A coalition of left-wing groups rallied in Dallas on Sunday to protest a Texas law that makes unlawful entry into the country a crime.
Senate Bill 4, set to go into effect earlier this month, is currently in limbo as legal challenges against it are pending in court, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. More than a dozen North Texas groups organized a protest against the law on Sunday, many of whom engage in left-wing activism on issues such as immigration, LGBTQ, and the Israeli-Hamas war.
Among the organizers were the Dallas Anti-War Committee, the Party for Socialism and Liberation Dallas/Ft. Worth, the Dallas chapter of the Brown Berets, and La Frontera Nos Cruzo (The Border Crossed Us), a group that partnered with Brown Berets founder Carlos Montes for an event last year.
Niveen Abdelwahed, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, told The Dallas Morning News that his organization believes it is important to show solidarity with other social justice causes.
“We know that at the core of it, it’s all tied together and imperialism and settler colonialism is at the root of all of these issues, so seeing something like Senate Bill 4 being passed and knowing that our tax dollars go toward racist profiling — we’re no strangers to that as Palestinians,” he said.
The Palestinian Youth Movement, as well as the Dallas Anti-War Committee and Party for Socialism and Liberation Dallas/Ft Worth, have all made social media posts expressing support for Hamas’ terrorist attacks against innocent Israelis on October 7 that left an estimated 1,200 dead.
“Last night, the resistance in Gaza led a heroic attack against the occupation and has taken over 30 hostages, including Brigadier General Nimrom Aloni,” the Palestinian Youth Movement posted on Facebook. “Their march toward liberation is as monumental as their rockets — the resistance will free the prisoners who have been facing a fascist attack by the occupation and liberate our land from the fangs of the enemy.”
“3 p.m. at the grassy knoll tomorrow, we will be standing in solidarity with the unprecedented advance in Palestinian resistance!” the Dallas Anti-War Committee posted on Facebook.
Nearly two dozen members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation Dallas/Ft Worth were arrested this month and later released after a protest that shut down General Dynamics in Garland. The agitators were protesting the company’s manufactured weapons over concerns that Israel uses them.
Members of the same organization also disrupted a Dallas city council meeting in January with demands for a ceasefire in Israel.
“Resistance to apartheid and fascist-type oppression was labeled ‘terrorism’ by U.S. politicians when the African National Congress took up arms against the racist, apartheid regime in South Africa,” the group posted on Facebook on October 7. “The same false ‘terrorism’ label is being applied to the Palestinian people.”
Isabel Marquez, an associate pastor at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, which displays pride flags outside its church, spoke against SB 4 during the March 24 protest.
“It harms people who are already in the country working, contributing and having families already,” she said, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said his department is evaluating how to implement SB4 if it is upheld in court. He previously told The Dallas Express the bill is a “cause for concern for some in our community” but noted his department will follow the law.
“The Department cannot prohibit or limit the enforcement of immigration laws; however, residents of Dallas, victims, and witnesses should continue to feel confident in working with the Dallas Police Department,” he said.
“Until we have more clarification on the law, update Dallas Police Department’s procedures and General Orders, and provide additional training to ensure the protection of individuals’ civil rights, we will adhere to the current General Orders. Reducing and preventing violent crime in the City of Dallas remains the top priority of the Dallas Police Department,” he continued.
