Canadian residents against United States policy, which resulted in immigrant children being detained and separated from their families after illegally crossing into the U.S., held at rally at Peace Arch Park Saturday.
The Canadians Against Detained and Separation of Children rally drew more than 50 people to the border.
The intent of the rally, according to event organizer Sharon Roeder, was to raise awareness and show support in the effort to end child detainment and separation at the border.
“The facts are well known as to the US numbers, of separated families. The actual amount of unauthorized children in facilities, types of facilities used, future plans to use bases to house thousands of children, and no formal policy to track children and families or communication once separated. As of May, there’s been zero tolerance on criminal prosecution of immigrants/refugees entering the US,” Roeder emailed to Peace Arch News before the Saturday evening.
“Research has been done and Canada is not much better off, although we don’t have zero tolerance policies, nor arrest the numbers of unauthorized immigrants. Our policy is not as severe as the US, but it’s still condemned by the UN Human Rights Commission in 2015.”
