RISE Coalition hosts caravan rally in Frederick for immigrant rights
May 16—Ivania Amador stood with one fist clutching a megaphone and the other raised in the air on Saturday evening, surrounded by chants of "si, se puede!" as the sun set over west Frederick.
Amador, a volunteer with the RISE Coalition of Western Maryland, spent the evening alternating between English and Spanish as she translated for the crowd before her. They had gathered to celebrate recent victories in state immigration law while protesting Frederick County's participation in a federal program they say harms undocumented people.
"The community is unified, and we are here in solidarity," Amador said.
The RISE Coalition, a group that advocates for immigrants' rights, organized the caravan Saturday. Dozens of cars adorned with signs and flags looped through neighborhoods near Hill Street Skate Park, where supporters had gathered for the in-person rally.
Attendees said their goals for the event were twofold. For one, they wanted to celebrate the passage of Maryland's "Dignity Not Detention Act," which prohibits jurisdictions from contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented people and bans law enforcement officers from asking about immigration status during traffic stops.
But the group also wanted to protest the county's continued enrollment in the federal 287(g) program, which allows trained sheriff's deputies to check the immigration status of those booked in the county detention center and begin deportation proceedings if necessary. Frederick is among only three counties in Maryland that participate in the program, and the new state law won't force it to stop, said RISE volunteer Juliana Downey.
Still, the changes represent "incremental" progress, Downey said.
"I don't think it helps our police department do what they need to do," Frederick Mayor Michael O'Connor, who came to speak at the event, said of the 287(g) program. "We've worked really hard over the last four years to make sure that how we conduct ourselves in the city of Frederick is a way that welcomes all — no matter where they have originally called home."
Leaders from cultural centers across the city, including the Asian American Center of Frederick, the NAACP and the Islamic Society of Frederick, spoke at the rally to lend their support to RISE's cause.
The group decided to drive through west Frederick — rather than head downtown — because the area is home to the county's largest immigrant population and is often overlooked, Amador said.
"The county — everybody — needs to know that this community is now awake," she said. "And we're ready."
Follow Jillian Atelsek on Twitter: @jillian_atelsek
