Orchardist Joe Stewart, present at the protest, commented the deportation of workers would be a blow to orchardists around the region. He attended alongside many Latino neighbors.
Protestors gather in The Dalles Feb. 8 in a show of solidarity with the Latino and immigrant community.
Flora Martin Gibson photo
Orchardist Joe Stewart, present at the protest, commented the deportation of workers would be a blow to orchardists around the region. He attended alongside many Latino neighbors.
Flora Martin Gibson photo
Protestors gather in The Dalles Feb. 8 in a show of solidarity with the Latino and immigrant community.
Flora Martin Gibson photo
Protestors gather in The Dalles Feb. 8 in a show of solidarity with the Latino and immigrant community.
Flora Martin Gibson photo
Protestors gather in The Dalles Feb. 8 in a show of solidarity with the Latino and immigrant community.
THE DALLES — Around 200 people, according to the organizers’ estimate, gathered in solidarity with the Latino and immigrant community on Sixth Street the morning of Feb. 8 to protest deportation of undocumented immigrants (previously reported in Columbia Gorge News).
“I’m an orchardist here in the Mid-Columbia area, and we need pickers for our cherries, for our pears and [our] apples and grapes. And without pickers being here, the price of good old fresh food, veggies and fruits will be skyrocketed, or there won’t be any available,” said one attendee, Joe Stewart.
Omar Perez , who organized the march (his first) with a friend via social media, said he wasn’t sure how many people would show up. “There’s so much fear right now,” one attendee said before the march began. In Denver on Feb. 3, a local protest — part of a national protest — coincided with operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which detained an unstated number of persons nearby.
“You’re always fearing,” said Perez. “... that’s why we make these, because we are U.S. citizens, and the people that are scared — we are their voice.” Perez’s parents, U.S. citizens, also protested immigration rights “back in the day ... they’re the stepping stone to why we are here.”
As more and more attendees gathered near Webber Street to draw signs and zip-tie Mexican flags to poles, the atmosphere appeared calm and positive, with talk and laughter. Before setting out, Perez picked up a megaphone to emphasize the rules of peaceful protest: No burning out of tires, do not retaliate if someone says something racist, and everything should remain completely peaceful. Perez warned that “there will be hate crimes,” as people could possibly shout words or throw things at protesters.
“So far, it’s going pretty good,” said Perez when the protest reached Cherry Heights Street. “I’m glad we’re getting a lot of support from our community ... We were wanting the community to be together in these hard times. ... We just want to be united.”
While that was “just a small [protest] for the community here,” Perez said he hopes to keep organizing, starting with a social media page. His ideas include a Cinco de Mayo parade.
“We’re not all mean people like they say in the news ... We love to be together. We’re all family-oriented, and we’re peaceful people,” said Perez, later adding, “They do what they came here to do: Work and raise their families. Why should they be afraid?”
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