Major march planned in Austin against racist immigration bill
Austin, TX – A major march, and concert, is planned for Saturday, Sept. 2, here, against Texas's Senate Bill 4. Senate Bill 4 is an anti-immigration bill that seeks to turn local police into an arm of the federal immigration service.
The event is organized by Basta Texas and endorsed by dozens of organizations including Freedom Road Socialist Organization, En Pie de Lucha, and the National Day Labor Organizing Network. It will include concerts by La Santa Cecilia and Voz de Mando, two well-known Latino musical acts.
Marchers are expected to come from all over Texas and beyond. Mark Napieralski, president of the Progressive Student Union at the University of Texas at Arlington, said his group is planning to make the more than three-hour drive down to Austin to attend.
“SB4 is a very important attack on immigrant communities,” he said. “This kind of racist attack has gotten far more common in the Trump era. People need to resist.” Napieralski said that students were expected to come from several other cities as well. “We don't think Houston will make it at this point, though,” said Napieralski. “Beaumont is probably out as well. There were students planning to come from there, but with the hurricane and the flooding, it they're just not going to make it. The march will go on, though.”