More than two dozen protesters gathered on the steps of the Monroe County jail Thursday for a candlelight vigil in solidarity with the families forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico Border.
Jada Bee is a core council member for Bloomington Black Lives Matter and attended the vigil. She says it’s important for all underrepresented groups to speak out against the separation of minority families.
“We have done that throughout our entire history and we continue to do that as an imperialistic structure, and the sooner that we get that we have to stop that, the stronger we will become as a country,” she says.
Protesters also spoke out against city officials, demanding that they end business ties with companies that endorse ICE. They also suggested Bloomington become a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants.
The vigil came the same night as the court-imposed deadline for reunification of families separated under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy.