Two civil rights causes joined forces this weekend in Albuquerque as the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march coincided with a national Day of Action for immigrants and refugees. Several hundred people gathered Saturday morning for the walk to Albuquerque Civic Plaza.
Women walked arm in arm singing "We Shall Overcome" as the march honoring Dr. King got off to a calm start.
Marchers carried signs that said “Black Lives Matter,” "Nuevo Mexicanos Rechazan la Agenda de Trump," and “Undocumented and Here to Stay.”
Highland high school senior Denisse Bustillos led a call and response with members of MEChA, a Chicano student organization.
She has family members who are undocumented, and she says many of her friends were spared from deportation after applying for an Obama administration program called DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).
The incoming president has them scared.
“Since all of their information of being an immigrant is all inside the DACA program," said Bustillos, "they’re scared that maybe Trump might get ahold of it and then send them all back.”
Despite their fears, Bustillos says gatherings like this have her and her friends feeling hopeful. What’s important, she says, is that they’re sticking together.