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Santa Fe High School senio Maria Zubia, right, and a half dozen of her friends were at the Roundhouse on Monday to protest recent actions in Washington DC and lend loud support to immigrant workers nationwide.
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"Who wants to deport Baby Jesus?"
That was among the questions posed to a throng of protesters camped on the south terrace of the Roundhouse on Monday.
"Jesus was an immigrant!" the speaker reminded them, drawing a cascade of cheers, before asking rhetorically. "What happened to love thy neighbor?"
A crowd of an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 protesters landed at the Capitol as part of a nationwide Immigrant and Workers’ Day of Action and SFR's photographer Adam Ferguson was there to capture it. In Santa Fe, the protest started in Railyard Park. A diverse collection of people carrying a variety of signs proceeded from the entertainment district to the seat of New Mexico's power for their voices to better be heard by lawmakers, slowing down morning traffic along the way.
The throng included a coalition of people from a blend of cultures, backgrounds and ages, including the nonprofit worker and immigrant rights group Somos Un Pueblo Unido. Many on-hand were there with friends and family. Others attended to show support for neighbors. One group of retirees, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were they supporting "rationality, equality, and kindness."
"We're the anti-asshole contingent," a woman from the informal group said.
Youth was served by Maria Zubia and a half dozen of her friends. An 18-year-old senior who graduates from Santa Fe High School in May, Zubia was in attendance in support of people like her father who “can’t speak up for themselves.”
"I was born and raised in Santa Fe, but my father is from Mexico," she tells SFR. "It gets very emotional that we have to do this, you know, to be heard. I’m really happy that I have a whole community that’s here to support my family, but it also makes me very emotional that we still have to get together to do this. But it’s something we’ve gotta do. So we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna get loud for our family and no matter what, we’re gonna stand behind our family.”
Adam Ferguson
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The morning protest wasn't confined to the march or rally at the Capitol. Restaurants and service-heavy businesses around the city shuttered on Monday to show what many of the signs claimed: There is no economy without immigrant workers.
