Protests to target Trump border policy
Demonstrations planned in all 50 states Saturday
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend upon Washington, D.C., and all 50 states Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy on immigration that’s sparked widespread debate after more than 2,000 children were separated from parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“(The) family separation crisis is not over. We have a situation where the Trump administration seems to be aiming to detain families,” said Karthik Ganapathy, a MoveOn.org spokesman.
The more than 628 rallies held in response to President Donald Trump’s controversial policies are being organized by the Families Belong Together Coalition, which includes the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Leadership Conference, MoveOn.org and the American Civil Liberties Union.
The rallies are in response to a widespread desire among Americans to take action against Trump’s strict policies, said Lorella Praeli, ACLU director of immigration policy and campaigns.
“This is our country, and if there is something happening that takes us in the wrong direction, we can’t stay silent,” Praeli said. “It’s on us to hold our elected officials accountable, to hold our president accountable and to demand action. So silence in this moment is complicity.”
After Trump signed an executive order last week ending the family separations, a California judge ordered his administration Tuesday to reunite the migrant families it had separated.
There are 2,047 children who must be placed in the same facility as their parents within the next two to four weeks. But U.S. law and a series of court rulings that limit the amount of time minors can be held in detention will further complicate those reunions.
A June 18 CBS News poll showed 67 percent of Americans found separating immigrant children and parents at the border “unacceptable.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said she has been communicating with organizers ahead of Saturday’s demonstrations, and many are concerned about the direction of the country.