Trying to highlight the separation of families through deportation, immigrants and their allies staged a protest Monday at a Southern California border crossing where people deported to Mexico asked for asylum to enter the U.S.
The binational protest at Otay Mesa, Calif., crossing was organized by Border Angels and the Bring Them Home project, two California immigrant rights groups. But the protestors on the U.S. side included young immigrants, some not legally in the U.S., from around the country and members of the National Youth Alliance. The Alliance has rankled some with some of the group’s forms of protest.
Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels, a group that places water in the desert for migrants, said 35 people who asked for asylum were being processed late Monday afternoon, but he did not know if they would be granted entry. He said the event drew about 150 protestors on each side of the border.
“What was very important that the DREAMers were able to humanize this issue once again,” Moreno said. “A lot of people don’t want to know this is going on. I don’t think they know you can be pulled over for a broken tail light and not see your kids again.”