(This story was updated with new information, videos and a photo.)
Over 150 people opposed to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown protested for hours Wednesday night at an Indio hotel, as a similar but smaller protest occurred in Palm Springs.
The events came amid an increase in visible immigration arrests in public places in the Coachella Valley and hours after 70 to 75 undocumented immigrants were arrested during a drug investigation in Thermal.
A social media flier, headlined “ICE MELTS IN THE DESERT,” advertised protests at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Indio, on Marmara Street, and the Courtyard by Marriott in Palm Springs, on Tahquitz Canyon Way. Some at the Indio event said they had heard U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were staying at the hotel, but there was no confirmation of that.
People have protested at hotels in other cities where ICE agents were staying or believed to be staying, including Tuesday night in Pomona and last week at several other hotels in Southern California.
At the Indio hotel on Wednesday, a band played and protesters held signs with messages including “Don’t Separate Families,” “Remember Ice Melts,” “This is not about politics, this is about humanity!” and “¡Raza Si Migra No!” (a message in support of the people and against immigration agents). Many people were waving Mexican flags.
The protest began about 8:30 p.m. and ended shortly after 1 a.m. There was a chorus of drivers honking and revving their engines throughout the night to express their support. Protesters made their presence known to hotel guests with chants like “Sí, se puede,” and “¡Viva la Raza!” A few fireworks were also set off.
Joaquin Rosales, who was banging a drum by the entrance of the hotel, said he wanted to make noise so guests would look out their windows and see how many people are disgusted by what’s going on in their community.
“We’re not going to stop fighting until this is done,” he said.
He saw the arrests in Mecca and Oasis earlier on Wednesday while he was driving by and said: “They’re grabbing people like we’re animals, and it’s just very, very bad.”
Florangelica Coyote and Lesly Ruiz Campos said they found out that ICE would be staying at the Fairfield Inn & Suites through codepinkcoachella’s Instagram. Coyote said the post asked protesters to make as much noise as possible so ICE wouldn’t get rest.
“This community doesn’t give up, and this administration is messing with the wrong community right now,” Coyote said.
“It’s a local issue, it’s for the community … this is representing not just us, our family but everybody else who can’t speak out here,” Campos said.
Earlier Wednesday, elected officials and immigrant rights groups said agents made immigration arrests in several locations in the Coachella Valley. Some of the latter arrests came as federal agents were conducting what they called “a vast investigation involving multiple illegal marijuana grow operations in Thermal.”
A day earlier, on Tuesday, a man was arrested in Cathedral City by masked men who would not identify themselves or their agency. One of the masked men wore a “CBP” patch, although a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the Border Patrol, said it did not conduct an operation in the Coachella Valley on Tuesday.
Sarah Diaz was at the Wednesday night protest holding a sign with an American flag that read “This flag stands for freedom not fascism.”
“I am a daughter of immigrants and I was taught to stand up for what’s right and wrong,” Diaz said. “What they’re doing is inhumane and we need to speak up.”
Staff writer Jennifer Cortez contributed to this story.
Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Over 150 people protest in Indio against ICE immigration raids
Reporting by Ani Gasparyan, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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