Hamdia Ahmed, Orgnizer of Today’s Rally at City Hall Steps.
Joan Carrier (L) and Carol Scheffler (R) Carrying Signs at Today’s Rally.
Maryann Larson, Holds a Sign Asking Senator Collins to Come Home & Hold a Town Hall. So Far, Her Office Has Not Responded to a Request for Her To Do So From MHN.COM. What Is She Hiding? What is She Afraid of?
Mahmoud Hassan, President of the Somali Community Center of Maine.
City hall steps were the packed site of another massive rally opposed to Trump’s immigration ban on seven Muslim-dominated countries that will be a week old tomorrow. One city official estimated the crowd today at over 1,400 protesters.
“This is not the America I believe in. The fight against Donald Trump will be long, but when someone attacks us, we are all attachkd,” said Hamdia Ahmed, at the rally she organized. From Somalia, her family left the country during the war. She lived in a refugee camp for seven (7) years. In 2005, her family was granted refugee status after a prolonged vetting process. Food was provided by the United Nations. “I am an American citizen today and that is why I am here today,” she said.
“We are here because we are trying to live the best lives that we can. Because America offers the promise of safety, of freedom, of hope, for ourselves and for our families. This is the American dream,” said Mahmoud Hassan, President of the Somali Community Center of Maine.
“Presidend Trump’s executive orders are everything the American dream is not. They are meant to drive fear into people’s hearts. They are meant to divide our communities and turn neighbor against neighbor. They value the religious beliefs of some over others. And they ignore the lessons of history, which reaches us that when we make policy based on fear, not fact, we always look back in shame,” Hassan said.
“President Trump’s executive orders have already caused chaos and confusion. They have left families divided by oceans. They have left our Muslim brothers and sisters feeling alienated and unsafe. And they have called into question our president’s commitment to the constitution,” he concluded.
“This shows what a community can be. It is not about Muslims or immigrants. It’s about all of us because we are all Americans,” said city councilor Pious Ali following the rally today.
Please see previous post for information on a “Block That Pick” rally at Senator Susan Collins office at One Canal Plaza in opposition to Scot Pruitt as EPA head.