Buchanan supports immigration aid bill. Bradenton activists want him to do more
Local activists say they’ve had enough of the federal government’s support of detention centers that hold kids who have been separated from their parents while trying to cross the U.S. border.
Joining at least 13 other rallies in Florida, and about 170 more nationwide, Liv Coleman, a local Democrat activist and a former candidate for state representative, led a group of about 30 people protesting the purpose and conditions of these centers Tuesday afternoon. The event was organized nationally by MoveOn, a political action group.
Coleman rallied the group around the flagpole in the center of the Manatee County Judicial Center courtyard and invited demonstrators to read some of the statements collected from the children in connection with a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
One of the testimonies, collected from a 16-year-old girl, says “We have one mat we need to share with each other. It is very cold. We each got a Mylar blanket, but it is not enough to warm up. There are benches, but we cannot sleep there.”
According to national event organizers, the treatment is an “intentional strategy by the Trump administration to terrorize immigrant communities and criminalize immigration.”
In an effort to improve conditions in these camps, Coleman and others delivered a letter to U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan’s Bradenton office. A similar protest was held at his office in Sarasota. Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, voted in favor of a $4.6 billion humanitarian aid bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Monday.
“Kids do not belong in cages, and immigrants strengthen, not harm our society,” the letter to Buchanan read. “We must transform into a country that welcomes people with dignity and respect.”
The group also demanded that U.S. lawmakers close the camps, prevent funding for family detention and deportation and urged Buchanan to visit one of the centers, such as the one in Homestead, Fla, where 2020 presidential candidates and other members of Congress have flocked in recent days.
“I hope (Buchanan) would be moved by what’s going on there and encouraged to take action,” Coleman said in an interview with the Bradenton Herald.
Throughout the hour-long protest, a group of five people used a pick-up truck to show support for Trump on other side of Manatee Avenue, directly across the from the group of 30 demonstrators. Cars passing the intersection of Manatee Avenue and 14th Street West honked support for either group.
Lakewood Ranch resident Steve Vernon, who serves on the Manatee Tiger Bay board of directors, said he came out in response to the other group with a handful of “Trumpsters,” claiming the protesters were misinformed.
“Their signs over there say open borders. We can’t just let them come across. Every country has a border and every country has security,” he said.
Vernon said he agreed with Close the Camp activists that the facilities should be open for inspection by reporters and elected officials, but argued that legislation should encourage a legal process that values “skills and passion.”
Back on the anti-camp side, Bradenton resident Gabriele Romeri, who fled Argentina with her mother when she was six years old in the 1970s, said she could understand the determination of the refugees fleeing brutal conditions in Central America.
“What’s happening is a stain to this country and it will be years before we find out the true extent of what happened in these detention centers,” Romeri said.
Journey Morgan, of Bradenton, said she has also been involved in the legal process of helping someone become a citizen. It took her $5,000 to help her husband through the process and another $5,000 for his child.
“People just have no idea what the real cost is,” she said. “(Immigrants) are going to go where they think they can do best.”
For more information on Tueday’s protest, visit CloseTheCampsNow.org.
This story was originally published July 2, 2019 at 4:22 PM.
