Six individuals were arrested Tuesday night at a large immigration protest on Buford Highway that ended with tear gas and fireworks hurled at police.
Hundreds attended the rally, which began at 6:30 p.m. in Brookhaven and was held in response to recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests nationwide and in the metro Atlanta area.
The conflict began around 9:30 p.m. when officers reminded protesters that their permit had expired. That triggered a chorus of boos. Organizers urged participants to leave the area, but several remained.
“They’re going to start arresting people,” a rally goer could be heard shouting in Spanish.
By 9:40 p.m., police in riot gear began trying to clear the area, eventually deploying tear gas. Protesters threw multiple canisters back. Half a dozen fireworks were also thrown at police and exploded at their feet.
A video shared on social media from the protest site showed two masked and hooded rally goers jumping on a police cruiser and kicking in its windshield.
Multiple law enforcement agencies — including from DeKalb County, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville and the Georgia State Patrol — responded to the scene and blocked off parts of Buford Highway near North Cliff Valley Way.
“They will not intimidate us. We are here to stay and we are here to do whatever we can to fight for immigrants,” Lauren Epps, a protester, told the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shortly before police cleared the rally site.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Epps added that her husband, a Venezuelan immigrant, was too nervous to accompany her to the rally despite having legal status.
“He was scared that police would assume he was an undocumented immigrant,” she said. “We need to use our voice to speak out for those who can’t and those who are too scared and intimidated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and by police.”
Buford Highway stretches 10 miles from the heart of Atlanta to I-285 and is sometimes called the “International Corridor” because of its diverse immigrant communities.
In Los Angeles, massive protests over immigration raids have led President Donald Trump to deploy 700 U.S. Marines and roughly 4,000 National Guard members, The Associated Press reported.
Events in Los Angeles were top of mind for people gathered at Tuesday’s protest in Atlanta, which had been promoted on social media with a widely shared graphic that read, “From L.A. to Atlanta: ICE Out!”
“I think L.A. has inspired all of us to come out here,” said Jazmin Carvajal, who noted that many of her family members lack legal status. “It’s a really scary time for them … Seeing what’s happening in L.A. fueled us to keep fighting, to keep letting our voices be heard.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Carvajal said she expected — and welcomed — the heavy police presence on Tuesday given the news out of California.
“I agree with the police trying to keep the peace. Because I know sometimes some protesters do cross that line, which I feel should never be crossed because we’re here to protest peacefully. No violence.”
Rachel Bonilla attended Tuesday’s rally with a large Salvadoran flag, representing her parents’ homeland.
She said law enforcement’s clashes with protesters in Los Angeles gave her pause before driving to Buford Highway.
“It does make me afraid. But that’s even more reason to come out and make sure to represent our people and the people that can’t be out on the streets, and to show support for the people in L.A.”
Lynette Coto, another Atlanta protester, had scribbled her lawyer’s phone number on her forearm, expecting a potentially chaotic end to the evening.
“I think L.A. is the guinea pig,” she said. adding that she views Trump’s decision to mobilize the military to the city as “deranged.”
Trump has argued that the military presence is needed to keep order, something California Gov. Gavin Newsom has rejected.
Surveying the tumultuous end to Tuesday’s protest were Mercedes and Ana Maria, two sisters from Mexico, ages 59 and 60.
They stood across the street on Buford Highway from where the bulk of protesters and police had converged, having walked from their nearby home. The sisters said they are living in the country illegally, and were worried about getting too close to law enforcement — Mercedes said her husband was detained by ICE earlier this year. They asked to be identified only with their first names because they fear deportation.
Although they did not feel safe enough to be among the protesters, both women said their U.S. born children were in the thick of the gathering.
“They’re out there raising their voices,” Ana Maria said. “We feel proud.”
Before devolving into a tense standoff with police, Tuesday’s rally had been marked by frequent chants calling for ICE’s abolishment. Protesters waved signs calling for an end to immigration raids, deportations and detention. Some signs singled out South Georgia’s Folkston ICE Processing Center, an immigrant jail near the Florida border, and asked that it be shut down.
Last week, local officials approved a plan to increase the detention center’s capacity from 1,100 to nearly 3,000, which will make Folkston the country’s largest ICE jail.
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