For the fifth consecutive week, a group of Long Island residents demonstrated against raids and deportations that separate families and sow fear in our neighborhoods.
In this context, the inhabitants of Port Washington, in the New York county of Nassau, tell ICE operations, thus illuminating the sea of darkness that cause the anti -immigration measures of Republican President Donald Trump.
On Monday, August 4, almost 50 Port Washington residents congregated at the Long Island Railway station (Lirr) to defend together human rights, dignity and justice. This peaceful demonstration marked the fifth of a series of weekly demonstrations that make visible the dehumanizing policies of the current government and the damage they inflict to vulnerable members of the community.
Organized by worried local residents, the event announced the stories of people affected by unfair policies. A new group, focused on childhood, began at 6 pm. They sang songs, read stories, made posters and then joined the vigil at 7 pm, where attendees sang songs of love, solidarity and hope.
The event organizer, Jeff Siegel, stressed the importance of this type of event. He said that they break the isolation we all suffer – muttering our phones – and allow us to see that there are others who care about the same things as us.
Later that night, Stan Lacy, another organizer of the event, invoked Jesus’ biblical story telling a crowd that we must treat others as we would like to be treated.
Lacy emphasized this point by asking, rhetorically, what did they see them with masks and civil dresses, when they put their neighbors pushing in a truck without identification, when they were chained, they made fun of them on social networks and took them to a country that was not theirs? Is it a new and sinister version of the golden rule?
Concerned about injustice
And it should be noted that the previous week, in the fourth demonstration organized on July 28, local activist Evan Freed inaugurated the event with a meditation for the group, followed by songs of hope and peace.
The meeting was attended by people of all ages and received the support of the cars that passed, who touched the horn and greeted themselves in solidarity.
One of the organizers, Stacey Mellus, spoke about the importance of demonstrating: «Our community matters. We care about its members. We care how they treat them. We care about the injustice that has existed, and we do not want it to continue. And this shows those who cannot leave or do not feel comfortable doing it, that we are here to support them ».
It is reported that the Port Washington community will continue to make these demonstrations against ICE and Trump every Monday night at the Lirr station (from 7 pm to 7:30 pm) to ensure that the fight for human rights remains visible and active in this area of Long Island, New York.
