Despite cold weather conditions, more than 100 people marched for immigrant justice in downtown Grand Rapids

The weather advisories were bleak, with warnings of sub-zero temperatures that caused closures and cancellations throughout West Michigan. However, even the frigid cold did not prevent Movimiento Cosecha from organizing a march on the day of the Presidential Inauguration in D.C.

In a Media Advisory sent out early Monday morning from Movimiento Cosecha, the advisory stated:

“Movimiento Cosecha Michigan is mobilizing a march on MLK Day to demand an end to deportations in our state. We march in solidarity with immigrants, including the undocumented, who are human beings striving for a better future for their children and communities. They deserve to live with dignity, respect, and without the constant fear of deportation. The new administration rose to power with promises of mass deportations, but our commitment to the struggle for immigrant rights remains steadfast. We will resist these threats with strength and unity.”

The march began at Rosa Parks Circle, with several large banners, signs, drums, chants, hand-warmers and an animated crowd of around 100 people. The march went east on Pearl Street in downtown Grand Rapids, then turned north onto Ottawa Avenue.

Shortly after entering onto Ottawa Avenue, Cosecha organizers invited people to enter the Waters Building, where people gathered in the lobby to hear from the affected community about what immigrants are fighting for. Another Cosecha organizer from Muskegon read a declaration in Spanish, which was translated into English, a declaration that condemned the threat of mass deportations from the incoming Trump Administration. While people listened to the declaration, a few other Cosecha organizers slipped away to an out of the way stairwell that brought them to the Investigations office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The office was not open, so they taped a copy of the declaration on the door of the ICE office (pictured above), making sure that local ICE officials knew that immigrant justice organizers were going to resist the threat of mass deportations.

Heading back out to the street, the marchers made their way down to Michigan Street and stopped in front of the Federal Building, where another Cosecha organizer provided a powerful testimony against the fear-mongering and the xenophobic nationalism that the US government has been perpetrating against undocumented immigrants over the past few decades.

The Cosecha March for NO DEPORTATIONS, then went south on Monroe and was headed towards the convention center, when organizers directed them to starting crossing to the other side of the street. However, when most of the marchers were in the street at the crosswalk, they stopped and occupied that space for the next 10 minutes. Standing in the street and chanting in English and Spanish, completely stopped traffic on Monroe Avenue. This disruption further animated the crowd, which was just the energy boost they needed to finish the march back to Rosa Parks Circle.

People mingled for a bit at the end of the march and even gathered for a group photo. The event was successful and involved the support of numerous other autonomous groups in Grand Rapids that helped make the Cosecha Michigan action an excellent counter-narrative to the banality coming out of the nation’s capital. Cosecha Michigan will need this kind of energy, especially from allies, in order to actively resist what is coming. This fight will not be easy, but last night was a good start.