Once again, hundreds of people met at Dallas City Hall in Downtown to show their unity in resistance against the Trump administration. In Solidarity organized Saturday’s March and Rally in Support of all Immigrants and Refugees. Their Facebook event page says, “we will stand together and march and rally in order to oppose this selective ban on immigrants and refugees trying to obtain legal entry and safe asylum in the U.S. As many of us here know, refugees, on average, face anywhere from two to three years of vigorous and arduous screenings from top U.S. intelligence agencies, including the FBI, CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security.”

We spoke with one of the event’s organizers, Fatima Alam, about the reason for the rally, “We’re showing that Dallas is standing with our immigrant and refugee communities. Because there has been a lot of political upheaval and a lot of changes made very recently that have caused a lot of distress in both of those communities, and just throughout our entire Dallas community,” she continued, “we want to show that Dallas stands with the refugees, and we stand with the immigrants.”

Although the Trump’s administration’s travel ban has been shut down by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the president has vowed to rewrite the Executive Order. In the uncertainty of what a new travel ban on immigrants and refugees from the countries originally outlined in the initial executive order, In Solidarity says it is a critical time to show lawmakers that there is a substantial opposition to such a ban.

People from a diverse background of races, religions, nationalities, genders, and ages were on hand at the march, and the crowds chanted and cheered before the march began. Cries of, “we need a leader, not a creepy tweeter,” and, “this is what Dallas looks like,” rang through the morning air in front of City Hall.

Participants had signs that ranged from the funny to the profound as people talked about the current political situation, and what can be done to change lawmakers attitudes.

The sole anti-protesters we saw were a pair of spandex-clad cyclists who yelled, “Go Trump,” as they sped by. They did not stop for further comment or discussion.

Reports say roughly 1,700 people were in attendance, while more than three thousand people on Facebook said they would attend.

Photos by Caine Jefferson
Header image design by Sara Button