Hundreds at Texas Capitol rally to condemn migrant detentions

Protesters at the Texas Capitol on Friday evening joined demonstrators in hundreds of cities across the country at nighttime vigils to call attention to the plight of migrants being held in federal detention centers.

More than 300 people had gathered for the event organizers called “Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps.” The vigils were assembled after numerous media reports describing squalid conditions at some immigration detention centers. Sponsors listed on the event's website included the Women's March, Indivisible and immigrant advocacy group RAICES.

Earlier Friday, the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the Associated Press that efforts to deport families in the country illegally would continue after a national crackdown that President Donald Trump said would start Sunday.

Those attending the vigil in downtown Austin at the Capitol brought blankets and chairs. Others held signs, including one that said, “Keep the immigrants, deport Trump.”

A similar protest had been planned in Taylor at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, a detention facility used by ICE to house undocumented migrants.

Among several speakers lined up for the vigil was pediatrician Pritesh Gandhi, who said kids used to come to his office with sore throats, but “now these kids come worried that Mom is going to be deported, or that Dad is going to be locked up in an ICE raid.”

“Children are being harmed under our watch. We have lost our way and these lights of liberty are darker today than ever in American history,” he said.

Tara Vodihn, who came to the rally from San Marcos, said she felt like lawmakers in Washington, D.C., were moving too slowly on immigration issues to the detriment of those at the border.

"What's happening at the border is pretty despicable no matter what your political affiliations are, " Vodihn said. "I wish the Democrats would do more. I feel like people in power are hesitant to make any strong moves and everybody is kind of worried about what the political fallout may be as opposed to doing what's right."

Central Texas congressional candidate Julie Oliver told the crowd, “This is not our country. ... We will never ever accept the sheer inhumanity of the detention camps."

"These are human dog pounds, and they have to close,” she said.

One woman who said her own family has been separated at the border, Hilda Reyes, spoke at the rally about the stress her 7-year-old nephew has gone through after being taken away from his father.

"You have no idea the emotional trauma that (these children) are enduring," Reyes said. "There's a lot of people, a lot of families like us, and we ask that there's mercy and that we get unified with our family members."

The crowd later chanted, “Close the camps!” after U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, spoke. He used his speech to attack not only Trump but also fellow Democrats in Congress who voted for a recent border spending compromise that was worked out with the Republican-led Senate.

"Not another dollar for lockups, where some profit from the misery of many," Doggett said, referencing for-profit detention centers. "We're here because we know that escaping violence is not a crime, that fleeing terrorism to protect your children is not wrong. Sleep deprivation is wrong, and child abuse is wrong."

The crowd has grown to several hundred people now, and they are chanting “close the camps” following@RepLloydDoggett’s speech that attacked not only Trump but also Democrats in Congrsss who voted for the recent border bill.pic.twitter.com/3s5jHwv6Aa

— Chase *Austin* Karacostas (@chasekaracostas)July 13, 2019