Monterey County protesters join a nationwide movement to show the power of immigrants.

Celia Jiménez here, thinking about the importance of immigrants in Monterey County and beyond. 

Today about 200 people showed up at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Fremont Boulevard in Seaside for a Day Without Immigrants, a nationwide movement that encourages immigrants to skip work, school or buying goods to highlight the importance of contributions of immigrants in the United States—and to protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Fremont Boulevard looked a little less vibrant today. Several businesses, including La Tortuga, Zimatlan Bakery and Camacho Produce, closed today; some had signs on their doors sharing their support with the event.

The Central Coast Democratic Socialists of America organized Day Without Immigrants in Seaside in less than 24 hours. “Our main goal was to stop the day for everyone,” says Karla Lobo, co-chair of Central Coast DSA and one of the organizers. “We wanted to make sure that this community understood the impact that we make here in Seaside.”

Camacho Produce is a family-owned business, and several of the family members were at the event, including Senen Gasca. I spoke with him in Spanish and asked him how much they would lose for closing today. “Money doesn’t matter. Work will be there tomorrow,” Gasca says. 

The corner of Broadway and Fremont was more vibrant with large Mexican and Salvadorian flags waving and about 50 people chanting, “¡Se mira! Se siente ¡El Pueblo esta presente! (We see! We feel. The people are here!) ¡Vivan los Latinos! (Long live the Latinos),” with signs stating “Don’t bite the hands that feed you,” “God bless America Land of Immigrants,” and “No one is illegal.” Banda music also played in the background.

It was a multigenerational protest, from babies to elderly participants, and included both immigrants and U.S. citizens. Most of them were Latinos with some allies from other backgrounds. Several of them were Seaside High School students. (Nicky Long, president of Monterey Bay Teachers Association, shared that up to 50 percent of students didn’t show up to school today.) 

The crowd grew exponentially as people marched, including a stop at Seaside City Hall. 

Among the demonstrators was 17-year-old Sasha Zariñana. “I have to stand up for myself, for what I think is right,” Zariñana says. “I’m not 6 and scared that my mom isn’t gonna come home.” Zariñana’s mom is the only parent she has, and if she’s deported she will have to live with a family friend.

The march happened a day after local politicians and law enforcement announced there were U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Salinas and Seaside during the weekend.

Lobo says local officials and law enforcement should be more proactive, as learning about ICE activity after the fact isn’t helpful. She notes they should do more boots-on-the-ground talking with the community and sharing what the public can expect from them. “That’s the reassurance we need,” Lobo says.

Lobo adds they are hoping to organize a larger demonstration where people from different communities in Monterey County can come together and demonstrate their support for the immigrant community. 

The demonstration lasted for nearly two hours and it wasn’t the only one planned in Monterey County and across the country. (A protest was planned in Salinas, for instance, after the Weekly’s deadline this afternoon.) For some, protests might be a nuisance, but immigrants, undocumented or not, keep the engine going in the U.S. 

I’m curious to know how local protests impacted you today. Were you late to work? Did you have to buy groceries somewhere else? Personally, it didn’t affect my day, but I was surprised at the amount of people who showed up to participate.