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'Immigrants Make Everything Great.'
- David Chmiel
- 4 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Hundreds rally at JFK Park to oppose ICE activity in Dover.
At 11:45 Sunday morning, a young man standing at the southeast corner of JFK Park was managing to coax a semi-melodic tune from a small air horn. He waved a sign that read, "IMMIGRANTS MAKE EVERYTHING GREAT." He motivated passing drivers on Route 46 to honk their horns in solidarity.
"I am here to support the community," he said. He didn't want to share his name.
By 12:30, he was joined by 50 supporters who lined the park's edge, waving signs of their own and inspiring an even more active chorus of car horns.
Inside the park, in the shadow of the flagpole topped by the stars-and-stripes, hundreds more gathered from the flagpole to the gazebo, waving signs, wrapping themselves in the flags of their heritage, and banging bass drums to celebrate the sound of freedom.
In the middle of the event, a volunteer passed out “whistle kits” and advised everyone who took one to “Please use them and blow your whistles if and when you see an ICE agent.”
Most were wary of sharing their names, but they were unafraid to show their faces to express their displeasure over the presence of ICE agents roaming the streets of Dover. Since the May detentions of Filemon Ruiz Cielo and Margarita Cielo Balbuena, reports of confrontations with masked agents and local residents have spiked.
The hastily arranged “Peaceful March” came after a week of altercations with ICE agents, targets, and anti-ICE watchdogs. It followed a contentious rally that included Pastor Edwin Blas and Dover Mayor James P. Dodd.
Mayor Dodd committed to:
Open an immigration office in Town Hall, including finding more attorneys to help with consultations and potential pro bono services;
The Dover Police Department would schedule a public session to hear resident concerns;
Create a small business owner committee that will spearhead streamlined communications regarding resources and ICE sightings;
Explore grants to help the restaurateurs and business owners who have lost revenue due to residents staying home to avoid incidents.
The residents in attendance, who balked at the Mayor’s claim that ICE activity was the result of an “open-border policy” that created an influx of undocumented residents, demanded:
Town leaders lead Sunday’s march and rally in solidarity with Dover’s minority-majority population;
Concrete, immediate action to assist residents avoid ICE interactions;
Increased communication and collaboration with the state government to secure additional support resources.
After a two-block march around town, where they were greeted with full-throated support and no visible ICE presence, the marchers returned to JFK Park. As they disbanded and returned to their separate lives, it conjured memories of a cultural icon’s inclusive wisdom:
"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say, 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."
These are the words of Fred Rogers, who inspired generations through the TV show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
On Sunday, July 12, the actions of a few hundred committed community members -- on behalf of the many who couldn't risk the oppressive threat of unexplained apprehension and detention, or as a reminder to friends and neighbors who couldn't muster the resolve to engage in local activism (and perhaps forget their own family’s immigration legacy) -- embodied the spirit of civil discourse to reveal what the faces of civic responsibility look like.
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