‘We’re supporting those that come here to do the jobs that most Americans don’t want to do.’
Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: Feb. 12, 2025
Host: As Florida legislators, the governor, and the Trump administration are trying to outdo each other over who will be the toughest purveyor of deportations, some people disagree with the premise that immigrants are a problem. This Sunday, some 300 protesters converged in downtown Sarasota to express their support for immigrants. We talked to Junior Salazar, the main organizer of the event.
Speaker: Say it loud! Say it clear!
Crowd: Immigrants are welcome here!
Johannes Werner: Salazar is a Manatee County-based offspring of immigrants, two-time candidate for public office, finance expert, and gay father. He was joined by organizations, including the Answer Coalition Suncoast, Voices of Florida, and the Party of Socialism and Liberation.
From Five Points, the protesters walked through downtown along Pineapple and ended their protest at the roundabout at Gulfstream and US 41, waving signs.
What’s the message? Junior Salazar:
Junior Salazar
Junior Salazar: I think the biggest message that we’re trying to send is that immigrants come here not in the easiest manner. I think that people have the conception — or the misconception — that it’s somehow easy to have a pathway to citizenship, that it doesn’t cost much. People are coming from third world countries oftentimes, or very hostile countries, where they make pennies on the dollar. They don’t have money to have the legal expense paid for to be able to have a pathway toward citizenship. They don’t have the resources and the tools in their country to say, ‘Hey, let’s go to the U.S. and do it the right way according to most people’, because it’s not afforded to them. They’re left with no options. They’re left with the only option, which is to come to the U.S. undocumented.
“For my my parents who came with nothing and gave me everything.”
We don’t need criminals — people who have caused criminal acts in our country — to be here. If you’ve come here and you’ve committed criminal acts, by all means, send them to their origin country and allow them to face the consequences of their actions. That’s not who we’re supporting. We’re supporting those that come here to do the jobs that most Americans don’t want to do. When you talk about landscaping services, when you talk about housekeeping services, when you talk about a lot of these labor-driven jobs.
JW: The protest at Five Points Park was not the only pro-immigrant event in the region; there was one in Manatee County prior to that, with a couple hundred participants—and there will be more to come. That includes a planned protest this Sunday in Wimauma in Hillsborough County and upcoming actions in Tallahassee and possibly Washington, according to Salazar.
JS: We’re getting ready to announce our next initiative, which is our trip to Tallahassee. We’re going to take a day during the week, most likely a Tuesday, where we’ll rent charter buses and have a group of people that will go out—not only protest and rally but also schedule time to meet with legislators within the state capital to talk about ways that we can implement policy that benefits not only everyday Americans but that benefits those that are looking to achieve that American dream.
JW: Salazar has begun fundraising to pay for charter buses, and he expects the Tallahassee action for the first week of March. Washington will be the next destination.
JS: Washington is on our radar, as we know that there’s policymakers that sit at the Capitol — there’s no better way to protest than to speak to those legislators — but also going to the White House itself and saying — there’s so many people that take action and do activism work outside of the White House property, so we’re going to take the fight all the way to Washington.
JW: There is also organizing going on surrounding quick response to deportation actions. A private WhatsApp group that launched last week has about 200 members right now, trying to track ICE movements in the area. The name of the group is Immigration Fight Back Tampa Bay.
Reporting for WSLR News, Johannes Werner.
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