SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5 -- A group of environmental activists on Monday began month-long demonstrations against the U.S. government's "brutal" policy against immigrants and asylum seekers.
The activists from No Coal in Oakland, a grassroots organization in the Bay Area, rallied for a noon-hour protest in front of the headquarters of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in downtown San Francisco to voice their opposition to the government's "brutal" treatment of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
"For the month of August, there's going to be a demonstration in front of ICE every day of the month by all sorts of different groups to demonstrate their solidarity around the fact that we can't have these concentration camps," Margaret Rossoff, press liaison for Monday's demonstration of Climate Justice, told Xinhua.
Because of the inhumane immigration policy of the current administration, many kids are being locked out in jails and families are separated, she said.
"The current policies are reprehensible and we are embarrassed and outraged by them," she added.
Rossoff noted that a lot of people are now becoming immigrants and refugees because of climate change that forced people to migrate, and their houses and homes are running a risk of being flooded and people are facing starvation.
"The United States should make people welcome, rather than closing the doors," she said.
She criticized the U.S. government for "not taking a welcoming approach" to climate issues even though the United States is responsible for a lot of the climate change that's happened toward technology.
Steve Masover, who is a member with No Coal in Oakland, echoed Rossoff's ideas, saying many people are migrating to the United States and around the world because of floods and other impact of climate change.
"That's why we related climate justice to migrant justice," he said.
"We have to recognize that part of addressing climate change is addressing the injustice that certain places like Central America are experiencing ... Those people are coming to the United States. We should welcome them in order to effect justice around the climate issues," he said.
Masover noted that the federal government should not make "villains of people who are coming into this country." "There's no reason to do that."
Robb Godshaw, a designer who works for a San Francisco-based company, told Xinhua that he is not officially affiliated with any of the groups protesting in front of the ICE headquarters, but he would come every day for the noon-hour demonstration.
"Everybody is upset that the immigration customs enforcement group is putting children in cages and separating families to enforce (President) Donald Trump's racist policies," he said.
Godshaw said he had come back from China last month and was very much impressed by the rapid changes and the high-speed rate of construction in the country.
In the United States, "we brag about our freedom, but we have the highest imprisonment rate and jail more of our people than anyone else in the world," he stressed.
The ICE's policies are inhumane, cruel and illegal, he said. "We have some hope that the camps will at some point close."
Trump has been implementing a tough and hardline policy on immigration, and has ordered building fences at the U.S. southern borders to keep out immigrants from Central American countries. His immigration policy has aroused controversy and uproar in the United States.