Faith leaders, immigration advocates protest Trump policies at LA ‘March for Dignity’

A group of organizers from faith-based, pro-immigrant communities gathered on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall on Saturday at noon, protesting President Donald Trump’s hard-line approach to immigration.

Participants, a coalition of faith-based, labor and immigrant rights organizations from around Southern California, gathered for a peaceful “March for Dignity” in downtown Los Angeles. Their goal was to “amplify the call for human dignity and stand in solidarity with immigrants and people of color affected by recent executive actions,” organizers said.

“We are a group of interfaith organizations, ministers and leaders who defend the dignity of the immigrant community,” said Ada Valiente, a senior pastor at the Maywood Church in South L.A., ahead of Saturday’s rally. “Our strength and power is in our collective unity to defend and advocate for our people. The responsibility is ours.”

A coalition of faith-based, labor, and immigrant rights organizations march down Broadway in downtown Los Angeles to protest the Trump administration’s hard-line approach to immigrants on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

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The Trump administration is aiming to make good on promises to enforce mass deportations of people who are in the country illegally, seal the border to future asylum-seekers, and pursue policies that would limit opportunities for citizenship. Trump’s agenda prioritizes deporting people with criminal records or who pose a public safety threat, but it expands to anyone in the country illegally, plus migrants stopped at the U.S. border.

“These decisions affect the immigrant community, and as an immigrant myself, this all personally affects me,” Adan Reyes, from Los Angeles, said in Spanish. “I should be respected, not only as an immigrant but as a human being.”

Reyes held a Mexican flag as he walked along the protest route on Saturday.

“What the Trump Administration is doing does not represent what this country is made of, it’s a fact that this country is made up of immigrants,” he said. “I hope that as fellow community members and as human beings, we come together and organize to make sure we protect each other and our rights.”

Leaders say these moves result in “inhumane and cruel actions” impacting vulnerable communities everywhere.

California, home to more immigrants than any other U.S. state, reported over 2.4 million immigrants without status, according to the most recent data from the California Immigrant Data Portal. In 2021, nearly 3 million residents across all Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties were undocumented or lived in a household with an undocumented family member, with 1.9 million residing in Los Angeles.

As several local raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been reported, many groups are hosting “know your rights” workshops and finding ways to warn residents of such “targeted enforcement” efforts by ICE. Rallies and protests have popped up throughout Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire, with some actions being peaceful and others more violent, leaders said.

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“All the talk of detaining and deporting immigrants forgets the most basic of truths: these are human beings with families, deep roots in their communities, and contributions that go back years and years. We cannot forget that when a family is torn apart, when a community is thrown into chaos, or when hate words are spoken against a group on a daily basis, people are dehumanized, silenced, and ignored,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), one of the participating groups.

“Before more people are hurt, the American people must demand of the Trump administration a reset and an approach to just, humane and practical immigration policies.”

Hundreds of people peacefully marched Saturday from the corner of Broadway and Olympic to City Hall.

There was high energy from the crowd as they shouted chants, and waved U.S. flags, as well as flags from other Latin and Central American countries. Participants of all ages also held posters that shared their sentiments on the current immigration laws and denouncing what the Trump Administration is doing.

Guillermo Torres, with the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), said it took time for him to process “the horrific new reality of the new situation after (Trump’s) election.”

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“Both parties have failed us, but the difference is that this new administration is pure evil and cruel. And my message is that I am not going to defy God, or defy one of the greatest commandment in my faith tradition, to love your neighbor as yourself,” Torres said before the rally. “This action says we are present and stand together to defend our dignity. We are all created in the image of God and no one can take that away, no matter how you try to rebrand us. After this action, we will continue to summon the power of love, non-violence and faith … until justice is served.”

Holding up a sign that read “proud child of an immigrant,” Chris Cortez, from La Puente, was among the crowd at City Hall.

“I’m a child of an immigrant and there is a lot of fear spreading right now in our communities,” Cortez, 31, said. “I feel like this movement is going to create waves and make the community realize that we are united and that we do have rights.”

“I hope that a lot more people come to realize that change is never going to happen if we don’t open our eyes, if we don’t respond ourselves,” he added. “No one is going to fight for us but ourselves, we have to fight for us. We have to realize that we’re all human.”

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