About 50 Richmond area residents gathered Sunday afternoon at Jefferson Park to support immigrant communities facing state and federal investigations, detention and deportation.

Under clear, sunny skies, activists and members of groups such as Indivisible RVA, the 50501 Movement, Legal Aid Justice Center and Sunrise joined community members at the park’s pavilion, speaking out against the treatment of marginalized people and its broader societal impact.

“Do we stay silent? Do we continue to let this happen?” activist Elijah Lee asked the crowd. “Or do we stand up, decide that enough is enough, and say ‘no longer will we let one person in our country decide what we can and cannot do’ with our community?”

The rally followed Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order directing state police and corrections officials to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in removal and enforcement operations and requesting localities to do the same. 

“As Governor, protecting our citizens is my foremost responsibility and today we are taking action that will make Virginia safer by removing dangerous criminal illegal immigrants from our Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a statement announcing the order.

For rally speakers, the decision and similar federal orders carry dire consequences not only for immigrants but also for all people who lack the social, economic or political power to be shielded from their impact.

“If you’re not part of that in-group, that elite group, they’re gonna come for you next,” said David Robbins, rally moderator and member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Virginia section that organized the event. “We have to stand together.”

Stories of the impact these orders have had on schools, teachers and students were shared, along with chants, personal accounts from immigrant descendants, and speeches linking the treatment of immigrants to broader issues such as climate crisis and global exploitation.

Although the speakers came from diverse backgrounds, with attendees from Church Hill to

Chesterfield County, all emphasized that the threat faced by immigrants would ultimately harm many others in the long run.

“This is an issue that if we do not address it right now, right here from all sides, it will have profound impacts on our community in ways that we have never seen before,” Lee said.

In response to these threats to immigrants and others, speakers and attendees proposed ways to protect the vulnerable and prevent further harm, such as electing politicians who align with their priorities, increasing community outreach and other actions.

“Organize, get involved, do something,” Robbins said. “That’s why we’re out here today.”