Hundreds of people gathered at Washington Square Park in Rochester on Friday evening to take part in 'Lights for Liberty,' a national vigil to honor immigrants and refugees who have died. The vigil also served as a protest, to spread awareness of the conditions at detention centers at the U.S. southern border.
Jill Paperno help organize the event, she says she was shocked after learning about the children and the conditions of the detention camps and wanted to do something.
“My heart’s been broken by what I am seeing with the conditions in the camps. And the deaths that we’re are seeing...these young children being separated from their families. It’s time for us to act, we can’t let our country do this without us stepping up and speaking out against it," Paperno said.
Event attendee Cindy Chuttes, says she came because she has seen the conditions up close, she visited one of the detention camps with her husband last fall.
“I’m getting more and more upset about these camps, I’m getting more upset about the children being separated from their parents. I am a nurse so I know what damage it can do the kids to their brain development to be separated from their caregivers," Chuttes said.
Vigil participant Deborah Pierce says immigrants make economic and social contributions to the country and more people should embrace them.
“We’re not going to have a good country if everyone is European in ancestry, were just not", says Pierce. "We need to have a good variety of people. A lot of them are coming from incredible hardship and suffering, and as a country with resources it’s important to reach out to other people.”
The vigil also coincides with widely reported planned raids expected on Sunday conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in at least 9 major U.S. cities.