Rally crowds begin gathering for International Women’s Day events

Residents gathered Sunday around the Bay Area to mark International Women’s Day, showing out in support of immigrant women amid heavy criticism of the Trump administration’s push for deportation and the war in Iran.

Rallies were planned to take place in cities across the Bay Area, including in San Jose and Oakland.

Shortly before noon, hundreds of protesters gathered near Oakland’s Lake Merritt with signs reading “No one is illegal on stolen land” and “U.S. out of everywhere” in preparation for a march.

The gatherings came in the wake of the United States and Israel launching a joint war against Iran at the end of last month, bombing several sites and killing high-ranking officials in the country’s government, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Strikes on the country have continued over the past week as Iran has launched its own attacks on U.S. military infrastructure in neighboring countries in the Middle East.

The military action sent shockwaves across the country, including in the Bay Area, where the local Iranian community was torn between feelings of shock and fear, and celebration of the death of Khamenei.

Other issues on the minds of protesters include the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, which has sparked protests of its own across the region in recent weeks, including student walkouts. Protesters gathered outside Elmwood Jail in Milpitas Wednesday to push back against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s strategy of picking up people as they are released from jail. The deportation of a deaf child to Colombia alongside his mother and brother was decried last week after attorneys for the family said that they had been under asylum protection and were detained during a routine check-in appointment.

This is a developing report. Check back for updates.