NYC parents, educators and children rally in defense of 6-year-old detained by ICE
New York, NY – On Sunday December 7, hundreds of people including parents, teachers and young students, rallied together at a public playground to demand the release of six-year-old Yuanxin Zheng, a first grader from Astoria who was recently abducted by ICE and separated from his father, who has also been detained. A day before the rally, organizers had heard from the family’s lawyer that the father, Fei Zheng, was allowed to speak with his son on the phone, but ICE still refuses to reveal the location of Yuanxin.
The rally was put on by Indivisible West Queens. Speakers at the rally denounced the separation as another disgusting attack on immigrants and their families by Trump and the federal government. Some of the speakers included Congresswoman Nydia Vélasquez and the New York City comptroller, as well as Yuanxin’s first grade teacher.
Classmates of Yuanxin and other children from across the borough and city crowded the playsets and swings. People attending the rally held signs with the messages “Families belong together” and “Kids aren’t pawns.” The crowd chanted slogans such as “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
At a moment where many NYC public school students have now been taken by ICE, New Yorkers are showing they won’t allow this happen without a fight.