A performance art show protests against the detention of immigrant children



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Armed with costumes, cages and a loudspeaker emitting sounds of crying children, a group of Bay Area residents protested Friday against policies of holding children in front of the office. US Immigration and Customs of San Francisco.

About a dozen protesters imitated a detention facility of ICE, with actors playing children in small cages and "officers" overseeing them with the phrase "Accomplice" written on their uniforms. Sham officers sometimes told a line about how they were doing just their job or following the policy.

"We have become more and more insensitive to standard protest, and while it has a place and is compelling, the art of performance can convey a message," said Protestant Michelle Lessans. "(The audience) might be paying a little more attention than it was to a regular protest."

Repressing the occasions when a simulacrum hit the side of the cage, the five "children" in the cages wore masks adorned with pictures of children and sometimes asked for pedestrian help in Spanish. A few pedestrians stopped and stared at the show, eventually forming a group of about seven people, but most continued walking.

At 5:32 pm, approximately one hour after the start of the demonstration, the mock officers assembled the "children" and tied their hands with string before removing them, which meant the end of the performance. The fictitious officers said that they "simply moved them to another establishment."

Ben Bartlett, a Berkeley City Council member, said in a statement that he would attend the protest, but during the time that has elapsed, he has not made an appearance . His office did not answer for the comment of the press time.

"According to the information I've seen, there is no plan to reunite families who have already been separated," said Lessans about the new executive order calling for an end to family separations.

On Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security released an information sheet, stating that it had gathered more than 500 separated children with their parents.

"We are people who have come together and decided to do something," said Tania Abdul, one of the group members whose role was to question the fake officers.

According to Lessans, the group has no title or official registration – its members were simply people who wanted to protest something they thought was wrong.

ICE did not answer for the comment of the press time.

According to the ICE Detention Management Web page, "detainees held in ICE live in a safe and secure environment and under appropriate conditions of isolation", in accordance with the National Detention Standards of the ICE. l & # 39; ICE.

The group plans to protest again, but there is no concrete plan for when the next will take place, according to Lessans.

Contact Jackson Guilfoil at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter to @GuilfoilJackson.

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