The march through the streets was ostensibly part of the city's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. But as Donald Trump was sworn in for a second presidential term 2,300 miles away, Ansari and other Democrats used the occasion in Phoenix to deliver a clear message of defiance in the face of Trump's agenda.
"We all know what is coming,” Ansari told the crowd.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes addressed the palpable fear many people have about the incoming administration.
“Families are worried. People are scared,” Fontes told the crowd. “Yet here we are, gathered together to commemorate a man who would never allow us to surrender to that fear. He would never allow us to think that the dark days were all we had ahead of us.”
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego took a milder approach, opting to thank organizers and focus on the holiday.
Ansari’s presence at the event was the starkest reminder of Trump's return. As a newly elected congresswoman, many of Ansari’s colleagues — from Arizona and beyond — attended Trump’s second inauguration in the U.S. Congress’ Rotunda.
Ansari decided to skip the spectacle and spend her time in Phoenix, she told New Times. "I couldn’t imagine normalizing the Trump Administration and the policies that I knew were coming today by being in D.C.,” she said. “The choice to be here was an easy one.”
About a thousand people marched through downtown Phoenix to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Morgan Fischer
Shortly after his inauguration, Trump signaled that he would eliminate birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. Ansari called the expected executive order an unconstitutional violation of the 14th Amendment and said she's ready to work with the “vital” legal community and others to fight the Trump administration’s harmful immigration policies.
“Normalizing the policies that he’s pushing for is unacceptable,” she said.
Arizona Dems are split on Trump's immigration priorities
Previously Ansari has spoken out against the Laken Riley Act, which would allow the government to deport undocumented immigrants who are arrested for alleged offenses as minor as petty theft. The law would also give “disproportionate power” to state attorney generals, Ansari said. Others among Arizona’s congressional Democrats, less concerned about the law's threats to due process, have voted for it. And Sen. Ruben Gallego went as far as as to co-sponsor it.
Ansari said Democrats have allowed Republicans to control the national narrative on immigration.
"We are kind of sitting back and taking it,” she told New Times. “We need to demonstrate to the American people that you can have a secure border, you be pro-immigration and you can have an economy that works for everyone."
Ansari’s preparation didn’t start this weekend. Immediately after she was elected — and Trump was as well — she began meeting with Phoenix lawyers, nonprofits and organizations focused on immigration policies.
She has continued to meet with school district officials, community members and other elected officials on the local, county and state levels about how to “unify and figure out how to get the right information to community members,” she told the crowd. She's also planning to host tele-town halls and events in her district — Arizona's 3rd, which includes downtown and southwest Phoenix and part of Glendale — to equip Arizona’s immigrant communities to protect themselves from the new administration’s policies.
“Families are already scared to send their kids to school,” she said. “We are hearing about scammers who are trying to target immigrants with really crazy high legal fees espousing to be there to help them. The ripple effects are enormous.”
Ansari said she'll volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul’s dinner before grabbing a red-eye flight to D.C. on Monday night to get to work.
“I anticipate these first few months especially to be very focused on immigration executive orders and making sure we get information out to the community,” Ansari said.
