More than 100 people gather at Lake Eola to protest immigration policies
More than 100 people gathered at Lake Eola Friday night to join a nationwide protest against the detention camps near the United States southern border, as well as President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
This comes ahead of ICE raids on thousands of undocumented immigrants that are expected to begin this weekend.
The protesters who gathered at Lake Eola said they want the migrant detention camps in the United States to be shut down, and are calling on voters to pressure the Trump administration to change its immigration policies.
More than 100 people braved the rain at Lake Eola Park to show their opposition to President Trump's immigration policies, specifically the placement of migrants taken into custody at the border in detention camps.
"We stand here tonight shining our light, for the record, in firm opposition to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, or the ICE," one local protester said.
The protest is one of hundreds of sister protests held across the country Friday night to raise awareness of what protesters say is a "humanitarian crisis at the southern border."
The protests also come just a few days before President Trump says immigration raids will take place in ten major cities across the country.
"It's not something I like doing, but people have come into our country illegally. We're focused on criminals," President Trump said.
"It's heartbreaking. People are terrified, and it's a climate that is not the American dream, it's not what people came here for. It's sad and it's scary," protester Sheri Smyth said.
The protesters said in addition to showing their opposition in public, the most important thing people who want change can do is to vote.
Vice President Mike Pence visited a detention center in Texas on Friday. While he was there, he told reporters that every family he spoke with said they were being well cared for, and he believes border patrol agents are doing their best with the situation.