As many as 1,000 people are expected to attend a protest against the Department of Justice on Tuesday evening at Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago. The group Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression is organizing the demonstration, which is set to take place from 5 to 7pm and includes a lineup of speakers from groups such as Black Lives Matter, the American Indian Center, Arab-American Action Network and the U.S Palestinian Community Network.
The protest is in response to a revised immigration order signed by Donald Trump this week, which bans travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. and suspends the U.S. refugee program for 120 days. On Monday, refugee and immigrant rights groups staged a similar protest against the travel ban outside of the Chicago headquarters of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. During that protest, Hatem Abudayyeh, director of the Arab-American Action Network and one of Tuesday's scheduled speakers, said these types of large demonstration played a crucial role in defeating Trump's first executive order regarding immigration and will continue to be important to overturning the new order.
"The mass movement against Trump's racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia, which brought thousands of people out to shut down major airports, including O'Hare, helped defeat the first ban," Abudayyeh said. "We expect that there will also be resistance to this order, in the streets and in the courts... We call for resistance and demand an end to all raids, detentions and deportations; a strengthening of Chicago's 'welcoming city' ordinance to close all its loopholes; and an end to continuing police violence against black and other communities in Chicago and across the country."
Tuesday's action will coincide with another rally outside the Kluczynski Federal Building. The #ResistTrumpTuesdays protest, which is scheduled to run from 4:30 to 6pm, is described on the event's Facebook page as a "direct action and partial strike... on the eve of the International #WomensStrike," which is scheduled for March 8.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.