Saturday, May 5 March/Rally held at Wesley UMC
Methodists host immigration rally, march
AURORA, Ill., May 8, 2018–Wesley United Methodist Church in Aurora, Ill., hosted a pro-immigration rally and a mile-long march to city hall May 5 that attracted about 100 persons.
The rally in the church parking lot was facilitated by retired Methodist pastor Debbie Fisher of Wesley UMC. She is a member of Aurora Huddle, one of four rally sponsors. Other sponsors were Indivisible Aurora, People Power and Immigrant Liberation Alliance.
The rally opened with information tables, face painting and ice cream from a food truck.
A dozen speakers included a businessman from Ghana, a state representative and three Aurora University students who recounted growing up undocumented.
Fisher said, “The purpose of the rally is to celebrate the contributions of immigrants to the City of Aurora. It is also to highlight our desire to get an ordinance before our city council for discussion and vote.
“We call the ordinance ‘#One Aurora,’ picking up on the Mayor’s (Richard Irvin) emphasis. The ordinance puts into city law the current policies and procedures of our police department.
“Under the leadership of Chief Kristen Ziman, Aurora officers are trained to not engage in racial profiling. If English is not your first language they are trained to refrain from making assumptions about you. We have spoken with her twice and she has confirmed all of this.
“Now we simply would like to see this before the city council for a discussion and vote,” Fisher said.
Rally attendees, escorted by Aurora police officers for traffic control, marched a mile to Aurora’s city hall to conclude the rally.
Al Benson
Al Benson is an Aurora-based freelance photo-journalist. He is currently an archives research specialist at Aurora University. His work has appeared in The Voice, The Daily Herald, The Beacon-News, and the Chicago Tribune.
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