SAHD Helps Organize Anti-Travel Ban March

Protesters hold signs displaying messages of unity and action.

The chants of more than 1,000 Iowa City citizens echoed off the walls of the pedestrian mall on Sunday, February 5. Students Against Hate and Discrimination (SAHD), a club consisting of both West and City High students, helped to organize a rally and march to oppose President Donald Trump’s plans to limit immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. The Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Alliance and the Center for Worker Justice also helped organize the event.

The rally began at 1:00 p.m. and included speeches by Mayor Jim Throgmorton, religious leaders, members of the Sudanese community, high school activists, and others against Trump’s new executive order. Sudanese singers, Iris DeMent, and Greg Brown performed for the crowd.

“We are here to be an American, to work as an American, to have endeavors as an American, and to have our people live in peace,” said a representative of the Iowa City Mosque.

Around 2:30 p.m. the rally transformed into a march around downtown which was led by high school students.