Several Lights for Liberty rallies are happening locally tonight and tomorrow.

The following information about Lights for Liberty is from their website at https://www.lightsforliberty.org. Links to local events are also on that page.

Mission

We are a coalition of people, many of whom are mothers, dedicated to human rights, and the fundamental principle behind democracy that all human beings have a right to life, liberty and dignity.

We are partnering with international, national, regional and local communities and organizations who believe that these fundamental rights are not negotiable and are willing to protect them.

On Friday July 12th, 2019, Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps, will bring thousands of people to locations worldwide as well as to concentration camps across country, into the streets and into their own front yards, to protest the inhumane conditions faced by migrants.

Impact

On Friday July 12th, 2019, Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps, will bring thousands of people to locations worldwide as well as to concentration camps across the country, into the streets and into their own front yards, to protest the inhumane conditions faced by migrants.

Key events are planned in El Paso, Texas, where migrants are being housed in outdoor conditions under a bridge with no running water for months at a time; Homestead, FL, at a migrant child detention facility that has caused mass abuse and neglect; in San Diego, near the point of entry site from Tijuana; in New York City, at Foley Square, where hundreds of migrants are processed through detention a day; and in Washington, DC, in Lafayette Park, to demand action from Congress to end concentration camps and impeach the President. Legislators, activists, organizers, and members of impacted communities will speak prior to the candlelight vigil.

Across this country, we have witnessed acts against people fleeing persecution many of us thought we would never see in modern times.

At Trump’s concentration camps, teen mothers and babies are held outdoors in “dog pounds.” We have witnessed the sick and elderly confined to “icebox” rooms for weeks at a time. Unbelievably, children as young as 4 months are taken from their parents, medicine is confiscated, and medical care withheld, and LGBTQ and disabled individuals are held in solitary confinement.

“The Trump administration’s immigration policies and detention camps meet the United Nations’ definition of genocide and crimes against humanity,” said Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin, lawyer, activist and organizer. “Congress is refusing to stop the president and his policies. We cannot allow these atrocities to be perpetrated in our name.”

Perhaps most terrifying, refugees are beginning to be moved onto military grounds, where there will be a lack of oversight from the media, lawyers, and human rights monitors.

“Now is the time for every person to stand up and say, ‘We will not accept this!’ No more hesitating. No more denial. No more fear. We need to be bold, and loud, and unrelenting. That’s the only way we can stop this,” said Kristin Mink, activist and organizer.