ST. LOUIS, MO – With the immigration crisis in the United States at a fever pitch, a resolution was unanimously passed Friday by the St. Louis Board of Alderman condemning the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We see you. We are with you. We believe you are human. We believe your families matter,” said St. Louis’ 8th ward alderwoman Annie Rice.
Rice’s message to immigrant families was clear and everyone who gathered to support that message on the second floor of City Hall had Rice’s back.
“This is not making America great again. This is the worst that this country has to offer,” said Faizan Syed, Executive Director of the Missouri Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“Separation will without a doubt destroy some and leave others with a broken psyche to be dealt with for the rest of their lives,” added Amanda Tello, Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates organizer
In a week that brought gut-wrenching tales of migrant children separated from their parents at the border, this gathering was a rebuke of the president’s policy.
“Our democracy is an expression of our humanity. A president and an administration that would callously, inhumanly, and unwisely separate mothers and fathers from their children deserves to be challenged in every way possible,” said Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Missouri.
This local challenge unanimously supported by St. Louis alderman can’t change federal policy, but Annie Rice hopes it will spur Missouri’s elected officials in the nation’s capital to oppose family separation and for Missouri Governor Mike Parson to withdraw National Guard resources from the border.
“The outcry has been so loud from so many corners of people that I represent and people here in the city that have felt like we needed to come out on the front lines and say something today,” added Rice.
Governor Parson’s office told FOX 2/News 11 Friday afternoon that it does support the use of National Guard resources in support of border security.
