In photos: As fury grows, tens of thousands rally across us demanding immediate action to #ClosetheCamps

“Families belong in communities, not cages.”

By
Julia Conley
-
291
SOURCECommon Dreams

Tens of thousands of Americans showed up at rallies across the country on Tuesday to demand the Trump administration close the detention centers and prison camps where migrants are being held.

The “Close the Camps” rallies were organized by MoveOn and other progressive organizations in response to growing public outrage over the Trump administration’s treatment of asylum seekers and other migrants, thousands of whom are being detained in inhumane conditions after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

In nearly 200 cities and towns across the U.S., demonstrators assembled outside their representatives’ offices, chanting, “Close the camps now!” and carrying signs with slogans including “No human being is illegal” and “Families belong in communities, not cages.”

Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) was among the progressive lawmakers who joined the demonstrations.

The Trump administration’s treatment of migrants “is at a crisis level and needs to change,” Haaland said.

“I promise you that my colleagues in Congress and I are doing everything we can to make sure that we bring sanity back to this administration, that we bring humanity back to this administration, that we do everything we can to protect those children, those women who are mothers to those children, and make sure that people have justice,” said Haaland. “That’s what this country is supposed to stand for.”

In San Francisco, protesters outside Hosue Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office called on staffers to “send someone down” to hear their demands.

MoveOn wrote that the three demands of the public actions were the closing of all immigrant detention centers, the end of public funding for deportation and detention, and the reunion of families who have been separated by the Trump administration.

Organizations and attendees shared images of the protests in a number of cities on social media.

New York

Andersonville, IL

Denver

Burlington, Vt.

Southern Minnesota

Kansas City

Milwaukee

Boston

Raleigh, N.C.

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