USA TODAY International Edition
Immigration protests look to long term
Activists hope to stir momentum after rallies
WASHINGTON – Their chants echoed through the streets of the nation’s capital, at immigration detention centers and at community parks across the USA.
President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy led tens of thousands to take to the streets Saturday, demanding change and that children separated from their families be reunited at once. The Families Belong Together rallies – more than 600 in all 50 states – captured headlines and the attention of millions.
Now what? Will the issue and the outrage fade into the background or help lead to a pivotal moment in the debate about immigration in the USA?
“I’ve never seen so many people that so deeply care about immigration. This is unlike anything I’ve seen. It’s just a huge amount of opportunity, and we have to ride this wave to making change,” said Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesman for MoveOn.org, one of the groups behind the nationwide rallies.
He said that although many demonstrators were angered seeing young children separated from their parents, a good number are new to the immigration debate and to the movement fighting Trump’s policies. Ganapathy said his group has a plan to keep people engaged and the conversation going:
❚ Town halls: During the July 4 recess, activists plan to pressure members of Congress to hold town halls to discuss immigration. ❚ Corporation campaign: Colors of Change, which helps people of color, will take the lead in urging corporations to take stances on the issue.
❚ Voting: The biggest factor in garnering change is voting, Ganapathy said. Making immigration a major voting issue in the midterm elections could help sway politicians to break with Trump’s policy, he said.
Those at the rallies said they know the marches probably won’t be enough to lead to meaningful change, but they don’t intend to sit idly by.
“I’m gonna vote. I’m gonna encourage other people to vote because there’s a lot at stake, and it’s important to make sure everyone’s informed,” Beth Stewart said while sitting in 90-degree heat at the Washington rally.
“I feel that people are waiting for us to be complacent for them to strike again,” she said.
Massive protests and rallies – from gun control to women’s rights to climate change – have almost become the new normal. The question remains whether outrage can translate into action for change.
Students in Parkland, Florida, who saw 17 people die in a shooting Feb. 14, were the driving force behind the March for Our Lives, a nationwide demonstration in March to end gun violence. Those students shifted their gun control demands into a bus tour across the USA to sign young people up to vote in hopes of keeping the conversation going.
Even though their voices have been loud in calling for change, very little has been done, except for a change in Florida’s gun laws.
Trump voiced support for some gun restrictions, then reversed course.
On immigration, Trump backtracked slightly on the “zero tolerance” policy that led to the separation of 2,000 children and parents at the southern border after being hit by criticism in Congress and nationwide as photos, stories and audio surfaced about migrant children being held in cages in detention centers away from their families.
Immigration will need to stay at the forefront of debate during the next few weeks, which are “critical,” said Lorella
Praeli, the American Civil Liberties Union’s director of immigration policy and campaigns.
“There are a number of deadlines facing the Trump administration. The clock is ticking, and we are all watching,” she said. “Our job is to monitor these agencies and hold them accountable and continue to build pressure.
“We have to make sure people know this isn’t a five-day fight. We all have to be in it for the long run, and that’s what we’re building now.”
Since the backlash over separating families, judges have weighed in, Trump signed an order to keep parents and children together, a travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries was upheld in the Supreme Court, and lawmakers failed to pass an immigration bill.
The future is still hazy.
❚ Separated children: A federal judge in California issued a nationwide injunction Tuesday that forbids the Department of Homeland Security from separating any more children from their parents. The order required officials to reunite more than 2,000 children with their parents within 30 days. Federal immigration authorities are racing the clock to release or reunite families.
❚ Executive order: Trump signed an executive order to end the practice of separating parents from their children. The order did not end the administration’s policy of referring all immigrants caught illegally crossing the border for criminal prosecution. What has changed is that immigration agents have temporarily stopped charging border-crossers if they arrive with children.
❚ Congress: Both Republicancontrolled chambers have been unable to pass any kind of immigration legislation. A compromise bill negotiated between GOP factions was voted down in the House, 121-301, on Wednesday. The Senate has not taken up any immigration-related bills since February, when the chamber failed to pass several bills to protect those young undocumented immigrants who had been protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that Trump ended.
“We have to make sure people know this isn’t a five-day fight.”
Lorella Praeli, American Civil Liberties Union