Several hundred people gathered at Public Square in downtown Cleveland Friday afternoon as part of the “ICE Out!” nationwide general strike.
Across the state, thousands of Ohioans also joined rallies protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity, including in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton.
Organizers in Minneapolis, Minnesota called for the national day of action after ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good – who was an out LGBTQ+ person.
Faith leaders and community organizers held a press conference Thursday morning, encouraging Clevelanders to participate in the strike and attend the rally.
“We stand in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis and Minnesota,” said Cleveland City Councilmember and Democratic Socialist Tanmay Shah told reporters. “We want to make sure that the federal government understands that we will not be backing down and that these streets belong to the city of Cleveland.”
Early next week, federal immigration agents are expected to arrive in the city of Springfield, where approximately 15,000 Haitian immigrants are set to lose their protected status.
More than 290,000 immigrants currently living in the United States identify as LGBTQ+, including an estimated 50,000 transgender people.
According to a 2021 study published by the Williams Institute, the majority of LGBTQ+ seeking asylum in the U.S. are born in the Northern Triangle region of Central America, which includes Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
Roughly 22% of all LGBTQ+ immigrants living in the U.S. are also undocumented, limiting their access to education and health care and further exposing them to violence, discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Rev. Kearstin Bailey – Settled Pastor at First Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC) North Ridgeville – told The Buckeye Flame LGBTQ+ people have migrated between countries and continents for centuries, often as a result of anti-LGBTQ+ violence.
“Human migration is intrinsically tied with queer issues,” Bailey said. “It’s a tale as old as time, and it still affects queer people today.”
In the United States, LGBTQ+ people were not eligible to seek asylum based on anti-LGBTQ+ violence and political persecution until 1994.
Transgender people were not made eligible to seek asylum in the U.S. until 2007.
Rallies in Albuquerque, Baltimore, New York, Portland and San Francisco drew thousands of protesters Friday.
Thousands also took to the streets in Los Angeles – where out LGBTQ+ journalist Don Lemon was arrested in the early morning and charged with federal civil rights crimes following his independent coverage of an anti-ICE demonstration at a church in Minnesota.
Demonstrators in Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and Seattle rallied by the hundreds, with more cities scheduled to strike and rally over the weekend. 🔥
ignite action
- To learn more about your right to photograph and film ICE agents, police and other officials in public spaces, click here.
- To register to vote or to check your voter eligibility status in the state of Ohio, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio state representative, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio state senator, click here.
- If you are a young LGBTQ+ person in crisis, please contact the Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
- If you are an transgender adult in need of immediate help, contact the National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
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