“Juntos somos más! Juntos somos más!” a speaker yelled to raucous cheers at the May Day rally that started outside Josefina Ahumada Workers Center. “Workers make up the majority of the world, so why shouldn’t workers run the world?”
The protest saw signs — pillorying billionaires, calling out the rise of fascism and mocking Elon Musk — carried amongst the crowd of about 1,000.
Since the Trump administration has targeted undocumented immigrants with raids and deportations, slashed federal jobs, canceled research contracts and frozen funds that support vulnerable communities, a steady thrum of Tucsonans have made their opposition known through a series of widespread protests.
Some have gathered at marches that have been happening for decades, like the May Day rally. The call-to-action, historically known as International Workers’ Day, is broadly recognized as a celebration of the labor movement for workers’ rights and humane working conditions. During the 19th century, U.S. labor organizers pushed for reform as thousands of women, men and children were dying amid unsafe working conditions and long hours. Now, the celebration is an official holiday in 66 countries and observed in cities across the world.
This year, May Day protests in Tucson and across the nation ballooned to more than 1,000 demonstrations against the Trump administration. Other recent protests are part of newer efforts to respond directly to the administration’s stance on specific issues, such as education and Medicare cuts. Those who lined the streets of Tucson’s Reid Park for the Hands Off protest focused on resisting government actions perceived as authoritarian.
Trump supporters have gathered at events in smaller numbers, supporting the president’s policies in some communities across the country. Others have rallied at his public speeches, including celebrating the president’s first 100 days in office.
The anti-Trump crowds at larger rallies are a diverse mix, including educators and students, retirees and young workers from various socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Together, they paint a picture of how people are using public protest to make their voices heard amid seismic changes at the federal level that are affecting vulnerable communities at the local level.
Reporters at Arizona Luminaria attended a range of protests to better understand the motivations, concerns and hopes of people in Southern Arizona and across the state who have taken to the streets in recent weeks. Here’s what they had to say:
Reasons for participation: “I’m doing this for my kids, my grandkids and your kids”
“As a little girl, I was one of those very early readers. I read The Diary of Anne Frank when I was 6 years old. It has always been so powerful in my mind that there were people in her world who protected her, and people in her world that were unsafe for her.
“I remember as a little girl thinking: I’m always going to be one of the people who would have been safe for Anne. I feel now, if you read The Diary of Anne Frank, and you knew you wanted to protect that girl, then you need to be out here protesting for what’s happening with innocent people all over the country, and now all over the world.”
— Debbie Carr-Taylor, 64, Oro Valley, protest outside the El Salvador Embassy in Tucson for the return of wrongly removed Venezuelan immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia on April 16
“I have two little girls, and women seem to be attacked right now. I want to make sure that they live in a place that has the right for them to vote. The right for them to own a business. And the right for them to be a woman without being forced to have a man with them.
My (oldest) daughter also has autism so that was part of the reason why I came. RFK’s speech the other day was incredibly eugenic in its rhetoric, and that’s terrifying because it means that there will be fewer people who are willing to care and learn about people on the autism spectrum.”
— Elizabeth Irwin, 36, Phoenix, mother to two daughters, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona Capitol on April 19
“My reason for being here is the whole oligarchy situation that’s going on. There’s no due process with anything and Trump is just creating his own rules. It seems as though the Republicans or the Democrats are not doing anything to stop him. They’re letting him do what he wants and that is a problem for us ordinary people here that feel as though we don’t have a voice anymore.
“Our mother is sick, we also have a disabled uncle and a disabled grandson and we’re very concerned about the outcome of their situation. They need the medical assistance, and with these changes that are being made, it’s really going to affect them. I’m very concerned, not only for them, but I’m also concerned for my elders … a lot of times our elders don’t have food on the reservation and that’s (SNAP program) what they depend on.”
— Marcella Calzado, 58, Phoenix, Navajo citizen and registered Republican, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona Capitol on April 19
“I came here because I want to make Trump uncomfortable. The American people have to show him that we protest. We’re not going to allow you (Trump) to just turn our country that we love into a dictatorship.
“I can’t point to one issue. I mean, it’s due process, it’s the fabric of our country, it’s everything. Like all last summer, I spent every chance I could get in a national forest and he’s (Trump) going to cut them. I can’t think of anything that hasn’t been touched.”
— Dennis Newby, 50, Akron, Ohio, avid backpacker and father to one daughter, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
“We’re here for the protest, to tell Trump to back off. He is sending immigrants away. He got rid of the Department of Education. He puts the LGBTQ community down. That’s our people, that’s our country, it’s kind of rude.”
Remy, 11, Gilbert, student, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
“The most important thing to me is I’m a Nana and I’m doing this for my kids, my grandkids and for your kids. I think the difference between MAGA and I is that MAGA won’t do anything until it affects them. I’ll do it even if it doesn’t affect me because I have empathy for you.
“It’s like every week he’s (Trump) breaking something and what concerns me is the issue of the week is hiding what’s really happening. He’s the showman. What worries me is all the changes that are happening behind the scenes. What did Elon Musk do to the software? What are the people doing to the processes in those buildings, in those departments, in those things that are going to attack us in the future? It’s not going to affect me, I’m on my way out. But my grandkids are going to find out years afterwards what he changed that will hurt their lives.”
— Linda West, 76, Mesa, grandmother to two teens, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
“It’s important to me to be out here because it’s supporting your school, your school’s money and schools educate you. And if you don’t have enough money for schools, then you can’t be educated. Then it’s harder for you to get through life especially when you’re older. … You need to learn since you’re a kid. And if it feels like it’s family, then you’ll be more comfortable learning.”
— Valentina Burris-Buttner, 8, second grader at Davis Bilingual Elementary Magnet School, walk-in rally on April 16 with an estimated 80 parents, teachers, students, siblings and a live student mariachi band.
“Teachers are upset, families are upset even the students are upset — from the younger ones to the older ones, they’re not too young to understand what’s happening and they’re advocating for themselves. It is very beautiful to see how we’re all coming together for the same cause, which is to stop the cuts on education. At some point we need to say it needs to stop. I think this is a movement not only at Davis, but all over Tucson, all over the nation. Schools are coming together and we are saying: ‘This is enough.’”
— Jessica Ramirez-Perea, 30, Davis Elementary School, dual-language first grade teacher and Tucson resident, at walk-in rally at Davis on April 16
“We need to protect our schools. It’s important for our students to have resources. Public schools need more funding and attacking them is criminal. We need more. We don’t need less.”
— Brieanne Buttner, 37, Tucson parent and former Tucson High teacher, at walk-in rally at Davis on April 16
“I am most concerned about the takeover of our democracy and the fact that so many Republicans are enabling that. I want to be here and say we need to be involved. This is our democracy, our country and we need to turn it around. I am upset about the deportation without any due process of Venezuelans and other people to the death camps in El Salvador. And needing to protect Medicare/ Medicaid — all of the things we rely on for our living.”
— The Rev. Karen MacDonald, member of Rincon Congregational United Church of Christ, lives in Tucson, at the “Stand Strong Speak Up” protest on April 17
“All the cuts, the tariffs — we don’t need to go back to the 1920s era, sink ourselves into another depression.”
— Magdalena Velasco, organizer with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Union, took the day off work to attend the May Day rally and march
“Estamos luchando para una comunidad libre, sin represalias. (In English: We are fighting for freedom for our community, without retaliation.) We are being attacked by the government. We’re workers, and they’re treating us like criminals. We have to show them we’re not scared, that we’re human beings.”
— Anonymous, organizer standing outside the Josefina Ahumada Workers’ Center, where he has been a volunteer for 16 years. He is wearing a skeleton mask covering his face and holding a sign supporting the Coalición De Derechos Humanos.
“The whole immigration situation, you know, the ICE raids and everything — that hits close to home. I was adopted to a Mexican family and growing up in Tucson, I know a lot of people that are affected by that. It’s almost surreal.”
— Jason Olague, 45, small business owner, May Day rally and march at Southside Presbyterian Church
“I believe in democracy. I believe in the constitution. I believe in impeachment for the current regime. That’s why I’m here.”
— Sarah Cotten, 48, in a cat costume, puppet enthusiast, May Day rally and march at Southside Presbyterian Church
Messages to elected officials and public leaders: “Do your job”
“You know it’s tough to remind ourselves to fight with what’s within our control. And so whether that’s like people afraid of joining their union or speaking out once they do, what we’ve learned is that we all need to know that we’re all sticking our necks out and we’re in it together, shoulder-to-shoulder, that’s what solidarity means.
That’s the national scope — we all got to go out there to protect ourselves because he’s coming after just about everybody, except for the wealthy class he’s out to protect.”
— Jim Byrne, 42, President, Tucson Education Association, former Cholla High School teacher, at April 18 Teachers Rally for Tucson, Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani’s office
“Do your job.”
E.J. Williams, lives in Tucson, at the “Stand Strong Speak Up” protest on April 17
“I always felt that the Constitution would be upheld. I felt that the courts would be able to protect us. I think that all of the establishment is crumbling because the Republican Party is afraid to stand up to tyranny.”
— Georgie Yiannias, lives in Tucson, at the “Stand Strong Speak Up” protest on April 17
“I would remind our elected congress people that they have all of the legislative power and allegedly they have all of the budget power, but they are giving it up. They are giving it away to a lawless president. You can’t talk them into anything, because they’ll only do something different if they think that the way they are now will get them kicked out of office.”
— Greg Gouvea, gray hair back in a ponytail and wearing a multi-colored Snailmate band shirt, lives in Tucson, at the “Stand Strong Speak Up” protest on April 17
“I was really impressed by the senator from Maryland who went to El Salvador. I think every politician should be in El Salvador right now. You have power. Go to El Salvador and make them explain this to you. Don’t drop it. Do not drop this. That’s what I say to any politician who’s worth their salt. And to the Republican politicians who seem to be going along with this: It’s never too late to find your voice.”
— Claude Akins, 34, protest outside the El Salvador Embassy in Tucson for the return of wrongly removed Venezuelan immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia on April 16
“I do massage therapy, and you can really feel what’s going on — the economy, the overall morale, the sense of division, or lack of camaraderie. It’s all in the air. I think I’m especially sensitive to it because of the work I do with people’s bodies. I just wish they could come down to our level and spend more time with us.”
— Jason Olague, 45, small business owner, May Day march at Southside Presbyterian Church
Marchers build on a lifetime of activism: “I was protesting from the beginning”
“Tucson is a town, and has always been a town, that if you can get 50 people out on the street, you’re doing a good job. And particularly as it gets warmer. And we are all out all the time. I am super proud of my community for that.”
— Betts Putnam-Hidalgo, wearing a flower-covered sun hat, on executive board of Pima County Democratic Party, lives in Tucson, at the “Stand Strong Speak Up” protest on April 17
“I was protesting (Trump) from the beginning, even in 2016. I knew how dangerous he was back then … the difference between then and now, he’s unleashed. Before, he had some constraints. Now, he’s got the religious right behind him and he’s got the courts behind him.
“We did this (protest) when I was young. Civil rights, women’s rights, a lot of that I can remember. I mean, women didn’t have rights and I was a DEI hire … I was given a promotion, I was put on a committee and I was in middle management training. I never looked back. I took that walk in the door and I made something of it. No, it wasn’t a pass, it wasn’t because I wasn’t qualified. Nobody that gets a DEI hire is because they’re not qualified, it’s because in normal circumstances you wouldn’t get a chance.”
— Linda West, 76, Mesa, grandmother to two teens, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
“This is my fourth one. In 2017, I went to Washington for the science protest and then I went to a Tesla one in Cleveland. Then in Akron, I went to the Hands Off protest and I brought my daughter because I wanted her to see this process.”
— Dennis Newby, 50, Akron, Ohio, avid backpacker and father to one daughter, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
“When Trump was first elected, I was there as a little kid. My sign said ‘destroy the patriarchy, not the planet.'”
— Remy, 11, Gilbert, student, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
Views on the best path forward: “Trying to take some power back”
“I think Gen X and the Millennials on down, we’ve never had to fight for anything and I think we got complacent and just believe that this (country) just works. But you have to tend to our democracy and this is our fight. This is our time. We can’t just sit down and do nothing.”
— Dennis Newby, 50, Akron, Ohio, avid backpacker and father to one daughter, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
“It would be nice to see a lot more people out here protesting because this isn’t just going to affect myself or my family, this is going to affect everyone. I believe that everyone has their voice and they need to speak out and be involved, because this is our freedom that’s at stake.”
Marcella Calzado, 58, Phoenix, Navajo citizen and registered Republican, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
“This (protest) is the way we’re going to get attention. This is the way we’re going to make people make a difference. It starts here. And when they start doing petitions, I’m going to be right there to work for them and I’m going to be out there canvassing.
“We hate when we have an empty seat in the car. We try to always bring people because the more people we can get out is just one more to the list and one more sign that could maybe get somebody passing to vote differently.”
— Linda West, 76, Mesa, grandmother to two teens, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
“Just be as loud and as annoying as possible to the people in power. I’ve been making a lot of phone calls to our senators, to our House reps. I’m trying to talk to as many people as possible just in daily life about my own personal beliefs and especially the fact that she’s (daughter) on the spectrum and just trying to educate as much as possible so that hopefully we can combat some of this disinformation.”
— Elizabeth Irwin, 36, Phoenix, mother to two daughters, 50501 Movement protest at the Arizona state Capitol on April 19
“It’s easy to feel really powerless right now with all of this. I think that trying to take some power back and just be out here in whatever way we can, just coming together and supporting each other. That’s what we need to be doing right now.”
— Lynn Roach (right), 28, protest outside the El Salvador Embassy in Tucson for the return of wrongly removed Venezuelan immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia on April 16
“Protest should disrupt a little more. It should make people feel uncomfortable.” Catherine Gillet, 54, lived most of her life in México, at the May Day rally and march
“I wanted to be with other people who care about what is happening in our country today. I see the next step as connecting various issues that might seem unconnected at the moment. For instance, deportations and incarceration that we’re witnessing right now with, meanwhile, attacks on freedom of speech, both in university context but also in media. I am thinking about how those different issues are related.”
— Sandy Soto, 56, protest outside the El Salvador Embassy in Tucson for the return of wrongly removed Venezuelan immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia on April 16
Reporters Yana Kunichoff, Chelsea Curtis, Shannon Conner, Kyra Faith Berg, Carolina Cuellar and John Washington contributed to this story
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