Organizer Junior Salazar discusses the goals of demonstrations.
By Mason Chambless
Original Air Date: June 18, 2025
Host: The immigrants’ rights protest on Monday was originally planned to be a march across the bridge, from downtown Bradenton to city hall in Palmetto, the town with the biggest share of Hispanic residents in this area. But the protest, featuring some 50 people, ended up being stationary. Organizers blamed the heat. Just ahead of the rally, a dozen police vehicles were spotted at the north end of Green Bridge. Mason Chambless reports.
Junior Salazar, r., says that immigrants have made America great. Photo by Mason Chambless
Mason Chambless: Protesters gathered outside of Manatee County Courthouse on Monday in solidarity with immigrants across the country. While ICE raids are being conducted across the community, the protestors’ demand is simple: that immigrants would be treated with respect and dignity. This core message of solidarity and equality was a motivator for some who showed up to protest.
Protester: I feel that everything that’s happening right now is not right, and unless you stand up for what you believe in—you might as well show what you believe in. That’s why we’re out here. I’m from America. I’ve never been to Mexico, but these are my people, and I’m here to support them as much as they support us and our living.
Everybody bleeds the same. We’re all one, and there’s no reason for there to be hate like there is.
A majority of protesters were young. Photo by Mason Chambless
MC: This protest follows in the wake of widely broadcasted clashes in downtown L.A. between protesters and law enforcement. Aside from occasional choice words thrown from car windows and one confrontational passerby, the protest in Bradenton displayed what a peaceful protest can look like. And for the event’s organizers, peacefulness is what helps to make a protest successful. I spoke with organizer Junior Salazar about Monday’s event.
Junior Salazar: It was our first time doing a protest during the weekday when we knew many people would be at work, so we weren’t sure what to expect. But given the turnout that we had—we had over 50 people that showed up, and a majority of them were young people. It was nice to see how engaged the community is becoming—has been since this administration has taken office again.
MC: But Junior Salazar isn’t finished yet. At the end of Monday’s protest, Salazar announced the location of the next protest: Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. And that one happened earlier today, Wednesday, with a follow-up protest planned for next Thursday. The protest is against Avelo airlines, which has a contract with the U.S. government to utilize their planes for deportation of immigrants. Salazar spoke of his hopes for the event.
Wednesday early morning picket at the airport: “Boycott Avelo; no deportations without due process.” Photo by Kathleen Murray
JS: To bring awareness. To obviously hit them where it hurts, which is their pockets—boycott the use of Avelo if you’re a consumer or commercial flier to avoid them—but also to bring awareness that this is going on.
MC: At the end of the day, Salazar wants to remind everyone that immigrants are key members of our community and that we must support them.
JS: Remember the impact that the immigrant community—whether they’re documented or undocumented—has not only within our local communities, across the state and across this country. They are what has made America great and continues to make America great.
I think that, when we talk about deporting immigrants, we have to think about the consequences that our economy is going to face. Those are going to be severely felt by people who are looking to buy homes, people who are looking for landscaping services, people who are in need of laborers or housekeeping or whatever the case may be. It’s going to be felt in those industries the most.
I think that we really, truly have to remember why we’re the country that we are today and that we’ve always been—why we’re the country of freedom and liberty and everything—every value that we stand for as Americans.
MC: Reporting for WSLR News, Mason Chambless.
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