Ahead Of Rumored ICE Raids, Protesters Shut Down Philly Streets

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Marchers in Philadelphia joined protesters from around the world rallying against what they're calling the inhumane treatment of immigrants, particularly in detention camps along the border with Mexico.

The "Lights for Liberty" march gathered near Philadelphia's City Hall on Thursday, briefly leading to road closures, including several blocks of Market Street.

The march comes as the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency is moving forward with targeted raids beginning Sunday of least 2,000 immigrants who have been previously ordered deported, according to The New York Times. Ten cities, including Philadelphia, are on the potential target list.

While traffic was disrupted in the city, there were no reports of arrests as of early Friday afternoon. Police are on hand.

The gathering began at around 11:30 a.m. on 12th and Arch streets near the Convention Center, organizers said.

They planned to continue on down to the local ICE bureau on 8th and Arch streets. The crowd appears to number in the hundreds.

Rumors of the coming raids began to spread back on June 17, following a tweet from President Trump.

"Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States," he wrote at the time. "They will be removed as fast as they come in."

On June 22, he tweeted that the raids would be delayed at the request of Democrats to "see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border."

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, has urged the President to call off the raids, and has called on faith-based organizations that have backed Trump in the past to appeal to him.

With reporting from Patch correspondent Tim Darnell