ATLANTA — “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to say something."
Those of the words of Civil Rights giant Rep. John Lewis after visiting the Homestead migrant detention center in Homestead, Florida on Tuesday.
“I’ve been deeply moved by what I’ve seen, what I've observed and I will go back to Washington, D.C. within the next few days much more determined to hold onto something I have been believing in for some time," Rep. Lewis added.
His visit comes on the same day as nationwide protests erupted, demanding the closure of immigration detention centers along the US-Mexico border.
The Office of the Inspector General released new pictures, along with a report from the Border Patrol facilities in Texas. The photos were taken in June 2019, and showed small children detained with adults in an extremely overcrowded space.
In another photo, you could see a large group of people on the floor, women wearing masks and infants laying on top of them, others wandering around.
And in the report, a senior manager at one of the facilities called the situation a "ticking time bomb."
Protesters in Atlanta seemed to echo that sentiment Tuesday while marching in front of Senator David Perdue's office.
“We know that when Americans, Atlantans see that we are imprisoning children, when they are sleeping on concrete floors, and 12 year-olds are taking care of 5year-olds - that this is not America," one protester told 11Alive.
“We are out here today to demand that we close these camps," he continued.