DC protests target policy on immigration

“The trauma inflicted upon kids is immoral. It’s inhumane.”

WASHINGTON — A coalition that includes members of Latino organizations and immigrants rights groups rallied Friday outside the Department of Justice to protest family separations at the border, one of several such events across the Washington region to call attention to the issue.

Krupskaya Elliott of the Virginia Legal Aid Justice Center was among dozens of activists gathered in the rain Friday to speak out against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. She arrived here from Nicaragua 13 years ago, saying she could not imagine the feeling of being separated from her two children.

“The trauma inflicted upon kids is immoral,” she said. “It’s inhumane.”

Another rally protesting family separations at the border began at noon outside the White House.

About 20 advocates Krupskaya Elliott of the Virginia Legal Aid Justice Center

gathered to play audio obtained by ProPublica from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, in which children can be heard wailing as they ask for their family members.

About two dozen people gathered Friday morning to protest outside the home of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. According to an organizer of the protest, Nielsen was seen leaving through the back door of the home as the protest wound down around 8:30 a.m. The New York Daily News reported that the protesters blared audio of children wailing in agony after being separated from their parents at the border.Earlier this week, protesters drove Nielsen out of the Mexican restaurant she was dining at.