A US citizen from Saturday’s Donald Trump rally was arrested and then transferred to an immigration center because her surname is Spanish, according to reports.
Jacinta Gonzalez, from the Puente Human Rights Movement, locked her neck to a vehicle that was blocking the main avenue to the rally before she was investigated by federal deportation agents
“The two others were able to go home but because of my last name I was questioned by ICE and transferred to their custody,” Gonzalez said. “As I was trying to defend my rights inside, I saw the faces of two children in one of the holding cell. We’re going to continue to fight, to say #Not1More, and Dump Trump.”
According to 12 News, three other protesters were also arrested but Gonzalez was the only one singled out and interviewed by ICE.
“After going to court and talking to the judge, two of my colleagues were released but because of my Latino surname I was transported to immigration custody,” Gonzalez said. “Anyone that they suspect because of racial profiling — because of someone’s last name — they are able to take in.”
Protesters released a statement via Mijente:
“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.”
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