Despite pouring rain and howling wind, community members gathered along the Ferry Street Bridge in Eugene Thursday chanting and holding signs that said “Immigrants welcome” and “No human being is illegal.”
The event is the first of five “Day Without An Immigrant” events, where migrant workers and supporters are encouraged to not participate in economic activities. The campaign was organized by Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, Oregon for All and other immigration advocacy organizations.
Rob Fisette, an organizer for the event, said the intention behind the economic boycott is reclaiming power.
“We need our own people to understand that our power in this system is our labor and our consumer dollars, and that the reason billionaires feel like they can do things like come to our communities and tear people out of them,” he said, “is because they don't think that we will use the power that we have to fight back against them.”
Becky Lipton and Barbara Stebbins joined the event to denounce the treatment of immigrants by the Trump administration.
Lipton brought an American flag to wave over the guard rails of the bridge. She said supporting immigrants is far from anti-American.
“It's important for everybody to recognize that we are either immigrants or descendants of immigrants,” she said, “and we need to support new immigrants as well.”
Stebbins said she had been an activist for 60 years, protesting wars in Vietnam and Iraq throughout the years. The attacks on immigrants feel similar, she said.
“I would say this is the most urgent problem that we have had in this country for my entire life. I think it is going to take people turning out to say, ‘No, this is not what America does. This is not what we stand for. This is not our country’... in order for change to come,” she said.
Four more Day Without an Immigrant events have been planned for Jan. 19, Feb. 16, March 16, and April 1, ending in a call for a general strike on May 1.
Fisette said he hopes the events’ message will catch on in other parts of the state and country. Seeing everyone show up on the first day proved the efforts were on the right track.
“I appreciate everyone who made the sacrifice to not work and not go to school and come here instead,” he said. “What does it mean to see everyone here? To me, that means we're going to win, right?”
