Pro-immigration protesters tell Sen. Mitch McConnell: 'Take our call'
In Louisville's third pro-immigration demonstration in three days, more than 150 people chanted, waved signs and gave speeches outside Sen. Mitch McConnell's Louisville office Tuesday, urging the Senate majority leader to address President Donald Trump's immigration actions.
The protest at the federal courthouse on Broadway was organized by Indivisible KY, a new statewide activist organization, which said people couldn't get through to McConnell's office to urge Congress to "stop the ban on Muslim refugees entering the U.S. and to stop the planning of the construction of a wall on the Mexico border."
As the protest took place, the U.S. government had granted waivers to let 872 refugees into the country this week after they were initially barred from flying to the U.S. under Trump’s executive order on immigration. Local refugee officials were trying to determine if that included a Congolese family headed to Louisville halted in Doha, Qatar.
The waivers came amid worldwide protests against Trump's order that bans all Syrian refugees indefinitely, halts refugee entries for 120 days, and restricts for three months the travel of immigrants from Libya, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — Muslim-majority countries with a combined population of 212 million.
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A day earlier, thousands gathered in Louisville for a pro-immigration rally headed by Mayor Greg Fischer. Organizers said before Tuesday's protest that constituents planned on carrying signs and old-style rotary dial telephones to "represent their futile attempts to reach Senator McConnell's office by phone."
Amid chants of "No Ban! No Wall! Mitch McConnell, take our call," attendees held signs that included ones that read, "France called: They want their Statue of Liberty back" and "Keep the immigrants, deport Trump."
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"Mayors are being forced to declare cities sanctuaries, and I say why? Why is America not a sanctuary for everybody?" asked Reena Paracha, who wore a hijab and represented the Muslim community. "No one puts their child in a boat unless they know drifting in the waters is less treacherous than being on the land."
"McConnell has chosen to stay silent — and perhaps that is because his wife may hold a cabinet position in Trump's regime," she said.
McConnell's spokesman, Robert Steurer, sent a statement blaming activists for purposely jamming the phone lines.
"Sen. McConnell’s staff answers as many calls as possible in the course of a workday, but thanks to a coordinated effort by liberal activists across the country many Kentuckians have found it difficult in recent weeks to get through to their senator to discuss the issues of the day, schedule meetings, or seek timely assistance," he said. "We appreciate the patience of our constituents, and will continue to do our very best to respond to every Kentuckian who contacts our office."
On Sunday, McConnell said in an interview with ABC that while additional vetting isn't a bad idea, "I am opposed to a religious test. The courts are going to determine whether this is too broad."
Reporter Chris Kenning can be reached at ckenning@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4697.
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