With thousands of protesters expected to descend on Dallas to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies this weekend, some organizers are concerned that immigration officials will see the event as an easy opportunity to detain illegal immigrants.
Several immigration groups are organizing “Mega March 2025,” a major immigration protest at Dallas. Organizers predict that the event will draw between 20,000 and 50,000 protesters. The planners of the event say actors John Leguizamo and George Lopez will be in attendance.
The number of expected attendees is far less than the reported half a million protesters who showed up to an immigration rally, “La Gran Marcha” at Los Angeles in 2006.
The rally scheduled for Sunday comes as the Trump administration has been trying to ramp up its deportation operation. Some immigration advocates worry that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials will see the rally as one large target to detain people who are in the country illegally.
A leader of Progress Texas, Ed Espinoza, told the anti-Trump site, the Bulwark, “They’re not going to stand down and let the opportunity pass. This is what ICE does—the third letter literally stands for enforcement. “Our people need to be a little less naïve to these realities,” he said.
However, the chair of one of the groups planning the rally, the League of United Latin American Citizens, Domingo García, said he is not too worried about ICE showing up, saying, “They never have before. It would be politically stupid if they came after marchers.”
He said he is worried about the potential for a “crazy” person to target the rally for a shooting or for someone to drive a car into the crowd. Still, he insisted the protesters would be ready if police try to arrest them.
When the plan for the “Mega Marcha” was announced at the Dallas City Hall in February, Mr. García said, “We stand up against the scapegoating and the fear mongering, and we stand up for American values that are etched in our Constitution, that are etched in the Statue of Liberty.”
He added he did not oppose the administration deporting criminals. However, he said it is deporting “people who have come here and are working, picking our crops, working on the construction in 100-degree weather and building our roads and our schools, people that are working in meatpacking plants in terrible conditions to put a steak and a hamburger on your table.”
A website for the “Mega March” says, “We march because as Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, people of faith we know that ‘what you do unto the least of us, you do unto God.’ We march because our faith in God teaches us that we are all God’s children, and that compassion, kindness, and fairness matter.”
“We march for a better and stronger America. We ask that you join our movement- bring your friends, neighbors, and co-workers, and spread the word,” it adds. “Hate can be defeated by people of good hearts and can be defeated by people who believe in hope and justice. Darkness can be defeated by the light of righteousness in our cause.”
While Mr. García said it would be “politically stupid” for ICE to show up, others who are concerned about the possibility have pointed to the Trump administration’s efforts to detain and deport non-citizen college students who have allegedly engaged in antisemitic violence or harassment or are deemed to have “hostile attitudes” toward America.
The Trump administration’s border tsar, Tom Homan, insists the government is focused on the “worst” illegal migrants, those accused of violent crimes. However, he has said people who are in the country illegally and have not been accused of any crime except for illegally crossing the border are not immune from deportation.
ICE did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
