PROTESTS TODAY
Immigration rallies are planned in every state
VALLEY & STATE, 3A
More than 757 events are scheduled across the country Saturday in protest of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border policy, including several in Arizona, according to MoveOn event organizers.
Immigration rallies are planned in every state, Puerto Rico, and as far as Lisbon, Portugal.
The largest events in Arizona are expected to be in Phoenix, Nogales and Tucson. Rallies are also scheduled in Flagstaff, San Luis, Bisbee, Kingman, Payson, Pinetop and Prescott.
In Arizona, at least 11 events are scheduled across the state for Saturday.
Washington, D.C., is expected to attract the largest crowd, according to Marzena Zukowska, communication specialist with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which is one of the lead partners for the nationwide event.
The nationwide “Families Belong Together” protest is a response to the separation of immigration children from their parents at the border. Though President Donald Trump has signed an executive order halting the family separations, nationwide organizers are keeping up the pressure to ensure that families are reunited.
“The challenge is that almost no families have been reunited who have been separated,” Zukowska said.
“Replacing family separation with family detention and jailing children with their parents is not a solution.”
MoveOn, a liberal advocacy organization, is one of four lead partners for the Families Belong Together events and its website MoveOn.org is a clearinghouse of information about the protests across the country.
Peg Bowden organized the rally planned for Nogales. It’s one of two events that will take place along the Arizona-Mexico border.
With the administration still pushing for a “zero-tolerance” policy in between the ports of entry, hundreds of families have arrived to Nogales in the past two months to seek asylum at the DeConcini crossing, instead of entering the country illegally.
Bowden, a volunteer with the humanitarian group Green Valley Samaritans, has spent time with the migrant families camped out across the port of entry, waiting up to two weeks to talk to an immigration officer.
“We want to stop business as usual with DHS (Department of Homeland Security), we want a more compassionate, organized but humanitarian method of greeting people who are migrating and fleeing,” she said. “These are not criminals, these people. They are people we should be welcoming and greeting with open arms rather than a detention cell.”
As part of the rally, they will march from a park in downtown Nogales, a few blocks from the border, to the DeConcini crossing. It’ll feature several speakers who have been highly critical of the “zero-tolerance” policy.
“There’s humanity involved here. There’s children, there’s families,” U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Arizona, said. He will also be in attendance at Saturday’s event in Nogales.
“There’s a better way to do this,” he added.
Information on 11 Arizona events
❚ Phoenix: 8 a.m. Attendees will meet at the Arizona Senate. The event is planned to include speakers, including Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona.
❚ Nogales: 11 a.m. Begins at the historic courthouse and protesters will march to the port of entry before returning to the park. Speakers include Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, No Mas Muertes co-founder John Fife and others.
❚ Tucson: 9 a.m. Armory Park, 221 S. Sixth Ave.
❚ San Luis: 9 a.m. Cesar Chavez Cultural Center at Joe Orduño Park, 1015 N. Main St.
❚ Bisbee: 11 a.m. Event meets at the Lowell School parking lot.
❚ Chandler: 8 a.m. 2600 S. Price Road.
❚ Flagstaff: 10 a.m. Flagstaff City Hall, 211 W. Aspen Ave.
❚ Kingman: 10 a.m. Trinity Episcopal Church, 425 E. Spring St.
❚ Payson: 9 a.m. 509 S. Beeline Highway.
❚ Pinetop: 9 a.m. Event will be held at White Mountain Boulevard on the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Postal Service building.
❚ Prescott: 6 p.m. March begins at Prescott College and will continue to Courthouse Square.
“These are not criminals, these people. They are people we should be welcoming and greeting with open arms rather than a detention cell.” Peg Bowden Organizer for rally planned for Nogales