Latina Activist Arrested at Arizona Trump Protest, Transferred to Immigration Authorities

By Sameer Rao Mar 21, 2016

In protest of the Republican presidential candidate’s racist and xenophobic rhetoric, a coalition of activists shut down a major Phoenix-area road leading to Saturday’s (March 19) Donald Trump rally. One of three activists arrested during the protest posted a video yesterday (March 20) saying that while police released the other two, she was transferred to immigration authorities. 

"I know that the two colleagues I was arrested with were released. But because my last name is ‘Gonzalez,’ I was immediately questioned by ICE and placed in a detainer," Jacinta Gonzalez said in a video posted on YouTube by Phoenix-based migrant justice group Puente Arizona. The group was one of a several involved in the roadway shutdown, during which Gonzalez chained herself to a vehicle with a U-lock around her neck: 

 

Mijente clarified in a Facebook post that Gonzalez is a U.S. citizen. She was ultimately released by ICE authorities.

Organizing collective Mijente, where Gonzalez serves as field director, published a statement ahead of the protest, detailing the purpose of the action:

[Protesters] point to the Trump effect as cause for a package of anti-immigrant laws being proposed in Arizona’s statehouse—including those sponsored by the husband of Linda Kavanagh, the mayor of Fountain Hills where the Trump rally was planned.

"In Arizona we’ve heard Trump’s hate before and we know where it gets us," said Carlos Garcia, executive director of Puente Arizona in reference to the 2010 SB1070 that cost the state $200 million after a boycott and caused international embarrassment as the state became synonymous with racism. "The Trump effect isn’t just about a candidate. Trump’s ugly rhetoric is being turned into policy proposals as we speak that threaten the wholeness of our families and the safety of our communities. All people of conscience have to unite to stop it." 

"People will not sit quietly as Trump campaigns to move us back in the shadows, to the back of the bus, or back in the closet," adds Marisa Franco, director of Mijente, a national hub for Latino organizing involved in the protest today. "The greatest act of love we can show is to shut down hate where it rears its head and demand that we do better than the cheap politics and false solutions that Trump is peddling. The billionaire may want to pit poor people against each other, but our necks are not available for standing on."

(H/t Reuters, ABC 15