Dozens of demonstrators waved flags and played music over speakers near Central Park on Saturday in a public display of support for area immigrants, especially those with Latin American and Mexican backgrounds. The group also set off on a march to Washington Street and back as car honks of support joined the cold downtown breeze for over two hours.

Laura Garcia said she was among a group who planned the demonstration on short notice. She wasn’t sure of what the reception would be but went ahead with the plan anyway.

“We noted that Ardmore hasn’t had any Hispanic support and we decided to stand up for our community. Since some of us have immigrant parents or immigrant family members and friends, stuff like that, that’s what encouraged us to do this,” Garcia said at the beginning of the demonstration.

While signs and messages were mostly supportive of the immigrant community, others were critical specifically of federal efforts to detain and potentially separate family members from one another. One sign simply read “Keep Families Together” while others had were specific to ICE, or the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

While many vehicles that traveled on West Main Street honked in support of the demonstrators, some even waving Mexican flags of their own, two counter-demonstrators early in the afternoon spent about 20 minutes across the street waving an American flag. One of the men said he wanted to show up to represent the majority of voters that elected President Donald Trump.

“It’s just tough out here. We’ve got enough homeless, we’ve got enough of our own hungry people,” said Kevin Corbett. “I love what Trump’s doing. He’s shutting everything down, we’re going to start bringing that money back here to America. And if they want to work here legally, hey, I’m all for it. But other than that, let’s keep it real.”

Garcia said that the goal for many families desperate enough to cross the border illegally is to eventually resolve any immigration issues. Garcia, who is from California and was later raised in Ardmore, said her parents were immigrants who came to the US illegally but went on to become properly documented.

“Our parents came here to make our dreams come true, and that’s what I think about,” she said.

While the presence of counter-demonstrators caused a brief moment of insults shouted between the groups, one of the original demonstrators — carrying a handmade sign that read “love and empathy” — later walked across the street and spent over 10 minutes talking to the two men. The pair lingered for several more minutes before peacefully leaving the area.

The group of demonstrators then marched on the sidewalks down West Main Street to Washington Street and had swollen to at least 40 people by the time it returned to Central Park, with several more small groups coming and going as cold wind continued past 3 p.m. Many cars continued to honk and wave in apparent support of the demonstrators, and at least one couple left bottled waters and canned sodas for the group.

Some demonstrators expressed apprehension early but appeared energized to continue speaking up for fair treatment of immigrants and their families in the future. By 4 p.m., the last groups had taken photos with each other and disbanded.