Occupy ICE Commemoration

Three years ago on Father's Day there was a massive rally, over a thousand people, outraged by the violence and aggression of Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), slamming children into cages and separating families. Now it is Biden's ICE instead of Trump's ICE, and people don't seem to care--even though the atrocities continue. 

Three years ago Portland people began an encampment at the ICE Building to call attention to the horror that is ICE. Now everyone knows about it, and it continues as before. Only a small group of about forty people showed up to protest.

It was my first time to make protest photographs since the lockdown in March, 2020. Did Covid-19 kill the movement? Has Biden's pretense of benevolent grandfatherly concern killed the movement? There are still children in cages. Families are still being torn apart. Migrants, asylum-seekers, and refugees are still being turned away. I am glad that despite the heat, a few brave souls did show up. It was exciting to be doing photography for social justice again, but where does it lead now? How can we relieve the suffering of migrant families?