Families Belong Together event today

Groups are protesting policies affecting immigrants

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Organizers say groups across the country will gather at various events Saturday to protest President Donald Trump’s administration separating children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Saratoga Unites, Saratoga Immigration Coalition, Saratoga Peace Alliance, PresbyterianNew England Congregational Church (Social Concerns Committee) and MLK Saratoga are partnering to host a local event at Congress Park.

From 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., organizers said the groups will march along Broadway to the City Center and back to Congress Park “to protest the separation of families and detention at U.S. borders.”

More than 600 marches Saturday could draw hundreds of thousands of people nationwide, from immigrant-friendly cities like Los Angeles and New York City to conservative Appalachia and Wyoming.

Organizers said the event — called Families Belong Together — is a national day of action organized by MoveOn, the American Civil Liberties Union and National Domestic Workers Alliance.

In a statement, Saratoga Unites said: “It is unconscionable that the U.S. government is actively tearing apart immigrant families and proposing to detain families indefinitely. They are victims of violence, hunger, and poverty and our government’s actions re-violate them, causing untold damage. Children as young as 8 months are torn from their mothers’ arms by our own government. This violent abuse is not in line with American values. We oppose the inhumane policies of the Trump Administration, Border Patrol, ICE and other federal immigration agencies. We are disheartened by the lack of leadership in Congress whose job is to be a check on the federal executive when it overreaches and abuses its power.”

The organization said it is calling for Congress to take immediate action to address the issues.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.