Northern Kentucky Protests Bush Policies
Highland Heights, KY - 200 protesters from Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio marched and rallied to protest the visit of President Bush at Northern Kentucky University, May 19. The main messages of the rally were, “U.S. out of Iraq,” and “Support immigrants’ rights.” A coalition of student organizations called the rally and invited the surrounding community to join them at the front entrance of the university. Bush’s motorcade, which included a machine gun mounted on a vehicle, sped by the protesters.
Tim McCracken, an anti-Bush protester and former organizer for Working America, said, “Bush has the lowest ratings of any U.S. president since I have been alive. Bush’s invasion and occupation of Iraq is a disaster for the people of Iraq. We do not think the young men of Ohio and Kentucky should sacrifice their lives and limbs for oil and empire. We want the U.S. out of Iraq. Bush is not welcome here.”
Protesters marched across campus chanting, “Bush out of Iraq!” “Deport Bush!” and “El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido! The people united will never be defeated!” Rixio Barrios of the Cincinnati Bolivarian Circle said, “Bush and his friends are getting rich off the low wages they pay immigrant workers. Bush and Congress just gave their millionaire friends another big tax cut, while cutting social spending. Though the immigrants pay their taxes, these rich guys do not want fairness or equality for the immigrants. That is why millions of immigrant workers are marching in the streets.”
A group of about 40 working-class women and children joined the protest. They were the families of Mexican immigrant men who are in detention waiting to be deported. The children’s signs read, “Explain to the children what you have done with their mommy and daddy.” The white, Black and Latina women were out in force to let Bush know that his repressive immigration policy is breaking up families.
Joetta Tovar’s husband Mario is sitting in Boone County jail in Kentucky after being grabbed from his construction job working for Fischer Homes. The family now has no income and Tovar has organized families against deportations. Joetta Tovar explained, “When the people who heard Bush filed out, they saw our protest and many of them were touched by our message and seeing our families made them think about their own. Many of the people waved to us. Unfortunately, one man in a military uniform yelled at us, ‘Get a life!’”
In terms of the anti-Bush protest Joetta Tovar says, “We are standing up for our rights, fighting to keep our families united. We were a little crowd at the protest, but we are part of a nationwide movement of immigrant families united. Legalization is coming. We have touched America!”
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