“We want to push back against this emboldening of hatred and misogyny and xenophobia and racism,” Mathew Kagis, one of the organizers behind the welcome party, told the Guardian. “Those aren’t values that we have and we want it to be made really clear.”

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The demonstrations are focused on the Trump administration’s sweeping orders against immigrants, an issue that has hit close to home. Forty percent of Vancouver’s population is immigrants, and since the travel ban Canada has seen a marked increase in refugees and migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Canada border in Minnesota and Montana on foot. The rugged, hours-long journey in below-freezing temperatures and high winds has led to at least two migrants losing all of their fingers to frostbite.

“This is really scary stuff so we just felt that there needed to be a really vocal and public pushback,” Kagis told the Guardian.

Follow along with the opening and the protests under the hashtag #TrumpVancouver:

#trumpvancouver Tweets

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