LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — Instead of getting spoiled by her children and grandchildren, Susan McGuire was one of many mothers who spent Mother’s Day advocating for other asylum-seeking families.
“I think about all the mothers and grandmothers who don’t have their children with them,” McGuire said.
Over the last several months, families were separated while seeking asylum at the border, and children were taken by the federal government to “temporary influx facilities” across the country while the parents await court dates.
Thousands of children get sent to facilities like the one in Homestead, a city south of Miami. According to the U.S. Border Patrol, authorities apprehended 8,897 children at the border in April alone.
McGuire says these families are only trying to give a better life to their loved ones.
“They do what all mothers do - they bring their children to a safer place. They protect their children,” McGuire said.
Steve Sherman says he’s sad to see families get rejected while they were asking for help.
“They’re reaching out to the nation that’s known as the ‘Beacon of Hope and Humanity’, and we’re trashing it and throwing it in their face,” he said.
Groups including Pine Island Roar, Democratic Progressive Club of Lee County and other agencies organized this event. They plan to make their next rally traveling to Homestead and visit the Federal Children’s Detention Center out there.
