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Delaware Civil Rights Coalition rallies at Legislative Hall

Statewide group formed to counter hate and discrimination
February 13, 2017

Story Location:
411 Legislative Ave.
Dover, DE 19901
United States

In response to what she calls the growing threat of discrimination and hate in the United States and Delaware, Lewes’ Charito Calvachi-Mateyko has coordinated the launch of the Delaware Civil Rights Coalition.

Formed prior to the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the coalition has hosted two rallies in Dover, most recently Feb. 1. The rally, on the steps of Legislative Hall, was in response to Trump’s late-January signing of a Syrian-refugee-barring, Muslim-immigration-restricting executive order. In response to the executive order, a federal judge in Seattle halted its enforcement Feb. 3.

“The Delaware Civil Rights Coalition is a united response of long-established civil rights organizations, religious groups, civic groups and service providers of Delaware who have come together,” said Calvachi-Mateyko during the rally. “This coalition will exist as long as necessary to fight against policies and events that are perceived as threatening the civil and human rights of residents of Delaware.”

The coalition is made up of more than 30 groups from across Delaware and the Cape Region, including CAMP Rehoboth, League of Women Voters of Sussex County, Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice, Sussex Unity Immigration Committee, La Esperanza and Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware.

“Crippling fear is neither humane nor a productive answer to what both political parties agree is a broken immigration system,” said Calvachi-Mateyko during the rally. “Don’t build a wall. Instead, reform the immigration system.  Fix the law, don’t terrorize children. Do not deputize the police to act as immigration officials, because they need to be our protectors, not our detractors.”

Among the speakers at the Legislative Hall rally were Senate President Pro Tempore David McBride, D-Hawk’s Nest, and Rep. Paul Baumbach, D-Newark.

McBride described the actions taken by the new president as troubling, noting with the exception of Native Americans, everyone at the rally could trace their history back to being an immigrant, he said.

“Trump’s executive order is profoundly cruel,” said McBride, who announced during the rally that House and Senate Democrats had sent a letter to the president opposing the immigration ban.

Baumbach said actions like the letter are not taken lightly, warning this executive order may only be the beginning. Today it’s all Muslims, tomorrow, it could be all Mexican-Americans, the day after that it could be the LGBT community and then women after that, he said.

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