Perry A. Farrell, John Wisely, and Niraj Warikoo

Detroit Free Press

Protesters said that immigrants and Mexican-Americans have been unfairly targeted

Rallies held in Detroit, Pontiac, Ypsilanti, joining protests across the U.S.

On a normal Thursday, the aisles of E & L Supermercado in southwest Detroit are usually busy with shoppers.

The popular grocery store on W. Vernor Hwy is known for its diverse selection of items, including marinated meats in a 16-foot wide butcher's counter that many Mexican-Americans flock to.

But today, the doors were shut at the store on W. Vernor Hwy as were about 100 other businesses along the commercial strip in Detroit's Mexicantown and in other Latino neighborhoods in southeastern Michigan. Concerned about what they see as increasing attacks on immigrants and Latinos, they joined protesters across the U.S. who marched or shut down businesses to take a stand on what they called a "Day Without Immigrants."

Waving American flags and holding signs that read "Stop Deportations" and "Stop Separating Families," hundreds walked along Vernor through southwest Detroit. Some chanted "Si, se puede," (Yes, we can) as they spoke out against what they say is a crackdown against immigrants and discrimination against Mexican-Americans.

And in Pontiac, about 500 people rallied this morning, marching from a local park to City Hall. Many were protesting what they describe as aggressive sweeps of Hispanic residents by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in recent weeks.

From Ypsilanti to Detroit to Pontiac, restaurants, car dealerships and groceries closed their doors to send a message of support to immigrants, said organizers. Others gathered in Clark Park in southwest Detroit in the heart of the city's Mexican-American community to call for respect of their rights. And some students didn't attend school today, instead taking part in the protests.

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Many of the businesses shut down today were run by Latinos and immigrants, some of whom feel under siege after executive orders on immigration recently signed by President Donald Trump. They're also unnerved by reports over the past week of raids against undocumented immigrants by federal immigration agents.

We "demand respect for our rights and to unite the immigrant communities," said Maria Sanchez, who helped organize the march in Detroit. "We're very worried for the families who are being separated and for the pain that families are going through."

“The goal for today is for the President to notice how important Immigrants are for the country and for the economy and how bad it would be for the economy if immigrants weren’t in this country,’’ she said.

Watch: 'Day Without Immigrants' protest

Other businesses that closed include the popular Mexicantown Bakery, car dealerships, and Mangonadas Del Barrio, which serves snacks and desserts.

On its Facebook page, Mangonadas Del Barrio said: "We join the cause a day without immigrants we are Mexicans that day by day we work for a better future. And above all respect our Mexican roots."

The protests were not just about immigrants, but about the identity of Mexican-Americans, including those who are U.S. citizens and have lived in the U.S. their entire lives. They're concerned about the rhetoric against Latinos made by some government officials.

A grandchild of immigrants from Mexico, Martha Contreras, 50, of Pontiac, closed down her Del Pueblo Tortillas and Grocery, a specialty food market, today to attend the rally. She said she knows she’s missing out on business, but she wants to make point.

“We are all united today,” she said.

Contreras’s grandparents emigrated from Mexico in the 1960s. She was born in Chicago and said she’s not afraid for herself because she’s an American citizen. But she said she has friends who are fearful for family members, including an undocumented man she knows who was arrested recently in Pontiac and taken to a federal detention center.

“He was going to get his tools to go to work when they grabbed him,” Contreras said. “My father is 82 and he said he’s never seen it like this.”

Pontiac Mayor Deirdra Waterman addressed the rally and said she plans a meeting with community leaders to discuss the way residents are being treated.

“I think people are just fearful and this has stirred up a lot of emotion and anxiety,” she said. “We are proud of the cultural diversity. I will speak in defense of that.”

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Businesses across U.S. close, students skip school on 'Day Without Immigrants'

Protesters expressed concerned about raids against immigrants.

“They are not going after the criminals and the drug dealers,” said Bonifacia Gonzalez, 42, of Pontiac who marched. “They are going after the working people.”

Gonzalez, a third-generation American citizen of Mexican heritage, said she was followed from her home recently when she drove to pay her water bill.

Khaalid Walls, spokesman for the Michigan branch of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said that "ICE regularly conducts targeted enforcement operations during which additional resources and personnel are dedicated to apprehending deportable foreign nationals. All enforcement activities are conducted with the same level of professionalism and respect that ICE officers exhibit every day. The focus of these targeted enforcement operations is consistent with the routine, targeted arrests carried out by ICE’s Fugitive Operations Teams on a daily basis."

Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which wants to reduce immigration, dismissed today's protests across the U.S. as a "media stunt."

It "intentionally blurs the line between those who respected our laws and those who did not," Stein said. "No one has an issue with someone here legally. But even those here legally have a problem with people jumping the line and then demanding the right to stay. Restaurant owners in particular, who’ve developed a labor-exploitation model that relies on substandard wages, have no right to be engaged this way.”

Protesters, though, said they're fighting for basic respect.

Trump has made Latinos feel "like you’re not equally as important as other people," said Adriana Alvarez, president of the non-profit group Congress of Communities and the daughter of business owners who closed their doors in protest.

Jessica Santiago, a 15-year-old sophomore at Wayne Memorial, and a group of her friends didn’t attend school in order to participate in the rally.

“It was important to support this cause,’’ she said. “We work hard every day. ... I think a lot of people are scared because of what has been said. I think when people see that we work hard and it was important enough not to go to work or school today they will admire what we do. They’ll see how different our economy would be if Mexicans weren’t around.’’

Lizabeth Munoz-Mejia, a 14-year-old freshman at Wayne Memorial, also came out for the cause.

“It’s important because a lot of people need to be informed that immigrants are important to this country; not just Caucasians,’’ she said. “Everyone should see that we work hard and we don’t all do bad stuff.’’

At Southwest Detroit Community School, 21 of 28 students in one classroom did not attend because of the protests, said a teacher in a post on Facebook.

Sanchez, who helped organize the Detroit rally, said: “We have been labeled in a very unfair way to scare and intimidate Americans.

"In reality we’re just like they are. We love this country and it’s very important for them to understand that we’re just as American as they are."

Staff photographer Ryan Garza contributed to this report.

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Follow him on Twitter @nwarikoo

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