Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the Bay Area on Sunday, demanding immigration reform and an end to mass deportations. The event, organized by Rights Over Borders, a local immigrant advocacy group, began in San Mateo and ended at San Francisco City Hall, with stops in San Bruno, Millbrae, and Daly City.
The march was sparked by President Donald Trump’s promise to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. The group was formed by four young women in response to this threat, aiming to fight back against policies they see as harmful to immigrant communities.
The “March Against Mass Deportations” began at 6:30 a.m. outside San Mateo City Hall with around 75 participants. By the time the group reached San Bruno City Hall, that number had increased to about 200 people. Along the way, marchers were met with support from passing drivers honking their horns. However, they also faced opposition from a few protesters.
At San Bruno, about 50 more individuals joined the rally, waving flags from Mexico, Guatemala, and other countries. The group then continued on its 14-mile route along El Camino Real, eventually reaching Daly City by 1 p.m., where the crowd had grown to around 500 people. The marchers then took BART, carpooled, or walked to San Francisco, where they met with other demonstrators at City Hall.
The crowd, which was primarily made up of young adults, also included parents and older individuals. Participants carried signs with messages like “Fight ignorance, not immigrants” and “Respect our existence or expect our resistance.” Many chanted “Si se puede,” the famous slogan of the United Farm Workers.
“We demand immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people,” said community advocate Flor Martinez Zaragoza, who is based in San Jose. She also criticized the ongoing deportations, calling them “terrorizing and kidnapping” members of the immigrant community.
The protest comes after President Trump’s second-term pledge to implement a mass deportation campaign, which he has claimed would be the largest in U.S. history. He has also expressed support for ending birthright citizenship, a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment for U.S. children born to undocumented immigrants.
California, which is a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants, does not cooperate with federal deportation efforts. Several cities in the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley, have sanctuary policies, offering protection to undocumented residents.
San Francisco is part of a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s effort to enforce cooperation with federal deportation policies, arguing that such mandates infringe on local rights to govern police departments and local governments.
“We stand against this administration and everything that it represents,” Martinez Zaragoza said, reinforcing the marchers’ unified stance against the current government’s immigration policies.
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