BATON ROUGE - Hispanic residents in Baton Rouge are asking local officials for protection from national deportation mandates and to make Baton Rouge a sanctuary city.

"It's just so sad to see our people fight for something we shouldn't have to fight for because this country is for everybody," Angie Parral-Sanchez said.

Parral-Sanchez was one of many who gathered in downtown Baton Rouge on Sunday afternoon and marched to the Capitol building.

Sanctuary cities have laws or ordinances that obstruct U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Right now, New Orleans is the only sanctuary city in the state. Those marching to the capitol want this for Baton Rouge.

"Our youth, they're supposed to be living their lives, focusing on their education. But in the schools, they don't feel safe. Because they don't know when they're going back home, if their parents will be there," Founder and Executive Director for Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants Dauda Sesay said.

Protesters are calling for Mayor-President Sid Edwards to establish protections that would keep law enforcement from interrogating individuals about their immigration status. They also want to be protected from raids in schools, churches and hospitals, and make sure these places do not cooperate with ICE agents.

"A lot of people aren't showing up to work anymore. They're not going to church. They're not going to school because they're so afraid that the life they built here would just be taken away from them in the blink of an eye," Mirlay Bailon said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is coming to New Orleans on Monday to speak with Gov. Landry and the media about the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras safety. There is speculation that illegal immigration could be a topic of discussion.

With the heightened stress, groups of Latin Americans are making sure that they know what they can and cannot be subjected to.

"We made these cards that inform you of your rights. We have it in Spanish and English. Yes, the majority of the people here are not illegal immigrants, but they know people who are. There are a lot of people who don't know what to do when they get pulled over," Bailon said.

What the future looks like for those who call Baton Rouge their second home is uncertain.

"This is my home too. I've been here for the past 10 years. I've worked here, I've learned here, I spoke here. English was my first language. Yet, I'm not considered a citizen," a protester who has not gained citizenship said.

Protesters say this is the first march of many until they are granted protection from officials.

"The same way they're going to fight to get us out, the same way we're going to fight to stay in. No one is pushing us out," a protester said.

For more information on the petition please click here.