Thousands gathered across the country this weekend to protest Trump’s immigration policies
According to reports from CNN, protests against the Trump administration’s xenophobic immigration policies occurred across the nation on Saturday. Though the main protest and rally took place in the seat of power in Washington, D.C., there were large protests and rallies in cities such as Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and St. Louis.
According to the organizers of these marches, the demands include bringing an end to the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy, an end to the government’s policy of family detentions, and for migrant families who have been separated to be reunited immediately.
A crowd also gathered in McAllen, Texas, outside the border town where one of the processing centers is located, protesting the site where children are locked away in cages as they await their trial dates.
Among the 575 protesters arrested during a protest at a US Senate office building was 39 year old Rachel Gregory, who brought her 5 year old son to the protest in order to impress upon him that she does not want him to be part of an America that oppresses vulnerable people. Gregory questioned the GOP’s moral positioning around “pro-life” policies, telling reporters, “the GOP claims to be pro-life but is stealing babies from their family.”
Outrage over the Trump administration’s policies has been steadily growing over the past month as over 2,500 undocumented children have been separated from their parents due to the government’s zero-tolerance policy. Under this policy, any adult who is caught crossing the border illegally faced federal prosecution, and any children were separated from them and sent to shelters all across America.
Even after Trump signed an executive order reversing his family separation policy, over 2,000 children have yet to be reunited. This has raised suspicions that the Trump administration has no plan to reunite these children with their families at all.
“This is beyond politics,” Washington State Representative Pramila Jayapal, who was also arrested at the Senate office building, told CNN. According to Jayapal, the rallies are about keeping immigration “at the front of the agenda” and pressuring Trump to change his policy immediately. “You don’t put kids in cages,” she said. “You don’t separate breastfeeding babies from their mothers. You don’t put asylum-seekers in prison, and we’re calling for an end to that today.”