Just hours after President Trump signed an executive order reversing his family separation policy, hundreds converged upon LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday night to greet young children who had been separated from their parents and flown in from Texas.
The protest was assembled by the local organizations Make the Road NY, United We Dream and Bend the Arc, who made announcements via Twitter about the status of the planes that were carrying about 239 migrant children. They informed their followers that they would be in Terminals B and C, where people gathered with signs bearing words of protest in English and Spanish.
“We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes,” read one sign.
“La migración es un derecho humano,” read another. “Migration is a human right.”
On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order that reversed family separation per the “zero-tolerance policy.” Despite this, planes coming from a detention center in Texas were scheduled to land at LaGuardia the same day. Before the order, it was reported that more than 2,000 migrant children had been removed from their parents at the United States-Mexico border.
Among the protesters were Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and Assembly candidate Catalina Cruz. Both Van Bramer and Cruz sent live tweets from the scene, sharing photos and videos of the protesters, many of whom stayed at the airport until the early hours of the morning.
I am here at Laguardia Airport with a few hundred amazing people resisting #Trump’s racism as children who’ve been separated from their parents arrive on flights. It’s devastating that we are in this moment. But this crowd represents the decency of who we are. #Resistpic.twitter.com/NR1u3GSmEQ
— Jimmy Van Bramer (@JimmyVanBramer) June 21, 2018
Almost 1:30am at LaGuardia and these two signs are just so powerful. This is why we are here and why we must fight this. #Resist #endfamilyseparation pic.twitter.com/LAdxz9LF8M
— Jimmy Van Bramer (@JimmyVanBramer) June 21, 2018
We are here for you- no están solos. Waiting at LGA for children coming from Texas. These are children! We demand that Congress stop this racist agenda. pic.twitter.com/p5uXb9KZen
— Catalina Cruz, Esq. (@CatalinaCruzNY) June 21, 2018
According to NYMag, activists said that they would continue doing work to draw attention to the children that were taken away from their families. Van Bramer announced on Twitter that he would be participating in the March Against Family Separation on Monday, June 25.
“No Executive Order can mask the hate. Immigrants are still under attack, children ripped from parents. What must we do? Stand up & fight back. Let’s March,” he wrote.
