On Saturday, Aug. 2, a 50501 People’s Movement event will take place in North Charleston on Rivers Ave. between Northwoods Blvd. and Easy St. The protest, which runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., is being sponsored by Charleston 50501 and Summerville 50501. For a list of other South Carolina events being held this weekend, click here, and/or see the included image.
50501 is a grassroots, decentralized movement that organizers say was formed "in response to the anti-democratic, illegal, and unconstitutional actions of the Trump administration."
Here's what the local organizations had to say about their upcoming event:
"Immigrant families and communities across the U.S. are living in fear and being ripped apart. They are denied due process. Many are apprehended while obeying the law by attending court proceedings related to their immigration status. Despite Trump’s claim that he is ridding the U.S. of “criminals and rapists,” federal statistics show that fewer than 30% of those detained have been convicted of crimes. As of June 23, ICE was holding around 59,000 detainees in facilities across the country. This is 140% over capacity (source).
A recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that the number of people in detention increased 40% from June 2024 to June 2025, marking the highest detention population in the history of U.S. immigration. Researchers from HRW found that staff at the three detention facilities they examined subjected detained individuals to dangerously substandard medical care, overcrowding, abusive treatment, and restricted access to legal and psychosocial support.
Charleston Legal Access (CLA) serves our neighbors who are being traumatized by the Trump Regime. It is the only non-profit, low-cost law firm in South Carolina with an immigration attorney on staff. Lana Kleiman, CLA Executive Director, provides the following insights into the harm being done to people in Charleston:
What we’re seeing in Charleston is both heartbreaking and deeply alarming. Families are being torn apart without warning, and individuals who are actively trying to follow legal immigration processes are being detained. One of our clients is a mother with three children, including a 9-year-old who recently lost most of her vision. The family applied for voluntary departure, hoping to return home together, but despite following all instructions, they have received no response. Now, instead of finding a legal path to leave, they live in constant fear that ICE will detain and separate them.
Another client was brought here as a child and never received notice of his court dates. He’s lived here peacefully for years with no criminal record and supports two U.S. citizen children, both under 3 years old. He was arrested for driving without a license and is now in a detention center in Georgia. He was the sole provider for the family. The mother is indigenous from Guatemala and has a very difficult time communicating in Spanish or English.
Another client is a father who has lived in the U.S. for 21 years. He was pulled over at a stoplight just five days after moving to a new home. He was on his way to work. He had no idea why he was being arrested and now sits in detention with little hope for release. He was the sole provider for the family.
These are not isolated incidents, they are the daily reality for families in Charleston and across the country. People without criminal records, productive members of our community, are being taken from their homes, their jobs, and their children. We are witnessing a breakdown of due process and an erosion of human dignity.
This heartless policy is consistent with Fascist Regimes like Trump’s, which believe in a natural social hierarchy where those at the bottom are deemed undesirable and expendable.
A core principle of all 50501 events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values."
Lead organizer Anne Ostapiej said, “With Trump cruelty is the point. The purpose of this protest is to stand in solidarity with the tens of thousands of people being harmed, their families, and their communities and say – this is not who we are as Americans.”
Information about the 50501 People’s Movement can be found at https://www.fiftyfifty.one/ and on Bluesky at 50501Movement.