St. Louis-area immigration advocates rallied Wednesday against the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts and the subsequent federalization of the National Guard.
“No matter where you are, no matter what your city is, we need you in the streets,” said Ángel Flores, an event organizer with the local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “The more hidden we remain, the more they will still oppress us.”
About 200 demonstrators marched down Market Street from Union Station and around Energizer Park, chanting slogans like, “The people united will never be defeated” and “Trump, escucha, estamos en la lucha” — Spanish for “Trump, listen, we’re in the fight.”
Many of them banged on drums and called out support for LGBTQ communities and an end to the war in Gaza. Nearby, more than 100 demonstrators gathered near Forest Park and held signs on a bridge overlooking Interstate 64.
Protests across the country erupted after mass U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Omaha. In response to the unrest, President Donald Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to California. Los Angeles officials said the demonstrations were largely peaceful and criticized the use of military force in the Democratic-led state.
Claire Rae, one of the protesters, said they were frustrated to see thousands of National Guard troops used in California when St. Louis needed help after a deadly EF3 tornado ripped through the city’s central and northern corridors on May 16. The city had 41 Missouri National Guard troops ordered to help with cleanup efforts.
“It’s interesting to see how fast the National Guard is deployed when it’s used to terrorize the public and at the hands of state repression,” Rae said. “When an EF3 hit the north side of St. Louis last month, it took weeks and weeks and weeks.”
Nancy Rojas, a 29-year-old demonstrator from nearby Fairmont City, said she lives in fear.
She was brought to the U.S. from Toluca, Mexico, at 8 years old and has been protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program ever since. But she says the country she calls home now feels uncertain.
"I'm an immigrant. My parents are immigrants. They're not doing anything wrong, you know, we're just trying to live our best life,” she said. “The American dream was here, and I feel like now it's dead. We're trying to bring it back alive, but Trump isn't letting us.”
That fear has only grown.
Last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent text messages to people enrolled in its surveillance program, demanding they report for a “case review.” But when many showed up, they were arrested and taken into detention. The same situation played out across the country. ICE officials subsequently confirmed the nationwide effort resulted in the agency’s largest one-day arrest total.
Outside the offices of BI Inc. — a government contractor that runs ICE’s surveillance programs — organizer Jasen Jackson condemned the tactics.
“They don’t talk about the psychological violence of being afraid to go to school, being afraid of [going] to work, of being afraid to go to the hospital to get the health care that you need,” he said. “They don’t talk about … the immigrants in St. Louis who were called here last week to get their ankle bracelets off — instead, they were arrested and deported.”
Flores said that, for those who can demonstrate, showing up matters.
“This is another way of standing by … and saying you better learn to love us, you better learn to respect us, because we are part of this country and we are not going anywhere,” he said.
Wednesday’s action was the first in a series of protests across the region, including Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstration — one of more than 1,500 planned nationwide to coincide with Trump’s upcoming military parade.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe wrote on X that, in response, the Missouri Department of Public Safety, Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri National Guard had formed a unified command and would monitor the protests.
"We are prepared to assist local law enforcement in protecting our communities," he wrote. "We respect, and will defend, the right to peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate violence or lawlessness."
It is unclear if Kehoe would mobilize the National Guard without the approval of the state's Democratic mayors. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley launched an investigation into the PSL on Tuesday night for allegedly "bankrolling civil unrest." But protesters like Rojas say they plan to continue to take action — like protesting — until all injustice is gone.
"It's just going to take time,” she said. “It might take a few more generations, but we're not going to stop fighting.”
See more photos from the protest by STLPR Visuals Editor Brian Munoz:
Updates: This story has been updated with social media comments from Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, Sen. Josh Hawley and additional photographs.
