Protesters Demand End to Family Detention as ICE Crackdown Tears Children From Parents
A resurgent US movement is mobilizing to protest the detention of thousands of children like Liam Ramos, calling for an end to family ICE detention amid Trump's immigration crackdown.
A growing protest movement is demanding an end to the shocking scale of family ICE detention in the United States, as the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown continues to tear thousands of children from their parents.
On January 28th, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the Dilley immigration processing center in south Texas, where hundreds of children are being held. Days earlier, immigration lawyer Eric Lee filmed a harrowing video of detainees screaming and chanting "libertad", or "freedom".
The solidarity campaign has quickly spread across the state, as community members respond to the cries of the detained children and families. "Community members saw the children and families crying out [and] having their own protests from within and said to everybody: we need to show up there too," said the Rev Erin Walter, executive director of the Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry.
The resurgent movement comes amid an ongoing immigration crackdown under the Trump administration, which has dramatically ramped up the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants. Since Trump took office, the number of children in family detention has soared, with thousands separated from their parents at the border.
One such child is 5-year-old Liam Ramos, whose case has galvanized the protest movement. Liam was taken from his mother at the border and held at the Dilley facility, where his anguished cries were captured on video. "It's horror on a shocking scale," said Walter. "The children and families are being subjected to trauma that will stay with them forever."
The Unitarian Universalist leader said the protests have drawn support from a broad coalition, including faith groups, immigration advocates, and concerned citizens. "This is a moral crisis that goes beyond politics," she said. "We have a responsibility to stand up for the most vulnerable in our society."
Activists are now calling on the Biden administration to fulfill its campaign promise to end family detention and reunite separated families. "We need to see bold action to dismantle this inhumane system," said Walter. "These children and parents deserve justice, and we won't stop until we get it."
