Crowds, including those in east Idaho, protest Trump’s immigration policies
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EastIdahoNews.com staff & CNN Wire
IDAHO FALLS — Crowds took to the streets of US cities Saturday to demand “Families Belong Together” nearly two months after the Trump administration implemented its “zero tolerance” policy toward undocumented immigrants.
Around two dozen marchers met at the Bonneville County Courthouse at 9 a.m. and walked through parts of downtown Idaho Falls holding signs.
The main rally is taking place in Lafayette Square in Washington, but hundreds of marches, protests and rallies were underway across the country to call for the immediate reunification of migrant families and an end to family detentions and separations.
According to organizers, protesters have three demands:
• They want separated migrant families to be reunited immediately.
• They want the government to end family detentions.
• And they want the Trump administration to end its zero tolerance policy.
Chants of “Shame!” rose up from crowds in both New York and Washington as the protests got underway, while demonstrators in Atlanta carried cages with baby dolls inside.
Attendees carried signs demanding a change to the administration’s policy, or celebrating the contributions that immigrants make to the country.
“We are all immigrants,” one said.
“Seeking safety is not a crime,” another said.
“Let our children dream. Let them go!” a sign in Washington said.
And there were plenty of shirts declaring, “I really do care, do u?” — a dig at the jacket first lady Melania Trump wore while departing for a trip to the southwest border last week.
“I’m outraged that families are being separated,” said Margaret Stokes, 54, a Virginia teacher protesting in the nation’s capital. She carried a sign that asked, “Where are the children?”
“Separating families, especially young children, without a plan to reunite them is abhorrent,” Stokes said. “This is not America.
“We need to let the administration know that we will not become numb to these atrocities.”
Saturday’s protests are just the latest. On Thursday, more than 1,000 female activists marched through Washington and ended up in a Senate office building to protest the White House’s policy.
According to US Capitol Police, 575 of them were arrested.