Last week, more than 150 kids struggling under our broken immigration system came together from all over the United States to bring their stories to leaders in Washington. These kids, including the brave leaders from Wednesday’s conversation with John Boehner, marched arm-in-arm with activists from the 1963 Children’s Crusade for Civil Rights in Birmingham, Alabama where kids faced attack dogs, fire hoses and arrest for participating in a peaceful march for Civil Rights.
As Jenni Martinez, 16, so eloquently put it: “[The immigrant rights movement] is just an extension of the Civil Rights Movement — it never ended. It’s going to continue until we get what we want, which is comprehensive immigration reform.”
Below are photos from Thursday’s procession and action on Capitol Hill.
Civil Rights leaders from the original 1963 Children’s Crusade walk hand-in-hand with some of the immigrant rights movement’s youngest activists.
Children line up outside of Speaker Boehner’s office to see if they can speak with him, tell him their stories, sing him “Happy Birthday” and give him birthday cards.
Children bravely tell their stories to reporters, including 5-year-old Josue Giron.
Unfortunately, Speaker Boehner would not take time out of his day to see these young leaders, so the kids slid their cards underneath his office door and left. Shame on Speaker Boehner for refusing to meet with these young leaders! These are the kids that he and other House Republicans are betraying each day that they continue to stall on immigration reform.