Vineyarders rally for immigration protections 

Dozens took a pledge to show up for racial justice and resist Trump policies.

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With Island immigrants reportedly staying home over fears of being deported under the Trump administration, a couple dozen Vineyarders rallied at Five Corners in Vineyard Haven to show their support for racial justice and the immigrant community.

Ralliers held signs reading “I pledge to resist,” and “Protect people, resist hate,” as the occasional driver offered honks of support along the two-hour demonstration.

Their reasons for showing up varied, but many said that immigrants’ well-being was weighing heavy on their mind.

Chilmarker Marina Kaufman told The Times that she came out of concern for Vineyard immigrants. She herself emigrated to the United States from Morocco and said that she felt for people afraid of encountering immigration agents. “We have to protect these people because they are part of the workforce of the Vineyard. And they’re human beings,” she said. “They have children in schools, they’re scared. And it breaks my heart, it really does.”

Kaufman said she felt strongly that the immigrant community needs protection.

Bill Bridwell told The Times that Trump’s threats of expanding deportation efforts led him to come out on Saturday.

“[It’s] the grabbing people in their homes and taking them, and shipping them out to countries where they haven’t been in years and years, you know?” he said.“I can understand if someone has committed some sort of crime, they should be dealt with… But a lot of these people are hardworking individuals who are trying to make a living, and they pay taxes and they’re good neighbors.”

While protecting Island immigrants and racial justice were the focuses on Saturday, they weren’t the only reasons people showed up.

The ralliers, who appeared to be made exclusively of older Vineyarders, included 75-year-old Rita Brown, who told The Times that she was taken aback by the national political climate. “I would have never thought our country would come to this, [that] this would happen. I think that poor people are going to get poorer, and part of what our job is is to be there for people who don’t have a voice.”

Brown said that she delivers food to Island senior citizens as part of the local Meals on Wheels program, one national initiative that worried about its funding amid Trump’s recent freeze on federal grants. “We deliver 800-plus meals a week on this Island. And I put some in refrigerators [where] there’s not much in there besides what I’m putting in. And if that is taken away from elderly people — they don’t have a voice.” she said.

Some Vineyarders showed up in defense of racial justice programs, or in opposition to Trump pulling out of international agreements. Harry Seymour of Oak Bluffs approached The Times with a printed-out comment on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, which were the target of a January 22 Trump executive order.

“Let’s not forget, just a few years ago, DEI was a compelling policy adopted throughout industries and government to address inequities of opportunity,” Seymour wrote. “We must ask ourselves, have those inequities been addressed? Are we now all of a sudden a colorblind society? I contend we are not.”

Saturday’s demonstration was held by the Vineyard’s chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ); locals organizing for a national group that describes itself as a network “of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial and economic justice.”

Organizers were there to raise signatures for a commitment to protect others’ rights during the second Trump Administration. “I PLEDGE to show up to protect the rights, safety and dignity of people in my community and resist Trump’s antidemocratic and immoral agenda consistent with the principles of nonviolence,” the document reads.

Organizer Mona Hennessy told The Times that she hopes more people will take the pledge and turn up for future events. “We already know there are issues that will affect Martha’s Vineyard, so as small as we are, know we are determined to grow it through the pledge and through continuous actions like this,” she said.

Organizers told The Times on Sunday that 32 people signed the pledge at the rally.

Attendees also took home red cards — a handout in English and Portuguese listing one’s rights in an encounter with ICE — as well as a “Know Your Rights!” sheet with similar information.

Saturday’s rally also inspired Islander Babara Plesser to pursue an ambitious plan for a demonstration on Joseph Sylvia State Beach. She told The Times that she pictured at least a thousand people joining hands there in solidarity with the immigrant community.

“The idea would be to form a human chain of a thousand or more people along the bike path, and just call it a ‘Front Line’ for an intelligent immigration policy,” she told The Times.

2 COMMENTS

  1. It would be great to know how people (like me) can sign the pledge, and to be notified when we are needed. I’m sorry this wasn’t included in the otherwise fine article.

  2. Some immigrants pay taxes not all, some get snap cards, fuel assistance, have no insurance, have no drivers license, kids in school, do not speak English etc.. Some are here illegally and get my tax dollars to pay for all of the above and more which I do not agree with. Nice to see at least one demonstrator thought if you committed a crime you should be dealt with and that is who Trump is after.

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