Feature
'So Long as There is a
Fight, There is Hope'
BY JENNA BAGCAL
The fight for immigration and keep-ing
families together has not slowed
down in Queens, as over a thousand
residents marched in Jackson Heights
and Corona.
On Saturday, June 30, several elect-ed
officials and public figures joined
the attendees of the March to Keep
Families Together. The demonstration
was one of hundreds that occurred
across the country, including the main
march in Washington, D.C.
Congresswoman Grace Meng de-tailed
her trip to the United States-
Mexico border, highlighting the fact
that despite what some have said
are "passable" conditions of the de-tention
centers, the children were
being kept in cages away from their
families.
"I don’t care what you call them —
they were in cages," Meng said.
At one point, the congresswoman
brought out an example of the silver
blankets that the children are given at
the detention centers and said that the
room was quiet except for the sound
of the rustling blankets.
Jessica Ramos, a state Senate
candidate and mother of two boys,
empathized with the parents whose
children have been taken from them.
She added that the fight could not
stop until the families were "reunited
and safe from this tyrannical presi-dent."
“History will judge us for how we
acted when the president of the
United States began tearing families
apart — now is the time to stand up
and speak out. Thousands of neigh-bors
are marching together today
to make clear: enough is enough,"
Ramos said.
Ramos also spoke on the impor-tance
of making New York a sanctuary
state, while also outlining her com-mitment
to legislation for immigrants,
including the DREAM Act, the Liberty
Act and driver's licenses for undocu-mented
residents.
"When you see a crowd here to-day,
you feel that ICE is melting,"
said Comptroller Scott Stringer at
Saturday's march, in reference to the
38 JULY 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
Fest
Photos by Dean Moses
/www.qns.com
