COMMUNITY

Salem residents gather in protest of immigration detention centers along the border

Ben Dinsdale, Leda Dinsdale (8 months) and Anne Conners participate in Friday’s protest in downtown Salem against immigration detention centers. (Sonia Boeger/Special to Salem Reporter)

An estimated 200 people from around Oregon gathered Friday, July 12, at the Salem Transit Center in downtown Salem for a vigil to end immigration detention camps.

While originally at the corner of Liberty and Chemeketa streets, there were so many people that the location was moved.

The action – part of the nationwide Lights for Liberty protest – was organized by four groups: Causa, RedDoor Resistance, Salem Fellowship of Reconciliation and Salem Seniors for Peace. RedDoor Resistance is a social justice group that has met weekly in Salem since Donald Trump’s election as president. Salem Seniors for Peace is a new anti-war group, patterned after Seniors for Peace in Mill Valley, California.

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With the rise of social media, Salem resident Bruce Stock, a member of Fellowship of Reconciliation and a conscientious objector to war, posted the event to Facebook and helped contact various social justice groups and email lists. 

The event was “to raise awareness about the situation on the Southern border, bring people together, and connect people, speaking out against the human detention camps,” Stock said. “Everything’s all connected: the wars, the immigrant issues, health care, and poverty.”

The vigil included songs for immigrants and refugees. The music was led by Stock and violinist Mark Babson. Songs included “We Shall Not Be Moved” by Pete Seeger, “Deportee” by Woody Guthrie and “For Immigrants” by Marcy Matasick and NM Raging Grannis.

After candles were lit to honor immigrants and refugees, everyone sang a touching rendition of “This Land is Your Land” by Guthrie.

Lorena Manzo, a volunteer with immigrant rights organization Causa, shared her story of immigration from Mexico and the path to citizenship over the course of 18 years. Manzo came to the U.S. for a brighter future and an affordable education.

“When I finished the sixth grade my mother told me ‘we don’t have money to send you to a school,” Manzo said. “There [Mexico], it was no job for a woman. The only job that women did at this time was cleaning houses or give care to little ones for other people.”

The vigil brought people together from a variety of backgrounds to stop the detention camps. Fellowship of Reconciliation holds a vigil the first Wednesday of every month at the corner of Liberty and Chemeketa streets.

Protesters appear Friday in downtown Salem to campaign against immigration detention centers as part of a national Lights for Liberty event. (Sonia Boeger/Special to Salem Reporter)

Bruce Stock, protest organizer, and Mark Babson appear Friday in downtown Salem to campaign against immigration detention centers as part of a national Lights for Liberty event. (Sonia Boeger/Special to Salem Reporter)

Protesters appear Friday in downtown Salem to campaign against immigration detention centers as part of a national Lights for Liberty event. (Sonia Boeger/Special to Salem Reporter)

Protesters appear Friday in downtown Salem to campaign against immigration detention centers as part of a national Lights for Liberty event. (Sonia Boeger/Special to Salem Reporter)

Sonia Boeger is a student journalist who graduated from South Salem High School and will attend Evergreen State College this fall. Contact: [email protected].