A hundred activists, many of them dressed in black, marched through downtown San Diego demanding the federal government “abolish ICE” and drastically improve conditions for children seeking asylum in the United States.
“What is outrageous?” A woman shouted through a megaphone. “Children in cages,” the protesters responded in unison, one of whom carried a large Mexican flag and others waved signs that read: ” Enough of separating families ”,“ Jesus is a brown-skinned immigrant ”and“ Decolonize your mind ”.
The administration of President Joe Biden took action Friday to move more immigrant children from US Border Patrol tents and cells to long-term holding facilities overseen by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The Trump administration was widely criticized for packing families and children into short-term Border Patrol detention facilities, often with limited food and water.
That was a cold comfort to the activists who gathered on Saturday.
“This is all a transfer of responsibility,” said a 29-year-old activist, who identified herself as Flo. “They just change their name and reopen them. I would like the families to reunite while they seek asylum. I wish there were no more black and colored bodies killed in these facilities.”
Protesters briefly clashed with police in downtown San Diego on Saturday. The protesters called for the abolition of the US Immigration and Customs Service.
(Joshua Emerson Smith/The San Diego Union-Tribune )
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Border agents recently reported the detention of up to 400 unaccompanied minors a day. The Biden administration has ended the Trump-era policy of immediately returning unaccompanied youth attempting to cross into the United States, although many families and adults continue to be denied entry.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said in a court filing Friday that the agency, known as ICE, will no longer hold families for more than 72 hours. The statement suggests that the agency is effectively ending a family detention policy that began under the Obama administration in 2014 and that the Trump administration sought to expand.
“This goes beyond politics,” said an activist who identified himself as Isaac and who works with the nonprofit Simply of Service. “This is beyond the left. This goes beyond the right. We have traumatized these children on American soil. Now we have a duty to rehabilitate them ”.
The march seemed tense at times, with a clash between protesters and law enforcement that threatened to spill over at times. Protesters repeatedly hurled profanities at the police as officers escorted protesters through the city center. The rally, which began in Waterfront Park, paused at the ICE office on Front Street before turning around.
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