A Day Without Immigrants: Denver Community Rallies for Immigrants' Rights
Story and photos by Juli Yanai
Yocelin Corrales of Aurora Unidos CSO addresses the crowd from the Capitol steps on Thursday, May 1st, 2025.
Protestors gathered at the Colorado State Capitol for the “A Day Without Immigrants” rally, which took place on May 1, also known as May Day. The rally was one of many national protests and supported several intersecting issues while predominantly speaking out against Donald Trump’s continued immigration reforms.
The protest was organized by Aurora Unidos Community Service Organization (Aurora Unidos CSO), a grassroots group that advocates against deportation and supports immigrant rights. Organizers also included Denver Party for Socialism and Liberation (Denver PSL), and other groups who expressed their support for overlapping causes, including putting an end to the genocide in Palestine and advocating for federal workers.
Despite the overcast day and rainy weather, several hundred people showed up on the Capitol steps. The messages on the colorful protest signs at the protest ranged from distaste for Trump and Elon Musk, to demands to free local activist, Jeanette Vizguerra, who has continued to be held in an ICE detention center.
Denver VOICE spoke with several protesters at the rally about why they were there.
Ari, an attendee at the protest who declined to share their full name for safety reasons, shared, “This is our home. These people [immigrants] have been here just as long, if not longer than a lot of us. They’ve worked here for so many years and built their homes here. What makes them any less American than what makes us, you know? They’re our people. And if we don’t take care of our community, Trump’s gonna do what he’s doing and destroy our communities one by one. That’s the worst part.”
Explaining why other members of the community should care, Ari stated, “The more people who bothered to get out there and use their voice, even if they think it’s small, the more that [politicians] have to listen to what we have to say. Make sure your message is clear. We take care of each other, you know? That's all we can do.”
Joseph Horan, another attendee at the protest, echoed Ari’s sentiment. “It’s all intersectional. Throughout history, it’s just like, ‘Oh, I can oppress this group or this group’s concerns aren’t my concerns,’ and it always comes back to bite them. For example, after the Civil War with reconstruction, the white yeomanry were all upset about the so-called Black rule, so they used violence and intimidation to kick all the Black people out of office and then put the southern aristocracy back into place that was oppressing them during slavery. And now the South is still poor to this day because they didn’t stand up for Black people.”
Commenting on he U.S. Government’s recent changes to its immigration policies, Horan said, “The Trump administration’s use of immigrants as scapegoats is disgusting. The idea that we’ll just get rid of due process for immigrants and it’ll be fine and only affect immigrants is bullshit, I’m sorry. It’s something either all of us have or none of us have. If you think it only affects immigrants, what if someone accused you of being an immigrant? Well, of course you’d say, ‘I’m not an immigrant.’ Well, how do you prove that without due process? Everybody should have due process. Everybody needs rights. People must stand together, or we will be oppressed together.”
Before taking to the streets, several speakers addressed the crowd from the top of the Capitol steps. Among them was Yocelin Corrales of Aurora Unidos CSO, who discussed the issues immigrant workers face. “Imagine contributing long hours, helping the community grow and bringing necessities to people in your community while consistently being at risk of not being paid well, getting harassed in the workplace, not having safe work conditions and being threatened with calls to I.C.E. if you step out of line.”
Franklin Cruz addresses the crowd at the Governor's Mansion on Thursday, May 1st, 2025.
Highlighting the intersection between worker’s rights and other issues, Corrales continued, “We are here today because we are here to fight. Not on one front or even two or three fronts. We’re going to stand with workers on every front. We’re gonna continue to stand up for immigrants like Jeanette and Carla, working women who are detained at the horrific I.C.E. concentration camp in Aurora for the simple crime of crossing borders while poor. We will continue to fight for a free Palestine and an end to all U.S. wars, for the sake of workers everywhere. We will fight against Trump’s attacks on unions, his emboldening of killer police and any other fight that emerges from this administration’s ambitious flurry of attacks on working people. Because when we fight, we win.”
The group then marched through the rain toward the Governor’s Mansion, stopping outside of its entrance. There, local organizer and activist, Franklin Cruz, recited a poem.
“I’m 33 now, and I decided a long time ago to kick out the colonizer’s voice. You see, I’m the only citizen in this body. When I did, my hand began to tremble. So I picked up a pen, laid down history, pulled out a true story and cleaned a memory of some rage…
“I am the resurrect of their ambition. I am the corn in the lava. I am the sweet potato in the Pentagon. I am the only one they cannot poison. I am here. I am literate. I am educated. And I am not alone.”
Editor’s Note: The Denver VOICE is a street paper, which means that our paper sales support individuals facing housing or financial instability. While our primary focus is covering issues around homelessness, we are also committed to sharing the stories of marginalized communities and any events or policies that affect them.