For the 7,000 people marching in Minneapolis on Saturday over immigration issues, the message was, for the most part, consistent: Families belong together. Some took a hard line, calling for the ab…
For the 7,000 people marching in Minneapolis on Saturday over immigration issues, the message was, for the most part, consistent: Families belong together.
Some took a hard line, calling for the abolition of the U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE); some shared their own immigration stories; but most wanted to make sure the federal government got the message that separating children from parents who enter the country illegally is not OK.
The march was part of a national day of action, similar to the Women’s March in 2017. Organizers said the Minneapolis march was one of 710 events nationwide.
Photos circulating on social media of children corralled behind fencing — some of the photos dated back to the Obama administration — seemed to be what energized many of the protesters to walk three miles in near 90-degree heat.
Mitzi Curtis, a teacher in the Plymouth school district, held a sign that read, “Stop caging our children.”
“It’s an abomination what’s going on,” she said. She said she worried about the long-term effects of trauma on the detained children.
Faiza Adam, a Somalian refugee who came to Minnesota in 1993, identified with the plight of those coming to the U. S. across the Mexican border.
“I’m just marching because kids need to stay with their parents,” she said. “We feared for our lives. We wanted a better life to get educated and for safety.”
According to a Washington Post report earlier this month, authorities apprehended 49,622 family units along the U. S.-Mexico border from October 2017 to April 30.
Ifrah Mansoui, another Somalian refugee, remembers when her parents came over in 1998.
“I am a refugee,” she said. “I can’t imagine surviving without my parents. We have to stand up for what we believe in, and I think families should be kept together.”
Organizers said they hoped to accomplish three things: Permanently end family separation, end family detention and reverse the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy against illegal immigration.
On June 20, President Trump signed an executive order to end the separation of families at the border by detaining the parents and children together.
Some at the march said the order did not go far enough.
“Trump’s decision did not address reunification,” said Ben Haralodich, a special education teacher from Indiana who was in Minneapolis for the National Education Association convention taking place in the Minneapolis Convention Center, the starting point of the immigration march.
He said he wanted to make sure that children separated from their parents were reunited with them. “The government made a big mess, and they need to clean it up.”
The march started about 2:30 p.m. and was led by a single float carrying a cage made of fencing that sometimes had children riding inside and other times was filled with white, wing-shaped balloons. The float also featured a microphone and sound system, and it is where speakers did most of their talking.
One of the speakers, Rosy Sanchez, took the mic to tell her immigration story.
“I know what it is like to be in a detention center,” she said through an interpreter. “I have a 2-year-old daughter. I came to this country seeking protection. I went to the border and asked for protection. I had an interview and they put me in a room called the freezer. It was very cold. Luckily, they didn’t take my daughter away.”
She said she was detained four days and then moved to another detention center in Texas where she began the long process of applying for citizenship.
Another speaker, Kuda Deve, told about why he came to America in 2000 from Zimbabwe.
He talked about being beaten and tortured in Zimbabwe and losing family members during the political unrest.
“I came to America because it is a land of freedom,” he said. He spoke out against Trump’s stance against illegal immigration.
“It is hate speech that incites violence against people like me,” he said.
Minneapolis police said the march was peaceful. There were no arrests, but there were some who needed medical attention because of the heat. Related Articles
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