SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WWJ) -- Hundreds of metro Detroiters took to the streets Tuesday, begging for the government to "Close the Camps."
In fact, thousands turned out to "Close the Camps" rallies across the country on Tuesday, protesting the conditions migrant detention centers at the southern U.S. border, which many people are comparing to concentration camps.
Recent reports of poor conditions at detention centers across south Texas and the southwestern U.S. have sparked outrage across the country. Protesters at two rallies in southeastern Michigan turned out to show local members of the U.S. Congress the outrage in their own communities.
A crowd or around 200 people congregated outside of the Southfield offices of Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, along Lahser and the I-696 Service Drive, in opposition to what they believe is the mistreatment of asylum seekers along the border.
Another protest was held outside Representative Debbie Dingle's office in Ypsilanti.
Among the protesters in Southfield was 91-year-old Rene Lichtman, whose family lived in Paris, he says, during the German invasion of France in 1940. His father was killed in the war. He told WWJ's Jon Hewett he draws a parallel between WWII era German concentration camps to today's situation in the U.S.
"Not necessarily death camps, although people are dying there, by some of the same methods the Germans used, which is lack of food," he said.
He hopes more people get involved in protests and don't become be what he calls "part of the bystander majority."
"It's just not right. There's no negotiating, there's no coming to terms with what's happening, so this is the one thing I felt like we could do today," she said.
She believes there could be more attention on the issue, especially because there are children involved.
Many protesters are calling for the outright blockage of all funding for family detention and deportation.
