Hundreds Come Out To March In Downtown Los Angeles Against Children In Immigration Detention

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- Several hundred people marched on Sunday to the steps of the Los Angeles City Hall for a protest against ICE enforcement.

After 6 p.m., the gathering decreased to several dozen participants still at City Hall, where barricades had been set up by the Los Angeles Police Department.

The event was aimed at bringing attention to federal immigration policies that led to migrant children being detained at the U.S.-Mexico border and other centers across the country.

As part of the Trump Administration's "zero tolerance" policy to criminally prosecute parents who illegally crossed the border, U.S. immigration officials separated more than 2,800 families in the spring of 2018.

By the end of that year, children in custody stayed an average of nearly 100 days -- up from a previously held yearly average of between 30 and 40 days.

In June 2018, President Donald Trump signed an executive order addressing family separation at the border, while maintaining its criminal prosecution of illegal entry into the U.S.

This was a separate event and protest from the large gathering in Hollywood calling for justice for black LGBTQ+ people.