Hundreds Stage Rally Outside Austin City Hall In Support Of Immigrants

AUSTIN, TX -- Immigrant families and their supporters staged a rally at City Hall on Sunday, not necessarily in rebuke to the recent national election but as reminder of migrants' contributions to society with a call to be treated with dignity and respect amid the president-elect's calls for an immigration crackdown.

More than 200 gathered to remind that "Love Trumps Hate," the theme of the gathering that was emblazoned on placards. They descended on City Hall on Sunday morning, led by several speakers that included Mayor Steve Adler, District 4 City Council member Greg Casar and Cristina Tzintzún, the co-founder of the locally based Workers Defense Project who recently accepted a position with an organizing group in Washington, D.C.

Tzintzún's presence at the rally struck a powerful chord. Six months pregnant, her husband is undocumented, she said. The vows made by president-elect to deport millions of immigrants and build a wall along the southern U.S. border is no abstraction to her as an advocate for immigrants but a real source of anxiety shared by many in the crowd.

“At this time of uncertainty, I stand here certain of one thing, and that is that Austin, will not waiver,” Adler said, his comments prompting cheers from the audience. Austin is among the locales in historically red Texas to have voted for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, the city long known as a blue dot in a sea of red given its progressive ideals.

“I think it is the mayor’s job as well as my privilege to be able to reassure people in the community that they're safe and that they are welcome,” Adler said.

The strongest testimonials came from children. Choking back tears, Abigail Ramirez, 14, spoke of her own anxiety given Trump's strident calls for an immigration crackdown. The youngest member of her family and the sole U.S. citizen, she voiced her fears of being torn from her family.

“This week after election, I walked into school, with the fear of being separated from my family and living alone in the dark," she said. “I have four other siblings, one brother and then three sisters, I’m the youngest, so I am the baby. My mom and dad, they are not documented, they basically, they are my everything. I care for them a lot."

Latino immigrants aren't the only ones feeling anxiety from Trump's rhetoric while on the stump. In December, he called for a "total and complete shutdown" in terms of their entry into the U.S., he said during his campaign last year, a campaign promise on which he's recently extended in doubling down on his creation of a national registry for the Muslims that do get in.

“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on,” Trump said in December 2015, referring to himself in the third person and spontaneously adding the world "hell" for greater emphasis.

At the rally, Casar appropriated the Faustian reference in energizing the crowd with chants of "Hell no!" in response to his points on resistance to Trump's ideology.

"Our own hared working working mothers and fathers, we're going to say hell no!" Casar said to cheers from the crowd. "When Donald Trump says he wants to ban our Muslim brothers and sisters, that he wants people to register based on heir faith when he wants to attack the fund rights that created this country, we're going to say..." he said, to which the crowd responded with a thunderous "Hell no!"

The rally ended on a hopeful note as musician Gina Chavez took the stage, singing "Todo Cambia" ("Everything Changes" while accompanying her singing with a guitar: "Cambia el clima con los años/cambia el pastor su rebaño/y así como todo cambia/que yo cambie no es extraño" she sang. Roughly translated: "The cliamte changes through the years/the shepherd changes his flock/and just as everything changes/that I should change is not strange."

After the rally, Tzintzún said she was gratified at the show of support: "I felt such incredible love, solidarity and collective courage," she said on Facebook. "We will stand together to defeat hate and bigotry."

She announced after the formal gathering that the Austin Police Department had offered to close off a major downtown artery to allow them to march onto the Capitol while expressing their cause. At that, she led the group on the spontaneous mile-long walk to the Capitol building for the peaceful protest, with patrol cars stationed along the stretch of roadway to provide protection.

Standing with his aide among the dispersing crowds headed to the Texas Capitol building, Adler reiterated his vow to keep Austin residents safe regardless of their citizenship status.

"There is a lot of fear in our community," he told Patch. "There are a lot of people who are scared and frightened, and it's important for the larger community to feel safe and bring a message of reassurance and continue to try to do as much as we can to champion and appreciation. We value diversity, and this didn't change" in the outcome of the election, he added.

Along the route as the masses headed to the Capitol protesters carrying signs chanted oft-used rallying cries: "El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido," was one chant, an internationally recognized cry that translates roughly as "The people, united, will never be defeated."

Along the way, several people walked alongside the marchers in the periphery on sidewalks safeguarded by police. They expressed their reasons for being there on a Sunday morning to show their solidarity.

"People should be able to live in a country where they don't have to fear based on their sexual orientation, race, immigration status or creed," said Matt Rios, 23. He then pointed to the crowd gathered post-march at the gates of the Capitol complex: "This is the America I want; this shows he hasn't won," he said, referencing Trump.

Michelle Li, 24, said her upbringing yielded an appreciation for cultural diversity: "Growing up in a multi-cultural background inspired me to surround myself with other like-minded people and inspire others to be more empathetic and compassionate toward those around them."

Sunil Joseph, 24, said his Indian ancestry informed his decision to head downtown to show his support to immigrant families. He referenced Trump's campaign talk of ending the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent residents (DAPA), an initiative signed by President Barack Obama that grants deferred action status to certain undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. since 2010, and have children who are either American citizens or lawful permanent residents.

While deferred action does not constitute full legal status, it allows for a renewable, there-year work permit and exemption from deportation.

"There's been a lot of hateful speech," Joseph said. "He wants to repeal the executive action for DAPA that's going to be eroded. "As a person of color, I know the struggles as well. We all need to support one another."

>>> Photos and video by Tony Cantu