ACLU event brings 1,500 to federal courthouse

Protesters from all across Texas and the country shut down Harrison Street for a little more than one hour Thursday and converged on the doors of the Reynaldo G. Garza & Filemon B. Vela Courthouse following a rally decrying President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy.

Protesters from all across Texas and the country shut down Harrison Street for a little more than one hour Thursday and converged on the doors of the Reynaldo G. Garza & Filemon B. Vela Courthouse following a rally decrying President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy.

The American Civil Liberties Union organized the rally that brought an estimated 1,500 people to Linear Park, ACLU Organizer Imelda Mejia said.

While many people from across the Rio Grande Valley showed up, the ACLU bused in hundreds of people from Laredo, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Austin. People also showed up from New York, Portland, New Mexico, California, Colorado and Missouri.

Hundreds of the protesters stood inches from the federal courthouse, waving signs and chanting slogans such as “This is the people’s house! You cannot keep us out!”

While dozens of protesters waited in a line, trying to gain entrance to the courthouse to witness misdemeanor illegal entry court hearings, other protesters marched around the federal building, continuing to chant and wave signs as passing cars honked.

A more complete version of this story is available on www.myBrownsvilleHerald.com