Dozens of immigrant families protested Saturday behind the fences of a Texas detention facility where a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father were sent this week after being detained in Minnesota.
Aerial photos taken by The Associated Press showed children and parents at the South Texas Family Residential Center clad in jackets and sweaters, some of them holding signs that included 'Libertad para los niños,' or 'Liberty for the kids.'
Families could also be heard outside chanting 'Libertad!' or 'Let us go,' said Eric Lee, an immigration attorney who was there to visit a client at the facility in Dilley.
'The message we want to send is for them to treat us with dignity and according to the law. We’re immigrants, with children, not criminals,' expressed Maria Alejandra Montoya Sanchez, who with her 9-year-old daughter has been held at Dilley since October.
The detention of Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, in Minnesota has become a lightning rod for America’s divisions on immigration amidst the Trump administration. Accounts from government officials and the family’s attorney conflict about whether the parents were given a chance to leave the child with someone else.
Earlier Saturday in Minneapolis, a federal immigration officer shot and killed a man, escalating tensions already present from a recent fatal shooting.
Montoya Sanchez mentioned she spotted the father and son briefly during the protest. An attorney for the family has not returned requests for comments.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security has not commented on the protest yet.
Montoya Sanchez stated the protest was organized internally by the families affected by long detentions and conditions that advocates claim include food with worms, constant illness, and insufficient medical access. Eric Lee later learned that the demonstration correlated with Liam Conejo Ramos’ situation.
Despite the risks of retribution, many families were brave enough to voice their concerns about the abysmal conditions they face. According to reports, hundreds of children are being held at the facility beyond the legally mandated limits.
