"Stand against ICE rally" fights for immigrant communities in the face of federal abuse
New Yorkers joined in a city-wide action called "Stand against ICE" on Saturday to stand up for immigrant communities in the face of federal abuse.
These events occurred just two days after a woman was shoved to the ground by a federal agent after her husband was detained outside of an immigration hearing in Lower Manhattan.
The sound of children screaming in a video has shaken many as they watch a wife plead with federal agents detaining her husband outside of an immigration hearing on Thursday.
His wife is holding onto him as their children, moments later, watch an agent grab her, shoving her onto the ground
Her name was written on a poster on Saturday, held by a woman at a Stand Against ICE event in Astoria, Queens.
It's videos like that one that have pushed community members to talk about how they can protect immigrants.
"I spent about a decade of my life working in the streets selling hot dogs, pretzels, and more of these halal foods. And it is really personal to me because I have experienced all the injustices that vendors deal with every day for quite a long time," Mohamed Attia said.
This event was just one of many held during a citywide day of action hosted by the NYC Council Progressive Caucus.
"I believe that immigrants are what make this city so great. Whether it's the culture, the food, the business, educators - without immigrants, we wouldn't be New York City," Rana Abdelhamid, Executive Director of Malikah, said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on social media that she's deploying DOJ agents to ICE facilities to safeguard federal agents.
This move comes after a deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas on Wednesday.
She says she's also instructing Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country to quote "disrupt and investigate all entities and individuals engaged in acts of domestic terrorism."
"Yes, they want to protect their agents. Fine. But they're using that as an excuse to be even more heavy-handed with immigrants and do things that are more damaging to those communities to human beings that we should have more compassion for, and ultimately doing damage to our country," New York State Senator Michael Gianaris said.
Bondi also says she has directed multiple agencies like the FBI and ATF to accelerate efforts alongside the Department of Homeland Security to locate, detain and prosecute anyone who is in the country illegally.
"Anyone who threatens or assaults our federal officers will be arrested and charged federally not in some liberal state court," said Bondi.
She says she's also instructing Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country to quote "disrupt and investigate all entities and individuals engaged in acts of domestic terrorism."
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