Over 155 protests recently took place around the U.S. as part of the nationwide #ClosetheCamps movement. The protests were organized by various groups, including MoveOn, United We Dream, American Friends Service Committee, and Families Belong Together. Two of the events were in San Diego County, one at the Otay Mesa Detention Center and the other at Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter’s office in El Cajon.
MoveOn claimed that the current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border is “an intentional strategy by the Trump administration to terrorize immigrant communities and criminalize immigration—from imprisoning children in inhumane conditions to threatening widespread raids to break up families.”
The movement seeks to reunite all families with zero cost to them, taking advantage of the Fourth of July week to confront candidates who are home for the holiday. Their three demands are to “close the camps,” reject any “dollar for family detention and deportation,” and “reunite families.”
The protests were planned after a congressional delegation’s visit to the facilities. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) claimed that some migrants being held had to drink from a toilet bowl, even though U.S. Border Patrol Chief of Operations Brian Hastings has denied it. Ocasio-Cortez also told CNN that she “was not safe from the officer,” and screamed at Border Patrol agents for trying to pose for selfies with her.
The protests are likely to continue in the coming months, with the border crisis becoming an increasingly salient issue.
