Protesters hold anti-ICE signs outside the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas where hundreds of immigrants are being held, including five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, asylum seekers from Ecuador
Protesters hold anti-ICE signs outside the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas where hundreds of immigrants are being held, including five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, asylum seekers from Ecuador
Moisés ÁVILA
Law enforcement responded to protests in Dilley, Texas with tear gas
Moisés ÁVILA
Protestors and law enforcement clash during a demonstration outside the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas
Texas state police officers on Wednesday used tear gas to disperse a demonstration outside a US immigration detention facility where protesters demanded the release of a 5-year-old Ecuadoran boy among others swept up in the Trump administration's immigration clampdown.
About 100 protesters gathered at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley on Wednesday, carrying signs accusing the federal agents of terrorizing communities.
"We want Kristi Noem impeached. We want the US Senate to defund ICE, to not give it any more money. And we need people to pay attention to the midterm elections this year," local elected official Christina Morales told AFP.
Texas state law enforcement responded to the protest in riot gear, deploying tear gas cannisters, including one that landed near two AFP journalists, striking and temporarily incapacitating one of them.
Earlier, Democratic congressmembers Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett conducted an inspection to visit the child, Liam Conejo Ramos, and 1,100 others detained there.
"His dad said that he hasn't been himself, and he's been sleeping a lot because he's been depressed and sad," Castro said in a video message posted to X, in which the congressman insists Ramos and his family were "legally in the United States."
National outcry followed images of the apparently terrified preschooler, dressed in a fluffy blue bunny hat and wearing his school backpack, being held by immigration officers who were seeking to arrest the boy's father in Minneapolis.
The child and his Ecuadoran father, Adrian Conejo Arias -- both asylum seekers -- were taken from their driveway as they arrived home on January 20, after the child was used as "bait" by officers to draw out those inside his home, according to the superintendent of the boy's school, Zena Stenvik.
A federal judge temporarily blocked their deportation Tuesday.
Castro also demanded the release of everyone else being held at the privately-run facility, saying "there are no criminals in Dilley. Donald Trump said this was about arresting illegal criminal 'aliens' -- that's his language. There isn't a single criminal over there."
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...COLD WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT FRIDAY NIGHT TO
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...EXTREME COLD WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
SUNDAY MORNING...
* WHAT...For the Cold Weather Advisory, very cold wind chills as low
as 1 expected in the north to 10 to 15 in the southeast. For the
Extreme Cold Watch, dangerously cold wind chills as low as 1 above
possible in the north to 5 to 10 in the southeast.
* WHERE...Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun,
Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Dallas,
Elmore, Etowah, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lee, Lowndes,
Macon, Marengo, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph,
Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa,
Tuscaloosa, Walker, and Winston Counties.
* WHEN...For the Cold Weather Advisory, from midnight Friday Night
to Saturday morning. For the Extreme Cold Watch, from Saturday
afternoon through Sunday morning.
* IMPACTS...Frostbite and hypothermia will occur if unprotected skin
is exposed to these temperatures. An extended period of
subfreezing temperatures could cause pipes to burst.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Dress in layers including a hat, face mask, and gloves if you must
go outside.
Keep pets indoors as much as possible.
Make frequent checks on older family, friends, and neighbors. Ensure
portable heaters are used correctly. Do not use generators or grills
inside.
If you do not have heat in your home or lack shelter, you can call
211 or visit 211connectsalabama.org for assistance locating
appropriate shelter from the cold.
To prevent freezing and possible bursting of pipes they should be
wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly.
Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a
hat, and gloves.
&&
...COLD WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT FRIDAY NIGHT TO
NOON CST SATURDAY...
...EXTREME COLD WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
SUNDAY MORNING...
* WHAT...For the Cold Weather Advisory, very cold wind chills as low
as 1 expected in the north to 10 to 15 in the southeast. For the
Extreme Cold Watch, dangerously cold wind chills as low as 1 above
possible in the north to 5 to 10 in the southeast.
* WHERE...Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun,
Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Dallas,
Elmore, Etowah, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lee, Lowndes,
Macon, Marengo, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph,
Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa,
Tuscaloosa, Walker, and Winston Counties.
* WHEN...For the Cold Weather Advisory, from midnight Friday Night
to Saturday morning. For the Extreme Cold Watch, from Saturday
afternoon through Sunday morning.
* IMPACTS...Frostbite and hypothermia will occur if unprotected skin
is exposed to these temperatures. An extended period of
subfreezing temperatures could cause pipes to burst.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Dress in layers including a hat, face mask, and gloves if you must
go outside.
Keep pets indoors as much as possible.
Make frequent checks on older family, friends, and neighbors. Ensure
portable heaters are used correctly. Do not use generators or grills
inside.
If you do not have heat in your home or lack shelter, you can call
211 or visit 211connectsalabama.org for assistance locating
appropriate shelter from the cold.
To prevent freezing and possible bursting of pipes they should be
wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly.
Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a
hat, and gloves.
&&
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