Community News
Astoria parents group brings protest against migrant
detention to Congresswoman’s Queens office
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I JULY 2019 25
A group of about 20 parents
with strollers and tots in tow,
marched down to Congress-woman
Carolyn Maloney’s
office in Astoria on July 9 as part of a
national campaign to protest the child par-ent
separation policies in detention camps
at the border.
The group, organized by Hand in Hand,
an advocacy organization for domestic
workers, picked Maloney’s office in spite
of the fact that she voted against the Emer-gency
Supplemental Appropriations for
Humanitarian Assistance and Security at
the Southern Border Act, which the group
fears would be used to carry out President
Trump’s policies.
“As a parent it’s unconscionable that
this is happening. When I drop my kid off
to daycare, it can be really hard. So that
this can be done in the name of a policy
— with so much trauma inflicted — it has
to end,” said Bhavana Nancherla, a Hand
in Hand member.
Hand in Hand, which is affiliated with the
National Domestic Workers Alliance, has
been organizing playtime actions across the
city that aim to emphasize their urgency in
resisting Trump’s border policies.
“It’s families that are being impacted
and also families that are speaking up,”
said Nancherla.
The group let Maloney’s office know
ahead of time to expect them hoping that
they would have an opportunity to speak
with her or a representative before the
House Committee on Oversight and Re-form,
of which Maloney is a member, held a
hearing on misconduct at border detention
facilities scheduled for July 10.
The group had three demands: that
Maloney be committed to closing all border
detention centers, that she demand an end
to child separation at the border and that
she plan a trip to witness the conditions
of a migrant detention center.
Ed Babor, the Queens representative
for Maloney, greeted the parents in the
lobby of her office.
“She’s definitely in your corner,” Babor
said, but declined to comment on Maloney’s
behalf about her response to the group’s
demands. Babor did add, however, that
Maloney had a trip to a detention center
in South Texas planned for this weekend.
Maloney responded to the protest later
on Tuesday, confirming that was planning
to trip to the a detention facility during
the weekend.
“I am so proud to be part of a community
that shows up and stands up for those who
need their voices lifted up and are too often
silenced. Thank you to all those who rallied
at my Queens office today to condemn
the gross atrocities at our Southern bor-der.
I’m grateful to have the support of my
constituents and I value their commitment
to speaking out against injustice and the
negligent, inhumane treatment of migrants
at detention centers,” she wrote.
/www.qns.com
/www.qns.com
