By Magaly Muñoz

Thousands of people walked the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District Monday evening in protest of the recent ICE raids across California, and the escalating tensions brought by military intervention in Los Angeles over the last week.

Activists and allies alike gathered outside of the 24th Street Mission BART Station and City Hall to denounce the increased immigration raids happening in L.A. and Donald Trump’s decision to send hundreds of National Guard members to control protesters.

San Francisco non-profit Mission Action announced the protest plan Sunday night and led the amped crowd in cheers against anti-immigrant hate.

“La gente unida, no será vencida!” and “Move ICE, get out the Bay” chants were heard for a mile from 24th Street to 16th Street Mission BART and back around towards Valencia Street.

District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder attended the evening protest and applauded the community for their resilience in the streets over the last two days.

Protestors holding a Mexican flag for a rally in San Francisco. Thousands of people gathered at 24th Street Mission BART Station to participate in a protest about the increased immigration raids across the country. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“It’s up to every single legislator [to stand up for the community], but first and foremost, the people, you all are gonna be the ones to make sure that Trump, ICE, and the military do not set foot in the Mission,” Fielder said to the crowd.

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Fielder, along with two other Supervisors, also spoke at a press conference earlier in the day in front of City Hall with other officials and community leaders about the travel ban that went into effect last Wednesday and the immigration arrests from the week before. Speakers also denounced the more than 150 arrests made by local police during a protest Sunday night.

District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton said it was the public’s moral obligation to disobey unjust laws.

A protester holding an upside-down American flag at an anti-ICE and travel ban press conference in front of San Francisco City Hall. Thousands of people marched through the Mission District to protest against the increase in immigration raids across the state. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“The systemic oppression that has taken place now in the U.S. to remove our constitutional rights to assemble, to protest, to fight against moral and unjust rules and policies is put in place to tear us apart and to promote fear in everyone,” Walton said.

Around 15 people were detained by ICE at the immigration court last week, and at least half a dozen more by the time this story was published, immigration lawyers reported.

A new travel ban has also barred people from 12 countries, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, because the Trump administration said they “pose a very high risk to the United States.”

Community leaders said this action is continued discrimination against Black and Middle Eastern immigrants who are seeking opportunities in America.

An immigration lawyer urged people at the press conference to stay calm and meet peacefully because federal officials were going to be looking for reasons to escalate the tensions and arrest residents for simply attending protests.

“We have to remind ourselves; we all have a history. Our families survived discrimination before,” she said. “We will survive this, too. So long as we don’t let them divide us. Let’s fight this together.”

Magaly Muñoz

A graduate of Sacramento State University, Magaly Muñoz’s journalism experience includes working for the State Hornet, the university’s student-run newspaper and conducting research and producing projects for “All Things Considered” at National Public Radio. She also was a community reporter for El Timpano, serving Latino and Mayan communities, and contributed to the Sacramento Observer, the area’s African American newspaper.

Muñoz is one of 40 early career journalists who are part of the California Local News Fellowship program, a state-funded initiative designed to strengthen local news reporting in California, with a focus on underserved communities.

The fellowship program places journalism fellows throughout the state in two-year, full-time reporting positions.

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