30G in city rip Don’s cruel immig policy
Join surge of outrage in cities across the country
An estimated 30,000 sweltering demonstrators turned up the heat Saturday on the White House to end a zero-tolerance policy that tears kids away from their border-crossing parents.
“Shame! Shame!” the demonstrators howled when President Trump’s name was mentioned during the Families Belong Together march. “Donald must go!”
The large crowd gathered in lower Manhattan before marching across the Brooklyn Bridge for a rally near the federal courthouse on Cadman Plaza. The protest, one of 700 rallies nationwide, blasted the administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement over its treatment of family members at the Mexico-U.S. border.
“What they’re afraid of is the browning of America,” said retired teacher Christine Dolan, who came in from Long Island. “That’s what this is all about. I’m not sure ICE needs to be abolished. I think it needs to be better regulated.”
She held a sign reading “I Care, Melania” — a shot at the First Lady’s fashion faux pas during her visit to a Texas shelter for migrant kids removed from their parents. The message “I really don’t care do U?” was written on the back of her jacket.
Celebrity marchers included comedian Amy Schumer, actress Kerry Washington and TV host Padma Lakshmi. “Do we want to be a nation of humanity and compassion, or do we want to be a nation that is unfeeling or unjust?” asked Lakshmi, who emigrated from India to the U.S. as a child.
“This is not the future I want for my children, those children or anybody’s children. That’s why we’re here.”
Trump, in a hyperbolic tweet Saturday morning, offered his support for ICE agents. “You are doing a fantastic job of keeping us safe by eradicating the worst criminal elements,” wrote Trump. “So brave! The radical left Dems want you out. Next it will be all police. Zero chance, It will never happen!”
Mayor de Blasio, at a separate event, reiterated his call for a new agency to replace the current ICE operation — an opinion shared by an increasing number of marchers. “Look, we need comprehensive immigration reform,” the mayor said Saturday. “There is a way to have immigration properly, and we have to start working for that day… We’ve obviously been on the forefront of challenging policies that are inhumane and unfair.”
Matthew Dell, a 31-year-old music
teacher in the city school system, turned out with his mom Amy for the Brooklyn demonstration. The pair carried matching signs that read “End ICE – Inhuman, Cruel, Evil!”
“In the last couple weeks, it’s gone from a fringe position to much more mainstream,” said Matthew Dell about calls to close down the agency.
Among the other signs waved by protesters were “Zero Tolerance = Zero Humanity” and “#NoChildrenInCages.”
Drivers on the bridge honked their horns in support of the marchers, who turned out despite temperatures of 90 degrees.
The protests occurred in hundreds of small town and big cities across the nation, including one rally at a park opposite the White House.
“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was among those gathered in Lafayette Park for the demonstration in the nation’s capital.
“It’s upsetting,” said Washington marcher Emilia Ramos as she fought back tears. “People separated, children in cages. Seeing everyone together for this cause, it’s emotional.”
About 100 women gathered outside Staten Island Borough Hall to add their voices to the angry call for a compassionate immigration policy.
Favio Ramirez-Camminati, executive director at El Centro del Immigrant, held her 9-month-old daughter while wearing a T-shirt reading “I really do care, don’t you?”
“We love this country, we love our neighbors,” said the mom. “Let’s continue fighting. Let’s continue rallying. And let’s continue voting.”
Staten Island teacher Lorie Honor urged local residents to turn out at the polls this November.“This movement has to start at home,” she said.