Families Belong Together Protest In Highland Park Saturday

HIGHLAND PARK, 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. Highland Park residents have organized a local rally as part of a series of "Families Belong Together" events.

The rally is set for 3 p.m. on June 30 at Port Clinton Square, in the 600 block of Central Avenue in downtown Highland Park. Speakers include U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield), state Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering.

Two of the rally's organizers spoke at Monday's Highland Park City Council meeting.

"We will be joining together to address this heartless policy," Kramer said. "Everyone agrees that borders have to be secure, but holding children hostage is not a solution. This is not a political matter, this is an ethical matter."

Kramer said Highland Park residents, including children and seniors, who may not be able to travel to the Chicago gathering are encouraged to attend the Port Clinton square event, which will include music and a station where children and adults can create cards to send to refugees.

"Imagine being a child watching the news. What could be more frightening than hearing about children being forcibly separated from their mothers and fathers?" Kramer said. "You do not need a PhD in Child Development to understand how cruel and evil this is."

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.”

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.

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.”

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

Patch editors Lisa Farver, Feroze Dhanoa contributed

Top photo by John Moore/Getty Images