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Outraged by family separations at border, protesters march through Seattle

Demonstrators took part in a mile-long procession in an effort to stand in solidarity with migrants and asylum seekers.
Credit: Javier, Liza
Demonstrators took part in a mile-long procession in an effort to stand in solidarity with migrants and asylum seekers. (Photo: KING)

Hundreds of people in Seattle filled Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral Thursday night for prayer and a procession for families separated at the border.

Demonstrators took part in a mile-long march to St. James Cathedral in an effort to stand in solidarity with migrants and asylum seekers.

"No children should be taken away from their parents. We are called to love our neighbors whether they are brown or white," said a protester.

"All of these rallies and these marches, they send a message to the people who are going through it as well as to the government that this is not the American way," said ACLU of Washington Deputy Director Michele Storms.

The ACLU is working to send a message too with Ms. L versus U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a case filed in February in federal court in California.

"Ms. L was a person coming to the United States seeking asylum from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She and her 7-year-old child were escaping extreme violence and looking for refuge here," said Storms.

Mother and daughter were separated and at one point were 2,000 miles apart, according to Storms.

"Part of what we are asking for in this case is for the court to enter a preliminary injunction that would have a nationwide impact," she said.

Storms adds that it's needed, even though President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to end the separation of families at the border.

"There's a couple of things that order does not do. It does not address the families that are already separated. It actually puts in place the potential that families and children could be held indefinitely," said Storms.

As marchers moved along Seattle streets with their signs raised high, some explained why they won't rest until they feel the situation is right.

"When people are being pushed down, the people who can stand up should stand up," said a protester.

Credit: Javier, Liza
Demonstrators took part in a mile-long procession in an effort to stand in solidarity with migrants and asylum seekers. (Photo: KING)


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