The wind was bitter this weekend as it whipped through the Capitol complex, blowing signs and, at least in one case—a scarf, out of the hands of protestors. But the light flurries and a wind chill in the teens didn’t stop demonstrators from raising their voices against an ongoing immigration crackdown and the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Minnesota.
Cameron Culliton was among the group. She says despite the cold, it felt important to be there.
"It’s really important to me to be part of movements like this," Culliton says. I want to look back on my life and be proud of what I did.”
She says the recent shooting death of two protesters in Minnesota by ICE agents is one of her reasons for attending the rally.
“It’s not like ICE has been around forever. It was established in 2003 and we handled immigration differently before and I think we could handle it differently again," Culliton says. "And they just are clearly brutal and undertrained and they aren’t given the resources that they need and they’re given a lot of power and it’s really worrying.”
Culliton says she feels strongly that everyday people can have an impact. She points to a recent vote in the U.S. Senate to extend funding for the Department of Homeland Security for just two weeks while negotiations are underway to put more guardrails in place for ICE agents. She says she thinks that decision came at least in part because of people like her who called their Congressional Representatives and Senators.
