Several dozen immigrant rights activists loudly demonstrated against the nation’s deportation policies outside the Atlanta City Detention Center Friday, a day after President Barack Obama announced his sweeping immigration overhaul.
The demonstrators called for an expansion of a program granting relief from deportation for more immigrants without legal status. Obama’s plan is expected to provide safe harbor for up to only five million of the roughly 11 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
As stone-faced police officers looked on, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights activists banged drums and chanted “Free our friends! Free our neighbors!” Several carried a large banner declaring “Not one more deportation.”
The city jail was holding 12 detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Friday. The federal government pays the jail $78 per day per ICE detainee.
ICE issued a statement saying it “fully respects the rights of all people to voice their opinion without interference.”
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed praised the president’s plan.
“President Obama’s administrative relief order is a significant step forward in achieving meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform,” he said in a prepared statement Thursday.
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