The massive D.C. mobilization comes on the heels of actions in over a dozen cities across the country calling for the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its policies.

Tyrone Turner / WAMU

For Haydi Torres, 21, chanting, singing and marching on the National Mall Tuesday afternoon was a deeply personal expression of hurt and anger.

The undocumented immigrant from Honduras said she’s tired of living in fear and wants the immigration crisis at the southern border to come to an end. Torres lives in Northern Virginia with undocumented parents and siblings, and said she’s worried immigration raids will target her or her family.

“I still fear for my siblings and my parents, telling them, ‘Make sure the door is always locked, or ask who’s outside the door, or make sure of your surroundings.’ That shouldn’t happen to any human being,” Torres said.

She’s a volunteer organizer with Movimiento Cosecha — a national grassroots organization fighting for permanent protection for immigrants. The group partnered with Never Again Action, a group of Jewish activists, to organize the protest, which drew nearly 1,000 people.

Organizers compare the conditions at migrant detention facilities where people are being held at the southern U.S. border to that of concentration camps during the Holocaust. It’s from those painful memories that Jewish protesters coined the refrain, “Never Again” — a phrase which they chanted repeatedly.

“We know that this is a white supremacist agenda that’s trying to commit genocide. It’s criminalizing our bodies, criminalizing our stories,” Torres said about U.S. immigration officials and the department’s recent sweep called by President Donald Trump to round up undocumented immigrants. “It’s not dignity, and there’s no respect for the undocumented community.”

Hundreds of protesters on the National Mall Tuesday chanted “Never Again Means Now” calling for a solution to the current immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border.

Migrant detention centers have come under scrutiny amid reports of overcrowding and mistreatment. Conditions were so bad at one Texas facility that, following media reports, nearly 300 children were removed after it was reported they had no access to showers for extended periods of time, insufficient food and were lacking in other basic necessities.

Torres said the groups and their allies took to the streets calling for a new immigration policy that recognizes the dignity of all immigrant families. There are roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. And an estimated 25,000 undocumented immigrants live in the District, according to the American Immigration Council’s latest numbers in 2014. But, Torres said, the issue goes far beyond the migrant population.

“It’s not only Indigenous or Latinx kids who are being affected, it’s everybody,” she said. “Immigration is not just one race. All of us are being affected right now.”

‘Shut Down ICE’

Since June, Never Again Action has been protesting to “shut down ICE” in cities across the country. It’s been reported that more than 120 people have been arrested during the demonstrations, including for halting rush-hour traffic in Boston and barricading the entrances of several detention facilities in Los Angeles, Chicago and Rhode Island. Using GoFundMe, Never Again Action was able to raise over $180,000 in just over a week to support the legal fees of those arrested at the protests.

A protester holds a sign at a protest against ICE on the National Mall in Washington.

Roughly 11 people were arrested by the Federal Protective Service for unlawful entry when activists occupied the lobby of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in D.C., according to D.C. police.

When Laura Atwood, a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, heard the group was making its way to Washington, she said she knew she had to take part.

“People are being hurt and it’s unnecessary. We’ve seen this again and again, and it just needs to stop,” said Atwood.

Atwood, who is new to protesting, stood off to the side as participants gathered under a nearby tree in the shade. She waited patiently for the march to begin along 7th Street NW and followed swiftly behind. Atwood said she’s most concerned about the young children whose lives are being torn apart by family separation.

“What happens when school starts? There have been parents picked up [by ICE] when walking kids to school,” said Atwood. “Are there going to be kids missing school?”

Rabbi Mira Rivera, a Filipino-American Jewish woman who lives in New York City, has been working to strengthen the small community of Jews of color. After converting, Rivera said she made it her mission to connect with others like her. Rivera, who is in her 50s, spoke to the group of mostly young Jews and protesters urging them to remain inclusive and to stay focused on the issues at hand.

“We refuse to wait any longer to see what happens next with ICE. We are taking action and we are pleading … Never Again!” said Rivera.

This story first appeared on WAMU.

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