Protests return to Foley Square over President Trump's immigration policy
MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) -- Another protest took place at Foley Square on Thursday, while a mass protest is planned on Saturday at Bryant Park.
It comes after civil unrest festered for another night in New York City on Wednesday. Daybreak brought a single-file march in silence around Federal Immigration court in Lower Manhattan on Thursday.
It was followed by a cry for change.
"I wanted a rags-to-riches kind of story. That's not what I got. But I believe in that story and I don't know that a lot of Americans still believe in that anymore," said demonstrator Heather Buchan. "I think that's why we have the administration we do and the problems we have now."
The problems that immigrants rights activists are referring to boil down to this: migrants who show up to Manhattan federal court only for their asylum case to be dismissed with ICE waiting in the wings to detain them.
Protests this week have resulted in dozens of arrests, including 86 arrests on Tuesday night and two on Wednesday night.
Ravi Ragbir, executive director of New Sanctuary Coalition, is the organizer of a weekly demonstration and part of frontline opposition to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
"They are asking the court to dismiss their cases - when those cases are dismissed the person becomes undocumented and now they fall within expedited removal and once you're expedited removal you're not entitled to court proceedings anymore and they can just put them on a bus or plane and remove them," Ragbir said.
The Justice Department is now suing the state of New York over policy that blocks immigration officials from arresting migrants at or near courthouses.
The attorney general wrote in part, "Lawless sanctuary city policies are the root cause of the violence that Americans have seen."
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams took part in demonstrations on Thursday.
"I don't know what other things people need to see about what fascism may look like, what an authoritarian looks like, but that's where we are right now, I think we should be more concerned about that," Williams said.
As more protests are expected this week in Foley Square, the NYPD said it is monitoring Saturday's protests which are anticipated to be sizable.
The NYPD says they have things under control and do not need federal intervention.
The police commissioner says they do not engage in civil enforcement and do not know where ICE is in the city or where they're conducting raids. Commissioner Jessica Tisch said their responsibility is to maintain safety and order on the streets.
But meanwhile, in Los Angeles protests continued across LA County.
Thousands of National Guard troops and 700 Marines were deployed to the Los Angeles area.
The Marines are expected to be serving alongside National Guard troops within the next 48 hours.
A curfew is also in effect for a part of Downtown LA where protests and marches have been happening for days.
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