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The loud chants, music, and cars revving could be heard throughout downtown Asheville on Monday afternoon as 300 people protested President Donald Trump's recent executive orders on immigration.
Melanie Arias, 17, was among the young Latinos and Hispanics who gathered at Pritchard Park.
“I'm here to use my voice for the people that can't speak right now,” Arias said. “What's going on is very wrong and corrupt.”
The Latino population of North Carolina has risen over the last two decades. In 2010, census data show, there were 825,000 Hispanics or Latinos living in North Carolina. The 2020 U.S. Census recorded more than 1.1 million North Carolinians who are Hispanic or Latino, including close to 53,000 in Western North Carolina.
During Monday’s protest, police temporarily stopped traffic on Interstate 240 as the crowd marched to the highway with signs. The demonstration continued throughout the evening, ending at Pack Square Park around 8:30 p.m.
Similar marches were held over the weekend across the country.
Many who protested said they’re afraid of Trump’s promise of mass deportations. Jhovany Bolteada Ambrocio, 18, said he felt scared during Trump’s first term.
“I'm out here today because I know that together we're stronger. I know that we can make changes and I'm honestly proud to be Mexican,” Ambrocio said.
On his first day of office, Trump signed 10 executive orders and proclamations about immigration law and policy, according to the American Immigration Council.
Many of the executive orders or new policies touch different aspects of the issue including a promise for mass deportations, an end to birthright citizenship (which is protected by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution), and allowing immigration authorities to enter schools, health care facilities and places of worship to conduct arrests.
Some school districts in WNC say they are working with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) and school board attorneys to determine how changes may impact schools.
In Jackson County, for example, leaders say they’ve instructed teachers and other staff members to direct law enforcement officials to their immediate supervisor if they are approached regarding a student or a student’s family.
If an officer asks a staff member to find a student at school for them, the district says the employee should respond that they don’t have the authority to do so. Administrators will handle any interactions with law enforcement, the district said in a statement.
Arias is specifically concerned about immigration authorities entering schools.
“They're going into schools where children are supposed to be safe and it's supposed to just be a learning environment, not somewhere where ICE can just go in and take away these kids from all that they've known their whole entire lives,” she said.
