Hundreds of women from nearly all 50 states descended on Washington, DC, Thursday, to stage a massive demonstration and act of civil disobedience in protest of the Trump administration’s barbaric “zero tolerance” policy that has resulted in thousands of migrant children being torn from the arms of parents at the U.S./Mexico border.
Holding signs reading “Women disobey” and “We demand abolish ICE,” women and activists organized by the Women’s March, Center for Popular Democracy Action, MPower Change, CASA de Maryland and other demonstrators flooded Pennsylvania Avenue, at one point stopping in front of the Trump International Hotel to chant “Shame!”
Despite Donald Trump’s sham executive order, “zero tolerance” continued and the administration has no plan available on how it’ll reunite the over 2,000 kids that have been separated from parents in recent weeks. Outside the Trump International Hotel, outraged activists shouted, “Where are the children?”
The women, however, deliberately stopped chanting as they protested in front of the Department of Justice (DOJ) building. “Approaching the Department of Justice, the group fell silent, raising fists and hands in the air,” The Washington Post reported. Written on the palms of many were the words, “We care.”
The group then continued on to the Hart Senate Office Building, where 650 women wrapped in foil blankets—the same kind used in facilities holding kids and their parents—gathered to risk arrest.
“This country has finally been exposed to the brutality and inhumanity of immigration enforcement,” Ana Maria Archila, executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, told The Washington Post. “This barrage of injustices has inspired us to say, ‘No more. We will not be silent. We will not obey.’”
In a video on Twitter, Congress member Pramila Japayal of Washington state, one of the participants in the action, said she was arrested along with a group of others. “These women understand … that this far beyond politics. This is about right and wrong, and we have to stand up and we have to put ourselves on the line.”
The Thursday protest was a massive lead-in to the national day of action for families on Saturday, June 30. According to Jayapal, more than 300,000 people have signed up to participate. Click here to find an event nearest you to protest against Trump and his barbaric policy. All families belong together.