MARQUETTE, MI-- A group of Marquette activists is holding a vigil at Mattson Lower Harbor Park Friday evening for immigrants held in U.S. detention camps.
It’s part of a nationwide event called Lights for Liberty: A Nationwide Vigil to End Human Detention Camps. Advocates will speak about human rights, asylum laws, and the Native experience.
Activist Marge Forslin says people still remember Native families in the UP getting torn apart just decades ago.
“We have empathy for people who did nothing wrong but got the short end of the stick,” she says.
Forslin says standing against the separation of families and harsh detention facilities may prompt others to do the same.
“It gives other people courage, then, if they see some people standing up and saying, ‘You know, this isn’t right.’”
At 9 p.m. participants around the world will hold up lights to illuminate what they say are human rights abuses.
Lights for Liberty events are scheduled on five continents.
