Thousands of U.S. workers and students marched through cities and university campuses on Tuesday in opposition to the immigration policies of President Donald Trump.
On the first anniversary of Trump’s second term, protests sprang up across the country against his aggressive immigration crackdown that prompted outrage after federal agents dragged a U.S. citizen from her car and shot dead 37-year-old mother Renee Good in Minneapolis in past weeks.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Washington and smaller cities like Asheville, North Carolina, where demonstrators marched through the downtown shouting “No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA,” according to online videos.
The Trump administration says it has a mandate from voters to deport millions of immigrants in the country illegally. Recent polls show most Americans disapprove of the use of force by officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies.
University students demonstrated in Cleveland, Ohio, chanting “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here” while high schoolers in Santa Fe, New Mexico, left class to attend a “Stop ICE Terror” rally at the state capitol, according to protest organizers and school officials.
The actions were organized by left-leaning groups such as Indivisible and 50501, as well as labor unions and grassroots organizations opposed to immigrant detention camps, like one in El Paso, Texas, where three detainees have died in the last six weeks, according to federal authorities.
The demonstrations were set to roll west to cities such as San Francisco and Seattle, where afternoon and evening protests were planned.
Immigrants detention
Detainees at the largest U.S. migrant detention camp endure foul-tasting drinking water, rotten food and inadequate healthcare, according to a U.S. congresswoman who called the tent facility in El Paso, Texas, “inhumane.”
U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat, made the allegations in a letter, last week to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem based on complaints from migrants at the new $1.2 billion facility, called Camp East Montana.
“Conditions at Camp East Montana are dangerous and inhumane,” Escobar wrote. “It is increasingly clear that it is not a safe nor professionally managed facility.”
Asked for comment on the letter, the Department of Homeland Security gave a statement, issued in September that denied the center violated federal standards for immigrant detention, such as restricting access to legal representation, or was inhumane.
“All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members,” DHS said.
The center has become a target of criticism by Democratic legislators and immigrant advocates opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Escobar wrote that conditions at the camp on the Fort Bliss U.S. Army base had not improved since she first protested, to Noem weeks after it opened in August.
“The drinking water at the facility continues to taste foul, the food quality for detainees has not improved,” said Escobar, who represents the El Paso area. She added that detainees faced sewage backups and flooding while only the most ill inmates were referred to the camp medical unit.
The camp consists of temporary tent structures meant to house up to 5,000 detainees and relieve overcrowding at other Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities.
Trump has vowed record deportations of migrants with criminal records in the U.S. illegally. Democrats have argued that federal agents are targeting people indiscriminately to achieve his goals.
