Marchers take to the streets – twice – to show support for immigrants

About 250 people turned out for two separate marches on Monday to show support for immigrants in Wichita.

The day started in the morning at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, where Sara, who didn’t want her last name used because she is not a citizen, was one of about 60 people who had showed up to try to change perceptions about immigrants.

She was brought by her parents to the U.S. at age 14 and currently has Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, which allows her to work and go to school. Although President Trump has said he may support DACA recipients, immigration activists are hoping to keep the pressure on.

“We are just asking for dignity and protection,” said Sara, who was pulling her son Ian, 3, behind her in a wagon. “I came here to study and go to school.”

The first event was organized by a decentralized movement called La Cosecha, which, according to one of the local organizers, Claudia Amaro, is trying to build support for bigger events in the future.

“After today, you’re going to start hearing about big strikes and boycotts in big cities,” Amaro said.

The second event at Nomar Plaza near 21st and Broadway was notably more diverse. That was on purpose, according to Jan Swartzendruber, one of the organizers.

“It’s a unity movement; it’s not just illegal immigrants, it’s not just workers from south of the border being attacked,” Swartzendruber said. “So we want everyone to understand together we need to have each other’s back.”

Organizers of the marches had conflicting stories about whether they had tried to unite the two events into a single march. Although there was some confusion about where to go and at what time, Amaro said she didn’t see the two events as in conflict.

The mood on Monday was festive. Events included food, face painting and dancing. But the turnout was about half as large as the more than 400 who attended a similar rally on Feb. 16.

The immigrant community can’t take time off from work and school every time there is a march or rally, said Guadalupe Magdaleno, an organizer of the afternoon march, who works for Sunflower Community Action, a nonprofit advocacy group.

But she doesn’t think the smaller numbers Monday were a sign that the immigrant community is feeling more secure. She said more people have been showing up at Sunflower to ask for legal advice.

“Honestly, we don’t know who they are are going to target,” said Magdaleno. Under President Obama, Magdaleno said, she knew that immigrants with DUI convictions might be targeted for deportation, but now she said people are afraid that immigration agents are picking up people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Representatives for immigration enforcement say they don’t stop people indiscriminately but sometimes will pick up immigrants they encounter while trying to detain someone else.

Both events had been in the works for many months. Many Mexican immigrants are used to celebrating workers’ rights on May 1, according to Dennis Romero, a union organizer who attended both marches.

This story was originally published May 1, 2017 at 11:02 AM with the headline "Marchers take to the streets – twice – to show support for immigrants."