A rally outside the American Consulate in Vancouver has gathered more than 100 people in protest of the controversial “zero-tolerance policy” that has separated families caught crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.
Some in the crowd Saturday morning held signs that read: “End Family Separation” and “Las Familias Merecen Estar Unidas.”
At the Vancouver BC rally for families today! Listen to the Woman’s Warrior song #FamiliesBelongTogether pic.twitter.com/PCIv9GgxnK
— 🋠Kelly – you can't handle the truth (@nwkmom) June 30, 2018
The protest, organized by March On Vancouver, comes 10 days after international outcry led U.S. President Donald Trump to reverse his family separation policy.
Still, officials estimate that more than 2,000 children have yet to be reunited with their parents or guardians. Experts say some may never be reunited.
| Crowd outside U.S. Consulate in Vancouver June 30, 2018. (@DzungXVo/Twitter) |
During Saturday’s protest, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs shared a letter sent this week to Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, condemning the criminalizing of children without papers crossing the border with their families.
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“For many of us, this is reminiscent of U.S. and Canadian policies of Indian Residential School and Indian Boarding Schools, where Indigenous children were kidnapped and forcibly separated from their families and communities,” the letter reads.
| Young girl outside U.S. Consulate in Vancouver Saturday, June 30. (@nwkmom/Twitter) |
“It is not an end to child imprisonment – it just means that the U.S. will now imprison children in the same camp as their parents.”
The group is one of many calling for Trudeau to immediately withdraw from the Safe Third Country Agreement, which allows Canada to turn back asylum seekers trying to enter the country by land from the U.S.
Groups in Toronto, Halifax and Ottawa also protested. More than 600 protests are organized for throughout the day across the U.S.
| Sign at March on Vancouver’s protest against child separation policy in the U.S. June 30. (@aliemalie/Twitter) |
Alexandra Vaz, who organized a rally outside the American Consulate in Toronto, says she decided to act because as a mother of a young girl, the situation frustrated her.
Laura Prado, an immigrant from Uruguay who arrived to Canada in 1986, says she could not bear the notion of being separated from her child.
With files from The Canadian Press
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