Four protesters have been arrested in Oakland while shutting down an Alameda County administration building in an act of civil disobedience. Several hundred people gathered outside the San Francisco ICE office with about 40 blocking the driveway and thousands later marched through the city’s downtown in the name of immigrants and laborers.
And in San Jose, thousands of demonstrators marched Monday from the Mexican Heritage Plaza past City Hall toward the Arena Greens by the SAP Center.
About 1,000 people marched on International Boulevard for a rally in the Fruitvale district in Oakland.
These are the scenes playing out across the Bay Area during what’s expected to become a historic May Day from massive rallies, road shutdowns and business closures to walkouts at dozens of schools and workplaces. With demonstrations heating up in San Francisco, Oakland, Mountain View, San Jose, Morgan Hill, and Concord and beyond, police and transportation officials are bracing themselves for a day of turbulence and unrest. About 10,000 are expected in San Jose for the city’s 1 p.m. rally and march beginning at Mexican Heritage Plaza.
Protests will likely rival the magnitude of the historic May Day rallies of 2006, when millions of people across the U.S. took to the streets demanding federal immigration reform. In San Jose, 100,000 people turned out that year.
More than 100 protesters were on the scene in Oakland demanding an end to the county’s law enforcement corroboration with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the planned expansion of Santa Rita Jail and an end to the county’s participation.
Many had chained themselves to the front door at 1221 Oak St. while other protesters were lying on the pavement with chalk lines around their bodies, pretending they were dead. Arrests were reportedly made after some protesters took to the roof of the building.
Across the bay at the San Francisco ICE office Monday, protesters clad in red and white painted big slogans on the street that read “resist,” “no ban” and “no wall.”
“My parents were put in concentration camps during World War II and no one stood up for us. What’s happening now, with Trump’s immigration policies, is the same situation,” said Joyce Nakamura, who lives in San Francisco. “I feel obligated to be here. I feel obligated to stand up for people.”
At 11 a.m., on a sunny day with a perfectly blue sky, several thousands of people gathered at Justin Herman Plaza and began marching up Market Street toward Civic Center Plaza. Cheers and chants echoed over the Embarcadero.
The immense crowd of at least 3,000 walked slowly up Market Street, bringing downtown to a standstill. An Aztec dance group led the way, and smoke from their fragrant incense hovered over the parade.
Juan Antonio Garza of Costa Rica held aloft a big banner saying “con o sin papeles, yo soy 100% Americano,” meaning, “with or without documentation, I’m 100 percent American.”
“America is a continent, not a country” said the 42-year-old in Spanish. “I’m more American than the white Europeans who moved here.”
A spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department said there were no arrests tied to May Day protests as of Monday afternoon.
Marchers protested peacefully in Oakland’s Fruitvale district.
“Today, we’re on the streets and we need to keep this resistance up,” said an unidentified speaker at a rally. “We need to do it for all lives matter, for black lives, for trans lives, for immigrant brothers and sisters.”
Meanwhile, in the South Bay, at least 300 people have gathered at the Mexican Heritage Plaza on Alum Rock Avenue in San Jose, holding signs, chanting, singing and reciting poetry to celebrate Silicon Valley workers — and fight against policies that threaten their rights.
But the rally was about more than protecting workers, many of whom find themselves priced out of the Bay Area. It was about fighting against federal policies that threaten immigrant rights, basic healthcare, environmental justice and affordable housing.
Without workers, one protester said, America couldn’t be built — and neither could President Donald Trump’s lavish hotel towers.
“Workers make everything happen,” said Tom Linebarger, a 74-year-old retired painter who drove from Redwood City to take part in San Jose’s rally and march. “Donald Trump never built anything. He never build a birdhouse — he got workers to do it.”
Maria Trujillo, a janitor who is now a U.S. citizen, said she knows “what it’s like to be afraid in her own community.”
Immigrants, especially women, are afraid to report domestic violence and sexual abuse, fearing it could lead to deportation, Trujillo said at a May Day rally in Oakland’s Fruitvale district, which drew a few thousand.
“The same police that should be protecting us will turn us over to (ICE),” she said through a translator.
The origins of May Day, a traditional marker of spring, as a day of protest in the United States are rooted in the bloody history of the labor movement. In the late 1880’s, there were many nationwide strikes pushing for better working conditions, including things now taken for granted, such as an eight-hour work day.
Since 2006 the focus of May Day in the U.S. has shifted to immigration. Given the widespread antipathy toward Trump anti-immigration policies, many predicted that this year’s turnout may be bigger than ever around the world.
“With so many different groups of people rankled and upset with the slew of executive orders issued in the last 100 days, it does seem like labor protests against Trump administration goals will have an uptick this year,” said Scot Guenter, professor of American studies at San Jose State University.
“Because of the tradition of May Day protests or labor celebrations in many other parts of the world, I would also expect to see anti-Trump protest signs and banners being carried on May 1 not only in many American cities and communities, but also in many other parts of the world that believe his actions will hurt worker rights in their lands, too.”
Restaurants, businesses and organizations throughout the region also are expected to shut down for the day and most will allow employees to participate in local rallies.
In Concord, people gathered at Meadow Homes Park to urge city leaders to adopt a sanctuary policy and a rent stabilization ordinance.
“We’re really looking for a sense of safety for the community because the fear is at an all-time high, said Debra Ballinger Bernstein, executive director of Monument Impact.
The park where the “Roof and Refuge” rally and march began is in the heart of the Monument Boulevard neighborhood, home to a large immigrant Latino community.
“We’re focused on the two things that are really deeply impacting the community today.”
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