Families Belong Together Rally To Take Place In Glenview

GLENVIEW, IL — Nationwide demonstrations are planned against the Trump Administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policies. Protesters are calling for the end to the separation of migrant families at at the U.S.-Mexico border. Glenview residents have organized a local event as part of a series of "Families Belong Together" rallies.

At noon on June 30, demonstrators will gather at the Veterans Memorial at Glenview Road and River Drive before walking to Waukegan Road, according to organizers. Attendees were asked to dress for the weather, bring water, a hat and remember to use sunscreen.

Civil and immigrant rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign and MoveOn plan more than 130 rallies in 48 states. Organizers said an executive order President Trump signed to stop separating families was not an answer.

"It keeps kids imprisoned indefinitely, and doesn't reunite thousands of separated families," organizers said. "But it does show the administration is reacting to public pressure, so we will continue to increase our pressure for justice to say that families belong together.”

As he signed the June 20 executive order allowing for the indefinite detention of immigrant families but ending the policy of separating children from their parents, Trump indicated coverage of the policy had made an impact.

“We’re going to have strong, very strong, borders, but we are going to keep the families together,” Trump said. “I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.”

The Trump administration has come under intense criticism from advocates, lawmakers and citizens for the policy of separating migrant children from their families. The Department of Homeland Security announced this month that nearly 2,000 children had been separated at the border over the period beginning April 19 and ending in May.

The children are being housed in detention facilities that have been compared to internment camps. Many lawmakers have marched to these facilities to try and get a look at how these immigrant children are being housed.

In chilling audio obtained by ProPublica that was recorded at a CBP facility, children can be heard crying for their parents.

U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) led a group of protesters to one such facility in south Texas on Father's Day, and homeland security officials arranged for reporters to tour the premises of another facility in Brownsville, Texas.

An MSNBC reporter who toured the facility said the facility felt like a prison or a jail and some 1,500 boys living there had less than 40 square feet of living space.

Related: Rallies in Chicago Area Over Family Separations On June 30

Patch editors Lisa Farver, Feroze Dhanoa contributed

Top photo via Shutterstock