DC Against the Trump Agenda Coalition joins “Families not Feds” protesting mayor’s complicity with ICE

Washington, D.C. – Over 50 activists, faith leaders and immigrants mobilized in the early morning of October 8 at the city hall in downtown DC, to call out Mayor Muriel Bowser’s cooperation with ICE and the Trump administration’s racist occupation.

The action, called by a coalition Families Not Feds, sought to expose Bowser’s continued cooperation with ICE and pressure her to cease further coordination and use her political power to fight for DC. The organizers conducted a press conference outside the chambers of the Committee of the Whole, where they heard from community members affected by the surge of ICE and federal police forces in DC.

“Bowser told us that MPD would no longer cooperate with ICE,” said Merawi Gerima, a DC native and member of DC Against the Trump Agenda. ”Within days, it became clear that she lied, as we saw footage of MPD helping DHS and ICE arrest parents dropping their kids off at school,” eliciting boos from the crowd.

Gerima added, “To make things worse, we’re hearing that Bowser, the mayor of one of the Blackest cities in America, has been meeting with the flaming white suprematist and Trump Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on a weekly basis.”

“Today people are being taken from their homes, schools and workplaces,” said Solomon Ayalew, an organizer for African Communities Together. “And our leaders remain silent. But silence isn’t neutrality, it’s complicity. It allows fear to grow.”

“We demand no more coordination with federal law enforcement,” Ayalew continued. “The executive order that allowed it has expired. It’s time to stop acting like it hasn’t!”

“The only people making sure these mass kidnappers are kept in check are our communities,” said an organizer from Families not Feds. “We ask immigration officers: are you proud? Are you proud of the manufactured fear you are putting into our communities? Are you proud that our kids haven’t seen a park all summer? Are you proud that our moms haven’t gone to the hospital to do their dialysis? We have a very clear ask today: we want an end to all formal and informal collaboration with ICE!”

After the press conference, protesters marched down the hall singing in English and Spanish, “We are the immigrants, the mighty mighty immigrants!” Stopping outside the office of the mayor, they chanted “Bowser and Trump, sitting in a tree, attacking and terrorizing kids in DC!” Staff came into the halls recording the action as city hall security looked on with supportive smiles.

The action ended outside on the steps of city hall, where organizers urged the crowd to plug into FNF and continue collective resistance to Trump’s racist reactionary agenda.

Follow @dcagainsttrump on Instagram for more updates on their organizing to fight back against the Trump ordered federal occupation of DC.

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