Celebrities join protesters at Texas tent city where immigrant children are separated from parents

Celebrities led rallies and protests Sunday to decry the separation of immigrant parents from their children by US border authorities.

Actors Amber Heard, Bella Thorne, Joshua Jackson and Lena Dunham were among the stars carrying signs that read ‘End Family Separation’, ‘This Is About Humanity’ and ‘Keep Families Together’ at the in Tornillo, Texas port of entry.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers have said they are not convinced the Trump administration has any real plan to reunite them.

Hundreds of people also rallied near a Homestead, Florida, facility where immigrant children are being held and demonstrators marched in San Diego, California holding signs.

Outside a Border Patrol processing facility in McAllen, Texas, protesters carrying American flags temporarily blocked a bus carrying immigrants and shouted ‘Shame! Shame!’ at border agents. 

Amber Heard, Constance Wu and Joshua Jackson stand on a wall blocking them from Tornillo tent city where children have been separated from their parents while seeking asylum

The celebrities were among nearly two dozen actors and activists, including Bella Thorne, Lena Dunham and Mira Sorvino, who joined hundreds of advocates and families at the Tornillo port of entry, to rally in support of refugee children and families seeking asylum

The celebrities were among nearly two dozen actors and activists, including Bella Thorne, Lena Dunham and Mira Sorvino, who joined hundreds of advocates and families at the Tornillo port of entry, to rally in support of refugee children and families seeking asylum

Thousands of children and their families are currently being held in federal detention camps under the Trump Administration's 'no tolerance' immigration policy 

Thousands of children and their families are currently being held in federal detention camps under the Trump Administration’s ‘no tolerance’ immigration policy 

A young girl in Tornillo, Texas, tent city holds a sign that says: 'Kids need their parents back'

A young girl in Tornillo, Texas, tent city holds a sign that says: ‘Kids need their parents back’

Demonstrators block a bus with immigrant children on board during a protest outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center Saturday, June 23, 2018, in McAllen, Texas

Demonstrators block a bus with immigrant children on board during a protest outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center Saturday, June 23, 2018, in McAllen, Texas

‘Something has to be done,’ said Gabriel Rosales, the League of United Latin American Citizens’ national vice president for the southwest. ‘This is not something that’s okay in America today. And ours is to show those kids that they have people here in the United States that care.’

The demonstrations came days after the Trump administration reversed course in the face of public and political outrage and had authorities stop separating immigrant families caught crossing the US-Mexico border.

In recent weeks, more than 2,300 children were taken from their families under a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy in which people entering the U.S. illegally face prosecution. While the family separations were ended, confusion has ensued, with parents left searching for their children.

The administration says it will now seek to detain immigrant families during their immigration proceedings, which has also stoked an outcry.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton issued a statement that criticized protests in Portland, Oregon, against immigration enforcement activities that closed federal immigration offices there this week, but did not address the other demonstrations occurring around the country Saturday.

Evelyn Stauffer, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said her agency is trying to help reunite families or place unaccompanied immigrant children with an appropriate sponsor.

An unidentified woman holds a sign in front of the Customs and Border Protection port of entry Saturday at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas

An unidentified woman holds a sign in front of the Customs and Border Protection port of entry Saturday at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, center, and US Sen Richard Blumenthal, left, speak with a Dept. of Homeland Security agent as they arrive to tour the Fabens Port-of-Entry facility which houses tent shelters used to hold separated family members

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, center, and US Sen Richard Blumenthal, left, speak with a Dept. of Homeland Security agent as they arrive to tour the Fabens Port-of-Entry facility which houses tent shelters used to hold separated family members

An immigrant child looks out from a U.S. Border Patrol bus leaving as protesters block the street outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center Saturday

An immigrant child looks out from a U.S. Border Patrol bus leaving as protesters block the street outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center Saturday

People gather at Saint Mark Catholic Church for a solidarity with migrants vigil, Thursday, June 21, 2018 in El Paso, Texas

People gather at Saint Mark Catholic Church for a solidarity with migrants vigil, Thursday, June 21, 2018 in El Paso, Texas

In Florida, Argentine immigrant Maria Bilbao said she joined the protest because she came to the country 17 years ago with her then-9-year-old son and understands the fear of being separated from a child.

‘What is happening in this country is disgusting,’ said Bilbao, who worked as a cleaning woman before becoming a legal resident and now works for an immigrant rights group. ‘They should be letting people go to the outside so they can work and contribute to this country.’

More protests are planned for next weekend in states from Connecticut to California.

A group of 25 Democratic lawmakers who toured the border processing facility in McAllen, Texas, said they hadn’t seen a clear federal system for reuniting those who were split up. Everyone – even infants – is assigned ‘A” or alien numbers, only to be given different identification numbers by other federal agencies.

They described seeing children sleeping behind bars, on concrete floors and under emergency ‘mylar’ heat-resistant blankets.

‘There are still thousands of children who are out there right now untethered to their parents and no coherent system to fix that,’ Rep. Joe Courtney, a Democrat from Connecticut, told reporters after the tour.

Immigration lawyers are also trying to help facilitate reunions. At criminal court hearings in McAllen, one lawyer identified parents separated from their children, and immigration attorney Jodi Goodwin said she followed up with them at a detention facility in Port Isabel, Texas, to collect information about their cases and their children.

Goodwin said she has been inundated with requests from the parents, and the list is still growing.

‘Once you end up talking with one parent they tell you that there are 70 other parents in their dorm that are also separated and can I help them,’ she said, adding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had asked her to share the information so they could assist. ‘We haven’t tapped out on the number of adults that have been separated.’

An unidentified man participates in a demonstration Saturday, June 23, 2018, near the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas. The handwritten message on the shirt is a response to a garment recently worn by First Lady Melania Trump before her visit to McAllen, Texas 

An unidentified man participates in a demonstration Saturday, June 23, 2018, near the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas. The handwritten message on the shirt is a response to a garment recently worn by First Lady Melania Trump before her visit to McAllen, Texas 

Demonstrators march past the Customs and Boarder Protection port of entry Saturday at the Gateway International Bridge

Demonstrators march past the Customs and Boarder Protection port of entry Saturday at the Gateway International Bridge

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Conn., speaks as U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, right, listens after a tour of the Fabens Port-of-Entry facility

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Conn., speaks as U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, right, listens after a tour of the Fabens Port-of-Entry facility

Demonstrators participate in an organized march Saturday, June 23, 2018, near the Gateway International Bridge in downtown Brownsville, Texas 

Demonstrators participate in an organized march Saturday, June 23, 2018, near the Gateway International Bridge in downtown Brownsville, Texas 

Tens of thousands of immigrants traveling with their families have been caught on the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years, many fleeing gang violence in Central America. About 9,000 such family units have been caught in each of the last three months, according to U.S. border authorities.

The Trump administration announced plans in April to prosecute all immigrants caught along the southwest border with illegally entering the country. Parents were jailed and children were taken to government-contracted shelters.

The administration says it will continue with prosecutions and seek to detain families together during their immigration proceedings. Immigration officials have said they could seek up to 15,000 beds in family detention facilities, and the Pentagon is drawing up plans to house as many as 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children on military bases.

The administration also is seeking changes to a decades-old settlement governing the detention of immigrant children to try to be able to detain children with their parents in family detention centers for longer periods of time.

A demonstrator watches as a bus with immigrant children on board tries to move outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center

A demonstrator watches as a bus with immigrant children on board tries to move outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center

Kristopher Coca yells during a protest outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center  in McAllen, Texas

Kristopher Coca yells during a protest outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center  in McAllen, Texas

U.S. Border Patrol agents move clear the street to allow a bus with immigrant children onboard to move after protesters blocked it's movement outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center

U.S. Border Patrol agents move clear the street to allow a bus with immigrant children onboard to move after protesters blocked it’s movement outside the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center



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