BRAZIL, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Friday afternoon, dozens of protestors of all ages headed to Brazil for the Lights for Liberty vigil.
According to the local coordinator for the vigil, Rachel Batka, the event is in response to United States immigration policies.
“There
are people who are legally trying to seek asylum here and we’re
treating them like they’re criminals, they’re just trying to help with
their family,” Batka said.
The vigil was held outside of the
Clay County Justice Center, which currently serves as a regional
detention center for the United States Department of Immigration.
“it’s
not inhumane conditions. We’re regulated by state and federal laws on
how we can hold people in our facility. We hold them for just a short
while for the U.S. Department of Immigration,” said Sheriff Paul Harden,
Clay County sheriff.
Hector Marales is an immigrant himself and now works with a law firm that handles immigration and criminal defense.
He says through the current policies some immigrants are being held in detention centers for years.
“Right now there’s a ton of courts being held until 2023, 2022, and so on,” Marales said.
Marales
says through protests like Lights for Liberty, he hopes that it can
bring to the attention of lawmakers that the immigration process has
some flaws.
“Work more efficient with the detention centers. I’m
not saying don’t get the wrong people, like the people that are bad, we
need to take them out but they’re taking out family members and
parents,” Marales said.
Lights for Liberty vigils were also held in Indianapolis and Bloomington.
