Protesters flood US cities to fight Trump immigration policy

Protesters chant slogans outside a Federal court during a demonstration calling for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and demand changes in U.S. immigration policies. Photo / AP

They wore white. They shook their fists in the air. They carried signs reading: "No more children in cages," and "What's next? Concentration Camps?"

In major US cities and tiny towns, hundreds of thousands of marchers gathered across America, moved by accounts of children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border, in the latest act of mass resistance against US President Donald Trump's immigration policies.

Protesters flooded more than 700 marches, from immigrant-friendly cities like New York and Los Angeles to conservative Appalachia and Wyoming. They gathered at McAllen, Texas, near a detention centre where migrant children were held, and near Trump's golf resort at Bedminster, New Jersey.

Trump has backed away from family separations. His "zero tolerance policy" led officials to take more than 2000 children from their parents as they tried to enter the country illegally, most of them fleeing violence, persecution or economic collapse in their home countries. Those marching demanded the government quickly reunite the families that were already divided.

A Brazilian mother separated from her 10-year-old son more than a month ago spoke at the Boston rally. "We came to the US seeking help, and we never imagined that this could happen. So I beg everyone, please release these children, give my son back to me," she said through an interpreter, weeping. "Please fight and continue fighting, because we will win." The crowd erupted.

In Portland, Oregon, police ordered participants in a march by Patriot Prayer to disperse after officers saw assaults and projectiles being thrown. Some arrests were made. The problems occurred as two opposing protest groups - Patriot Prayer and antifa - took to the streets. People in the crowd were lighting firecrackers and smoke bombs.

In Washington DC, 30,000 marchers gathered near the White House. "It's upsetting. Families being separated, children in cages," said Emilia Ramos, a cleaner. "Seeing everyone together for this cause, it's emotional."

Thousands waved signs: "I care," some read, referencing a jacket that first lady Melania Trump wore when travelling to visit child migrants. The back of her jacket said, "I really don't care, do U?" and it became a rallying cry for protesters yesterday. "I care!! Do you?" read Joan Culwell's T-shirt in Denver. "We care!" marchers shouted outside Dallas City Hall.

- AP