Residents engaged with the Cordova ProAction Network joined nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations on Saturday to tell President Donald Trump’s administration that it is damaging citizens, the economy and America’s international relations.
After a community potluck designed to bring the community together, more than 100 people carrying signs critical of the Trump administration marched peacefully through town.
“We were pleased with the turnout,” said Barbara Jewell, who has been a part of the Cordova ProAction Network since its inception. The group, concerned over Trump’s personal behavior and presidential decision making, formed after his first inauguration.
Jewell noted that “there is nothing about our country that is better off” since Trump took office this time – citing concerns ranging from the president’s economic decisions to his Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdown on undocumented people.
“Our economic relationship with the world is making it more dangerous for Americans to travel,” Jewell said. “We are kidnapping people and sending them to other countries. We have a large immigrant population here just like the rest of Alaska.”
Local resident Signe Bauman, who has helped organized other recent demonstrations, said Saturday’s event looked a little different than she originally imagined.
“When we first started planning the June 14 event, it was just going to be a community potluck,” she said. “But as things began to transpire across the nation with ICE and workplace raids, it became apparent that we needed to have an outlet for people in Cordova to express their disapproval. For me it was a way to stand with my fellow community members and show our immigrant neighbors that we care about them.”
Cordova was one of thousands of communities that joined nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations on Saturday to coincide with President Trump’s birthday and the military parade marking the Army’s 250th anniversary in Washington, D.C. “No Kings” organizers reported that millions of people across the country participated in June 14 events.
The protests were largely peaceful, but noisy, as participants marched, chanted and yielded signs about everything from Medicaid and Social Security to immigrants’ and veterans’ rights. People were also carrying signs protesting ICE tactics in cities like Los Angeles – where protestors have had major clashes with the National Guard and the Marines over immigration policy in recent days.
In their participation Saturday, Cordova residents put their own Alaska twist on it – saying the only kings they want are king salmon and king crab. As for ice, in a play on the federal immigration agency ICE, they said “ICE belongs in our glaciers, not our neighborhoods” and that they preferred “crushed ICE.”
