Protest decries plan to detain migrant kids at Oklahoma base
Posted Jul 20, 2019 12:39 pm.
LAWTON, Okla. — More than 100 demonstrators are protesting in withering heat outside of an Oklahoma Army base against the Trump administration’s plans to detain migrant children there.
Japanese Americans and Native Americans are among those taking part in Saturday’s march to Fort Sill and rally in front of one of its entrances. Demonstrators are chanting “Close the camps” and carrying signs with messages including “Human Rights Matter” and “Liberty and Justice For All.”
The protest comes after a similar rally on June 22 .
Fort Sill was used to house hundreds of Japanese and Japanese Americans by the federal government during World War II. The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement recently announced plans to temporarily detain up to 1,400 migrant children at the base near Lawton, which is about 80 miles (130 kilometres) southwest of Oklahoma City.
Fort Sill was also used to house migrant children in 2014 during the Obama administration.
The Associated Press
