All photography and video by Zaire Breedlove/ Fresh Take Georgia.
On Saturday Feb. 1, 1,000 Georgia residents gathered at the intersection of Buford Highway and Clairmont Road at Fiesta Plaza shopping mall in Chamblee for a rally organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The rally was held in response to President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts and the increasing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Atlanta.
Community leaders, students and seniors voiced their concerns about immigration policies nationally and in Georgia. Many protestors carried signs and flags representing Latin American countries. They discussed how the Trump administration policies directly impact their families and community including family separation and immigrant rights for both legal and undocumented residents.
A small number of Chamblee police officers were at the rally early in the day to ensure the protestors did not affect traffic on Buford Highway and Clairmont Road. Four protestors were arrested for obstructing traffic. At sunset, more officers arrived to prevent protestors from blocking Buford Highway at Fiesta Plaza.
Eric Venzen, a Brookhaven resident who works with immigrants, explained the use of misinformation as a scare tactic.
“They’re trying to tell people they’re only taking out the criminals, they’re taking out people with prior deportation orders who have no criminal record. They have children here, and how does it help America to take away parents of U.S. citizen children?” he said.
Venzen pointed out the country’s reliance on Immigrants.
“This whole Buford Highway is dependent on immigrants who contribute taxes, and through their rent, pay property taxes and they are vital contributors to the economy,” he said.
Many American citizens marched in support of immigrant families. One of the protestors, Iris Luna, attended the rally to speak on behalf of those who fear deportation.
“I feel like they’re racially profiling us. I’ve heard on the news that they’re also grabbing migrants who were born here. And I feel like that is not fair. Just because we look a certain race to everybody else doesn’t mean we’re all up for grabs,” Luna said.
“To the people who don’t agree with us, we’re hard-working people. My parents came here in the 2000’s right before 9/11, they crossed the border to go to New York and that’s where I was born and raised,” Luna said. “My Dad landed a job at a French Restaurant where rich people would eat, but since of his status, and no papers, he couldn’t work there anymore.”
John Ozuna, a demonstrator at the march, explained the impact immigrants have on the United States.
“Without a lot of Immigrants, a lot of buildings wouldn’t be made, a lot of roads wouldn’t be made, and everything that’s going on with ICE, ain’t nobody here for none of that,” he said.
