WILPF Branch Helps Organize a “Stop the Tears” Rally in Palo Alto

On November 30, women and men of the San Francisco Peninsula expressed their outrage about the violence inflicted by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol at the Mexico Border a few days earlier. Photo credit: Deborah Hoag.

By Judy Adams
Peninsula/Palo Alto Branch

There was good local press coverage of a special November 30th demonstration we held in Palo Alto to protest the recent violence at the Mexican border in Tijuana.

We rallied with the Palo Alto Raging Grannies Action League, coordinated by Ruth Robertson. The group is not affiliated with our branch, but joins us on occasion. We joined forces for this “Stop the Tears” event to express our collective dismay at the treatment of asylum-seeking women, children, and men.

In the Indybay coverage, I am quoted as follows:

Demonstration organizer Judy Adams said, “WILPF members and other community activists and concerned residents stand at this corner every Friday from noon to one p.m. to quietly and peacefully demonstrate about the injustices we see every day in our nation. Today we are especially addressing the injustices facing families coming to our borders seeking asylum.”

Several WILPF members appear in the photos. I’m in photo 1 behind our young volunteer, Timothy. I’m in the red shirt holding the sign “Migrants’ rights=human rights=asylum.” WILPF member Roberta Ahlquist is in photo 2 holding a large sign that reads “U.S.A. Foreign Policies Create Refugees” in front of the WILPF PPC banner, and Roberta appears again in photo 6 with her partner Walter Bliss. The last photo is branch member Ruth Chippendale, who also supports the Grannies group.

See the photo gallery and read the article here.

If you want to join or hold a similar event or rally, consider aligning with the organization Families Belong Together, an international movement calling for an end to cruel and inhumane immigration policies.