MANCHESTER, N.H. – Combine anger with hope and add a dash of camaraderie and you have a sense of the feeling heading out of Veterans’ Park on Friday night.
Approximately 150 people gathered at the park, walking to the corner or Elm and Granite streets and then all the way down Granite Street and back. The demonstration was part of an effort to raise local awareness about ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids happening across the country, particularly in Los Angeles, where protests have led U.S. President Donald Trump ordering National Guard members and U.S. Marines into the situation, despite dubious legal authority to do so.
Organized by Grace Kindeke, the event’s intention was to share the perspective that New Hampshire stands opposed to numerous detainments of undocumented migrants occurring across the country, occurring while it seems government is doing little to tackle issues important to New Hampshire residents such as education, healthcare costs and affordable housing.
“I’m so blown away by my the community’s response, so deeply grateful that people were willing to come out on a Friday night of all times and show how important this issue is and that people are wanting to stand in solidarity to protect our immigrant loved ones because we are sick of the rhetoric that paints immigrants as the scapegoat or cause of problems rather than addressing the real root issues of problems in our country, “ she said.
The entourage of protesters stopped at Gateway Park, a patch of grass at the corner of Granite and Commercial streets. There, Kindeke and other speakers such as Faisal Khan of the Carolina Peace Center addressed the crowd.
Khan has travelled to similar events across the country and believes that there is a palpable sense of frustration surrounding the current situation many communities are facing.
“I would like people to not live in fear, but in courage and build up solidarity with their neighborhoods and with their neighbors and friends and families ad speak out. The most powerful weapon we have is our voice and that is what the Trump Administration has been trying to crush,” he said. “That is the precedent of setting up a dictatorship so people must speak up on all platforms, be peaceful, non-violent and not afraid. Now is not the time for fear. Silence is complicity and we cannot be silent right now.”
Paula Plukfangpanya is a new Manchester resident who just moved from Concord and arrived late to the rally. Her parents immigrated from Thailand several years ago.
Plukfangpanya heard about the event and found it to be bigger than expected. She was pleased with the fact that she could find people with a similar mindset to hers: that newer Americans are being unfairly singled out by large portions of the population and that American immigration laws are in need of reform.
“It’s frustrating that the people that came here are being thrown out even though they’re working here and paying taxes,” she said. “It feels like there’s a lot of misinformation out there.”
The event was entirely peaceful, although given what has been seen elsewhere in the country, there were those who feared the influence of violent elements. One of those people was a woman walking down Granite Street as the speeches were taking place, who requested she be referred to only as “Susan.”
Susan agreed with the sentiments of the protesters, and believed that Manchester’s police are far more professional than those in some other parts of the country where protests became more heated. However, she feared that outside instigators could still create violence at this or any other local protest.
“I believe that any protest movement that is peaceful is fine, but unfortunately when it comes to people like Donald Trump, you know that he will try to antagonize things on some level because he’s done it in the past,” she said. “I speak my mind in other places, and I think they should protest, but I try to stay away from intense situations because I just want a peaceful life now.”
According to Kindeke, comparable events will be taking place in future weeks, most notably gathering public comment during the July Hillsborough County Commission meeting, where activists will attempt to convince commissioners to oppose 287(g) agreements between ICE and Hillsborough County law enforcement officials.