March to protest Trump’s refugee order scheduled in Palm Springs

A protest march will be held today in opposition to President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the immigration of refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

The 6 p.m. event organized by Democracy in Action Coachella Valley will open with a prayer by the Islamic Society of Coachella and include speeches from Palm Springs City Councilman Geoff Kors, Alexis Ortega from the LGBT Community Center of the Desert, and Leila Namvar, who hails from Iran.

More than 200 people were expected to attend the event. Following the speakers, the marchers will trek from Frances Stevens Park to Palm Springs International Airport, in what organizers have called a “human and civil
rights march.”

The march follows another demonstration held earlier this week by protesters outside Palm Springs City Hall, who demanded that officials from cities across the Coachella Valley draft ordinances to become sanctuary cities.

The Palm Springs Police Department has long adhered to a policy of not detaining or questioning people based on their immigration status. Along with the order suspending all refugee entries for 120 days, indefinitely blocking all Syrian refugees and barring entry for 90 days to all immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, Trump also signed an executive order last week stating that sanctuary cities would not be eligible to receive federal grants, except for law enforcement purposes.

Both orders have since been met with numerous legal challenges, including federal lawsuits from attorney generals across the country, temporary restraining orders issued by federal court judges halting the travel ban, or citizens and their family members who say they have been stranded overseas as a
result of the executive order.

After the order was announced, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, “Coming into this country is still a privilege. We’re the greatest country on Earth. Being able to come to America is a privilege, not a right.
And it is our duty and it’s the president’s goal to make sure that everybody who comes into this country — to the best of our ability — is here because they want to enjoy this country and come in peacefully.”