T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Sydney O’String, Yessenia Banderas, Antonio Banderas and Juan Marceleno hold signs and a Mexican flag in solidarity with the anti-ICE protests occurring nationwide. The Banderas’, who are siblings, decided to start the Marshalltown protest effort on Wednesday morning at the corner of Center and Anson streets.

As anti-ICE protests continue across the country, a small demonstration popped up in Marshalltown on Wednesday. At the corner of Hardees, on Center and Anson streets, four young residents held signs and yelled their support for immigrants. As the T-R left the scene, more people arrived to join the effort or to share resources with the protesters.

Siblings Antonio Banderas and Yessenia Banderas, 17, wanted to join the protest efforts, which started in Los Angeles last Friday. Demonstrations have occurred in other metro areas in the country, including one in Des Moines on Tuesday.

Antonio Banderas, 22, said if he would have known about the Des Moines protest, he would have attended.

“I want to create support in this community,” he said. “I want to show there are people here that want to spread love. I feel like it’s very hateful — that side where they’re coming from. I feel like whenever I listen to that side, it sounds like [it doesn’t] benefit the community by stripping kids away from schools. It does no good.”

The response of people driving through the intersection was mixed, Antonio Banderas said. Some drivers honked horns in support and others, who were not in favor, were more vocal.

“Like they say ‘Support ICE’ or ‘Go back to your country,'” he said. “They don’t know that saying that is actually hateful.”

Protester Sydney O’String, 20, said they were there to make people aware, even if they are angry about the message. She does not understand the hate and division in a country with so many cultures. An employee from a nearby business provided the small group with water as the outdoor temperature neared 90 degrees, and told them even if people complained, they should continue the effort.

“Even if we make people angry, it’s still a response, it’s still a reaction,” she said. “People just need to see what’s happening, because the media can be biased and not everyone sees both sides.”

O’String hopes people’s eyes will be opened by the demonstration efforts.

He and O’String recently returned from a trip to Washington D.C. and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Antonio Banderas remembered a quote from German pastor Martin Niemoller: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”

O’String said the quote spoke to both of them because of the similarities between the environment in Germany at that time, and the environment in America now. She described the similarities as “scary.”

“We’re the next generation that can speak up,” O’String said. “Gen Z just started being able to vote, and we need to use our voices. We just need to stand up, because who else is going to stand up? But we have to start it, and then hopefully other people will join us.”

Being silent is not an option for Antonio Banderas, he said.

“What is going on is not OK, and just because it’s not affecting you now, does not mean it won’t affect you later on,” he said.

The young protesters are planning on another demonstration Saturday at noon at the same location. The intent is to coincide with the No Kings Mass Protest, which has more than 1,500 demonstrations planned across the country.

Protester Juan Marceleno, 18, is hoping for roughly 100 Marshalltown and area residents to join on Saturday. He joined the protest after it started, and said his goal is to stop what Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is doing.

“A lot of people in Marshalltown are Hispanic,” he said. “There’s a lot of families here. If anyone wants to come . . . I’m sure we can get a lot of people.”

Marceleno, whose grandparents immigrated to the United States to create a better life for their family, urged residents to think about regular activities, such as shopping for groceries.

“Just think about where they come from,” he said. “Think about who plants it, and who picks it, because it’s us, pretty much. Whenever you eat strawberries, cucumbers, melons, think about who picks them up. Or when people go to restaurants – who cooks the food? Hotels – who cleans the rooms? We do jobs others don’t want to work.”

——–

Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.