Hundreds take to streets to protest immigration agents at Phoenix jail

PHOENIX — Hundreds of people took the streets of downtown Phoenix on Monday to protest federal immigration agents at the Fourth Avenue Jail.

“We are going to be marching to the Fourth Avenue Jail to tell [Maricopa County Sheriff Paul] Penzone that he needs to remove federal ICE agents from the Fourth Avenue jail so that our communities are not funneled into Trump’s deportation machine,” said Maria Castro, an organizer with Puente Arizona.

A large crowd first gathered at the Arizona State Capitol and heard from a number of speakers, including some from labor unions and immigrant rights activists. They then marched to the jail on Fourth Avenue and Jefferson Street, carrying signs and chanting phrases such as, “Not one more.”

In March, Penzone announced ICE agents would be allowed inside county jails. He also made clear that he would not hold people past their release time solely to wait for ICE to pick them up.

The march in downtown Phoenix was part of the May Day rallies and marches that unfolded across the country on Monday. May 1 has been observed as International Workers Day for more than 100 years.

It has become a prominent day in the United States when major demonstrations are held across the country to support immigrants.

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