As President Donald Trump took office Monday, dozens of people gathered in Manchester to celebrate the life of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Trump’s promises of mass deportations were on people’s minds.
Elizabeth Alacauskas belongs to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Manchester, a sanctuary site. She’s mindful that Trump has said he will rescind restrictions that limit immigration raids at schools, hospitals, and churches like hers.
“I wanted to wear black because of the inauguration,” said Alacauskas, who is training other churches interested in being sanctuary sites. “But I'm wearing red for hope because that's what we have. We have hope, and we have people, and we have people who need us.”
This was the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition’s 43rd annual celebration of King. The event at Memorial High School drew more than 170 people and included songs, prayer — and a discussion of the intersection of race, health care, education, and immigration.
Dr. Deborah Opramolla, of the Disability Rights Center-NH, said she saw health racism when she practiced medicine. That’s due in part, she said, to a health care workforce in New Hampshire that is largely white.
“We have to have clinicians that look like the community,” Opramolla said. “Why would I pour my soul out to you and you have no idea what I am talking about? We have to encourage various cultures to join the profession.”
Grade Kindeke of the American Friends Service Committee in New Hampshire urged the audience to support immigrants and fight policies that target them. That, she said, includes a number of immigration-related bills lawmakers are scheduled to take up this week.
“All who seek relief should be able to receive it,” Kindeke said. “We're not here to argue. I'm not here to argue who is worthy of more than the other.”
When Kindeke took questions, one question came up repeatedly: What should churches, schools, and hospitals do if federal detention agents raid a site? She and Imani Cruz, of American Friends Service Committee’s national office, said the short answer is to find an immigration lawyer.
The group, like others, has posted a guide to immigrant rights on its website.
Trump has promised to move quickly on immigration efforts, including deportation, ending birthright citizenship, and pausing the refugee program. By the time Monday’s event ended, Trump had shut down a federal app nearly one million migrants had used to schedule appointments at border ports of entry.