In the face of escalating threats to health care programs like Medicaid, the implementation of anti-immigrant policies, and the outsized role of unelected billionaires in Trump’s administration, protesters in San Francisco have a message for state and local elected officials: “Get a f—ing backbone,” said demonstrator Fred Sherburn-Zimmer, organizing and policy director at the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco.
Around 200 people gathered outside of Airbnb’s headquarters in the South of Market neighborhood on March 28 to denounce the dismantling of government programs and call on members of Congress to push back on cuts.
Organizers set their sights on the vacation rental firm because Airbnb co-founder and Tesla board member Joe Gebbia is participating in the efforts of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the extra-governmental organization known as DOGE. One in a profusion of recent local protests against the Trump administration’s actions, the rally, dubbed “Hands Off Our Healthcare” drew a diverse crowd that denounced DOGE’s slashing of health care services and government jobs. Protesters also opposed mass deportations and other policies that attendees said hurt working people.
The protest followed a budget resolution from Republicans in the House of Representatives to cut at least $880 billion in government spending through 2034. One program that appears to be in the crosshairs is Medicaid, which provides health care coverage to low-income people. There are nearly 15 million people enrolled in the program in California, including nearly 256,000 in San Francisco. Many of them are older adults or have disabilities.
“The idea and the very real reality that cuts are coming, we know that’s directly going to impact our community,” said Brittanie Hernandez-Wilson, lead California homecare organizer at Hand in Hand, a national network of people who employ and advocate for domestic workers, which helped plan the protest.
Hernandez-Wilson noted that cuts would hurt people who rely on in-home support, as well as domestic workers, especially Black and brown immigrant women who provide care.
“It’s a huge attack on all of us,” she said.
Ciara Lovelace, a member of Hand in Hand, told the crowd that she relies on Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid, for in-home assistance from caregivers, as well as for her wheelchairs, walkers and crutches.
“Having that walker means I can use my legs, and that is a blessing,” she said, adding that it allows her to work at the Center for Independent Living and give back to her community. “So, when I hear that billionaires like Joe Gebbia and Elon Musk are trying to slash the programs that keep us alive, it’s not just upsetting. It’s infuriating.”
In addition to protests to push back against cuts, organizations are also educating their members to prepare for upcoming fights. Hand in Hand has been helping its members to tell their stories and call their legislators, as well as working in coalitions to help make other grassroots movements more accessible for people with disabilities. It has also been organizing workshops to help domestic employers learn how to support their employees, many of whom are immigrant women of color, amid ongoing fear and uncertainty under Trump’s anti-immigrant policies.
Ligia Montano, organizing and partnership director at Senior and Disability Action, one of the groups that helped organize the protest, said that the goal is to build solidarity and empower people, not to cause or give in to panic.
But protesters weren’t only directing their voices at Washington.
“We’re here today to call on our Congress people to stand up to this big money grab by the 1%, and we’re also here to call on our local electeds to show alternative leadership, to stand with us against these cuts,” said Sasha Wright, communications director at Jobs with Justice San Francisco, one of the groups organizing the protest. Speakers throughout the event called on local representatives to help San Francisco remain a haven for immigrants, trans people, and others.
“Where is the fight against Trump? We are not hearing it. San Francisco is supposed to be a leader and a haven for this nation, to push it in progressive directions, to push it towards humanity and protection,” said Anya Worley-Ziegmann a staff member from the People’s Budget Coalition, adding that labor unions and nonprofits providing housing and food programs have been facing cuts and layoffs in the “budget fight” year after year.
“We cannot lose again,” Worley-Ziegmann said. “When we lose, people die, when we don’t fight back, people die.”
