‘No Kings’ anti-Trump protest planned for DeKalb on Saturday

DeKALB – Four DeKalb County organizations, including the DeKalb County Democratic Party, are uniting at noon Saturday in DeKalb for what organizers are calling a “No Kings” march and protest to voice discontent with the Trump administration.

The protest is expected to start in Hopkins Park, 1403 Sycamore Road. Organizers plan to march to Barber Greene Road, cross Route 23, and then return to the park, according to a news release sent by DeKalb County Democratic Party Chair Anna Wilhelmi.

“We will use our First Amendment right, guaranteed us by the U.S. Constitution, as much as we can to influence our elected representatives to do the right thing, and to express our dismay at the current administration,” Wilhelmi said in a provided statement.

Saturday’s demonstration isn’t the first time anti-Trump groups and Democrats have organized in DeKalb County to rally against what they’ve argued is unlawful and harmful federal policies since Trump’s inauguration. Multiple “Hands Off!” demonstrations also are planned across northern Illinois on Saturday. Anti-Trump Hands Off protests were held in all 50 states earlier this month.

Some protestors at recent DeKalb rallies have cried afoul at Trump’s planned federal workforce reductions, budget cuts and policies targeting veterans benefits and Social Security, among others. Trump’s immigration crackdown also has spurred local pushback.

“This is a five alarm fire upon our democracy, and we will not sit idly by and watch it burn down.”

—  Anna Wilhelmi, DeKalb County Democratic Party Chair

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that people who lawfully enter and reside in the U.S. have the same basic constitutional rights, such as those presented in the First Amendment, as natural-born and naturalized citizens.

Despite that judicial precedent, some actions by immigration officials have garnered headlines across the country in recent days.

Lawyers representing Mohsen Mahdawi – a Palestinian man and legal permanent resident who has held a green card since 2015 and led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University – said Mahdawi was detained at a U.S. immigration office in Colchester, Vermont, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Mahdawi’s lawyers said he was expecting to participate in an interview for the finalization of his U.S. citizenship, The Associated Press reported.

About 1,000 international students at U.S. higher education institutions have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March, The AP reported. Five Northern Illinois University students also had their visas revoked, officials confirmed last week. Authorities and NIU leaders have not said why the students lost their visas.

DeKalb Migrant Aid, REACT and Exploring Issues are the three other organizations joining the DeKalb County Democrats in the protest, according to a news release.

Cynthia de Seife, coordinator of REACT – Responsive Engagement Activating Civic Talent – said she believes the Trump administration is usurping congressional authority.

“We must acknowledge this dangerous erosion of the Constitution and exercise our First Amendment rights to free speech, to gather peacefully, and to redress grievances with the government before we lose those rights forever,” de Seife said in a news release.

Wilhelmi said organizers also are concerned that recent federal immigration action is stripping people of due process.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland, was sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation. The U.S. Supreme Court told the administration to return him to the U.S., but as of Friday, Abrego Garcia still was detained.

White House officials have said that he’s connected to the MS-13 gang, but his attorneys say the government has provided no evidence of that, and Abrego Garcia has never been charged with any crime related to such activity.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia on Thursday, The AP reported this week.

Wilhelmi said she worries that Abrego Garcia’s plight could be a precursor for U.S. citizens, who would lose access to the rights guaranteed to them by the U.S. Constitution if they’re jailed in another country.

“This is a five-alarm fire upon our democracy, and we will not sit idly by and watch it burn down,” Wilhelmi said. “This administration will be held accountable, and history will not be kind to those who are silent.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.