Saturday, June 30, 2018

‘Families Belong Together’ Rallies Protest Trump Immigration Policies Nationwide
By Sara Boboltz
HuffPost

Demonstrators gather outside the White House in Washington, D.C., during a protest against the Trump administration's policy (BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Families Belong Together rallies drew crowds dressed in white to cities big and small across the United States on Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s zero tolerance immigration policy.

The policy has led to thousands of children being separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border and inspired bipartisan criticism. President Donald Trump partially addressed the issue of family separation in an executive order signed June 20, but the problem is far from solved.

Dozens of activist organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, MoveOn and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, came together to organize the protests, which included more than 600 events on what was a sweltering hot Saturday in much of the country.

At the main event in Washington, D.C., organizers said around 30,000 showed up to hear celebrity and activist speakers including Lin-Manuel Miranda before marching to the White House. (The president was away at his golf resort in New Jersey.)

In Boston, thousands of demonstrators heard from Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D) and Ed Markey (D), while, on the opposite coast, Chrissy Teigen introduced husband John Legend while holding her infant son before a crowd in downtown Los Angeles.

Protesters showed up in places ranging from Farmington, Maine, to Lansing, Michigan, to Eugene, Oregon, where they chanted things like, “No hate! No fear! Immigrants are welcome here!”

They brought signs aplenty, too.

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