Dozens of people gathered outside the Federal Courthouse in downtown Rock Island Saturday for a rally opposing the current administration's actions over the past few weeks, including President Trump's executive order on immigration.
Laura Winton, who organized the rally, chose the Federal Courthouse because it also houses the immigration office. She's working on a Master's Degree at Western Illinois University, where she says she has several Iraqi classmates.
"I was sitting around thinking about them and feeling bad and I decided I don't want to just feel bad, I want to do something even if it's just me and my friends," Winton says. "It's important to show that it's not just people in New York or Chicago or Los Angeles or D.C. that care about this."
A federal judge in Seattle temporarily halted enforcement of President Trump's order on Friday. But those who attended Saturday's rally in Rock Island say it's still important to come together to voice concern over the administration's actions. For Mikaylo Kelly of Rock Island, that includes the president's plan to build a wall along the United States' southern border.
Kelly climbed up a nearby tree and held up a sign that said "No Person is Illegal."
"This terminology of illegal alien, I think, just really creates a more than negative connotation of people's place in this world," Kelly says.
He attended the women's march on Washington, D.C. the day after the inauguration, and says he's proud of the turnout in the Quad Cities.
"They're both equally as powerful in their own ways," Kelly says. "I think if every small town had their own demonstrations and sought change in their own ways, then a lot could be changed."
Crystal Salazar and Mykea Johnson are students at Augustana College. They say students and professors on campus have been talking about the rally over the past week.
"It always starts at the community level and it starts with organizing," Salazar says. "I just hope that this keeps going and helps make improved legislation that makes everyone's lives better."
Johnson acknowledges the historic power protesting has to spur social change.
"I'm glad that we're still continuing to do it, to make our voices heard and to make things actually change," Johnson says. "It starts small, but big things can happen from it."