Our Leaders on the front lines

Mary Carter, 80, the Fourth-Generation Californian

I’m fourth-generation Californian, my family came here when it was Mexico,” said Carter, a resident of the beachside city of Laguna Beach. Carter said she joined the protest because she considered the Mexican population of the state her family. “And they’re hurting my family.” 

I’m fourth-generation Californian, my family came here when it was Mexico,” said Carter, a resident of the beachside city of Laguna Beach. Carter said she joined the protest because she considered the Mexican population of the state her family. “And they’re hurting my family.” 

Jason Rivera, 33, the“Fashion Photographer

Jason Rivera, age 33, was seated in the shade on Monday, as the protesters listened to a live band in the El Pueblo monument in Los Angeles, near where protests turned violent the day before.

“We all got tear-gassed,” said Rivera, about the Sunday demonstration.

Jose Martinez, the Navy Veteran

On Monday, Jose Martinez grabbed a fellow protester’s megaphone and shouted chants at National Guardsmen who had their shields up in protecting the Federal Building in downtown L.A. 

After handing the megaphone back, he said he was there to protest on behalf of three cousins who are in the U.S. illegally. They were detained during a recent ICE raid at a Home Depot in Paramount, he said. The cousins have been here for 20 years

Mia Jimenez, 22, the Communist

At the El Pueblo de Los Ángeles Historical Monument near downtown L.A., Mia Jimenez, 22, stood with a megaphone slung over her shoulder with four other members of the Revolutionary Communists of America’s L.A. chapter. 

Isaac Rodriguez, 26, the Construction Worker

American construction worker Isaac Rodriguez, 26, attended protests on Sunday and Monday night and he said he intends to keep going to others.

Rodriguez was born in the U.S. but spent his early childhood in Mexico and is proud of his Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage. As a U.S. citizen, he feels emboldened to protest where his close friends and relatives don’t. 

Vannessa Alexander-Davis, 55, the Union Worker

For roughly a decade, Vannessa Alexander-Davis, 55, has been a staff accountant at the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals.