Ex-BP agent Jenn Budd, Tucson activists protest Biden border policies

Posted Jul 2, 2021

Bennito L. Kelty
TucsonSentinel.com

Gene Moreland/TucsonSentinel.comDemonstrators came together Friday for the 'No Kids in Cages: Close the Camps' demonstration on 300 W. Congress St. in front of the federal building in Downtown Tucson. Their message, organizer for the demonstration Jenn Budd said, was to make sure that Americans don't get too comfortable with the current immigration policy.
Gene Moreland/TucsonSentinel.comAround 30 activists showed up to hold up signs and gain support for passing drivers soon after the rain retired on Friday, but the crowd grew to about 50 later into the evening.
Gene Moreland/TucsonSentinel.comActivist Eileen O'Farrell Smith pictured on the far left with a pink mask said that coming together on Friday 'created an intergenerational crowd that could teach each other, pass on a tradition of protest and build a sense of community.' Smith said that she had been remembers protesting the Vietnam War and hopes that demonstrating for a cause she believes in inspires others to take action to support causes personal to them.
Gene Moreland/TucsonSentinel.comDemonstrators meant on the north side of Congress Street on Friday evening to protest the ongoing separation of children at the border on Friday before heading down to the migrant detention facility near Tucson International Airport for a candlelight vigil.
Gene Moreland/TucsonSentinel.comDemonstrators held up signs saying 'No More Kids in Cages' on Friday to get support from passing motorists. Demonstrators like John Kruc, who was there taking photos, said that it will take years "to recover from the damage that was done" during the Trump administration.
Gene Moreland/TucsonSentinel.comAuthor and activist Jenn Budd, who used to work for Border Patrol, pictured in front with her sign said that Friday's event was about 'making the general impression that things are not all right or that only Republicans are are bad at immigration policy.' She said changes still need to be made in the Biden administration to achieve a humane immigration policy. She came from San Diego to Tucson for the demonstration and said she planned to head to El Paso to protest detention centers at Fort Bliss after her stop in Tucson.

Local activists with the Southern Border Communities Coalition were joined by San Diego author Jenn Budd, a former Border Patrol agent who has become an outspoken opponent of stringent border enforcement, protested in Downtown Tucson on Friday.

Budd, who promoted the event on her social media and traveled to Tucson to appear at the event, said that she and the other demonstrators there "support good immigration policy, but we're still hearing about kids in cages happening in this administration," adding that she doesn't want people to become comfortable with the "general impression that only Republicans are bad at immigration policy."

She said that the continuation of Title 42, the policy that allows for expedited deportations to protect public health, is separating families at the border and border and immigration agencies continue to mistreat children in custody. The Border Patrol has been doing this since the Clinton administration, she said, and they're "creating a generation of trauma."

Correction: An earlier version of this report included an incorrect spelling of Budd’s first name.

Bennito L. Kelty is TucsonSentinel.com’s IDEA reporter, focusing on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access stories, and a Report for America corps member supported by readers like you.