This Presidents' Day, hundreds of people marched through the city streets in Pomona chanting "ICE out of Pomona" to protest against the raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
The walk began around 10:00 a.m. at the corner of Main and Mission streets. The protesters then demonstrated outside of the Police Department, the Court and City Hall.
Jaime Gutiérrez, member of the Gente Organizada collective who organized the event, said that Pomona has a large community of Latino immigrants, who previously came to work and who today have established families with children and grandchildren.
The organizer and activist said that deportations separated these families, adding, “That situation has already been occurring; a few months ago, unidentified ICE cars made arrests in Pomona.”
“Due to this, people in the community are afraid, as there are rumors that there are ICE agents present who arrest immigrants without carrying out raids,” he added.
Although Pomona is a Sanctuary City, they do not know if the police cooperate with ICE, Jaime Gutiérrez mentioned, and the city does not have the resources to prevent the racist immigration policies dictated by President Donald Trump.
Likewise, mass deportations bring with them a serious problem for the economy, said the activist, since immigrants are the ones who do agricultural work, construction, services and more.
“President Donald Trump seems not to take into account that through taxes that undocumented immigrants do not claim, the government annually captures $89 billion, which is used to pay the pensions of baby boomers,” he mentioned.
Jazmin Cardona, a member of the Gente Organizada collective and a march participant, said that, in collaboration with other activist groups, they drafted a letter to the Pomona Council Board.
Cardona said they will deliver the letter at the meeting next Monday, and they expect to have the support of the council members Víctor Preciado and Nora García, who participated in the march
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