On Saturday, March 4th, hundreds of people gathered to support refugees and immigrants. Everyone gathered at UNC's garden amphitheater to hear several community leaders speak about the importance of supporting immigrants and refugees in this scary political climate and the amazing ways in which refugees and immigrants contribute to our community.

Then, we marched from UNC to the Global Refugee Center at 9th Street and 10th Ave. The group stretched for several blocks holding signs and chanting. Many people also showed their support by honking and waving as they drove by. The message was clear: "Everyone is welcome here."

It was amazing to see such a great turn out for this event. I have lived in Greeley my whole life, and it was very heartening to see so many members of my community come together to support each other. In the last year, there has been so much racism and xenophobia thrown around, much of it coming from Trump himself, painting refugees as terrorists and immigrants as criminals. That hateful rhetoric tries to make people afraid of each other and fosters a harmful "us versus them" mentality. There are actual consequences to this kind of thinking; the Muslim ban, the wall, and the recent spike in deportations are endangering the lives of millions of people.

It is so important to fight against this, not only by voting and contacting congress people (Cory Gardner, I'm still waiting for you to deal with your full voice mail inbox), but also by being involved in local groups and caring about the people in our local community.

When you live in a diverse city like Greeley, caring about refugees and immigrants is personal. When I think of refugees, I think of my friends and classmates from high school. When I think of undocumented immigrants, I think of my friends' parents and families who are afraid of being deported. Greeley is home people from all over the world. (There are 78 different languages represented in the Weld County school district!) Greeley would not be the great community it is without the diversity brought by the immigrant and refugee families who live here. Want to get involved? Volunteer or donate to the Global Refugee Center in Greeley.