Latino, African and Muslim activists and lawmakers spoke at the Colorado State Capitol on Wednesday, January 22, to share stories about how they have and will continue to persevere as undocumented immigrants. To humanize immigrants and counter Trump's characterization of undocumented immigrants, Cristian Solano-Córdova, a monologist with Motus Theater, read his account of crossing the United States-Mexico border with his mother and baby sister.
"I was just three years old and my sister was just one when we crossed the border," Solano-Córdova said. "Some continue to characterize my little three-year-old self as a diseased-criminal-murderer-rapist-gang-member-in-the-making. They even succeeded in scaring many good people who don't know any undocumented people into thinking a mother carrying her children to safety is nothing less than an invasion."
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty co-read the story with Solano-Córdova. He was part of the rally because he wants immigrants "to know what protections they have in Boulder County and throughout the state of Colorado," he said.
"Victims of sex assault, domestic violence, hate crimes should know that they can come forward and justice will be done," Dougherty added. "Right now, there are a lot of valid fears and concerns within the community because of the rhetoric and actions taking place at the federal level. So I stand with you today to say we'll continue to provide protection for you."
"Victims of sex assault, domestic violence, hate crimes should know that they can come forward and justice will be done," Dougherty added. "Right now, there are a lot of valid fears and concerns within the community because of the rhetoric and actions taking place at the federal level. So I stand with you today to say we'll continue to provide protection for you."
Keilly Leon, a regional organizer for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, shared her story about living as an undocumented child in the United States and being a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a federal policy that allows people to stay in the country if they were brought here as a child.
"I remember the anxiety and consistent worries my parents were subjected to when we first arrived," Leon told the crowd. "Yet even with the pervasive anti-immigrant rhetoric, my community rose above it to be heard. They dared to dream of calling Colorado home."
Leon said she was thankful that Colorado laws make it easier to live as an undocumented immigrant. "When I needed a driver's license, [state law] created a way for me to get one. When I experienced my first traffic stop, I didn't have to fear collaboration with ICE," she recalled, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency that conducts deportation raids.
In his first couple of days in office, Trump has signed executive orders stopping refugee resettlement, entry into the country for asylum seekers and use of the CBP One app, which many migrants relied on to enter the U.S., while they wait for court hearings.
Another executive order aims to end the constitutional right to citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. to undocumented parents, also known as birthright citizenship. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser was one of nearly two dozen state attorneys general to file a lawsuit on January 21 against Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship.
Papa Dia, executive director of the African Leadership Group, warned during a speech at the Capitol on Wednesday that Trump is "trying to turn us against each other" by demonizing different immigrant communities.
Bennito L. Kelty
"Donald Trump's division, cruelty and ugliness live in his executive orders, [like] his flatly unconstitutional attacks on birthright citizenship," Gonzales said. "What that fear and rhetoric and division end up leading to are more threats, more attacks, children being afraid to go to school, go to the library."
Trump also declared an emergency at the Mexican border on his first day in office, which will send more troops, barriers and enforcement resources to southern border states. On Fox News, Trump Border Czar Tom Homan said that the Department of Homeland Security had issued a memo allowing ICE agents to enter formerly off-limit spaces like churches, hospitals and schools.
With Trump targeting the southern border as well as Venezuelan migrants in interior cities, Latino communities feel singled out, but lawmakers and activists promised to protect African and Muslim communities, as well.
Democratic state Senator Iman Jodeh, the first Muslim elected to the Colorado Legislature, promised to protect Muslim communities targeted by Trump's travel ban from Muslim-majority countries during his first term. Two weeks after Trump won his re-election in November, Jodeh started a caucus for lawmakers representing Muslim, Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian communities, the Joint MENASA and the Muslim Caucus.
"We saw the writing on the wall, and I want our communities to understand they have one more line of defense: they have representation from the first Palestinian elected to the Colorado State Legislature," Jodeh said at the rally. "You're going to need that protection. We're power in numbers."
"We saw the writing on the wall, and I want our communities to understand they have one more line of defense: they have representation from the first Palestinian elected to the Colorado State Legislature," Jodeh said at the rally. "You're going to need that protection. We're power in numbers."
Papa Dia, executive director of the African Leadership Group, warned that Trump is "trying to turn us against each other" by demonizing different immigrant communities.
"They paint the Latino community as gangsters, as rapists, but they're trying to turn us in the African community against the Latino community, and we will not let that happen," Dia said. "They try to label the Muslim community as terrorists. You know they're trying to turn us against the Muslim community. We are all human beings."
During his January 9 State of the State address, Governor Jared Polis said that Colorado will "welcome more federal help to detain and deport dangerous criminals," but he has pushed back on Trump's order to end birthright citizenship.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said in November that he'd be willing to have a "Tiananmen Square moment" and stand up against federal authorities if they try to deport immigrants in Denver. Johnston has softened his stance since, but has reiterated that Denver won't assist federal deportation efforts.
