Activists Will Put Up A 24-Hour Tent City In New York To Protest Refugee Ban

Image via WikiMedia Commons

A group of activists will be setting up a 24-hour tent city in New York City in protest of the Trump Administration’s refugee ban. Led by African Communities Together—an organization that advocates on behalf of and assists African immigrant communities—the demonstration will start at the Trump Building on Wall Street on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 28. From there, they will march to the Trinity Church on Wall Street and set up the encampment, where for the next day they will be hosting a full schedule of speeches by activists, such as Sudanese model and actor Elizabeth Arjok, as well as teach-in sessions and workshops.

“We are calling for an end to the refugee ban, the preservation of asylum and TPS (temporary protected status), and truly humanitarian immigration policy,” they write in the press release. “We will organize 24 hours of powerful actions in solidarity with refugees. We are invoking the spirit of the Statue of Liberty and the history of New York as a City of Refuge for immigrants and refugees from around the world.”

Just today, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told reporters in the White House daily briefing that the Trump administration would deny Justice Department funding from cities that have declared themselves “sanctuary cities.”

"Unfortunately some states and cities have adopted policies designed to frustrate the enforcement of immigration laws … ” he said. "Such policies cannot continue. They make our nation less safe by putting dangerous criminals back on the streets. … We intend to use all the lawful authorities we have to make sure our state and local officials … are in sync with the federal government.”