Protestors Form Coalition and Rally for Women and Immigrant Rights at Civic Center

Veteran and activist, Ruben Bustamante, organized a peaceful protest at the Del Rio Civic Center on International Women’s Day (IWD), Saturday 3/8/2025. Protestors quietly conversed amongst themselves while waving at vehicles on Veteran’s Blvd. Everyone introduced themselves and shared their personal experiences and civil motivations. They exchanged stories, opinions, and news updates. Conversation shifted between local, global, and national issues. Despite heated topics being broached, no arguments arose.

Bustamante said, “the whole point is to have people connect.” Organizers tried to make the event accessible to a wide audience but said many invited guests were unable to attend. They cited fear of public perception and/or fear of losing employment, as a reason for low attendance. No speakers, entertainers, vendors, or government leaders participated, no counter-protestors showed. “People don’t want targets on their back, they already feel vulnerable,” said one protestor. A few event attendees requested their names be excluded from the article.

It was a simple public gathering, a small group of a dozen likeminded individuals. Some carried picket signs, others waved Mexican-American flags, most were meeting each other for the first time. It took an hour for a crowd to develop, eventually a diverse group trickled in. The event was open to the public, advertising “all are welcome.” Bustamante said in his invitation, “I have no animosity towards anyone with different political opinions. I invite you all to come see what we are all about. We all live in the same neighborhood. We want to learn from each other.”

International Women’s Day is connected to annual strikes, protests, rallies, and marches across the world. Since the Women’s suffrage movement in Europe and North America in the early 1900’s, activists have gathered on this day. When asked why he chose International Women’s Day for the protest, Bustamante held back tears as he responded saying, “Women have always led the march. Everything that I am, everything that I am grateful for, I owe it all to my mother and the women around her.” He said repeatedly “women are at the forefront.” He credited women for being instrumental in leading social change movements. “We are here to celebrate them, support them, and represent the people’s history,” said Bustamante.

Valerie Rodriguez-Davila helped Bustamante organize the IWD event. Rodriguez organized the 02/08/25 protest in Del Rio against Immigration and Deportation policies of the new Administration. She said, “Yes I have rights, but I don’t want to be regressed to a point where I wouldn’t.” Rodriguez said she fights for the rights of her children, “I’m not ashamed. I’m fighting for something bigger, for their future... That’s the great thing about this country, we have the right to free speech.”

Gage Brown, Community Organizer for the Border Organization in Del Rio & Uvalde, was unable to attend the protest, but provided comment: “What we do as organizers, what we are doing at the Border Organization, is defining the agenda ourselves, what matters to us, and the people who belong to our leadership, many of them are people who have been told they don’t belong in politics or in the rooms where decisions are made, and we know that’s not true. The Hispanic women who started the Border Organization in the 80s were living in a colonia without running water. At home, they held the household together, but when they went out in public, they were treated as if they had no knowledge, no skills. They were able to see each other stepping into their power outside the house and see that they were fully competent in getting what they knew they needed. And that’s the type of culture that we are developing through organizing.”

“We need to be engaging with elected officials, but starting at the local level, that’s how we build our power up and how we are able to strengthen our voice so that it’s heard at those higher levels of power,” said Brown.

“We are not trying to start a revolution. We are just upset about what is happening to our diversity and resources. It’s all tied in together. They are stripping away programs that work for American people and rescinding rights of minority groups, everything is at risk,” said Bustamante.

Brown tried to explain the impact of new federal policies through a local lens. She said, “Making the border harder to cross is hard for anyone in Del Rio. And then the threat of the emboldening of law enforcement to go into private spaces, or spaces like churches or schools. I have talked to people who are very scared about their kids being questioned. And even kids who are documented being caught up in the mix if they are speaking Spanish, which has happened in this country. People have been deported who are legal, because of the way we stereotype people.”

Advocacy work, such as attending protests, is a nonviolent way to “take control of your narrative, sing your song, wave your flag, and get in the forefront,” said Bustamante. He is on a mission to pass on his experience in social activism to the next generation. Nostalgia took over when he reflected on his time protesting in college. He studied Political Science and Journalism and participated in the 2006-2007 Anti-War efforts during the Bush presidency. He expressed his appreciation for that time in his life and love for the community of people he found through advocacy work.

Bustamante concluded, “we are not here to cause disruption, not here to destroy neighbors’ yards, riot, or smash up businesses, we are not about that.” He said, "we are practicing our 1st Amendment rights.”

Organizers referred to the event as a protest, rally, march, and unified coalition. “Overall, we are a nonviolent peaceful coalition, exercising our Constitutional Rights, thus empowering the youth, inspiring future events, and building solidarity,” stated Bustamante. The protest was a grassroots movement, independently organized by volunteers, unaffiliated with any formal organization.