A women holds a you baby during a protest for Immigrant in front of the Department of Justice, on June 1, 2018 in Washington, DC. Immigrant rights organizations are calling for a halt to the Trump administration's family separation border policy. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Nationwide #KeepFamiliesTogether Rallies Demand Trump Halt 'Cruel' Border Separation Policy
"Criminalizing families and separating children from their parents is a practice that traumatizes and shocks us all."
Immigrant rights advocates are participating in rallies and demonstrations nationwide on Friday in coordinated protests against the Trump administration's policy that enables federal agents to take migrant children away from their parents.
Throughout the day, advocates across the country rallied in town squares as well as outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field offices, U.S. attorney's offices, and the Deparment of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., to pressure the Trump administration to immediately halt its "brutal practice" of separating families at the border.
"We're here in front of the Department of Justice because criminalizing families and separating children from their parents is a practice that traumatizes and shocks us all," declared Gustavo Torres, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group CASA. Demonstrators shared updates from the rallies with the hashtags #KeepFamiliesTogether and #FamiliesBelongTogether.
Advocates also used the day of action to draw attention to the long history of agents with ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) mistreating immigrants. Amid mounting concerns about new policies at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE and CBP, the ACLU released a trove of documents last week that revealed "pervasive abuse" of migrant children during the Obama administration.
Many protesters on Friday also pointed to the cases of Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez, an Indigenous woman from Guatemala who was shot in the head and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent last week, and Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender asylum seeker from Honduras who recently died in ICE custody after being held in an "ice box" cell and denied access to medical care.
A coalition of groups, including Make the Road New York, also planned a march in New York City for Friday evening. A Facebook event for the Jericho Walk to #EndFamilySeparation asserts that with the new forced separation policy and other DHS practices, "The Trump administration has one goal in mind: to terrorize immigrant families."
Ahead of the protests, NBC News reports that on Thursday, attorneys and advocacy groups filed an emergency request (pdf) with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights--which is part of the Organization of American States (OAS)--demanding the reunification of a group of parents and children separated at the Southern border, and that the U.S. government provide therapy services "for the trauma caused by the forcible separations."
The document also requests that the commission require the U.S. to stop housing children in facilities that are not specifically designed for them; process children for release as quickly as possible; disclose how many children have been separated from their parents at the Southern border under the new policy; and "immediately cease the systemic practice of prosecuting parents and separating children from their parents at the U.S. border."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Immigrant rights advocates are participating in rallies and demonstrations nationwide on Friday in coordinated protests against the Trump administration's policy that enables federal agents to take migrant children away from their parents.
Throughout the day, advocates across the country rallied in town squares as well as outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field offices, U.S. attorney's offices, and the Deparment of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., to pressure the Trump administration to immediately halt its "brutal practice" of separating families at the border.
"We're here in front of the Department of Justice because criminalizing families and separating children from their parents is a practice that traumatizes and shocks us all," declared Gustavo Torres, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group CASA. Demonstrators shared updates from the rallies with the hashtags #KeepFamiliesTogether and #FamiliesBelongTogether.
Advocates also used the day of action to draw attention to the long history of agents with ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) mistreating immigrants. Amid mounting concerns about new policies at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE and CBP, the ACLU released a trove of documents last week that revealed "pervasive abuse" of migrant children during the Obama administration.
Many protesters on Friday also pointed to the cases of Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez, an Indigenous woman from Guatemala who was shot in the head and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent last week, and Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender asylum seeker from Honduras who recently died in ICE custody after being held in an "ice box" cell and denied access to medical care.
A coalition of groups, including Make the Road New York, also planned a march in New York City for Friday evening. A Facebook event for the Jericho Walk to #EndFamilySeparation asserts that with the new forced separation policy and other DHS practices, "The Trump administration has one goal in mind: to terrorize immigrant families."
Ahead of the protests, NBC News reports that on Thursday, attorneys and advocacy groups filed an emergency request (pdf) with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights--which is part of the Organization of American States (OAS)--demanding the reunification of a group of parents and children separated at the Southern border, and that the U.S. government provide therapy services "for the trauma caused by the forcible separations."
The document also requests that the commission require the U.S. to stop housing children in facilities that are not specifically designed for them; process children for release as quickly as possible; disclose how many children have been separated from their parents at the Southern border under the new policy; and "immediately cease the systemic practice of prosecuting parents and separating children from their parents at the U.S. border."
Immigrant rights advocates are participating in rallies and demonstrations nationwide on Friday in coordinated protests against the Trump administration's policy that enables federal agents to take migrant children away from their parents.
Throughout the day, advocates across the country rallied in town squares as well as outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field offices, U.S. attorney's offices, and the Deparment of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., to pressure the Trump administration to immediately halt its "brutal practice" of separating families at the border.
"We're here in front of the Department of Justice because criminalizing families and separating children from their parents is a practice that traumatizes and shocks us all," declared Gustavo Torres, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group CASA. Demonstrators shared updates from the rallies with the hashtags #KeepFamiliesTogether and #FamiliesBelongTogether.
Advocates also used the day of action to draw attention to the long history of agents with ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) mistreating immigrants. Amid mounting concerns about new policies at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE and CBP, the ACLU released a trove of documents last week that revealed "pervasive abuse" of migrant children during the Obama administration.
Many protesters on Friday also pointed to the cases of Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez, an Indigenous woman from Guatemala who was shot in the head and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent last week, and Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender asylum seeker from Honduras who recently died in ICE custody after being held in an "ice box" cell and denied access to medical care.
A coalition of groups, including Make the Road New York, also planned a march in New York City for Friday evening. A Facebook event for the Jericho Walk to #EndFamilySeparation asserts that with the new forced separation policy and other DHS practices, "The Trump administration has one goal in mind: to terrorize immigrant families."
Ahead of the protests, NBC News reports that on Thursday, attorneys and advocacy groups filed an emergency request (pdf) with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights--which is part of the Organization of American States (OAS)--demanding the reunification of a group of parents and children separated at the Southern border, and that the U.S. government provide therapy services "for the trauma caused by the forcible separations."
The document also requests that the commission require the U.S. to stop housing children in facilities that are not specifically designed for them; process children for release as quickly as possible; disclose how many children have been separated from their parents at the Southern border under the new policy; and "immediately cease the systemic practice of prosecuting parents and separating children from their parents at the U.S. border."