ICE has blood on its hands

XR, Extinction Rebellion PDX, and OccupyICE PDX poured fake blood on the pavement and sidewalk outside the ICE Building this afternoon. From their press release: “Their action was a protest of the inhumane conditions of the US immigration system including those at detention camps at the Southern border and nationwide that are directly resulting in the deaths of immigrants, as well as an effort to highlight the role of climate change in forced migration worldwide."

The action is called “El Río De Sangre/The River Of Blood.” Río de Sangre is named to evoke both the Rio Grande and the bloodshed of the US’s racist immigration policies. The blood, made of water, food coloring, and xanthan gum, symbolized the lives lost in the journey across the border as well as in ICE and CBP custody, which include six young children. Protesters dipped their hands in the crimson liquid to signify that the US government has the blood of asylum-seekers on their hands.

Their main banner, that I could not include in this shot, says CLIMATE JUSTICE = IMMIGRATION JUSTICE