Green Bay marchers back immigrants
Hundreds gather downtown
GREEN BAY - Xai Vang said she couldn’t help but think of her family when President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning residents of seven countries from traveling to the United States.
The Green Bay-area resident said her family was able to leave violence, oppression and a refugee camp in Thailand 25 years ago for safety in the United States.
Trump’s order, since halted by federal courts, flies in the face of the America that welcomed her family, she said.
“We’re not all violent. We’re not all terrorists. We need help,” Vang said. “Living here, seeing the diversity, I don’t want us to stop loving one another based on our religion or where we come from.”
Vang joined several hundred residents on a march through downtown Green Bay Saturday to send a message of support for immigrants and opposition to efforts to restrict immigration.
The group carried signs that read “No hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here,” “Open House for all,” “Today we use our American freedoms to fight for our American values,” and “Break borders, build bridges.”
Trump has signed two executive orders addressing immigration, one putting a temporary stop to travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa, the other calling for construction of a wall on the border with Mexico and increased immigration enforcement.
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay students Sam Dunkovich, Casey Hicks and Courtney Maye said they organized the event via Facebook to let immigrants, refugees, Muslims and others know they have supporters in the community.
“We want to bring a sense of humanity to the issue at hand and celebrate one another,” Maye said.
“We want to bring light to the idea that seeking asylum is a human right.”