Thousands of people will gather across Southern California on Thursday to commemorate International Workers’ Day, shutting down streets at locations across the region.
Typically, May Day protests and rallies commemorate the achievements of labor unions and workers. This year, the planned demonstrations have also become a platform to protest President Donald Trump’s deportation push aimed at immigrant communities.
LAist has compiled a list of planned protests. Be prepared to look for alternative traffic routes and additional commute times.
Los Angeles May Day Coalition
Thousands of workers from groups including Service Employees International Union, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, LA Sacred Resistance/Sanctuary Task Force (Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles), and the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California will rally and march under the banner “One Struggle, One Fight – Workers Unite!”
The rally will begin in downtown Los Angeles at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street to highlight contributions of immigrant workers, to lobby for their rights and “fight fascism.”
Street closure: Figueroa will be closed from Olympic to Chick Hearn Court starting at 7 a.m. Thursday. The rally will begin at 10 a.m., and the march at 11 a.m.
Centro CSO May Day rally
In Boyle Heights, the group Centro CSO will begin marching to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles from Mariachi Plaza to call for the end of deportations.
The rally will begin at 4:30 p.m. before the march at 5 p.m.
MacArthur Park May Day Rally
Groups including United Teachers Los Angeles, Unión del Barrio, Stop LAPD Spying and Palestine Youth Movement will unite under the umbrella Community Self-Defense Coalition to call for the end of deportations and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The rally will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the east end of MacArthur Park.
SURJ Long Beach
The Long Beach chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice will host a rally at Lincoln Park, 101 Pacific Ave., Long Beach, starting at 5 p.m. Organizers are requiring face coverings at the event.
OC May Day Coalition
A group of organizations in Orange County, including Action Network, El Centro Cultural de Mexico, Colectivo Tonanzin, Chicanos Unidos, VietRISE and OC Environmental Justice, will rally in Santa Ana to call for “an end to the attack on immigrant and refugee families.”
The rally will begin at 3:30 p.m. at El Centro Cultural de Mexico, 837 N. Ross St., Santa Ana.
