Santa Cruz group rallies for ICE to be abolished

A group of Santa Cruz residents, rallying to get rid of ICE and boycott Amazon.

The rally was organized by a local chapter of a group holding similar rallies across the nation.

Movimiento Cosecha is the group behind Tuesday’s rally. The newly formed Santa Cruz chapter chose to host it at the Santa Cruz Whole Foods on Soquel Avenue.

Whole Foods is owned by Amazon which is one of the companies Cosecha says is cooperating with ICE.

They handed out buttons to those going into the store with quotes that said “Stop Cooperating with ICE”.

Though the organization says similar rallies are happening nationwide, they say it was important for them to host one locally.

“Santa Cruz in particular has been the victim of the separation of families where some people still unjustly reside in detention centers,” Samanta Alsina, with Cosecha said, “It’s really important for us as a community to recognize that and also recognize the role that undocumented people play in the everyday lives and the everyday functioning of society.”

The group was also met by people who didn’t support their message but they say they’ll continue to push it beyond Tuesday’s rally.

Since May, Amazon has been under fire over concerns it’s selling surveillance technology to government agencies.

In a statement to CBS news, Amazon said if it learns its services are being “abused by a customer”, it will suspend that customer’s use of its technology.