Gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland and a slew of state legislators spoke at a public rally yesterday morning at the State Capitol. The Immigrant and Workers' Day of Action began at the Farmers Market Pavilion. Workers, families and allies then marched to the Capitol and the event concluded with rally participants meeting with legislators at the Roundhouse.
Numerous state legislators addressed the crowd of hundreds outside the capitol. Several asked the people gathered to hold politicians accountable. Others noted the connections between activism and legislation.
"The real power is here— it's in this crowd and in those streets," Rep. Marianna Anaya (D-18) told the crowd. "The immigrant Safety Act is power; speaking truth in these halls is power. Us standing together, not because somebody told us to, because we know that our fates are tied together— that is power."
Anaya is one of the cosponsors of the Immigrant Safety Act. The contentious bill that would end New Mexico government contracts with ICE detention facilities passed its first committee last week. Although the rally was billed as a workers' rights rally, ICE enforcement and detention facilities were a consistent theme throughout the legislators' speeches.
Advocacy group Somos Accion organized the rally. The group's communications director, Arturo Ramon, said the current climate of immigration enforcement is intertwined with worker rights.
"The immigrant population is the is the working population, there's no separation between them," Ramon told KSFR. "So immigrants rights are workers rights."
Noting the Zia symbol on the New Mexico state flag as a representation of the sun, Haaland told the crowd that New Mexico should be an example for the rest of the country when it comes to immigrant rights.
"We're the light; we are the leaders," Haaland said. "We're a multicultural state."
Haaland ended the rally with a call to action.
"Let's raise our voices and make sure that we are protecting this country for our future generations," she said.
The reason people rally, Haaland said, is because children deserve a world where they can thrive.
