Hundreds of people took to the streets of the US capital to demand the closure of the migrant detention centers amid the immigration crisis on the country's southern border
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd July, 2019) Hundreds of people took to the streets of the US capital to demand the closure of the migrant detention centers amid the immigration crisis on the country's southern border.
Protesters gathered near the White House at around 7:00 p.m. local time (11:00 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday with more people joining the crowd each minute.
The protest is peaceful and there is no increased police presence.
People are holding signs reading "Close the Camps" and "Endless Detention is Torture." Other signs say "Make America Humane Again" and "Be Humane."
Protesters are also chanting "What do we want? Closed camps! When do we want it? Now!" and "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!" along with "Shut the camps, they've got to go."
Right in the center of the rally protesters placed a cage with a baby doll as a symbol of the ongoing crisis on the country's southern border.
Protests against the migrant detention centers are taking place across the country on Tuesday.
US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has been facing backlash after reports emerged about migrants, including children, being kept in poor conditions with inadequate food, water and sanitary supplies while in the agency's custody.
A CBP facility in the rural farm town of Clint, Texas, just outside of El Paso, has come under fire and added to a growing concern over the conditions of US migrant detention facilities after lawyers claimed that migrant children were held without enough food, water or any sanitation supplies.
CBP agents encountered more than 144,000 undocumented immigrants on the United States' border with Mexico in May - the highest monthly total in 13 years.
On June 24, a photo of the lifeless bodies of migrant father Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23-month old daughter Valeria Martinez locked in an embrace on the bank of the Rio Grande in Mexico after they drowned in an attempt to cross the river and enter the United States caused a national outcry against the administration's immigration policy forcing migrants to wait in Mexico while they wait for their asylum claims to process.
Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on states to strengthen efforts in addressing the flow of refugees following the deaths of Alberto and Valeria Martinez.
CBP Chief of Law Enforcement Operations Brian Hastings recently told the Senate Homeland Security Committee that they were providing migrant children with sanitation supplies and food at the detention facility in Clint, which contradicts reports about the attorneys' allegations.
Caravans of migrants from Central American countries seeking asylum began moving toward the United States through Mexico last fall. US President Donald Trump has called the surge of arrivals a crisis and declared a national emergency in February to secure funds for constructing a border wall to help stop illegal immigration.
