Immigrants and families protest nation’s increasing deportations

Mexican immigrants and their American children highlighted pride in the midst of anxiety about their futures in the U.S.
Destinee Vazquez, 20, waves an American flag while leading a group of about 40 to protest deportations, which have been on the rise since President Trump took office on Jan. 20. (Sophia Boyd-Fliegel / KHOL)

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Protests against deportations are starting to ramp up in Teton County and across the nation

About 40 people protested immigrant deportations on Jackson’s town square Saturday, Feb. 1. 

And Wilson restaurant Streetfood closed its doors on Monday, Feb. 3 “to remind that Mexican labor fuels industries across the nation,” according to a social media post.

Waving flags of Mexico and the United States, Saturday protesters held signs and chanted slogans like, “immigrants make America great,” “keep families together,” “no deportations,” and “we’re not criminals.”

In the first week of the Trump administration, average daily immigration arrests are nearly double those under Biden last year. ICE has not yet been confirmed to have made arrests in recent weeks in Teton County. 

Jackson natives Destinee Vazquez, 20 and Daniela Bedolla Zarate, 19, organized the protest to show support at a time when some are afraid to leave the house. 

Bedolla Zarate had abandoned her crutches for a foot injury to hold up a sign that said, “todos tenemos los mismos derechos” or in English, “we all have the same rights.” 

”We are also here to speak out to those people that cannot speak for themselves,” Bedolla Zarate said, “we’re just here being proud.”

Vazquez said she put together Saturday’s protest to let immigrants know they have rights, like not allowing immigration enforcement officers into their homes without a warrant signed by a judge. Vazquez said she’s been having conversations with loved ones about potential deportations for her entire life. Those conversations have ramped up in frequency and intensity. 

“It’s just, it’s scary, because they told me to be careful to lock our doors, to not open it to anyone who we don’t know,” she said. 

Attending with her two young children was Natalia Benitez, who has lived in Jackson for 17 years and is from Mexico. Though deportations reached a 10-year high under former President Joe Biden, Benitez said rhetoric in the Trump administration feels different. 

“Immigrants have made this country great,” she said, choking back tears. “If people are not here it’s because they’re working today, Saturday afternoon, in restaurants, hotels, [clearing] snow.”

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