Hundreds Of Protesters Take To Downtown Streets Decrying Immigration Crackdowns In Austin

AUSTIN, TX — Hundreds of people protesting bolstered immigration enforcement by the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency on Thursday afternoon descended from the state capitol to a federal downtown building where detainees are transported for deportation.

A bike patrol officer at the scene told Patch he estimated the crowd of chanting protesters to be about 500. But hundreds more were positioned at other points in the city to join their fellow protesters, meandering through downtown streets to reach the gathering as police block off several streets in the central business district to accommodate them.

The demonstration is par for the course in Austin since last week, when ICE began to deport undocumented immigrants in earnest. Since then, stories have emerged of family patriarchs being separated from their families as ICE round up the undocumented in a local offshoot of Donald Trump's demands for a national immigration crackdown.

"¡El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido!" the angry crowds shouted as law enforcement officials outside the J.J. Pickle Federal Building kept a watchful eye. The chant means "the people united will never be defeated," which protesters often change to "the people united will never be divided" for reasons of rhyme and cadence. "¡Aqui estamos, y no nos vamos!" another chant went. "We are here, and we won't go."

A reporter wanting to take in a bird's eye view of the crowd hurriedly climbed up the steps of the federal building the crowd was facing, only to stumble on the last step — foiled by a pair of newly purchased boots not previously worn — as his cell phone and notebook tumbled to the floor. "This is why we ask people to stay down there, and not here," the officer told the fallen reporter struggling to recover. The journalist explained he was a member of the media covering the event and should be allowed some latitude, before a second officer repeated the command to leave the steps of the federal building.

Recovering from his unexpected tumble the reporter — uninjured but chastened — still managed to take the desired bird's-eye shots before descending from the federal building steps to join the crowd below.

By that time, many in the crowd had become distracted after supporters at a parking garage across the street from the federal building unfurled a large sign voicing support from one of the top floors of the structure, prompting spontaneous cheers from the throngs below.

After much speculation as to how many residents had been deported, ICE officials recently released a statement saying that the sweeps had ensnared more than 50 people in the Austin-San Antonio region. But ICE officials have refused to categorize their actions as a sweep or raid — despite evidence to the contrary — and instead have insisted their enforcement is part of routine protocol in enforcing federal immigration laws.

Residents, city officials and local police seek to differ. Some members of city council, along with the mayor, have attested to the unprecedented level of enforcement currently being conducted throughout the city. Interim Police Chief Bryan Manley has recently stated he's being kept largely in the dark about ICE actions, noting that the federal agency's wide jurisdiction doesn't require officials to notify him ahead of time of their presence.

Adding to critics' ire are emerging reports of the indiscriminate nature of the raids. While ICE officials have insisted they are focused on rooting out a criminal element, family members of those detained have reported relatives with no previous criminal records being swept up in the week-long sweep. For their part, ICE officials have not released details related to those detained for deportation, only confirming the numbers of detentions in the early parts of their initiative.

Meanwhile, the anxiety and tension continues to grow. On the same day of the protests, several Austin merchants participated in the national "A Day Without an Immigrant" movement sparked on social media, during which they closed today as a show of solidarity and discontent with Trump's strident policies as they relate to immigration.

>>> Photos by Tony Cantú