Immigrant advocates protest NJ lawmaker with violin performance outside his home

Immigration activism has been on the rise in the years of the Trump presidency and the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda.  USA Today reports on an unusual form of activism — violin playing at the residence of a political leader:  “There were no protest signs, no catchy chants. Instead, Claudia Mejia-Sydenstricker, 15, played the Sarabande movement from Bach’s Partita in D minor while standing on the sidewalk outside state Assemblyman Robert Auth’s home.

The recital, interrupted only by a police officer asking Claudia’s dad not to stand in the street during the performance, was spurred by a recent Assembly hearing during which immigrant advocates believe Auth used his own violin to mock undocumented immigrants.”

Auth sits on the Assembly’s Commerce and Economic Development Committee, which debated A-3971, a bill that would allow counties and municipalities to borrow money intended to provide coronavirus relief.

After a representative with the immigrant advocacy group Wind of the Spirit testified to the committee that undocumented immigrants were excluded from receiving federal stimulus aid, Auth picked up a violin, pretended to play it, then smiled to someone off screen. 

Auth’s actions provoked criticism.  New Jersey Citizen Action posted a clip of the hearing on its Twitter page and accused Auth of “mocking immigrants’ struggle to pay bills.” Wind of the Spirit compared Auth to infamous fiddler Nero.

We expect better from our elected leaders, shame on @robert_auth for mocking immigrants’ struggle to pay bills under #COVID19 during @WindofSpiritNJ committee testimony. #FiddleWhileNJBurnshttps://t.co/sGVdDAbUPF@MattFriedmanNJ

— NJ Citizen Action (@NJCitizenAction) May 8, 2020

KJ