"Whose streets? Our streets!" chant pro-immigration advocates in D.C.
- 10 years ago
Several hundred immigration protesters rallied outside the White House on Saturday (August 2), calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to treat immigrants fairly.
"We are here to ask the president to go back to be bold and provide justice and provide opportunity to people to come out of the shadows and work without fear," said Tefere Gebre, vice president of the AFL-CIO labor organization.
The rally came shortly after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted on August 1 to crack down on Central American migrants, including unaccompanied children, who are flooding to the U.S. border with Mexico, as lawmakers passed a $694 million border security bill.
U.S. officials are trying to cope with an influx of 57,000 children traveling alone, and predominantly from Central America, who have arrived at the U.S. Southwest's border with Mexico since October, with projections that the number could rise to 90,000 by the end of September.
"We are here to ask the president to go back to be bold and provide justice and provide opportunity to people to come out of the shadows and work without fear," said Tefere Gebre, vice president of the AFL-CIO labor organization.
The rally came shortly after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted on August 1 to crack down on Central American migrants, including unaccompanied children, who are flooding to the U.S. border with Mexico, as lawmakers passed a $694 million border security bill.
U.S. officials are trying to cope with an influx of 57,000 children traveling alone, and predominantly from Central America, who have arrived at the U.S. Southwest's border with Mexico since October, with projections that the number could rise to 90,000 by the end of September.