By Akshay Gokul, AAJA-AsAmNews Video News Intern
(This story is done in partnership with the URL Collective)
Protesters chant: “ICE, ICE, we don’t need them”
Gokul: Protesters across the country are taking to the streets to speak out against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. From Los Angeles to right here in Tampa Bay, people are growing frustrated with the actions of ICE in recent weeks.
Protester: “We won’t be silent. We won’t be complicit. We won’t stop until every child is reunited. Every detainee is released. And every system built on hate melted in history.”
Gokul: And while organized action in the city has remained peaceful, Gov. DeSantis warns against protestors escalating advocacy efforts.
Gov. Ron DeSantis: ”Look, I may disagree, but that’s fine. You’re on the sidewalk holding signs. The minute you cross into attacking law enforcement or any type of rioting, any type of vandalism, looting. Just be prepared, to have the law come down on you.”
Gokul: These Tampa protests come amidst Anti-ICE protests in LA, where tensions run high as hundreds face arrests and the National Guard and Marines join police on the grounds.
Though organizers in Tampa echo the sentiments from the LA protests, they are also calling into concern the local law enforcement’s role in immigration enforcement. As such, one of the immigration protests happened right in front of the Pinellas County Jail, a key place in ICE detainments in the area.
Kim: “This jail is the first, often the first stop for detainees from the entire region, not just Pinellas County, but a lot of surrounding counties as well before they get transported to other facilities around the state and then, you know, further along across the country,
Alan Kim, an organizer with the Tampa Bay Party for Socialism and Liberation, says this issue hits close to home for Asian Americans.
Kim: “Trump’s deportation campaigns have also been going after a lot of Southeast Asians, a lot of Vietnamese people. Would assume there are many in the Tampa Bay Area have particularly been targeted.”
Akshay: As protests across the country continue, the Trump Administration remains committed to carrying out mass deportations, with the Department of Homeland Security seeking to make 3000 arrests per day. In Tampa, I’m Akshay Gokul reporting.
Registration is closed for Common Ground: Building Together conference and gala award banquet in San Francisco on January 24. A shoutout to our planning committee: Jane Chin, Frank Mah, Jeannie Young, Akemi Tamanaha, Nathan Soohoo, Mark Young, Dave Liu, and Yiming Fu.
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