MONROE, Mich. — There has been plenty of social justice movements in 2020 so far. But a local group in Monroe is renewing calls for a movement that started a few years ago.
Stay Woke, Speak Out held a protest in downtown Monroe on Saturday afternoon calling for the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement Agency or ICE to be abolished. The group believes the agency is doing more harm than good in addressing immigration concerns.
"They are contributing to America and to our economy, especially during the pandemic," said protest organizer Rebecca Alexander.
Alexander is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant. She said she wouldn't be here if not for her mother coming to America and marrying her father. She organized the protest to bring awareness to the conditions at detention centers around the United States.
"The conditions in these migrant camps that are deplorable," said Alexander. "People are talking about unsanitary conditions, lack of access to basic medical care."
"The way that we're treating these people, like they're animals," said protester Katybeth Davis, "and not giving them the basic dignity and respect of being actual humans and treating them as such."
Alexander believes ICE does go after criminals, but it also has become a symbol of fear to everyday immigrants just trying to make a better life.
"It's called collateral arrests where someone is targeted by ICE, but then they arrest other people in that community," said Alexander. "Because they suspect, so that raises questions, is there racial profiling."
Supporters believe the agency should be abolished or split up to better serve communities, comparing the push to the "defund the police" movement.
"Defunding means reevaluating the money and where it's spent," said Davis, "and allocated into areas where it can be better used for resources in the community for people of color."
Protesters want people to know that most immigrants are hard-working people contributing just as much as any American citizen.
"We all care about everybody, so we're trying to include everybody," said protester Cole Beehn, "and make the America that I was taught to believe in when I was a kid and just haven't seen yet."
We reached out to ICE's Detroit office for a response, but did not hear back.