'Families Belong Together Rally' Planned In 5 MD Cities

BALTIMORE, MD — "Families Belong Together" rallies intended to send a message to lawmakers that families should be kept together will be held in Baltimore and four other Maryland cities this weekend, along with similar rallies across the country.

While a federal judge earlier this week ruled against President Trump's family separation policy at the border, rally organizers say the administration will fight back and the court ruling could be overturned. "Our mobilization, in over 600 locations around the country and still growing, is critical to showing the widespread public demand for just immigration policies—because families belong together ... and free," says the Families Belong Together website.

Rallies will be held Saturday, June 30, at these locations:

• Baltimore: Saturday, June 30 at 11 a.m. (local time) Where: Patterson Park, in the southeast part of the park that is closest to Eastern Ave. between Ellwood and S. Linwood.
• Cumberland: Saturday, June 30 at 11 a.m. (local time) Where: At the corner of Baltimore and Liberty Streets in Downtown Cumberland on the pedestrian mall.
• Frederick: Saturday, June 30 at 3 p.m. (local time) Where: Vista Shopping Center
• University Park: Saturday, June 30 at 9 a.m. (local time) Where: University Park Town Field. Supporters will march around University Park in a loop from Town Field up Queens Chapel Rd., across Clagett Rd., down College Heights Drive, and back across Underwood St to Queens Chapel Rd.
• Westminster: Saturday, June 30 at 1 p.m. (local time) Where: Main St at Locust Lane in downtown Westminster across Main Street from the public library.

Organizers shared their list of demands:

• Reunite families now. Permanently end family separation and immediately reunify those that have been separated.
• End family detention. Children and families deserve due process, not indefinite imprisonment. Children do not belong in baby cages and internment-like camps. Family incarceration is not the solution to family separation.
• End 'Zero Tolerance.' Reverse the Trump administration's policy that created this crisis and chaos to begin with. Parents should not be criminally prosecuted for doing what all parents do, which is bring their children to safety. This horrible nightmare for families will only end when Trump permanently stops his 100% prosecution policy.

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