborate with ICE to apprehend and detain illegal migrants. He said that the collaboration will strengthen border security and public safety.
“You have no place in Georgia if you are breaking the law and entering our country illegally,” Kemp said in a statement.
Protests against the regime also happened in Fayetteville, Decatur, and Augusta. According to sources, there were at least 300 protests nationwide.
Sanchez told the AJC that we all have a lot in common, including the fact that we are all just trying to make ends meet. merely attempting to support our loved ones and families.
