Donald Trump

‘I'm Absolutely Appalled': Immigration Rally Held in Jamaica Plain

Protests are taking place across the United States this weekend regarding the ongoing immigration crisis along the U.S. border with Mexico.

About 200 protestors gathered on Centre Street in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood on Sunday to lambaste the Trump administration’s zero tolerance immigration policy, which has separated more than 2,000 immigrant children from their families.

"It's just racist," one woman at the protest said.

"Our families are being attacked," another man added.

"I'm absolutely appalled at what's been happening," a second woman said.

Since President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday halting the separation of families, the Department of Homeland Security reports that 522 children have been reunited with their families.

Local leaders had taken a stand recently with several traveling to the border. Rep. Mike Capuano, D-Mass., was among those who flew to Texas on Saturday to visit the immigration facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"I want to be real clear: the reason I am here is because Donald Trump changed policies to treat families in an inhumane way," Capuano said while in Texas. "That’s why I am here. I am here to draw a big bold line under that."

Capuano added that Trump "claimed for a week he couldn’t take congressional action, and then somehow miraculously he did just that... He can take care of this problem immediately. He created it. He should take care of it. He should come to Congress and talk to us about ways to change immigration laws so we don’t have to go through this again."

During Rep. Capuano's visit, with two dozen other Democratic congressmen and women, he was granted access to the detention facilities and the processing centers.

He spoke with NBC10 Boston Sunday morning about what he saw inside immigration holding facilities while there.

"They were all cement, no mattresses," Capuano said.

The Massachusetts congressman also says there's a lot of confusion when it comes to reuniting families.

“The frontline border patrol agents — the ICE agents — they didn’t know what the plan is,” he said. “Putting it all back together seems to be a mystery to everybody.”

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts was scheduleed to visit the U.S.-Mexico border Sunday.

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