A day after President Donald Trump called off a “surge” in immigration enforcement in San Francisco — and within hours of federal officials confirming the rest of the Bay Area would be similarly spared — the mood was festive and defiant in front of the city’s immigration court on Friday.
Outside the court at 630 Sansome St., around 50 peaceful protesters held signs reading “Huelga general, general strike” as they walked around the building.
They chanted, “Say it loud, say it clear: Immigrants are welcome here!” as a long line of asylum-seekers, waiting outside for their hearings, recorded videos and cheered.
The picket line, organized by the San Francisco General Strike Committee and Anti-ICE Action Coalition, was joined by members of four Aztec dance groups, who led the crowd in a cleansing ritual. They used copal, an incense used to purify a space and honor Aztec gods, to bless both immigrants standing in line and various entrances to the court building. Protesters beat drums and blared trumpets.
“We are here to offer energy and strength to the families,” said Irma Alvarado Martínez, a dancer with Xiuhcoatl Danza Azteca.
A 74 year-old woman, who preferred not to be named, walked slowly behind the protesters, with a cane in hand. Her parents, she said, fled Nazi Germany in the 1940s and, before that, her grandparents perished as victims of the concentration camps.
When asked why she was there, she responded with a quiet, controlled fierceness: “It’s in my blood.”
Sacrifice some YIMBYs!