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Attorney General Jeff Sessions visited Reno Monday morning to speak at a conference for the National Association of School Resource Officers at the Peppermill Resort. Roughly 200 people gathered outside to protest Sessions and President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Reno Public Radio’s Karina Gonzalez has the story.
25-year-old Briceida Castro is an immigration organizer for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada or PLAN Action. She flew in from Las Vegas to be at the demonstration.
“I live with the fear of my family being deported at any second, so that’s why I’m here. That’s why I have to raise up, I have to make commotion, I have to let my voice be heard, as many emotions that it does bring to me, it’s something that needs to be spoken about, and I’m gonna be that person,” said Castro.
Protestors chanted outside of the conference and were accompanied by a mariachi band. By the time Sessions took the stage at 9 a.m., they blocked traffic on S. Virginia Street near the casino for about an hour.
Meanwhile, inside at the national school safety conference, Sessions addressed immigration head on.
“Our government spends large sums of money each year to protect and care for unaccompanied alien children who are recklessly sent to the United States by family members or others. It’s a billion dollars a year. If we refuse to prosecute these adults for illegal entry as many of our critics want us to do, that would be a disservice, I think, to the people of this country,” said Sessions.
Theresa Navarro is a community activist in Reno who helped organize the protest.
“A lot of us are very frustrated and I don’t see an out until we actually do things like this, like big protests. If we don’t make a statement with him, what happens to us? What happens to the people? And we now have so many people that have joined in,” said Navarro.
The Reno Police Department was cooperative with protestors and no arrests were made.
Karina Gonzalez Reno Public Radio News in partnership with Noticiero Móvil.