Protests outside ICE offices increase, Trump says protesters want anarchy

On Wednesday, a group of protesters approached the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters and confronted its workers due to the recent controversies surrounding separated immigrant families.

Led by Haydi Torres, a 20-year-old woman, the crowd asked questions to a group of workers who were outside the building through a megaphone. “Do you have children? Wouldn’t you do anything to protect them?” was shouted by Torres, followed by the chant of “Quit your jobs!” from all the protesters. They stayed in front of the headquarters for about two hours and left afterward.

This event, which occurred at Washington, has not been the only demonstration against the ICE’s actions recently, with protests also happening in places like Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and San Diego. The overall effort has been denominated “Occupy ICE”. Some have attempted to camp outside the department’s offices, blocking the entrance for the workers and being confronted by the police.

The Washington protesters asked to be let into the building’s lobby and their request was denied. Some approached the building’s perimeter directly, banging on pots and pans with silver spoons, while others were instructed to only stay in the sidewalks. The people involved stated that they had left their jobs temporarily so that they could participate, and they were well aware that the protest could get them arrested. Despite this, the rally was completely peaceful and the police blocked the street where it was taking place.

The protests have not stopped yet, as several other ones are scheduled, including one in front of the Justice Department and another one across the White House. The organizer of  Wednesday’s protest, 18-year-old Paola Henriquez, stated her belief that public demonstrations of discomfort can pressure politicians to change legislation in the future. She said: “It gives me hope in my community, in the fact that there are people all over this country who know this is wrong. It upsets me to see so many people of color working for these organizations, these systems of oppression because we’re all affected by this. ICE hurts all of us.”

President Trump was eager to show his disapproval of these protests. He also condemned the recent publication of data regarding the ICE’s employees’ identities and addresses, which was provided by Wikileaks. During a North Dakota rally, he stated:

These radical Democrat protesters really want anarchy, but the only response they will find from our government is very strong law and order. Extremist Democrat politicians have called for complete elimination of ICE. You know what would happen to parts of our country? It would be overrun.”

The ICE has been at the forefront of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, and faced increasing criticism as footage of children being held in cages and crying out for their parents was released. After President Trump signed an executive order to prevent their separation, several officials all across the U.S. struggled to know where and how would the children be reunited with their parents.

New York officials stated that they were not informed of the children’s locations in their state, and lacked the information necessary to identify them such as their age or names. Over 300 children had apparently been sent to shelters on Harlem throughout the past couple of months, and the officials now responsible for their custody and reunion with their parents were just informed of their presence in New York. Also, whenever they attempted to contact the federal government with questions via email, they did not receive a response at all. This raised suspicions that President Trump’s decision was taken suddenly and without any previous notification to the people who would execute it, probably fueled by the growing criticism of the public.

Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons