Swarms of Arizonans gathered at the Capitol in Phoenix on Saturday, joining more than 600 rallies across the country protesting the separation of immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Their mission: keeping families together and ending President Donald Trump’s zero tolerance immigration policy. Some groups even carried signs, advocating for an end to ICE all together.
Amy Stout is with the Phoenix chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
“ICE has only existed since 2003,” Stout said. “We kind of take it for granted as something that’s been around for awhile, but there’s no good that it’s done since its inception. It’s a tool of oppression.”
Esther Ceballos immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico more than 50 years ago. She said no one deserves to be treated the way immigrants are being treated now.
"They’re looking for refuge. They’re looking for asylum. They’re looking for help. We are people. We are humans. We are good people. So you know if we can help, let’s help.”
Ceballos also brought along her grandchildren who carried signs reading “I need my mommy and so do they.” She says immigrants are hard workers and tax payers, not criminals.
“They work and they follow the rules,” Ceballos said. “It’s not true that we’re criminals. Maybe some of the people made mistakes, but even the ones that are born here, they’ve made mistakes.”
India York sported a jacket that mimicked the one First Lady Melania Trump wore earlier this week while traveling to visit children in Texas. Her jacket read, "I really don’t care, do you?"
So, York made a jacket with the words, "I really do care."
"You know, from a woman who has I’m sure hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing, she chose that jacket to wear on that day.” York said. “It was inexcusable and deplorable and that’s why I decided to make a jacket.”
As a mother of two children, York said she’s strongly opposed to children being put in cages. As far as Trump’s promise to reunite families, she feels it’s unlikely to happen.
Dr. Barbara Valencia attended the rally holding a “RESIST” sign. She says as a mother and a grandmother, she’s concerned that toddlers and other young children might never be reunited with their parents.
“There’s a lot of kids that are lost in the system already,” Valencia said. “We don’t know where they’re at. Probably some of them are involved in human trafficking and prostitution and all that, for all we know.”
She said Americans need to be vigilant and stand up for those who can’t speak for themselves.
“Our government uses immigrants when it’s convenient, but at the same time they want to hold them out of our country,” Valencia said. “This country was built on immigrants. It was built and it was made great on immigrants.”
