After Donald Trump’s recent order curtailing immigration of refugees and attacking Muslim and immigrant rights, demonstrators filled Washington Square Park in New York City on Wednesday afternoon in protest.
The crowd filled the streets of West Village with passionate chanting and cheering.
The New York Chapter of The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) organised the “emergency” rally in response to a draft of Trump’s Muslim ban immigration policy to be signed on Wednesday. A copy of it has been obtained by the Huffington Post.
This would prevent people from countries such as Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from travelling to the United States. This executive order will suspend refugee admissions from all countries for 120 days while Trump and his cabinet decide on how to implement the so called “extreme vetting” policy that his campaign had promised.
The Protest also focused on opposing Trump’s United States-Mexico border wall, that he ordered construction the same day. CAIR’s face book page for the event urged New Yorkers “As a city of immigrants, we cannot stay silent in the face of such hate. We ask you to gather tonight (Wednesday), to show President Trump that all New Yorkers stand with our Muslim and Latino neighbors. Together, we will form a beacon of light against the coming darkness.”
People of all faiths, from Jewish to Hindu, and all cultural backgrounds stood together in solidarity with the Muslim and Latino community as people shouted in unison “Lock him [Trump] up!”
A young woman stood upon the park benches while cheering as the speakers that evening spoke of their support for the immigrant community.
Aya Aziz, a 23-year-old Egyptian student and artist, came out to the rally because of her faith in fundamental human rights. “I came here because my family immigrated here, struggled, and was repeatedly denied documentation and were essentially threatened with deportation and pushed out,” she said, in a hushed voice. “I’m here because the landlord called the FBI on me and my dad and surveillance is a very real absurdity,” she said. Even in the face of negative experiences, she was upbeat, laughing off the ridiculousness of her experience.
“We all have a responsibility, all of our lives are on the line. But this is also an opportunity to reimagine the country we want to live in,” she concluded, sounding a little hopeful.
A 29-year-old Bangladeshi-American woman also attended, joining the crowds who yelled ferociously, as if to let Trump know they could not be silenced. She spoke about her reason for joining the demonstrators that evening stating, “I know that this [immigration ban] would be a very dangerous, slippery slope to begin with. I think that the ban from Muslim majority countries would be illegal just due to the fact that he’s targeting people based on religion which is an immutable characteristic of your identity. To ban it unilaterally across many countries is just completely unfair.”
The organizers and speakers that evening called upon New York City to offer sanctuary to anyone who is a victim of Trump’s platform of bigotry and to continue to resist his presidency even with such restrictive policies in effect.
Aya believes, “We should be supporting organizations like the Arab American Action Network, we need to be writing our congressmen. I have the privilege of documentation, so as a citizen of this country I know I will be doing everything I can to put myself on the line because I can risk it and not face deportation. We need to be stepping up and looking out for people.”
The 29-year-old feels that stereotypes need to be broken first in order to protect the Muslim population in America. “We need to look at the policies that are coming down. What are really coming down are White Supremacist policies and we need to look at that mentality and change it,” she began. “Part of that mentality is lacking in education and swimming in a sea of ignorance. Breaking the barrier of seeing who normal Muslims are, who peaceful Muslims are versus the small .1 percent of the Muslim population that ISIS would represent. They need to recognize that difference.”
Muslim and immigrant Americans as well as allies are responding quickly and with vigor as Trumps first 100 days in office continues. New Yorkers are not giving into Trump’s vision for America and will not back down without a fight.
