Several hundred members of Santa Rosa’s Latino community participated in a vehicle caravan Saturday to support immigrant rights and call attention to what many say is ongoing repression across Sonoma County.
The May Day caravan began along Sebastopol Road in the city’s mostly Latino neighborhood and wound through city streets, driving past Santa Rosa’s federal building.
About 90 vehicles participated, decked out with Mexican flags and posters.
Ron Lopez, director of the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies at Sonoma State University, participated in the caravan to send a message.
“I’m here to stand up for immigration reform and for the lives of all people,” he told KCBS Radio. “My kids made both ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘immigrant rights’ posters for my car.”
The Latino community has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. They account for the largest percentage of infections. Many were out of work for months, had to return to their native countries and were unable to come back.
Anna Estada organized the caravan.
“We are here to ask for protection of immigrants from all over the world, not just Mexico,” she said. “We are here to make sure that essential workers have a pathway to citizenship.”
Estada told KCBS Radio that members of the Latino population have suffered oppression.
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