Fighting for families

Crowds gather outside courthouse to protest separation of families

The steps of the Montgomery County Courthouse were packed Saturday as community members made their voices heard on U.S. immigration policy.

“This idea that we’re going to separate families and children at the border and put children in cages with no plan to reunite them, this could be indefinite. This could

be permanent,” said state Sen. Daylin Leach. “As the humane alternative we’re just going to detain people together forever? This is not how we treat human beings.”

Protesters heard from Leach, a Democrat who represents parts of Montgomery and Delaware counties, as well as several other guests who spoke about their experience as immigrants coming to the United States to pursue their dreams.

Outside the courthouse Saturday, protesters could be seen holding signs condemning the separation of families and could be heard from Main Street chanting and singing songs including “This Land is Your Land.”

The rally in Norristown Saturday was a sister protest of the Families Belong Together March that took place in Washington, D.C., as well as hundreds of other locations around the country. The protests and marches are meant to raise awareness and opposition to U.S. immigration policy, specifically the separation of illegal immigrant families at the border that has stirred up controversy across the U.S. According to the march website, rally-goers are

aiming to “tell Donald Trump and his administration to permanently end the separation of kids from their parents. End family internment camps. End the ‘zero-humanity’ policy that created this crisis. And reunify the children with their parents.”

“We refer to people as criminals. We refer to people as animals. We refer to people coming into our country as an infestation. If you read the history of what that leads to, that is not a good thing,” Leach told the crowd on the courthouse steps.

Protestors occupied the steps for about 90 minutes, closing out the rally with another rendition of “This Land is Your Land.”

Events in Pennsylvania included rallies and protests in Norristown, Ambler, Philadelphia, Swarthmore, West Chester, Lancaster, Pittsburgh and several others, according to the website.

MARIAN DENNIS – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA State Sen. Daylin Leach speaks to a crowd outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown Saturday during a Families Belong Together Rally.

MARIAN DENNIS – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA A family stands together outside the Montgomery County Courthouse Saturday during the Families Belong Together rally. The rally was one of many held Saturday all over the country.

MARIAN DENNIS PHOTOS– DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Right: The steps of the Montgomery County Courthouse were filled Saturday as rally-goers protested the separation of families at the border.

Left: Protestors brought their children to a rally outside the Montgomery County Courthouse Saturday as they expressed their opposition to the separation of families at the border.