EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Hundreds of El Pasoans gathered at a park near El Paso International Airport on Saturday, June 14 to protest peacefully against the Trump Administration.
The El Paso demonstration, along Edgemere Linear Park in East-Central El Paso, was one more than 2,100 similar rallies across the nation in towns and cities in what was being called “No Kings Day of Action.”
Hundreds more rallied at Albert Johnson Park in Las Cruces.
The rallies were loosely coordinated across the country as a way to counter a large military parade in Washington D.C. that was being held to celebrate President Donald Trump’s birthday and the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army.
Different signs were held up in the crowd. Some called Trump a dictator and a fascist. Other signs criticized ICE and their raids on immigrant communities, and called for due process to be respected. Both the U.S and Mexican flags were seen in the crowd, waved by demonstrators who yelled that they were “proud” to be American and of immigrant descent.
“I’m an American citizen. I’m a descendant of immigrants from Mexico, and I’m proud of that. I’m proud to be an American, but they are making immigrants look like they’re criminals. They’re demonizing them, and that’s a distraction,” said Gina Cuellar, a demonstrator.
“I’m Latina. My family is from Mexico. I’m deeply rooted in my culture. And this country was built on immigrants,” said Valeria Duenas, a demonstrator. “This is about keeping democracy in our country. We’re not going to be bullied out of here. We’re not going to be intimidated by what our political system is trying to push this agenda. We’re here to stay. This is our country. We have every right to be here and we’re not going to be bullied out of here.”
The driving message from demonstrators in El Paso and across the country was to denounce the Trump Administration’s actions and policies, which they believe have repeatedly violated the U.S Constitution. They also said that Trump is a threat to the country’s democracy.
“Trump started on day one with tons and tons of executive orders. He can write with his famous pen all he wants to, but the reality is that he’s going to run against a wall called the Justice Department, our Constitution,” said Ray Mancera, vice president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). “He’s going to try like he always does to push the limit. And in fact, he crosses the line of legality and that’s what the courts are finding out. Thank God, we live in America, where we have a constitution and the courts that are unbiased.”
“Since his inauguration, he’s been violating the law, violating the Constitution. We’ve seen him violate the courts. We’ve seen him issuing executive orders meant to take rights away from people — executive order on elections about who can and cannot vote,” said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas. “He thinks he’s a king. We have no kings in America.”
Just a couple of miles east of the demonstration, at Eastwood Park, less than a dozen El Pasoans gathered in support of Trump. They cited the president’s birthday, the birthday of the Army and that June 14 is Flag Day.
“It’s very important for this country to recognize what the Army has done for us. Two hundred and fifty years is their birthday today. And it is wonderful that they’re having a big parade (in Washington),” said Raul Castaneda, who was at the pro-Trump rally called a Trump Train.
The group at Album Park disagreed with the protestors at Edgemere Park. They said that while people have the right to protest, they urged their fellow El Pasoans to remain peaceful.
“They can protest. They can put their banners up, anti-Trump or whatever. But what I would recommend is to do some type of research on what he’s done for the country, because a lot of people say, ‘Oh, he’s infringing on my rights.’ See, let’s take a step back, because that’s not what the president is there for. He’s there to look for the betterment of the United States of America, the greatest country to be in,” said Humberto Perez, who said he is running for Texas House District 75 as a Republican.
Castaneda added: “I think (Trump’s doing) a great job. For the longest time, I’d say, for the last 15 years, I’ve had friends that are on Border Patrol, Customs, ICE whose morale had been bad because they were not allowed to do their job and now they have it. I feel that we need to continue deporting people that are illegal. My great-grandparents came here, but they did everything the legal way,” Castaneda said.
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