Practice ‘fundamentally wrong,’ Doggett says at rally,

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, called the practice of U.S. officials separating the families of unauthorized immigrants and asylum-seekers as they enter the United States “fundamentally wrong” at a rally Friday in downtown Austin.

“It strikes me as fundamentally wrong that we literally tear babes from the arms of their mothers,” Doggett said at the rally in Republic Square Park, where roughly 250 others had gathered. “This kind of separation causes permanent scars on these children.”

Last month, in announcing a “zero-tolerance” policy toward people who enter the United States illegally, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the enforcement of immigration laws may cause families to be separated while parents are prosecuted.

“We don’t want to separate families, but we don’t want families to come to the border illegally and attempt to enter into this country improperly,” Sessions said at the time.

Lisa Goodgame, with the social advocacy group Children’s Defense Fund, said a tradition of accepting persecuted immigrants is at stake.

“The prosecution of people crossing the border calls into question whether families seeking asylum are allowed to come to the U.S., as they have for generations,” she said.

Doggett and state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, joined others in speaking about immigration reform efforts and how those in the crowd can change things.

One protester’s sign read, “Today we march, tomorrow we vote.”

After the rally, the group marched the five blocks from the park to Brazos Hall, 204 E. Fourth St.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, spoke at Brazos Hall on Friday evening to launch this weekend’s conference for the Maverick political action committee, according to the conference agenda.