(The Center Square) – North Carolina on Monday was without a scene as chaotic as Los Angeles, or even the hundreds who gathered in Houston and San Antonio on Sunday.
Immigration protests attracting hundreds and sometimes more than 1,000, however, have been happening periodically all year. And in the case of the capital city, it didn’t even wait for the first sunset of Republican President Donald Trump’s second term.
There’s been no National Guard activations for any. And beyond local and statewide coverage, glare of press spotlight isn’t anywhere close to what has happened in the nation’s second-largest city.
Hundreds on Jan. 20 were in Moore Square, in downtown Raleigh between Martin, Person, Hargett and Blount streets. Their opposition was to the president’s plans for immigration enforcement, abortion policy and foreign policy.
Temperatures were near freezing. The war in the Middle East between Hamas and Israel also was given a voice, including the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Two protests of note were at the Legislative Building where the General Assembly does work on Jones Street. One at the first of May was in conjunction with the National Day of Action across the country focusing on rights of immigrants and workers. Thousands attended, according to published reports.
A protest focused on immigration also happened on May 21, though this one at the Legislative Building targeted state immigration policy proposals. The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, the Education Justice Alliance, the Carolina Migrant Network, Muslim Women For, and El Pueblo were key leaders.
Charlotte, the state’s most populous city and 14th in the nation, less than two weeks after Inauguration Day had a protest in the Uptown district. Like Southern California in recent days, flags of other nations were present, and the ire was directed at efforts for deportation and immigration enforcement.
An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 were on hand for a May Day demonstration in the eastern part of the city. In this one, the voices were for workers, unions, immigrants and the homeless. Among those attending was U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., of the state’s 12th Congressional District.
Greensboro and Winston-Salem in the Triad have also been protest locations. One offered a different style than many others. On Feb. 3, several businesses were closed as part of the nationwide protest dubbed “A Day Without Immigrants.”
Both cities were home to May Day protests as well.
On the coast, protesters were in downtown Wilmington on May 3. They put their voices toward the Trump policies in Washington and the proposals moving through the General Assembly in Raleigh.
In Greenville, a medical hub for the eastern part of the state, there was participation in the Day Without Immigrants effort in February. The Pitt County community had marchers demonstrating in addition to business closings.
