In response to the massive ICE raids taking place around the U.S., the Close the Camps Coalition is hosting a “Close the Camps Rally” in protest against the detention camps on our southern border. The rally will also protest for-profit prisons that are housing tens of thousands of refugees and immigrants.

Attendees of the rally will stand in front of the Holocaust Memorial Center and protest against the separation of hundreds of children from their parents.

"We will stand in front of the Holocaust Memorial Center because the Holocaust and genocide did not start with extermination camps," a press release for the rally reads. "We are at the start of a slippery slope into totalitarianism. Now is the time to stand up for what we believe in, while we still can. Now is the time to say never again. If you ever wondered what you would do at the start of the Holocaust, you are doing it now."

Recently, before the second Democratic presidential debates that took place at Detroit's Fox Theatre, protesters speaking out against federal immigration were arrested for blocking traffic at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.

As MT previously reported, "The Fourth Amendment protects Americans from random and arbitrary stops and searches. However, that doesn't necessarily apply to those who fall within the government’s 100-mile 'border zone.' Since Michigan is surrounded by the Great Lakes, it is considered such a zone — and the zone covers the entirety of the state." Even so, "Agents are not allowed to pull someone over without 'reasonable suspicion' of an immigration violation or crime and cannot search a vehicle without a warrant or 'probable cause.'"
The Close the Camps Rally will feature faith leaders, Holocaust survivors and children of Holocaust survivors. Speakers at the rally will include Reverend Heather Barta, Sister Angela Certa-Plata, Emily Duthinh, Adonis Floris, rabbi Brent Gutmann, Rene Lichtman, and Josh Hwa Son Plucinski.

The rally will take place on Aug. 20 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Holocaust Memorial Center, 28123 Orchark Lake Rd., Farmington Hills.

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