Tens of thousands of protesters in Southern California are expected to join others in cities across the U.S. tomorrow for marches and rallies against what they call the autocratic immigration policies of President Donald Trump.
The so-called No Kings protest in downtown San Diego gets underway at Waterfront Park at 10 a.m. Saturday, next to the County Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway. The march will head south along Harbor Drive past Ruocco Park and back north on Pacific Highway.
A total of 22 rallies are planned across the county.
"San Diego residents are mobilizing over concerns about immigration enforcement, cuts to social programs and the administration's use of executive authority," organizers said in a news release. "They point to increased ICE arrests, cuts and reductions to healthcare, Medicaid and school nutrition programs and the treatment of detainees at the Otay Mesa Detention Center as issues affecting local San Diego families."
Speakers at the Waterfront Park rally include Bobby Wallace for a Kumeyaay land acknowledgement, San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre, Pastor Manuel Retamoza of The Border Church and Lorena Gonzalez, the California Federation of Labor Unions President.
According to organizers the march will be "a direct confrontation with escalating state violence, from deportations carried out with little to no due process to military aggression abroad."
Events are scheduled across San Diego County, including Downtown San Diego, Ocean Beach, La Jolla, Carmel Valley, Mira Mesa, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Fallbrook, Temecula, Valley Center, Rancho Bernardo, Ramona, La Mesa, El Cajon, Chula Vista, Otay Mesa and Borrego Springs.
The organizers are calling for the impeachment and removal of the Trump administration and the abolition of ICE
The No Kings National Day of Nonviolent Action will see more than 3,000 communities hold simultaneous demonstrations. The rally is being supported locally by more than 30 organizations. In October, more than 80,000 turned out for a similar rally across San Diego County.
